("beloved"), Amos ("strong"). Some names have grammatical endings which it is difficult to interpret, as -oth in Shelomoth; the final -i in Omri and Barzilai probably refers to a tribal origin. Many names ending in -on are animal-names, as Ephron ("small deer"), Nahshon ("small serpent"); compare Samson ("small sun"). Post-Exilic names After the Exile to Babylon there appeared a tendency toward the use of foreign names, the literal significance of which was disregarded, and this tendency became more and more prominent as time went on. Biblical names ending in -a (as in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah) are Aramaic. Shamsherai (I Chronicles 8:26), while Mordecai is probably derived from Marduk, or may be derived from "pure myrrh"), as are Belteshazzar (Daniel 10:1), Shenazar (I Chronicles 3:18), and Sheshbazzar (Ezra 1:8) from other deities. There is in this period a tendency also toward descriptive and adjectival names with the definite article prefixed, which easily gave rise to such surnames as Hakkaz, Hakkatan, and Hallosheth (Ezra 2:61; 8:12; Nehemiah 3:12; compare the form ha-Kohelet (Ecclesiastes 12:8, in the Hebrew). In the Hellenistic period Greek names became quite usual among the Jews, especially those of Alexander, Jason, and Antigonus. Even the name of a god like Apollo occurs (Acts 18:24). Other names are Apollonius, Hyrcanus, Lysimachus, Demetrius, Dosa, Nicanor, Pappus, Patroclus, Philo, Sosa, Symmachus, Tryphon, Zeno. The same occurs among women, as Alexandra and Priscilla. Roman names also occur, as Antonius, Apella, Drusus, Justinus, Justus, Marcus, Rufus, Tiberius, and Titus. It was during this period that the practice arose of giving a son the name of his grandfather, as was done in the high-priestly family, the members of which were named alternately Onias and Simon from 332 to 165 BCE. Similarly, a little later, in the family of the Hillelites, the names Gamaliel and Judah succeed each other with only an occasional occurrence of Simon and Hillel. Toward the end of the period, owing to the intermixture of foreign languages, the use of double names for the same person began to be adopted, as in the instances of Simon Peter, John Mark, Thomas Didymus, Herodes Agrippa, and Salome Alexandra. Talmudic period Among the names in the Talmud there is a considerable proportion of Greek ones. A large number also are Aramaic, ending in -a or -ai: Abba, Huna, and Papa are instances of the former. Even Bible names were transformed in this