Barabbas "Son of the Father"?

[patrick457]

Most of the people from that era whose names we know are male: on the literary side, Josephus’ emphasis on politics results on him focusing mainly on men (the women he does mention are mainly connected with political figures). On the archaeological side, ossuaries (boxes the bones of deceased individuals are stored after the flesh had decomposed), our main source of inscriptions for the period - and we don’t have in the way of that, especially for the 1st century - do not record women’s names. Even in later synagogue and burial inscriptions, women are usually only mentioned in conjunction with a male relative.

“We don’t have much in the way of that.” The estimate BTW was conducted by female historian Tal Ilan.

I’ll also quote from Mark A. Chancey’s Greco-Roman Culture and the Galilee of Jesus (where I got the information above):

Much has been made of the fact that some Palestinian Jews had Greek and Latin names. Such names are often cited as indicators that these languages were spoken, though this argument seems to be made more often regarding Greek than Latin. Yet the problematic reasoning is obvious. A number of factors go into picking a name, such as what names are currently in vogue, the symbolic or cultural value given to particular names, and cultural orientations and/or social aspirations. Furthermore, these considerations reflect not the name bearers, but the name givers – typically, the parents. Greek and Latin names reflect Greco-Roman influence, but they are not sufficient evidence to theorize about what languages either the name-bearers or name-givers actually spoke.