From Hebrew Zavdi, meaning 'gift of God' or 'my gift.' Biblical father of apostles James and John.
Zebedee is a name of ancient Hebrew origin, derived from "Zebadyah" — a compound of "zabad" (to give, to bestow) and "Yah" (an abbreviation of the divine name Yahweh) — meaning "God has given" or "Yahweh has bestowed." It is thus a theophoric name in the same family as Matthew ("gift of God"), Elnathan, and Jonathan, all expressing the idea of divine generosity. In the New Testament, Zebedee is the Galilean fisherman who is the father of the apostles James and John — two of the inner circle of Jesus's disciples, present at the Transfiguration and in Gethsemane.
His wife is traditionally identified as Salome, one of the women present at the crucifixion. For centuries Zebedee remained a biblical name with modest but steady use in the English-speaking world, particularly in Puritan and nonconformist Protestant communities in Britain and early America where Old and New Testament names were chosen with deliberate scriptural intent. The name re-entered popular British cultural consciousness in a wholly different register through "The Magic Roundabout," the beloved BBC children's animated series of the 1960s and 1970s, in which Zebedee — a cheerful, spring-mounted figure with a magnificent moustache — bounded through the show's dreamlike pastures.
His catchphrase "Time for bed!" became a piece of British cultural shorthand. Zebedee today is genuinely rare, which is part of its charm for parents seeking a name with deep biblical roots and a pleasingly eccentric sound. It shares the friendly energy of Barnabas or Thaddeus — names that wear their antiquity lightly, their full syllables tumbling out with an almost comic vitality.