These are the names of the 12 men that Jesus picked to be his close followers. Simon. Jesus named him Peter. James and John. Zebedee the fisherman was their father. James and John were angry men, so Jesus called them “Men that sound like thunder.” Andrew. Philip. Bar-thol-o-mew (Bartholomew). Matthew. Thomas. James. Al-fay-us (Alphaeus) was his father. Thad-e-us (Thaddaeus). Simon the Zealot. Judas Iscariot. Later on, he was the one that turned against Jesus and helped the Jewish leaders arrest him.