Meaning & History

From the Hebrew name אַבְרָהָם (ʾAvraham), which may be viewed either as meaning "father of many" or else as a contraction of Abram 1 and הָמוֹן (hamon) meaning "many, multitude". The biblical patriarch Abraham was originally named Abram but God changed his name (see Genesis 17:5). With his father Terah, he led his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot and their other followers from Ur into Canaan. He is regarded by Jews as being the founder of the Hebrews through his son Isaac and by Muslims as being the founder of the Arabs through his son Ishmael.

As an English Christian name, Abraham became common after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was the American president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), who pushed to abolish slavery and led the country through the Civil War.

Related Names

RootsAvram + hamon
VariantsAvraham(Hebrew) Abrahán(Spanish)
DiminutivesAbe, Bram(English) Avi(Hebrew) Bram(Dutch)
Other Languages & CulturesBraam(Afrikaans) Ibrahim(Albanian) Ebrahim, Ibraheem, Ibrahim(Arabic) Brahim(Arabic (Maghrebi)) Ibrahim(Avar) İbrahim(Azerbaijani) Ibrahim(Bashkir) Abraam(Biblical Greek) Avraham(Biblical Hebrew) Ibrahim, Ibro(Bosnian) Ibragim(Chechen) Ibrahim(Dhivehi) Aabraham, Aapo(Finnish) Abraam, Abram(Georgian) Ibrahim(Hausa) Ábrahám(Hungarian) Ibrahim(Indonesian) Abramo(Italian) Ibrahim(Kazakh) Îbrahîm(Kurdish) Ibragim(Kyrgyz) Ibrahim(Malay) Ibragim(Ossetian) Ibrahim(Pashto) Ebrahim(Persian) Abraão(Portuguese) Abram, Abrasha(Russian) Ibrahim(Swahili) Ibrohim(Tajik) Ibrahim(Tatar) İbrahim(Turkish) Ibrahim(Urdu) Ibrohim(Uzbek) Ebrima, Ibrahima(Western African) Avrum(Yiddish)
Surname DescendantsAbraham, Abrahams(Dutch) Abraham, Abrahams, Abrahamson, Abram, Abrams, Abramson(English) Abraham(French) Abraham(Spanish)
Same SpellingÁbrahám
User SubmissionÁbraham

Popularity

People think this name is

classic   mature   formal   natural   wholesome   strong   refined   complex  

Name Days

Croatia: October 9
Denmark: December 20
Norway: December 20
Poland: March 16
Poland: June 15
Poland: December 19
Spain: March 16
Spain: October 9
Sweden: December 18

Images

Abraham Lincoln (1865)Abraham Lincoln (1865)

Categories

Entry updated October 6, 2024