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 [ 3 syll. a-bra-ham, ab-rah-am ] The boy name Abraham is pronounced EYBRahHHAEM KEY. Abraham is of Hebrew origin, and it is used largely in the Dutch, English, German, and Hebrew languages. Biblical name derived from av meaning 'father' ; hamon meaning 'multitude'. Original forms of Abraham include Abrahamus (Latin) and Avraham (Hebrew). In the Bible, the patriarch Abram's name was changed to Abraham when he entered into a covenant with God that his descendants would possess the land of Canaan. The Bible explained the name Abraham as 'father of a multitude (of nations)'. Among Muslims, Ibrahim is regarded as the founder of the Arabs, and the name is often taken to be from 'abu' meaning 'father' and 'rahim' meaning 'kind'. The name Abraham was adopted by the 17th-century Puritans, and it has been particularly popular among Jews. The name was also borne by various saints of the Eastern Roman Empire. Its current adoption has been widely influenced by the US President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), the Civil War president nicknamed 'Honest Abe'. Another short form of the name is well-known from Bram Stoker (1847-1912), who created Count Dracula. The name Abraham is used to a great extent; it has 29 variations that are used in both English and foreign languages. Aberham, Abram (used in Hebrew and Russian too), and Abrams are variations of the name that are used in English. Other English variants include the short forms Abe (used in Dutch and too), Abran (used in Spanish too), Brahm, Bram (used in Dutch and too), and Ham, and the pet forms Abi and Abie. Foreign variations of Abraham include the Finnish Aapo, the Basque Abarran, the Spanish Abraam, the Irish Abracham, the Esperanto, Italian, and Spanish Abrahamo, the Portuguese and Spanish Abrahan, the Spanish Abrahán, the Italian and Spanish Abramo, the Portuguese Abrao, the Scandinavian Arram, the Hebrew Avraham, the Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slavic, and Yiddish Avram, the Yiddish Avrom, the Yiddish Avrum, the Albanian Brahim, the Arabic and Iranian Ebrahim, the Arabic and Indian Ibraheem, and the Arabic, Spanish, and Turkish Ibrahim. Another foreign variant is the short form Ab (Dutch). Abraham is popular as a baby name for boys. Its usage peaked modestly in 1911 with 0.121% of baby boys being given the name Abraham. It ranked at #124 then. The baby name has since experienced a decline in frequency, and is of only occasional use in recent years. In 2008, it ranked at #187 with a usage of 0.098%, but it was nonetheless the most popular among all boy names in its group. 4 times more boys were named Abraham than the 2nd most popular name, the English, Hebrew, and Russian Abram, in 2008. Baby names that sound like Abraham include the Hebrew Avraham, the English Ephriam, the Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slavic, and Yiddish Avram, the Yiddish Avrom, the Hebrew Efron, the English and Hebrew Ephrayim, the German Ephräm, the English and Hebrew Ephrem, the English and Hebrew Ephrim, the Yiddish Evron, and the English Ephraem. Details of famous persons named Abraham: KEY: Pronunciation for Abraham: EY as in "ate (EY.T)" ; B as in "be (B.IY)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; HH as in "he (HH.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)"   |
