Absalom

Hebrew

"father of peace"

Absalom Origin and Meaning

The name Absalom is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of peace".

Absalom, because of its biblical and literary associations, just might appeal to the daring namegiver.

In the Old Testament, Absalom was the handsome, favored but rebellious son of King David. In literature, Absalom appears in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, as the repeated title of a Faulkner novel--which refers to the biblical personage rather than the name of a character-- in the novel Cry, the Beloved Country and, on a more trivial note, as the name of the caterpillar in the Tim Burton version of "Alice in Wonderland."

The growing-in-popularity Axel is the Scandinavian form of the name.

Absalom Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1928 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Absalom

• 1928 Nameberry 2025

20 Names Similar to Absalom

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Absalom.

• Thibault
• Prospero
• Theophilus
• Ptolemy
• Ludovico
• Tristram
• Arnaud
• Florent
• Barthelemy
• Alois
• Floris
• Osmond
• Philo
• Philemon
• Folke
• Bonaventure
• Belvedere
• Rollo
• Wolfram
• Flavius

Famous People Named Absalom

• Absalom son of King David by Maakah
• Absalom Willis Robertson US Senator from Virginia
• Absalom Baird Union army general in the American Civil War
• Absalom Jones American abolitionist and clergyman
• Absalom Watkin English social reformer

The name Absalom in Pop Culture

• Absalom Kumalo character in Cry, the Beloved Country
• "Absalom Absalom!", novel by William Faulkner
• "Absalom and Achitophel " satirical poem by John Dryden
• Absolem the caterpillar in Tim Burton's 2010 'Alice in Wonderland' film

International Variations of the name Absalom

• Absalón Spanish
• Avshalom Hebrew
• Absalon French
• Axel Scandinavian