Hebrew Names

In the Bible, it's the name of an ancient prophet who was able to withstand Satan. It has gained modest attention in recent years, hitting the US Top 1000 in 2008.

Abel, the name of Adam and Eve's unfortunate younger son, compensates with positive connotations: capable, competent, ready and willing.

This feminine form of Abel is also a flower name and makes a distinctive alternative to the widely used Abigail. There is a similar name, Adelia, that is beginning to be rediscovered thanks to the trend for all names Adel- related.

Abiah is a gentle, rarely used Old Testament name belonging to Samuel's second son. This makes a good choice for the parent who wants a traditional biblical name that is not overly familiar.

Abiel is a biblical name (he was the grandfather of Saul) that was used by Puritans, particularly in Massachusetts, so it has a long pedigree. Parents are increasingly looking for underused traditional names, and this name, with the great nickname option of Abe, is ripe for more use!

More than the sum of Abby and Ella.

Abigail has been in for so long -- the name has ranked in the US Top 100 since the late 1980s -- it's amazing that it isn't more out by now. But Abigail's biblical and historic roots make it a fashionable classic rather than a passing fad.

There are two Abihails in the Old Testament, but her similarity to Abigail is probably responsible for its being so little known or used.

Abijah, which you might think of as Abigail with rhythm, is the name of both female and male personages in the Bible. A biblical Queen Abijah was the daughter, wife, and mother of kings. The name is pronounced with a long i, to rhyme with Elijah.

Colonial Americans used many Biblical names forgotten by modern baby namers; this is an Old Testament descendant of Shem. If Moses and Noah can come back, why not Abimael and brethren?

Place-name of a settlement in Galilee in Israel.

Abital is popular for boys as well as girls in Israel, but we rarely hear it here. In the Old Testament, Abital was one of King David's wives and the mother of his fifth son.

This neglected Biblical name--it was the name of the commander of Saul's army and appears twice in the New Testament--is ready to flee Dogpatch. It was regularly used in the nineteenth century, but was pretty much demolished by the long-running hillbilly comic strip L'il Abner, which began in 1934 and ran through 1977. A more respectable namesake is Abner Doubleday, who has been credited with inventing baseball.

Abra is soft, sensitive feminine form of Abraham that was the name of a soft, sensitive character in the John Steinbeck book and movie, "East of Eden." In the bible, Abra was a favorite of King Solomon and it was a popular name in seventeenth century England. Abra is also a West African name used for girls born on Tuesday. The magical 'abracadabra' is thought to have originated in the Aramaic language.

Abraham is among the most classic baby names that's still widely-used today, popular for its references to both the Bible and American history. The Biblical Abraham was the first of the Old Testament patriarchs and is considered the founding father of the Jewish people. He was originally named Abram, until, according to Genesis, he was told, "No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations."