Abraham
Masculine · “father of a multitude”
Abraham is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 103,967 boys against 208 girls since 1880.
Few names have traveled further. Abraham is spoken in synagogues, churches and mosques alike — as Avraham, as Ibrahim, as Abraham — and it has been carried continuously for some three thousand years. In English it opens wide and lands soft: three syllables, AY-bruh-ham, with the ready-made short forms Abe and Bram waiting inside it.
How old is the name Abraham?
Abraham was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Abraham alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 84,000 people named Abraham are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Abraham most popular?
Abraham peaked in 1911, reaching #124 nationally. Today it ranks #209, 85 places below that high. See the whole 1911 chart.
Where it comes from
From Avraham to Abraham
The story of Abraham
The name is Hebrew, and its earliest home is the book of Genesis, where the patriarch is called first Abram and then Abraham. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Abraam, Latin made it Abraham, and from the Latin it entered nearly every European language; Arabic took its own path to Ibrahim, the form used across the Muslim world. English-speaking use grew mainly after the Reformation, when Protestant families turned to Old Testament names in earnest, and it crossed the Atlantic with them. In the United States its best-known bearer remains Abraham Lincoln, and the psychologist Abraham Maslow gave it a second kind of familiarity in the twentieth century.
Meaning
father of a multitude
The gloss comes from Genesis itself, where Abram — 'exalted father' — is renamed Abraham and told he will be the father of many nations. Linguists read that passage as a Hebrew wordplay rather than a strict etymology, but it is the reading the name has carried everywhere it has gone.
Cultural footprint
Abraham Lincoln (b. 1809) — The president who saved the Union and ended slavery
Abraham Maslow (b. 1909) — Psychologist of the famous hierarchy of needs
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Avraham
- Abraam
- Abraham
- Ibrahim
Related forms: Avraham · Ibrahim · Abrahán · Avraam · Avrum · Bram
Pronouncing Abraham
AY-bruh-ham
That is the usual English reading. In Spanish-speaking households it is ah-brah-AHM, with the stress at the end — worth deciding which one your family will use, since both are correct.
Nicknames for Abraham
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20162,584 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #124reached in 1911
- Change vs 2022
- −9.7%1,664 in 2025, from 1,843
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Abraham in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Avraham in Hebrew — transliteration
- Ibrahim in Arabic — same name
- Abrahán in Spanish — spelling variant
- Avraam in Russian — transliteration
- Avrum in Yiddish — related form
- Bram in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Abrahams among us
people named Abraham are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,026 born in 2025 was named Abraham
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Abraham peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Abraham is headed
Abraham should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Abraham beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Abraham in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognized in three major religious traditions and dozens of languages, so it needs no explaining almost anywhere in the world.
- Several established short forms already in real use — Abe, Bram, Avi — none of which you have to invent.
- One spelling, known to everyone who reads English; it survives being said over the phone.
- Familiar to every generation without being crowded: a child called Abraham is unlikely to share the name in a classroom.
- Strongest in California, Texas and New York, where it works comfortably in both English and Spanish.
- In the United States the name arrives with Lincoln attached. That is honorable company, but it is loud company, and some people will make the joke about stovepipe hats.
- The full form is formal and three syllables long; in practice many Abrahams are called Abe from the first week, so make sure you like the short form too.
- Its cousins Ibrahim and Avraham are close enough that people from other language backgrounds may reach for those instead — usually a pleasure, occasionally a correction you will make often.
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What they receive
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Abraham
Masculine · #209 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Abrahams are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 84,000 people named Abraham are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Abraham in 2025?
- Abraham ranks #209 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,664 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Abraham?
- About 1 in every 1,026 US boys born in 2025 was named Abraham — 1,664 in all.
- Will my child share the name Abraham with classmates?
- Abraham will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Abraham
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Victor#209 · Maddox#209 · Riley#207 · Messiah#207 · Miguel#212 · Finn#206 · Camden#205 · Zayden#213
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Abraham? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Abraham and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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