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Abner

Heart
Hebrew
"father of light."

Abner Origin and Meaning

The name Abner is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of light.".

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.

Abner also has literary credentials, having appeared in works by James Fenimore Cooper, Thomas Hardy and Eugene O'Neill.

# 971 in the US

Abner Rank in US Top 1000

# 662 on Nameberry

Abner Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Abner Popularity

20 Names Similar to Abner

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Famous People Named Abner

  • Abner DoubledayU.S. Civil War general; rumored to have invented baseball
  • Abner BibermanAmerican actor and director
  • Abner NashAmerican politician; 2nd Governor of North Carolina
  • Abner HaynesAmerican NFL football player
  • Abner Joseph MikvaU.S. Congressman and White House counsel
  • Abner Frank DalrympleAmerican baseball player
  • Abner Monroe PerrinU.S. Civil War general
  • Abner WilcoxAmerican missionary to Hawaii
  • (Abner) Linwood Holton Jr.American politician; 61st Governor of Virginia

Abner in Pop Culture

  • Li'l Abner Yokummain character in comic strip "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp
  • Abnerpet pig on animated series "Hey Arnold!"
  • Abner Kravitzcharacter on TV's "Bewitched"
  • Abner Halecharacter in James Michener's "Hawaii"
  • Abner Ronald Jenkinscharacter in Marvel Comics
  • Abner Browncharacter in John Masefield's "The Box of Delights"