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.

# 2298 on Nameberry

Absalom Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Absalom Popularity

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

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