Adam
Meaning of Adam
Adam comes from the Hebrew word for man or human being, and standard dictionaries connect it to adamah, the Hebrew word for ground or earth, a link the book of Genesis makes explicit when the first man is formed from dust. It is the name of the first man in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an, and in Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition it stands for humanity as a whole. English speakers have used it steadily since the Middle Ages, usually with the biblical figure in mind.
It is pronounced AD-uhm, with the stress on the first syllable and a soft second syllable; American and British speakers say it the same way.
Among its best-known bearers are Adam Smith, the Scottish Enlightenment economist and philosopher whose Wealth of Nations earned him the title father of economics, and the actor Adam Driver, who played Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
In the United States the name rose sharply in the mid-twentieth century, entering the top 50 in 1973 and reaching its peak at 18th place in 1983 and 1984, when roughly 23,500 boys received it each year. It has eased since, with 3,501 newborns in 2025 and a rank of 101st. Adam remains a familiar, long-established choice rather than a fashionable one.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as AD-uhm (/ˈad.əm/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Adam
| Adam Lambert is an American singer songwriter and actor who rose to fame as the 2009 American Idol runner up, saw his debut album For Your Entertainment reach number three on the Billboard 200, and earned a Grammy nomination for Whataya Want from Me. |
| Adam Smith was a Scottish Enlightenment economist and philosopher whose The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments earned him the title father of economics and helped launch modern economic thought with ideas like absolute advantage. |
| Adam Bernard Mickiewicz was a Polish Romantic poet and dramatist, revered as a national poet of Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, widely regarded as Poland's greatest poet, influential in Ukrainian and Russian literature, and often compared to Byron and Goethe. |
| Adam Peaty is an English sprint breaststroke swimmer who won 100 metre breaststroke gold in 2016 and again at Tokyo 2020, ending a 24 year wait for a British male champion and becoming the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title. |
| Adam Goodes is a former Sydney Swans AFL star, a dual Brownlow and premiership winner, four time All Australian and Indigenous Team of the Century member who represented Australia and once held the Indigenous games record. |
| Actor Adam West, born William West Anderson, starred as Batman in the 1960s TV series and 1966 film, reprising the role through 2017, and appeared in Geronimo, The Outlaws Is Coming, and Robinson Crusoe on Mars. |
| Adam Driver is an American actor who broke out on the HBO series Girls with three Emmy nominations and became famous for playing Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. |
| Adam Sandler is an American actor and comedian known for leading film comedies, an Independent Spirit Award, numerous major award nominations, and the 2023 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. |
| Adam Savage is an American special effects designer and TV personality best known as MythBusters co host with Jamie Hyneman, with model work on Star Wars Episode II and The Matrix Reloaded; he also hosts Savage Builds and runs the Tested website and YouTube channel. |
| American comics artist Adam Kubert is best known for Marvel and DC titles like The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and Action Comics. |
| David Adam LaRoche is an American baseball coach and former MLB player who spent 12 seasons with the Braves, Pirates, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Nationals, and White Sox, and is the son of Dave LaRoche and brother of Andy LaRoche. |
| Adam Gase is an American football coach who rose to prominence with the Denver Broncos record setting 2013 offense and later led the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets as head coach. |
