Absalom (English pronunciation , ; Biblical Greek ) is a masculine first name from the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, where

Absalom Absalom ( he, ''ʾAḇšālōm'', "father of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. 2 Samuel 14:25 describes him as the handsomest man in the kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled ag ...

is a son of

King David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. The variant is used as the name of the father-in-law of

Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , ; , ; la, Roboam, ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the last monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel and the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the former's split. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a gr ...

1 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

(15:2,10), who in 2 Chronicles 11:20,21 is referred to by the shorter form ''Avshalom''. The modern Scandinavian first name, '' Axel'' has developed (via ''Axelen'') from Absalon, a 12th-century Danish archbishop and statesman. The variant ''Absolon'' is a German surname. The name was also used in medieval England (variants ''Absolon, Apsolon, Abselon''). As in the biblical story, as Absalom was pursuing his father, King David, in the forest of Ephraim and has his long hair caught in a tree, the name appears to have been a nickname for a man with long or thick hair, as suggested by a passage in the ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''magnum opus' ...

'', This use as a nickname is possibly also the origin of Absalom as an

English surname English names are names used in, or originating in, England. In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) family ...

. The name Absalom continued to be used in Anglo-Saxon Protestantism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Hebrew name was used among

Palestinian Jews Palestinian Jews or Jewish Palestinians were the Jewish inhabitants of the Palestine region (known in Hebrew as ''Eretz Yisrael'', ) prior to the establishment of the State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِس� ...

in the 19th to early 20th century and remains current in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

; it is mostly anglicized as ''Avshalom'', reflecting

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...

pronunciation.

First name

;Absalom * Absalom (c. 100 BC), a son of Jewish High Priest John Hyrcanus *

Absalom Shade Allan Absalom Shade Allan (November 26, 1843 – February 1, 1928) was an Ontario merchant and political figure. He represented Wellington West in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal member from 1886 to 1894. He was born near Prest ...

(1843 – after 1901), Canadian merchant and politician *

Absalom Baird Absalom Baird (August 20, 1824 – June 14, 1905) was a career United States Army officer who distinguished himself as a Union Army general in the American Civil War. Baird received the Medal of Honor for his military actions. Early life Baird was ...

(1824–1905), Union Army general in the American Civil War *

Absalom Boston Absalom Boston (1785–1855) was a United States mariner who was the first African-American captain to sail a whaleship, with an all-black crew, in 1822. Biography Absalom Boston was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, to Seneca Boston, an Africa ...

(1785–1855), American businessman and captain *

Absalom Harris Chappell Absalom Harris Chappell (December 18, 1801 – December 11, 1878) was an American politician and lawyer. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives, Georgia Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. He was a slaveholder. Biography Ab ...

(1801–1878), American politician and lawyer *

Absalom Dlamini Absalom Dlamini (born 5 August 1984) is a Swazi footballer with the Royal Leopards and the Swaziland national football team The Eswatini national football team, nicknamed ''Sihlangu Semnikati'' (King's Shield), represents Eswatini, formerl ...

(born 1984), Swazi footballer * Absalom Themba Dlamini (born 1950), former Prime Minister of Eswatini * Absalom Greeley (1823–1885), Canadian politician *

Absalom J. Hembree Absalom Jefferson Hembree (December 14, 1813 – April 10, 1856) was an American soldier and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Tennessee, he served in the Provisional Legislature of Oregon and the Oregon Territorial L ...

(1813–1856), American soldier and politician *

Absalom Iimbondi Absalom Manyana Kamutyasha Iimbondi (born 11 October 1991) is a Namibian football player. Some sources list his last name as Limbondi. He plays for United Africa Tigers. International He made his Namibia national football team debut on 4 July 201 ...

(born 1991), Namibian footballer * Absalom Jones (1746–1818), African American abolitionist and clergyman * Absalom Jordan (1840–1888), American Civil War soldier *

Absalom Koiner Absalom Koiner (August 5, 1824 – December 31, 1920) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senat ...

(1824–1920), American lawyer and politician * Absalom Willis Robertson (1887–1971), American politician * Absalom Shabangu (born 1952), Swazi weightlifter * Absalom Shade (c. 1793 – 1862), Canadian businessman and politician * Absalom Sydenstricker (1852–1931), American Presbyterian missionary *

Absalom Tatom Absalom Tatom (1742 – December 20, 1802) was a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina from 1795 to 1796. Biography Born in North Carolina in 1742, Tatom was a sergeant in the Greenville, North Carolina Militia in 1763; he served in North Carol ...

(1742–1802), American politician * Absalom Austin Townsend (1810–1888), early pioneer of SW Wisconsin and founder of Rough and Ready, CA. WI state politician. *

Absalom Watkin Absalom Watkin (1787–1861), was an English social and political reformer, an anti corn law campaigner, and a member of Manchester's ''Little Circle'' that was key in passing the Reform Act 1832. Early life Absalom Watkin was born in London t ...

(1787–1861), English political reformer * Absalom Holbrook Wingo, known as

Al Wingo Absalom Holbrook Wingo (May 6, 1898 – October 9, 1964), commonly known by the nickname "Red", was an American baseball player. A native of Norcross, Georgia, his older brother Ivey Wingo played 17 years in Major League Baseball starting in 1 ...

(1898–1964), American baseball player ;Absalon/Absolon * Absalon (c. 1128 – 1201), a Danish archbishop and statesman *

Absolon Stumme Absolon Stumme (died 1499) was a Late Gothic painter from Northern Germany who worked in Hamburg. Absolon Stumme married into the family of artists, becoming the second stepfather of Hinrik Bornemann, who died the same year as he did. Afte ...

(died 1499), German painter ;Avishalom/Avshalom * Avishalom, the father-in-law of King

of Judah *

Avshalom Elitzur Avshalom Cyrus Elitzur ( he, אבשלום כורש אליצור; born 30 May 1957) is an Israeli physicist and philosopher. Biography Avshalom Elitzur was born in Kerman, Iran, to a Jewish family. When he was two years old, his family immigrat ...

(born 1957), Israeli physicist and philosopher * Avshalom Feinberg (1889–1917), Jewish spy for Britain in World War I * Avshalom Haviv (1926–1947), one of the Olei Hagardom *

Avshalom Kor Dr. Avshalom Kor ( he, אבשלום קור) (born 17 September 1950) is an Israeli linguist and expert on Hebrew grammar and semantics. He is known to provide upon request, the grammatical root of any given Hebrew word and/or name along with ...

(born 1950), Israeli linguist *

Avshalom Vilan Avshalom Vilan ( he, אבשלום וילן, born 11 February 1951) is an Israeli politician and economist. He served as a Knesset member for Meretz between 1999 and 2009. Biography Avshalom Vilan was born on Kibbutz Negba. He served in the I ...

(born 1951), Israeli politician and economist

Surname

"Absalom" is a rare

, recorded as early as in the early 13th century. It derives from the first name ''Absalom'' which became popular in England in the 12th century. The surname remained rare throughout its existence, but it gave rise to a number of variants, such as ''Asplen'', and via the latter ''Aspling'' and ''Ashplant''. David Hey, ''Family Names and Family History'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006
p. 65
The variant ''Absolon'' is found in England as well as in France and Germany, reaching Central Europe in the late medieval period, so that ''Absolon'' (feminine ''Absolonová'') is now also a Czech and Slovak surname. ;Absalom * Henry W.L. Absalom, a member of the Scientific Committee on the

Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South ...

of 1955–58, eponymous of

Mount Absalom Mount Absalom () is the southernmost and highest (1,640 m) mountain of the Herbert Mountains, in the central part of the Shackleton Range. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition and named for Henry W.L. Absalom, ...

in Antarctica. *

Jack Absalom John Henry Absalom (11 November 1927 – 22 March 2019) was an Australian artist, author and adventurer. Life and death John Henry Absalom, colloquially to everyone as 'Jack', was born in Port Augusta, South Australia. He grew up along the ...

(1927–2019), Australian artist *

Mike Absalom Mike Absalom (born 9 November 1940) is an English pop, folk and celtic music musician, poet and children's entertainer. ''The Province'' newspaper once described Absalom's musical work as "innocence with a macabre twist". His recording and perf ...

(born 1940), English folk singer-songwriter * Ted Absolom (1875–1927), Australian rules footballer. *

Joe Absolom Joe Absolom (born 16 December 1978) is an English actor known for his roles as Matthew Rose in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'' and Al Large in the ITV comedy drama ''Doc Martin''. Early life Absolom was born in Lewisham, London. A former pu ...

(1978), English film actor ;Absolon * John Absolon (1815–1895), British watercolor painter * Karel Absolon (1877–1960), Czech archaeologist, geographer, paleontologist, and speleologist * Andrea Absolonová (1976–2004), Czech diver, and pornographic actress known as Lea De Mae * Milada Absolonová, Czechoslovak slalom canoeist *

Monika Absolonová Monika Absolonová (born 27 September 1976) is a Czech singer and actress. She released her first album, ''Monika'', in 1993. In 2002, she performed the title role in the famous Czech musical, Kleopatra, at Prague's Broadway Theatre. Absolonová ...

(born 27 1976), Czech singer and actress *

Philip Absolon Philip Absolon (born 24 November 1960) is a British artist and a founder member of the Stuckists art group,Milner, Frank, ed. ''The Stuckists Punk Victorian'', p. 50, National Museums Liverpool 2004, . Pages 6–30, Charles Thomson's essay, "A S ...

(born 1960), British artist and a founder member of the Stuckists

First name

Surname

References

See also