How to say it
A · dam
/ˈæd.əm/
Masculine
Adam
Man, or 'earth'
What it means
Hebrew adam, both 'man, humankind' and 'earth' (from adamah, 'soil'). The wordplay is the point: humanity formed from the earth itself.
Adam is Hebrew adam, simultaneously meaning 'man' and 'earth' — the Genesis story plays on the connection (humanity formed from adamah, soil). The name is the dominant masculine across Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, where the first man's story anchors three different theologies. The English Adam has been stable in the top 100 for centuries; it surged in the 1980s and is sliding gently now. Adam Levine, Adam Sandler, and Adam Driver have kept it visible. Rarely shortens; Ad and Addie are uncommon.
Popularity over time
peaked at #18 in 1983, currently #101 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
The biblical Adam is the unavoidable reference, but the name is common enough that most Adams aren't burdened by it.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Adam (Bible) The first man in Genesis, formed from adamah (earth)
- Adam Smith Scottish economist, author of The Wealth of Nations, 1776
- Adam Driver American actor, Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequels
Spelling variants
- Adán
- Adem
Names with the same feeling
See Adam from another angle
By meaning
By style