A male name. Hebrew ‘red’ or ‘red earth’, probably with reference to the earth from which the first man was supposed to have been made. St Adamnan the 8th-C Irish saint, whose name means ‘little Adam’, is one of the earliest bearers of the name (it seems never to have been used by Jews). It occurs once or twice in England before the Conquest, but always as the name of a monk. In Domesday Book it is the name of one tenant-in-chief and some sub-tenants, and its popularity increased rapidly in the 12th C. In 13th-C records it is one of the two or three commonest names (it is the name of Chaucer’s Scrivener) and was a particular favourite in the North and in Scotland, especially among the Gordons (e.g. Adam Bell, Edam o’Gordon). It gave rise to a multitude of surnames such as Adam, Adams, Adamson, Adcock, Addis, Addison, Adkin, Atkin, Atkinson, and MacAdam. Ade and Adekin were the favourite pet-forms of the name. Like many of the favourites of the 13th C it lost ground in the 14th C, but came back into use after the Reformation and continued to be popular with the poorer classes down to the end of the 19th C.

Adam (gen Ade) Domesday Book 1086, Curia Regis Rolls 1187-1212 passim, Assize Rolls 1218-19 passim, Hundred Rolls 1273 passim, Exchequer Rolls 1306. Adecock Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem 1311, Adekin Exchequer Rolls 1306. Adinet Exchequer Rolls 1306.

This fine old name—apparently one of the earliest of all Names whatsoever, as Carlyle did not say—meaneth, in Hebrew, ‘man’, itself from Hebrew adamah, red earth. It lost, centuries ago, its Semitic connotations: like John, it is a frank and sturdy name, sitting ill on milksops and effeminates: but, unlike John (and Jack), it has made little impression on the proverb, for in English there are only two, ‘When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?’ (Eve), and the C17-18 ‘We are all Adam’s children, but silk makes the difference’, with which contrast ‘All God’s chillun got wings’. (Apperson.)

The Scripture name, in Hebrew אדם, Adham, signifying ‘man;’ lit. earthy, red earth; Rudolph, however, says the name in Ethiopic means ‘to be fair, beautiful.’ Hence the nurse-name Addy, little Adam.

Hebrew (masculine) - Red earth.

Ad'-am, earthy, taken out of red earth. The first man, and father of the human race. Gen. i. 26. Also, the name given to man in general. Gen. v. 1, 2; Josh. xiv. 15; 2 Sam. xii. 19; Eceles. iii. 21; Jer. xxxii. 20; Hosea vi. 7; Zech. xiii. 7. The second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. The name of two cities.

Meaning: man: red earth.

A Hebrew name, meaning: From the red earth; primitive: first of men.

A Gaelic name: Adhamh, Ahū (Fer. MS.), Awzoe, Early Irish Adam, Old Irish Adim (g); from Hebrew Adam, red. Hence Mac-adam, M‘Caw, and from Dial. Gaelic 'Adaidh (a diminutive from Sc.) M‘Cadie, M' 'Adaidh.