Adam — Name Meaning in Islam

Origin: Semitic, and the lexicographers differ on it. In Hebrew ādām stands beside adamah, the ground; the classical Arabic dictionaries connect آدم either to adīm al-arḍ, the surface of the earth, or to udma, a dark or tawny complexion. Both readings agree on the same idea: a being made from the soil.

From the same field: adīm (surface, hide), udma (tawny colour), ādamī (a human being — still the ordinary word for "person" in several Muslim languages).

Who carried it: the Prophet Adam, the first human being and the first Prophet. The Qur'an names him some twenty-five times and places him at the head of those Allah chose (Al Imran 3:33). It says he was taught the names of all things (al-Baqara 2:31), and that after his lapse he was given words with which to turn back (al-Baqara 2:37) — which is why the name is read as a beginning rather than a fall.

Spellings: Adam, Aadam, Âdem (Turkish), Adam (Indonesian), Adam (Urdu), Adam (French), آدم.

Pronunciation: AA-dam — the first vowel is long, written with the madda (آ). The English Adam and the Arabic Ādam are the same name; only the first vowel differs.

Counterpart: not a feminine form but a pairing — Hawwa (Eve), his wife, whom the Qur'an mentions without naming her directly.