For several centuries, this male first name has seduced parents with its multiculturality, its history and its charm. This year, it even appears in the top 10 of the most fashionable first names.
Despite the years that pass, certain first names do not age as they continue to please and be assigned over the years. This old masculine first name, recorded in Anglo-Saxon countries from the 7th century, experienced impressive growth in France at the beginning of the 1990s. In fact, more and more parents are interested in this multicultural first name, loaded with history, such point that this year it rises to 9th place among the most trendy first names for the year 2024, according to The Official First Names (First editions). In France today, it is even attributed to almost one in 134 boys.
This first name appears in the Old Testament, a trend that is becoming more and more popular, like the first names Nathan, Noah, Gabriel and Raphaël. The first name Adam indeed has a very strong symbolism for believing people since it refers, in the Book of Genesis, to the first man created by God, alongside Eve. If we take a closer look at its etymology, the first name Adam comes to us from Hebrew terms adamah And adom, which mean “made of red earth”. It also has Babylonian or Phoenician origins, which refer to the noble terms “man” and “humanity”.
The first name Adam therefore appeals to parents looking for a multicultural first name. “A sure bet in Eastern countries and Scandinavia, Adam also grew up in French-speaking countries. It rises in the top 20 in Quebec, French-speaking Switzerland and Walloon“, specify the authors of the Official First Names.
In 2015, it even found itself in first place among the most given first names in Paris. This coincides with the peak recorded in 2016, with 4,663 births registered in France under the first name Adam, according to INSEE data. Since then, he has continued to appear in the French top 10. For the authors of the guide The Official First Names 2024, Claire Tabarly-Perrin and Stéphanie Rapoport, this name for boys owes its success above all to its multicultural dimension. We understand better why it is the 19th most popular male first name in France since 2000.