What Does the Name “Abraham” Mean? (Genesis 17:5)

It is widely thought that the name “Abraham” means “father of a multitude of nations”, based on Genesis 17:5:

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. (ESV)

The ESV footnote for “Abraham” in this verse reads:

Abraham means father of a multitude.

However, there are a few problems with this popular view.

Firstly, the name “Abraham” in Hebrew, ʾaḇrāhām (אַבְרָהָם), is not the same as the Hebrew expression for “father of a multitude of nations” in Genesis 17:5, ʾaḇ-hămōwn gōwyim (אַב-הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם). Now, the first part of the name “Abraham” is spelt with the same letters as the Hebrew word for “father” (אב). However, the remaining part of the name does not mean “multitude” or “nations”, let alone “a multitude of nations”.

Secondly, the text does not actually insist that the name “Abraham” means “father of a multitude of nations”. The reason that God gives for the name change is, “for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations,” and not specifically because the name “Abraham” means “father of a multitude of nations”.

Thirdly, this popular view does not account for why God also changed the name of Abram’s wife Sarai (שָׂרָי) to “Sarah” (שָׂרָה) in verse 15. If the significance of the name change in this passage were in the meaning of the new name, then why does the text not also provide the meaning of the name “Sarah”?

So then, why did God change Abram’s name to “Abraham”?

The names “Abram” and “Abraham” are actually different versions of the same name. Likewise, the names “Sarai” and “Sarah” are different versions of the same name. Therefore, the significance of the name change in this passage is not in the meaning of the new names “Abraham” and “Sarah”, since they are the same names as their previous names, “Abram” and “Sarai”.