Photo Credit: Jewish Press
The name Avshalom (Absalom) is clearly of Hebrew origin. In fact, it is a compound name comprised of the Hebrew words av (“father”) and shalom (“peace”). This name was famously borne by one particular character in the Bible: King David’s third son – Avshalom.
Yet, the Biblical Avshalom did not live up to his name. He was anything but peaceful. He actually arranged for his oldest brother Amnon to be killed. And then he rebelled against his father King David, fornicated with his father’s concubines, and waged war against him, claiming the throne as his own. Avshalom’s irresponsible actions cost the lives of many Jews. Eventually, King David’s men quashed the rebellion, eliminated Absalom, and restored peace to the kingdom.
(Interestingly, King David had another son whose name is etymologically-related to shalom – Shlomo (Solomon), who legitimately succeeded his father and actually brought peace to the Jewish Kingdom for much of his reign.)
Considering this history, should people name their sons Avshalom?
A famous verse in Proverbs (10:7) begins: Zecher tzaddik l’vracha – “The remembrance of the righteous should be for a blessing,” but the less famous end of that verse reads: v’shem reshaim yirkav – “and the name of the wicked shall rot.” What does this mean?
The Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 38b) explains that this means that we should not name our children names that are associated with wicked people. If somebody was a rasha, we should not name after him. Names of wicked people in the Tanach include Nimrod, Eisav, Aviram, Doeg, Yeravam, Matan, and Omri. For the most part, these names were not historically used by Jewish people because they invoke and perpetuate the memory of various wicked men.
In light of this, you would expect that the name Avshalom should likewise be left off any list of valid Jewish names; as we’ve seen above, the historical Avshalom was not the nicest person. In fact, according to Rabbi Meir (cited in Sanhedrin 103b), King David’s son Avshalom is one of a few Jews mentioned in the Tanach who lost their portion in the World to Come.
Yet, the Mishna (Kesubos 13:1) mentions a rabbinic judge in Jerusalem named Chanan ben Avshalom – at least that is the name as it appears in the Mishna printed in the Jerusalemic Talmud (there) and in the famous Kaufmann Manuscript of the Mishna. Here, we see that the judge’s father was named Avshalom. Why would a Jew in the Tannaic period be running around with the name of a wicked person from the Tanach? What kind of father would name his son Avshalom, if we say v’shem reshaim yirkav?
Because of these questions, Rabbeinu Tam (a grandson of Rashi) proposes amending the spelling of Judge Chanan’s father’s name by adding the letter yud. According to this version, his name wasn’t Avshalom, but rather Avishalom. Even though Avshalom might be an illegitimate name for a Jewish boy, Avishalom is a different name.
Rabbeinu Tam supports his position by noting that we find the name Avishalom elsewhere in the Tanach: King Shlomo’s son Rechavam married a woman named Maacha bas Avishalom, and their child Aviyam eventually took over the Kingdom of Judah (I Kgs. 15:2, 15:10). This showed Rabbeinu Tam that Avishalom is an actual name, and he used this to support emending the above-mentioned Mishna to read Chanan ben Avishalom, instead of Chanan ben Avshalom.
Others disagree with this analysis and argue that emending the Mishna to read Avishalom instead of Avshalom does not accomplish much. This is because the Biblical Avishalom was also presumably a wicked person, as his daughter Maacha was a major sponsor of idolatry and the Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 15a) lays down a general rule that when a wicked person is mentioned in the Tanach along with their parents’ name, both the parent and child can be presumed to have been wicked. Moreover, when the Book of Chronicles lists King Rechaam’s wives, it records Aviyam’s mother as Maacha bat Avshalom (II Chron. 12:20–21), using for her father’s name the very name that we’ve been trying to avoid. Third, the Ralbag (to I Kgs. 15:2) actually says that Maacha’s father Avshalom/Avishalom was none other than King David’s rebellious son, whose daughter Maacah married her first cousin. In view of all this, some have proposed keeping the name of Judge Chanan’s father in the Mishna as Avshalom, and not emending the Mishna to say Avishalom.
But this brings us back to our question: Why would a Jew in the time of the Second Temple or later have been given the name of a wicked person from the Tanach like Avshalom?
There are two answers given to this question: The first argues that even though the Biblical Avshalom was indeed a wicked person in his lifetime, the Babylonian Talmud (Sotah 10b) relates that upon his death, King David was so distraught and pained that he fervently prayed that his rebellious child be lifted from the depths of Gehinnom and be brought to the World to Come. Assuming that King David’s prayers were indeed answered, we can explain that even though Avshalom was wicked during his lifetime, once he achieved this atonement through his father’s prayers and was later admitted into the World to Come, he is no longer considered a wicked person and it is entirely appropriate to name a child Avshalom.
The second answer ignores the fate of the historical Avshalom, but focuses on the nature of his name. Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai (1724–1806), also known as the Chida, writes that if the meaning of a given name itself has a positive connotation, then we don’t look at the fact that that particular name was borne by a wicked person. Midrash Tanchuma (Shemos §2) actually alludes to this point, noting that some people have “beautiful names and ugly deeds” and cites the case of Avshalom as an example of this. According to this, even though Avshalom the person might have been a wicked fellow, since his name has a positive meaning (“father of peace,” or “my father is peace” or something along those lines), it is still appropriate to use this name in naming our children.
In practice, there are conflicting reports about whether Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky (1927–2021) told people they could name their child Avshalom. Similarly, Rabbi Mordechai Gross rules that one should not name a child Avshalom, but then somewhat backs down and writes that families that have a custom to name their boys Avshalom have whom to rely on.
I’m scratching my head to try and remember if I’ve ever met somebody named Avshalom, and suddenly I am reminded of the time that I sat on an airplane next to the world-famous chazzan from Beverly Hills, Cantor Avshalom Katz (father of Shlomo and Eitan Katz). Interesting tidbit I learned about Cantor Katz on the long flight to Israel: He very much enjoys crossword puzzles.
Sources: Tosafos (to Kesubos 104b, Yoma 38b), Haflaah (Kesubos 104b), Yaavetz (Yoma 38b), Rashash (Yoma 38b), Tiv Gittin (Shemos Anashim 18), Kav Naki (Shemos Anashim 7), Birkas HaMayim (Shemos Anashim 1:12), Shem HaGedolim (Maareches Gedolim Aleph §34), Imrei Daas (Kesubos 13:1), Vayikra Shemo B’Yisrael (A. Levi p. 193), Shemos Ba’Aretz (Yabrov p. 96), and Shema Garim (p. 26).