You can’t talk Halloween without talking vampires. But while a name like Lestat would surely be a burden to a son, this one might wear quite well on a modern child.
Today’s Name of the Day is Bram.
Traditionally, Bram is short for Abraham. The name’s meaning is usually given as “father of many,” from the Hebrew, and that matches up with the Biblical patriarch’s tale quite well. Besides significance in Christianity, Abraham features in Judaism and Islam, too. When he first appears in the Old Testament, his name is Abram. After his revelation, he takes on the extra syllable. In this case, a subtle alteration carries quite a bit of meaning.
If you’re entertaining Abraham, Bram might feel like a better nickname than honest Abe. Parents might also arrive at Bram through an English surname like Bramwell or Bramley. But Bram could stand on his own, too. He’d be right at home with single-syllable names for boys, like Finn and Gus, Max and Jack.
Some suggest that Bram has a secondary derivation, unrelated to the Bible – the Gaelic word for raven. That makes him even more appealing as a stand-alone appellation – and even more appropriate for Halloween!
Speaking of Halloween, Bram Stoker (yup, he was born Abraham) was born in Dublin back in 1847. He spent years researching folklore before penning Dracula. His novel debuted in 1897 and was popular, but it would take the movie versions to cement the vampire in our popular imagination. In 1931, Bela Lugosi created the Count Dracula that most of us think of when we hear “vampire.” The movie was a hit, and so we’ve seen Bram Stoker’s tale re-interpreted countless times since.
There aren’t many other notable bearers of the name. Sharon, Louis and Bram are a Canadian musical trio best known for singing catchy tunes for children, many of them about elephants. (That Bram started out as a Bramwell.) The creator and CEO of file sharing software BitTorrent is Bram Cohen. South African lawyer Bram Fischer (born Abram) was a notable figure in the anti-apartheid movement, especially celebrated because he turned his back on a privileged life to defend Nelson Mandela.
Bram’s never cracked the US Top 1000, but all of this could change. It’s a fairly popular given name in Belgium and has ranked in the Top Ten in the Netherlands in recent years.
Very few names combine all of Bram’s qualities – he’s short and unusual, vaguely exotic but easy to spell and pronounce. And while he has a Gothic edge that will appeal to some parents, it’s still a reasonably mainstream moniker that won’t burden your child. As a nickname or on his own, Bram could wear very well.
Note: Post Revised December 14, 2009
I think it’s amusing that while Bram is being discussed, Bela comes up. I love how those two are linked!
While I am thoroughly charmed by Bram, just Bram, not Abraham or Abram and Bramwell’s iffy (but he may like it, There was one on Dark Shadows (Played by the same guy who played Barnabas, Jonathan Frid)! Google ‘Bramwell Collins’ and you’ll find him.
I adore Bela (said BAY-law) but it’s far too close to the masses of Bella’s out there and I’m a touch afraid he’ll be mistaken for a girl full time. I could happily nickname a boy Bela.
Back to Bram. My first assocation is as everyone else’s, Bram Stoker. But I’m also reminded of the nasty in “Sleepy Hollow”: Bram Bones. I think he was changed to Brom something or other in the Depp version of the film, but in the stories I read as a kid, he was Bram Bones. Ichabod Crane’s foil.
I might just casually mention Bramwell to him, see what he thinks. I could love happy with a son named for Stoker and I’m a thousand p[ercent sure the Vampire fan he is would lve it (The Dark Shadows link would probably seal it. (Maybe I should toss together a few combos first?)
Bram gets a full :thumbsup: from me, he’s smart, strong, snappy & snazzy. Warm and not too forbidding, too. He’s wonderful!
I was named after Bram Fischer. Bram is my full first name though, not an abbreviation.
My children’s names are Reilly (girl), Cantor, and Briar (both boys). Cantor was named after the mathematician.
I like Bram as a full name also- Abraham is great but it is a bit much for me.
And at Bram above, I love that your son is named after the mathematician Cantor! Very cool!
You’ve made me see Bram in a different light. I think I’ll be able to overlook my first impression of “bran, I mean Bram”.
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This one is on our “long” list, my hubbie says he feels “wishy washy” about it, but thinks it could grow on him. So I keep it on the list and bring it up every now and then. I love the shortness to it and the halloween images it brings up. Honestly halloween is my favorite holliday, and although i am not a gothic princess, I love the names depth. I love Graham, but my hubby nixes that because he thinks “cracker”, and was called a white cracker as a kid, so needless to say he has bad associations… Bram has the same short sweetness and I love that it is nickname proof and unpopular but rcognizable and spellable… so i am still holding onto the hope that by the time we have a child, that is a son, Bram will have moved up on the list.. especially if he is born in October!
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While I know this site is devoted to human/baby names, I was surprised to see Bram here, as it is my Saint Bernard’s name. And as another poster above me mentioned, I get “What? Bran?” all the time. It actually gave him his nickname “Bram Muffin”.
Luckily, being Canadian I can use the Sharon, Lois and Bram reference easily.