Adonijah

The narrative of Adonijah’s failed succession is significant in the Books of Kings: he gathered supporters including Joab the army commander and Abiathar the priest, and proclaimed himself king—but was outmaneuvered when the prophet Nathan and Bathsheba persuaded the dying David to formally anoint Solomon.

After Solomon’s succession, Adonijah was initially spared but was subsequently executed when he requested David’s attendant Abishag as a wife, a request Solomon interpreted as a further bid for royal authority (1 Kings 2:13–25).

Adonijah is rarely used as a given name. It appears occasionally in evangelical and Reformed Christian communities that value rare or obscure Old Testament names. Its Hebrew meaning—“my lord is Yahweh”—is theologically positive, but the biblical bearer’s story of ambition and failure makes the name an unusual choice.

The name is masculine. Puritan communities in 17th-century England and New England occasionally used rare biblical names like Adonijah, and some bearers in historical records trace their ancestry to this tradition. Further reading: etymology records and US popularity records from SSA.