Asher
What does the name Asher mean?
The meaning of the name “Asher” is: “Fortunate; blessed; happy”.
Additional information: Asher is a masculine Hebrew name that can mean either ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’. Asher was the name of one of Jacob and Ziplah’s sons in the Old Testament, and he later gave his name to one of the tribes of Israel. Alternative spellings for Asher are ‘Axsher’ and ‘Aser’, although the latter is also a biblical Greek and Latin variant. For a similar name to Asher, the names of the other sons of Jacob are appropriate, such as Levi, Joseph, or Benjamin, and for a feminine replacement the name Dinah is the only mentioned daughter of Jacob – alternatively, the name Ashley sounds similar to Asher. In Yiddish the name Asher has the diminutive Anshel, and in English it easily shortens to the name Ash. Asher is sometimes misspelled as ‘Ahser’ and ‘Sher’.
The name Asher made a brief foray into popularity during the late 19th century, but it faded into obscurity for the next century. Although it entered the top thousand names in 1983 and 1985 respectively, it wasn’t until 1992 that it began seriously climbing the popularity rankings. By 2014, the name Asher had climbed from 960th in 1992 to the 93rd most popular name for boys in the USA. Although the name hasn’t been as popular in England and Wales, it has been almost consistently in the top five hundred names for boys since 1996, missing out on the top five hundred for only one year – 2001.
Famous people with the name Asher include Asher Asher (Scottish physician), Asher Keddie (Australian actress), and Asher Roth (American rapper).
In Jewish legend, Serah bat Asher is the only one of Jacob’s granddaughters to be mentioned (alongside his 53 grandsons). Her name is also on the census taken by Moses in the desert, several hundred years later, leading some to believe that she may have lived for hundreds of years. Although her biblical mentions are brief, there are a lot of legends surrounding her: that she died in a fire in a Persian synagogue in the ninth century, that she was taken to heaven to preside over a palace of thousands of women, and that she never actually died, and roams the world still.
The name Asher made a brief foray into popularity during the late 19th century, but it faded into obscurity for the next century. Although it entered the top thousand names in 1983 and 1985 respectively, it wasn’t until 1992 that it began seriously climbing the popularity rankings. By 2014, the name Asher had climbed from 960th in 1992 to the 93rd most popular name for boys in the USA. Although the name hasn’t been as popular in England and Wales, it has been almost consistently in the top five hundred names for boys since 1996, missing out on the top five hundred for only one year – 2001.
Famous people with the name Asher include Asher Asher (Scottish physician), Asher Keddie (Australian actress), and Asher Roth (American rapper).
In Jewish legend, Serah bat Asher is the only one of Jacob’s granddaughters to be mentioned (alongside his 53 grandsons). Her name is also on the census taken by Moses in the desert, several hundred years later, leading some to believe that she may have lived for hundreds of years. Although her biblical mentions are brief, there are a lot of legends surrounding her: that she died in a fire in a Persian synagogue in the ninth century, that she was taken to heaven to preside over a palace of thousands of women, and that she never actually died, and roams the world still.
Categories: Biblical Names, Cool Names, Cute Names, Hebrew Names, Jewish Names, Uncommon Names, Unique Names
Gender: Boy Names
Origins: Hebrew
Starts with: A
