Biblical Hebrew name meaning my father is the Lord or Yahweh is my father.
Abiah is one of the most ancient names still in quiet circulation, drawn from the Hebrew Aviah or Abijah, meaning "God is my father" or "my father is Yahweh." The name appears multiple times in the Hebrew Bible with a striking gender flexibility rare for scriptural names: Abijah was the second son of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 8:2), a king of Judah who fought a famous battle at Mount Zemaraim (2 Chronicles 13), and also a daughter of Zechariah and mother of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:1). That last bearer — a woman named Abiah — gave the name a matriarchal dignity that carried it into traditions that privileged the feminine form.
In Puritan New England, Abiah enjoyed quiet use alongside its more famous relatives Abigail, Abner, and Abraham. Abiah Franklin, mother of Benjamin Franklin, bore the name with distinction — she was by all accounts a formidable woman of intelligence and faith, and her son acknowledged her influence deeply. This connection to one of early America's most celebrated intellects gave Abiah an understated prestige in the colonial period, before the name gradually receded as Biblical naming fashions shifted toward the New Testament.
Today Abiah is experiencing a slow, considered revival among families drawn to ancient Hebrew names that have not been worn smooth by overuse. It avoids the ubiquity of Abigail or the starkness of Abner, offering instead a name that is sonically soft — the vowel-rich ending opens rather than closes — while carrying the full weight of a name spoken for three thousand years. It is rare enough to feel discovered, old enough to feel inevitable.