Adonijah is a Hebrew biblical name meaning "my Lord is Yahweh."
Adonijah is a richly layered Hebrew name meaning "my Lord is Yahweh" — a compound of Adonai (אֲדֹנָי, "my Lord") and Yah (יָהּ), the contracted divine name. It is one of the more linguistically explicit theophoric names in the Biblical canon, declaring absolute fealty to the God of Israel with every syllable. In structure and spirit it belongs alongside Adonikam, Adonai-Bezek, and the broader tradition of names that fold an entire theology into an act of naming.
In the Hebrew Bible, Adonijah is most prominently the fourth son of King David and his wife Haggith. Handsome, ambitious, and politically astute, he made a bold bid for the throne as his father lay dying — hosting a feast, enlisting supporters, and declaring himself king — only to be outmaneuvered by the prophet Nathan and his mother Bathsheba, who secured the succession for Solomon. His story, told in 1 Kings, is a masterwork of court intrigue: a man nearly great, undone by timing and rivalry.
He was later executed by Solomon after seeking to marry Abishag, the king's attendant — a request read as a renewed dynastic claim. Adonijah remained in intermittent use among devout Jewish and Christian communities through the medieval period, particularly in communities that drew names directly from Scripture. Today it enjoys a quiet revival among parents drawn to rare Biblical names with gravitas, especially in Afro-Caribbean evangelical communities and among Hebrew-rooted naming traditions. Its rarity in the modern West makes it feel genuinely ancient — a name with a story already built in.