From Hebrew 'seraphim,' the highest order of angels, meaning 'burning ones.'
Seraphim descends from the Hebrew שְׂרָפִים (seraphim), the plural of seraph — the 'burning ones' — the highest order of celestial beings described in the Book of Isaiah, who stand above the divine throne with six wings, crying out 'Holy, holy, holy.' The word is rooted in the Hebrew root śāraph, to burn or consume, suggesting both purity through fire and overwhelming divine proximity. To name a child Seraphim is to invoke one of the most theologically charged images in Abrahamic tradition.
The name found particular traction in Orthodox Christian cultures, especially Russian and Eastern European, where Serafim (the transliterated form) became a respected monastic and clerical name. The most celebrated bearer is Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1754–1833), one of the most venerated Russian Orthodox saints, renowned for his teachings on inner peace and divine light. His influence elevated the name throughout the Slavic world and among Eastern Christians generally.
In the modern era, Seraphim has begun migrating from strictly religious circles into broader usage, carried partly by the fantasy and literary tradition that populates its pages with angelic hierarchies. Parents drawn to names of mythic weight, spiritual resonance, or simply striking sound have rediscovered it. As a given name it carries an almost impossible grandeur — luminous, ancient, and unapologetically devotional — and yet on a child it lands with surprising gentleness.