A biblical Hebrew name traditionally interpreted as 'my music' or 'my praise.'
Zimri is a Hebrew name of striking biblical antiquity, derived from the root זָמַר (zamar), meaning "to make music" or "to praise." Its full meaning is often rendered as "my music" or "my praise," placing it in the rich tradition of Hebrew names that express a devotional relationship with the divine through song. The name appears in the Book of Numbers, where Zimri son of Salu is a prince of the tribe of Simeon, and in 1 Kings, where a military commander named Zimri seizes the throne of Israel — only to reign for a mere seven days before his dramatic downfall.
The name received an unexpected literary afterlife in 1681, when John Dryden deployed "Zimri" as a satirical pseudonym in his political poem Absalom and Achitophel, using the name's biblical associations with instability and betrayal to skewer George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Dryden's portrait — a man of brilliant, scattered talent who "was everything by turns and nothing long" — made Zimri synonymous in English letters with brilliant inconstancy. Puritan settlers in colonial America, who baptized children from the full sweep of the Hebrew scriptures, also occasionally bestowed the name, giving it a secondary life in New England church records.
Today Zimri occupies a rare and distinguished space among revival Old Testament names: recognizable enough to feel grounded but uncommon enough to feel genuinely distinctive. Its musical etymology makes it especially resonant for families drawn to names that carry an intrinsic sense of creative spirit and devotion.