Given name & surname
Naum
“comforter”·“a compassionate man”
Naum is a form of Nahum. Interpretations include “comforter” (Hebrew) and “a compassionate man” (Hebrew). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Hebrewנחום
Meaning & origin
What it means
Naum is a form of Nahum. Interpretations include “comforter” (Hebrew) and “a compassionate man” (Hebrew). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Naum is a form of Nahum. An origin associated with Nahum is Hebrew.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Russian use, Naum is used as a form of Nahum.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1996. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Naum is a form of Nahum. The history of Nahum gives this family its wider story. The biblical book of Nahum concerns the fall of Nineveh. Nahum also found use among English Puritans; a later bearer, the playwright Nahum Tate, famously adapted King Lear with a happy ending.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Naum appears in Nahum 1:1.
From biblical name research
Naum through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 17
- 17 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 6 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 791 as a first name in 2020; 336 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Naum’s family of names
Naum developed from Nahum. In English usage, Naum has a conventional equivalent in the Russian form Наум. Naum is a form of Nahum.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Naum has relatives in 5 languages.
2 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 8
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Naum
- Naum GaboRussian-American sculptor (1890–1977)
- Naum AkhiezerRussian mathematician (1901–1980)
- Naum FaiqAssyrian writer and nationalist1868–1930
- Naum KleimanRussian film criticborn 1937
- Naum MeimanRussian mathematician (1912-2001)
- Naum Yakovlevich VilenkinRussian mathematician (1920–1991)
- Naum Landkof1915–2004
- Naum Z. ShorRussian mathematician (1937–2006)
- Naum ZholudevHero of the Soviet Union (1922-1985)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Naum, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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