Obadja as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Obadja

What is the meaning of the name Obadja ?

The baby name Obadja is a Male name , 3 syllables long and is pronounced oh-BAD-yuh (IPA: /oʊˈbæd.jə/).

Obadja is Hebrew in Origin.

Obadja is the Germanic/Dutch form of the biblical name Obadiah, from Hebrew Ovadyah (עֹבַדְיָה), built on the root ‘avad “to serve” plus the divine element Yah, meaning “servant” or “worshipper of Yahweh.” The name belongs to a minor prophet whose book is the shortest in the Hebrew Bible, which helped preserve it among Jews and early Christians. In medieval Europe it circulated in Latin as Abdias, later appearing in English-speaking records - especially among Puritans - and in modern Israel as Ovadia/Ovadya.

Variants include Obadiah (English), Ovadia/Ovadya (Hebrew/Israeli), Abdias (Latin, French), Abdías (Spanish), Abdia or Abdías (Italian/Portuguese), Obadja (German, Dutch, Swedish), Obadija (South Slavic), and Abdiasz (Polish). Diminutives are rare. Contemporary use is uncommon but steady, appealing to those who favor distinctive Old Testament names with a clear theophoric meaning and a long scriptural pedigree.

⚙ Obadja is about as rare as a name gets. We hold just 4 recorded uses of it, from 2 countries.