Abner (name)
Abner is a given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It is the name of Abner from the Bible, first cousin to King Saul and commander-in-chief of his army. In the United States, it was moderately popular as a given name, but declined in the first half of the 20th century, rarely being used for newborns after the 1930s. Other notable people with the name include:
Given name
- Abnér, Irish abbot
- Abner of Burgos, Jewish philosopher, convert to Christianity and polemical writer against his former religion
- Abner Biberman, American actor, director and screenwriter
- Abner Coburn, 30th governor of Maine
- Abner Cole, American newspaper editor
- Abner Cook, Texas architect and general contractor
- Abner Cotto, Puerto Rican boxer
- Abner Dalrymple, American Major League Baseball player
- Abner Dean, American cartoonist
- Abner Doble, American mechanical engineer who built and sold steam-powered automobiles
- Abner Doubleday, American Civil War Union Army general often erroneously credited with inventing baseball
- Abner Felipe, Brazilian footballer
- Abner C. Harding, member of Congress, U.S. Representative from Illinois and Union Army brigadier general during the American Civil War
- Abner Haynes, American college and American Football League player
- Abner Hazeltine, American politician, U.S. Representative from New York and lawyer
- Abner Jay, American multi-instrument musician
- Abner Jones, minister and early church reformer in the United States
- Abner Kneeland, American radical evangelist and theologian, the last man jailed in the United States for blasphemy
- Abner Lacock, American politician, Senator from Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Militia brigadier general, surveyor and civil engineer
- Abner Lewis, U.S. Representative from New York, judge and attorney
- Abner Smith Lipscomb, Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas, lawyer and judge
- Abner Louima, Haitian-American victim of police brutality
- Abner Mares, Mexican boxer who won several world championship titles
- Abner Reid McClelan, Canadian politician
- Abner J. Mikva, American former U.S. Representative from Illinois, White House Counsel, federal judge and law professor
- Abner Nash, second Governor of North Carolina, representative in the Continental Congress and lawyer
- Abner Pākī, Hawaiian chief
- Abner Monroe Perrin, Confederate general in the American Civil War
- Abner Powell, American Major League Baseball player, manager and team owner
- Abner Read, United States Navy officer killed in the American Civil War
- Abner Salles da Silva, Brazilian footballer
- Abner Shimony, American physicist and philosopher of science
- Abner W. Sibal, American politician and U.S. Representative from Connecticut
- Abner Silver, American songwriter
- Abner Taylor, U.S. Representative from Illinois and businessman
- Abner Vinícius, Brazilian footballer
- Abner Wilcox, American missionary teacher in the Kingdom of Hawaii
- Abner Wimberly, American football player
- Abner Zwillman, Jewish-American gangster
Surname
- David Abner Sr., American legislator and former slave
- Douglas Abner, Brazilian footballer
- Ewart Abner, American record company executive
- Philip Abner, pitcher in Major League Baseball
- Shawn Abner, American Major League Baseball player
- Seth Abner, better known as Scump, American professional Call of Duty player, son of Shawn Abner
Fictional characters
- Abner Brown, the villain of John Masefield's novel The Box of Delights
- Abner Jenkins, a villain in Marvel Comics
- Abner Kravitz, neighbor to central character Samantha Stephens in the 1960s sitcom Bewitched, played by George Tobias
- Abner Krill, aka the Polka-Dot Man, a villain in DC Comics
- Abner Marsh, the protagonist of George R. R. Martin's novel Fevre Dream
- Abner Peabody, a character in the Lum and Abner American radio program
- Abner Ravenwood, father of Marion Ravenwood
- Abner Yokum, title character of the American comic strip ''L'il Abner''