How popular is the name Obal today?

In United States birth records Obal is below the reporting threshold. Counts under five are not published, so a name given to four children is indistinguishable from one given to none.

Boy Old Testament Rare

Obal

Q: How often does the name Obal appear in the Bible?

It appears in 2 verses across 2 books.

inconvenience of old age

עוֹבָל o.val

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Obal (Hebrew: עוֹבָל, o.val) means “inconvenience of old age”, by traditional interpretation. It appears in 2 verses across 2 books of the Bible. In United States birth records the name is below the reporting threshold. Appears with Abimael in Genesis 10.

Merged person graphTIPNR + BibleData

The bearer in scripture

One person in scripture bears this name.

Obal

Patriarchal · 2 verses

TIPNR + BibleDataSSA · public domain

Scripture against society

The two measures, side by side

Concordance Depth Index 23.8 · rank 1,288

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At a glance

Verses: 2 across 2 books
Bearers: 1 one person only
Testament: Old
Era: Patriarchal

SSA · public domainBirths in year

Using it today

In United States birth records this name is below the reporting threshold. The Social Security Administration does not publish counts under five, so a name given to four children looks the same as one given to none.

Merged person graph2 verse pairs

In scripture

Fact	Detail
First appears	Genesis 10:28
Last appears	1 Chronicles 1:22
Cross-references	8 linked passages

Computed · A2/A3Rationale generated

Names connected to this one

Sheba co-occurrence Appears with Sheba in Genesis 10.
Abimael co-occurrence Appears with Abimael in Genesis 10.

Origin & meaning

Strong's number H5745

Hebrew עוֹבָל

Transliteration o.val

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.10.28;
son of: Joktan (H3355);
brother of: Almodad (H0486), Sheleph (H8026), Hazarmaveth (H2700), Jerah (H3392), Hadoram (H1913A), Uzal (H0187), Diklah (H1853), Abimael (H0039), Sheba (H7614H), Ophir (H0211), Havilah (H2341I) and Jobab (H3103)
Also named: e.val (עֵיבָל "Obal" H5858A)
§ Obal = "stripped bare"
a son of Joktan and the founder of an Arab tribe

Obal was one of the sons of Joktan, a descendant of Shem, mentioned in the Table of Nations.

The biblical story

Obal was one of the sons of Joktan, a descendant of Shem, the son of Noah (Gen.10.28; 1Ch.1.22). He is mentioned in the Table of Nations, which lists the descendants of Noah's sons after the flood. Obal and his brothers were the ancestors of various Arabian tribes. The exact location and identity of the tribes descended from Obal are uncertain, but they likely settled in the southern regions of the Arabian Peninsula.

Key verses

Obal appears in 2 verses. Here are some of the most notable:

And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
Genesis 10:28
And Ebal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
1 Chronicles 1:22

Show all 2 references

Genesis (1)

Genesis 10:28

1 Chronicles (1)

1 Chronicles 1:22