AboutGaddy Yaari Expertise What I do: I'll help you understand Hebrew phrases or single words, as well as answer questions about Jewish practices.
What I don't do: Tattoo translations. For that, try http://www.stars21.com/translator/english_to_hebrew.html
Experience I am a columnist for a Hebrew-language newspaper, and a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Education/Credentials MBA
BA in the US,
Grade school and high school in Israel
Question What is the meaning of the suffix 'am' in Hebrew? For example Miriam, Jeroboam, Baal'am, Amram, Abraham. As well the name Ephraim, is the 'aim' related to 'am'? One last name, Hir'am - the Phoenician King, is his name that ends in 'am' related to the Hebrew 'am'.
Thanks for looking at this.
Answer Paul,
Only two of the names, Jeroboam and baal'am, use a suffix ('am, spelled ayin mem, which means 'nation').
With the rest of the names, the 'a' vowel is imbedded in the preceding consonant, and thus they are written in Hebrew as Mirim, Amrm, Abrhm and Ephrim. As you can see, the names in this group lack a suffix or any other common denominator.
