Frequency: (1399)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English: from a Biblical personal name, meaning in Hebrew ‘God is (my) light’, which was popular among the Puritans, especially among early settlers in New England, but also in the southern states. In the First and Second Books of Samuel, Abner is Saul's uncle and the commander of his army, who is eventually cut down by Joab (II Samuel 3:12-39).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
