Two different names are spelled Omar in English, and you may have met either one. The first is a Hebrew name in the Bible: Omar, a son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau, listed as a chief of Edom in Genesis 36:11 and 36:15 and named again in 1 Chronicles 1:36. The second is the Arabic name Umar, also written Omar, best known from Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of the Muslims. People of many faiths and of none carry the name, and both histories belong to it.
In English it is said OH-mar, as the National Hurricane Center's 2026 guide gives it, and Omar is also one of the names on the published 2026 Atlantic list of storm names.
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The Hebrew Omar
A chief of Edom in Genesis 36, son of Eliphaz, grandson of Esau.
The Arabic Umar
Also written Omar, linked to a root for "life".
Two roots
"To say" in Hebrew, "life" in Arabic, so two names that share a spelling.
A plain question
James 1:5 makes room for asking without embarrassment.
In Spanish
Omar is said o-MAR and is common in Mexico and Spain.
Omar in Genesis and Chronicles
Genesis 36 is the family record of Esau, "the father of the Edomites." Verse 11, in the World English Bible, reads:
11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
Verse 15 lists the chiefs of that line and includes "chief Omar," and 1 Chronicles 1:36 names him again among the sons of Eliphaz. The King James Version prints Omar in both books, with "duke Omar" in verse 15, and the Reina-Valera 1909 prints Omar at Genesis 36:11, 36:15 and 1 Chronicles 1:36.
What the text gives is a family and a title: his father, his place in the line, and chief. Lockyer's All the Men of the Bible calls him "a son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau. Chieftain of a tribe by the same name." Keil and Delitzsch, writing between 1857 and 1878, explain "chief" as a clan leader. This Eliphaz is Esau's son, not Eliphaz the Temanite, Job's friend; Teman is listed among Omar's brothers in verse 11.
Genesis places Esau's family in the hill country of Seir.
What the Hebrew name means
The Hebrew is אוֹמָר, Strong's H201, from the root אָמַר (H559), "to say." The lexicons give a range. Brown-Driver-Briggs reads "grandson of Esau (eloquent?)," with its own question mark. Strong's has "from 0559; talkative; Omar, a grandson of Esau." Abarim Publications gives "Talkative, He Says" and reports "Uppermost" from Alfred Jones's dictionary of Hebrew proper names. Lockyer offers "mountaineer, eloquent or he that speaks." These are proposed meanings of an ancient name. "Powerful," which some name pages add, is a modern association.
The Arabic name Umar
Behind the Name writes the Arabic name as عمر and says it "Means 'flourishing, living long' in Arabic, related to the root عمر (ʿumr) meaning 'life'." It describes Umar as "a companion and strong supporter of the Prophet Muhammad who became the second caliph of the Muslims." Adhkar al-Muslim also connects the name with life and long life and calls Umar ibn al-Khattab the second of the rightly guided caliphs. Behind the Name gives the Arabic pronunciation as /ˈʕu.mar/, and /ˈʕo.mar/ in Egyptian Arabic.
Umar and Omar are two ways of writing one Arabic name. Umar ibn al-Khattab belongs to early Islamic history. Are the Hebrew and Arabic names the same? The Hebrew comes from a root meaning "to say" and the Arabic from a root associated with life, so they are separate names that share an English spelling.
A plain question, and James 1:5
Some people reach a name with an honest question and nobody to ask, about the name itself or about a faith that is not their own. James 1:5 is an old place to bring a question:
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
James writes to people facing trials and invites them to seek wisdom with honesty and perseverance (James 1:2-8). What the verse gives is permission to ask, in words already in the Bible. One question to hold while you read it: what is the clearest question you can bring to God right now? You can read James 1:5 with the verses around it, and Bible verses for doubting God reads the verse at more length.
Why Omar is so common in Mexico and Spain
Behind the Name lists Omar as the Spanish form of Umar and ties the name's wider spread to the caliph's fame. Spanish-language name pages describe possible pathways: the Arabic presence in Iberia, later migration from Arab countries to Latin America, famous bearers, and a sound that is easy in Spanish. Families chose it for their own reasons. Forebears estimates about 41,131 people named Omar in Mexico, roughly 1 in 408 and the 91st most common forename, which is an incidence estimate and not a civil-registry count. A summary of Spain's INE data puts Omar 88th among newborn boys in 2009 and 91st in 2019, which counts births and not residents. In Spanish the stress falls on the second syllable, o-MAR, according to SpanishDictionary.com, where the storm guide says OH-mar.
A name often comes with a family story.
A name on a storm list
Storm names are chosen years ahead from lists the World Meteorological Organization publishes, with English, French and Spanish names used in balance on the list in order to reflect the geographical coverage of Atlantic and Caribbean storms. The National Hurricane Center says the six lists are used in rotation and re-cycled every six years. A name on the list is a label that helps people tell storms apart in warnings, chosen long before any storm forms, and wondering about it is an ordinary thing to do. For official storm information at any time, the National Hurricane Center is at nhc.noaa.gov in English and in Spanish.
Other names on the 2026 storm lists with a story in the Bible: Isaias, Rachel, Simon, Josephine, Leah, Marco, Paulette, Sally and Zeke.
When someone asks about your name
People ask about this name in curious, everyday ways. Someone on Reddit's r/etymology asked around 2018, "Is the Arabic name عمر (Omar) in any way related to the Hebrew name אוֹמָר (Omar)?" On Reddit's r/learnarabic, a commenter wrote in 2024, "The name Omar or Umar is from the Arabic word عُمَر." And a Reddit poster on r/namenerds wrote around 2021, "In Mexico, I know plenty of people named Omar (عمر) and Said (سعيد)".
What lands badly with an Omar is "Is that a Muslim name, or a Jewish one?" asked as a test, and any hint that his name is the wrong one for his faith or that one tradition owns it. Gentler lines that help:
- "I would like to hear where your name comes from, if you want to tell me."
- "That is a name many families have chosen for different reasons."
Questions people ask
Is Omar a Jewish name? The Hebrew Omar appears in Genesis 36 and 1 Chronicles 1 in the Edomite family record (Sefaria). Jewish sources, such as Rashi on Genesis 36, present him as a figure in Esau's family record.
Is Omar a Muslim name? Yes, widely, as Umar or Omar, as described above.
Is Omar in the Quran? The name of Umar ibn al-Khattab does not appear in the Quran text. He is known from early Islamic history and hadith.
Who was Omar in the Bible? A chief of Edom, a son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau. Muslims, Jews, Christians and people of no religion carry the name today.
Where to go next
Ask the Omar you know how his name came to him, and read James 1:5 once, aloud, with the question above. Bible Nudge can also take a line about what you are carrying and come back with one passage and what surrounds it. Find a passage.
If tonight is heavier than a question about a name, please reach a person. In the United States, call or text 988 for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8. In the UK and Republic of Ireland, Samaritans is on 116 123. In Australia, Lifeline is 13 11 14. Anywhere else, Find A Helpline lists services by country.
Words that come up here
Tap a term to see what it means.
Edom. The land and people descended from Esau in Genesis.