ADAM RYBA

In the Bible, the name of the first man (Genesis 2–3). It probably derives from Hebrew adama ‘earth’ it is a common feature of creation legends that God or a god fashioned the first human beings from earth or clay and breathed life into them. The name was subsequently borne by a 7th-century Irish abbot of Fermo in Italy. It has been very popular in the English-speaking world since the 1960s. In Hebrew it is a generic term for ‘man’ (Genesis 5:2) and has never been considered a personal name, although Hava ‘Eve’ has enjoyed popularity as a Jewish name.

Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name, nickname, or an ornamental name from the common Slavic word ryba ‘fish’. As an occupational name it may have denoted a fisherman or a seller of fish. As a nickname it may have been bestowed on account of some fancied physical resemblance to a fish.