From Hebrew meaning 'exalted brother,' the name of the King of Tyre who aided Solomon.
Hiram is a name with an ancient Semitic heartbeat. Its Hebrew roots — likely from Achīrām, meaning 'exalted brother' or 'my brother is exalted' — place it in the world of the ancient Near East, and it appears in the Hebrew Bible bearing considerable prestige. King Hiram of Tyre was the Phoenician monarch who supplied Solomon with the cedars of Lebanon and the skilled craftsmen who built the First Temple in Jerusalem.
A second Hiram — Hiram Abiff — appears in later tradition as the master architect of the Temple itself, a figure whose legendary fate became the central allegory of Freemasonry. That Masonic connection gave the name extraordinary cultural reach in 18th and 19th-century America, where Freemasonry was woven into the social fabric of the founding generation. Hiram was a common name among American men of that era precisely because of its associations with sacred craft, brotherly loyalty, and ancient wisdom.
Hiram Ulysses Grant — better known as Ulysses S. Grant — was born with the name before a clerical error at West Point transformed his initials. Hiram Bingham III, the explorer who brought Machu Picchu to Western attention in 1911 and reportedly inspired Indiana Jones, carried the name into the age of adventure.
Hiram faded through the 20th century, becoming strongly associated with rural Americana and old-fashioned religiosity. But naming cycles are long, and Hiram has begun quietly reappearing among parents who appreciate its biblical solidity, its phonetic crispness, and its connection to a world of builders and brothers.