Ham is considered the ancestor of all Africans, as almost all of his descendants moved south from the Middle East after Babel. Even Canaan's descendants eventually settled in northern Africa.As for the "curse of Ham," blame it on Noah's hangover. I think it's a poignant illustration of the fact that words have power, and that your circumstances are no excuse for saying something hurtful to those you love. No matter what we're dealing with, we need to learn to control our tongue.For the record, Ham did not instantly become a black man when Noah pronounced that curse on him and Canaan. That took generations of living under the African sun. Most Scottish and Irish people have some hamitic ancestry, and they're white.
If I did not live in an English speaking country I would use this name because it is wonderful, but because of where I live I would only use it if I moved to a non-English speaking country.
― Anonymous User 1/7/2009
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Someone named Ham will be teased because of the food. Even worse, there was the racist "Curse of Ham", which was a "justification" for enslaving black people in the old days. I think that part will make a sensitive person horrified.
Oh God I didn't think I would actually find the name Ham when I typed it in! Who would name their child this seriously.
― Anonymous User 7/7/2008
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This name has the same meaning in Dutch as it does in English so I would never use it for a child even though I think that if I could forget that, I would like it. In the Netherlands, people would probably use "Cham" which is the original Hebrew and usual Dutch form of this name.
Ham Peggotty is a character in Charles Dickens' novel "David Copperfield."
― Anonymous User 4/16/2007
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The book Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle is a retelling of the flood story. In it, Ham is, unfortunately, very susceptible to illness. His wife's name is Anah.
In school, kids would be like "Hey, want a Ham sandwich" and then smash him/her!
― Anonymous User 3/3/2007
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I agree with the above comment about the fact that even though it does not mean meat, everyone would assume so. Maybe if you lived somewhere that wasn't English-speaking it wouldn't be so bad.
I would never name my child Ham. Althought it doesn't mean that it's the meat from pigs, everyone would think so. Imagine meeting someone at say, the park, and you asked their name and they said: "My name is Ham." I would be like, "Are you kidding?" (No offence to anyone named Ham :D)