Anyone who learns gemara comes across the name Abaye many times. What is the meaning behind this seemingly unusual name?
We know that Abaye was an orphan. His father passed away prior to his birth, whereas his mother died as soon as he was born.
Kiddushin 31b.
Fascinatingly, the first letters of the phrase אֲשֶׁר־בְּךָ יְּרֻחַם יָתוֹם, it is with You that an orphan finds mercy,
Hoshea 14:4.
spell out the name אביי. In fact, the name אביי is a contraction of אב יי, as he was an orphan, so Hashem was like his father (Hashem’s name can be represented by two yuds, as we see in Torah).
Abaye was also called Nachmani because he was a young orphan who was raised and educated by Rabba Bar Nachmani,
The gemara (Baba Metzia 86a) says Abaye, Rava, and all the rabbis went out to bury Rabba Bar Nachmani after he died but lo havu yadi duchtei, they were unaware of his location. Another explanation is that lo havu yadi duchtei—they didn’t know where to begin his praises in eulogizing him, as he was such a great person. Do we speak of his greatness in Torah, his diligence, tefillah, chessed?
who dubbed him with his father’s name, Nachmani.
Gittin 34b. Rashi s.v. v’hilchisa. The Gilyon Hashas (Gittin 34b) cites an explanation that Abaye was Rabba’s nephew and his given name was Nachmani—after his paternal grandfather. Out of respect for his father, Rabba didn’t want to call out his father’s name even to address someone else. He therefore called Nachmani with the name Abaye, which is Aramaic for “my father” (see Rambam, Hilchos Mamrim, 6:3 and Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 240:2).
The Meir Ayin cites that Abaye is gilgul of רבי ייבא סבא. We see a hint to this in the name ייבא as when the letters are reversed, we come to the name אביי. This is the meaning in
Meir Ayin on Gilgulei Neshamos, pp. 10-11.
אַךְ בִּי יָשֻב יַהֲפֹךְ whose initials spell אביי. That’s ישב יהפך meaning reversing (יהפך) the letters from ייבא to אביי.
Eicha 3:3. The simple meaning is, “Only against me would He repeatedly turn His hand.”
