Means “my father is king” in Hebrew. This is the name of several characters in the Old Testament including a king of Gerar who takes Abraham’s wife Sarah, but is forced by GOD to give her back.

 

The name can also be a title Abimelech is formed from Hebrew words for “father” and “king,” and can be interpreted in a variety of ways, including “Father-King”, “My father is king,” or “Father of a king.” In the Pentateuch, it is used as a title for kings in the land of Canaan.

Abimelech of Gerar

Abimelech was most prominently the name of a polytheistic king of Gerar who is mentioned in two of the three wife-sister narratives in Genesis, in connection with both Abraham (chap. 20) and Isaac (chap. 26).

King Abimelech of Gerar also appears in an extra-biblical tradition recounted in texts such as the Kitab al-Magall, the Cave of Treasures and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, as one of 12 regional kings in Abraham’s time said to have built the city of Jerusalem for Melchizedek.

Other people with this name

Apart from the king (or kings) of Gerar, the Bible also records this name for:

Abimelech, son of Gideon (Judges 8, 31), proclaimed king after the death of his father (Judges 9, 1–6).
The father of Abiathar, and high priest in the time of David (1Chronicles 18, 16). In the parallel passage, 2Samuel 8, 17, the name is given as Ahimelech; most authorities consider this the more correct reading.
The king of Gath better known as Achish, referred to as Abimelech or Achimelech in the title of Psalm 34.
The husband of Naomi, and father of Mahlon and Chilion who leaves Bethlehem and dies in the land of Moab, Ruth 1, 2–3 in the Hebrew, his name is given as Elimelek, which is likely the correct reading.