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This kind of name, beginning with Abdel, Abdul, Abd-al, etc., is usually an Islamic male given name incorporating one of the 99 (Islamic) names of God. Abd means "slave" though it's usually translated as "servant". So Abd-al-Karim for example literally means "slave of the Generous", al Karim being one of the 99 names.
To my knowledge al-Tam is not one of the names of Allah, nor can I find any explanation for the word TAM. It may be some sort of nickname based on the Abd type name, if so it would be regarded as improper by strict Muslims.
There is a settlement in Sudan called Abd-at-tam, which is, I think, another spelling of Abdeltam. There may be a connection between the surname and the place name - but which came first?

• Abdeltam - Sweetkit  Apr 21 2008, 5:10:18 PM
  • Re: Abdeltam - Jim Young  Apr 24 2008, 7:36:09 AM