'abampere' originates from the combination of the prefix 'ab-' meaning 'absolute' and 'ampere,' named after André-Marie Ampère, a French physicist.

'abampere' was coined in the early 20th century as part of the CGS system of units, which was eventually replaced by the International System of Units (SI).

Initially, it was used as a standard unit of electric current in the CGS system, but its usage has declined with the adoption of the SI system.