The story of the name
The eldest steps out first
Badr opened the old way: three champions of Quraysh striding out between the armies, calling for single combat. The Prophet ﷺ answered with his own kin — Hamza (RA), Ali (RA), and, walking out ahead of them in years, Ubaydah ibn al-Harith (RA), his kinsman from the Prophet's clan. He was past sixty, older than the Prophet ﷺ himself, among the oldest men on the field — and he took the first duel of the first battle in Islam's history.
Written into revelation
He and his opponent wounded each other gravely; Hamza (RA) and Ali (RA) finished their own duels and carried Ubaydah (RA) back. And the exchange did not stay merely military. Abu Dharr (RA) swore by Allah in the Sahih that a verse came down about those six men — these are two adversaries who disputed about their Lord (Surah al-Hajj, 22:19; Bukhari 4744, Muslim 3033). The first duel of Islam is written into the mushaf. Ubaydah (RA) died of his wounds on the road home, the believers' first to fall in open war — with the question the sirah tenderly relates on his lips: am I not a martyr? He was, and is.
What Badr answered
Ubaydah (RA) did not live to do more. No Uhud, no Khandaq, no long years of service. But he was a man of Badr, and of the people of Badr the Prophet ﷺ said what he said of no other group. Years later, when Umar (RA) moved to punish a Badr veteran who had slipped, the Prophet ﷺ stopped him: what do you know — perhaps Allah looked upon the people of Badr and said, do what you wish, for I have forgiven you (Bukhari 4274; Muslim 2494). Ubaydah (RA) was one of them. With a single duel and a wound that would not close, he had bought a place among the forgiven. His life was short. What it secured was not.
Servanthood, held gently
His name is the endeared diminutive of abd — little servant, servanthood held tenderly — and the scholars enjoy the fit: a gentle name on the man with the least gentle assignment, who accepted it without a word about his age. Some names roar. Ubaydah (RA)'s bows — and steps forward first.
To carry this name
To carry this name is to be a quiet servant who steps forward first. To be first out of the line when your people need someone, whatever your age. It is to let age be no excuse and applause be no reason: to serve where you are needed, stand where it is hardest, and be content that Allah saw it. The name means "little servant" — small and humble.