Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (5/303)

…
“He drew for him a share of His own Name in order to honor him:
the Lord of the Throne is Maḥmūd (Praiseworthy), and this is Muḥammad.”

As for Aḥmad, it is the comparative superlative: that is, he is more entitled to be praised than anyone else. It is said, “This one is aḥmad than that one,” meaning “this one is more worthy of praise than that one,” which gives him preference over all others in the matter of being praised. Thus the word Muḥammad points to his superiority in sheer quantity of praise, while the word Aḥmad points to his superiority in the quality of that praise. Some people explain Aḥmad as “one who praises more than others,” in which case it carries the sense of ḥāmid or ḥammād.

He also said: Whoever upholds that the meaning of “Paraclete” in their language is “praise,” as noted earlier, will find it confirmed by the Quranic verse,
“and giving glad tidings of a Messenger who will come after me, whose name is Aḥmad” (Quran 61:6).

وَشَقَّ لَهُ مِنِ اسْمِهِ لِيُجِلَّهُ ... فَذُو الْعَرْشِ مَحْمُودٌ وَهَذَا مُحَمَّدُ. وَأَمَّا أَحْمَدُ، فَهُوَ أَفْعَلُ التَّفْضِيلِ: أَيْ أَحَقُّ بِأَنْ يَكُونَ مَحْمُودًا أَكْثَرَ مِنْ غَيْرِهِ، يُقَالُ: هَذَا أَحْمَدُ مِنْ هَذَا ; أَيْ هَذَا أَحَقُّ بِأَنْ يُحْمَدَ مِنْ هَذَا، فَيَكُونُ فِيهِ تَفْضِيلٌ لَهُ عَلَى غَيْرِهِ فِي كَوْنِهِ مَحْمُودًا. فَلَفَظُ (مُحَمَّدٍ) يَقْتَضِي فَضْلَهُ فِي الْكَمِّيَّةِ، وَلَفْظُ (أَحْمَدَ) يَقْتَضِي فَضْلَهُ فِي الْكَيْفِيَّةِ. وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ أَحْمَدُ ; أَيْ أَكْثَرُ حَمْدًا مِنْ غَيْرِهِ. فَعَلَى هَذَا يَكُونُ بِمَعْنَى الْحَامِدِ وَالْحَمَّادِ. وَقَالَ: مَنْ رَجَّحَ أَنَّ مَعْنَى الْفَارَقْلِيطِ فِي لُغَتِهِمْ هُوَ الْحَمْدُ - كَمَا تَقَدَّمَ -: فَإِذَا كَانَ كَذَلِكَ فَهُوَ مَا جَاءَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ: {وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِي اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ} [الصف: ٦] .