View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

[Facts] Re: Immanuel... as a feminine name?
Israel must be an outlier. I have hitparades from 77 countries, provinces and cities on my own given name website, up to 2020, and not a single one of those ever listed a female Immanuel.
vote up3vote down

Replies

Yes, it is an outlier. But in Israel, names ending in -el do not require some suffix (like -a or -le) to be given to girls as well, and Ariel is unisex. However, the emergence of Immanuel in Israel is a surprise, because it is deeply rooted in Christian tradition and scripture. Maybe someone with better knowledge of Isreali popular culture can explain the sudden appearance of Immanuel as a name for baby girls in Israel.--elbowin
vote up1vote down
Immanuel derives from a prophecy in the book Isaiah and is primarily directed at Israel. Although since the early christian times it was interpreted as messianic prophecy pointing to Jesus, the prophecy has other interpretations in Judaism.I did a quick search on israeli websites. All of them state, that Immanuel is an unisex name. Shem-li states 95 % male, 5 % female name bearers.
Also, the websites state, that the name has a strong traditional meaning (hope of redemption, spirituality, strong faith, attachment to the jewish roots, gratitude).https://babynames.baby-land.co.il/namelist/%D7%A2%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%90%D7%9C/
http://www.shemli.co.il/hebnames/name_details.seam?nameID=364
https://www.mako.co.il/ninemonth-baby_names/international_names_girls/Article-da49398476be961006.htmApparently Immanuel ranked #104 in 2018 and #103 in 2019 as both male and female name. Only in 2020 they ranked differently: female #82 (192 girls), male #101 157 boys
vote up4vote down