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HelpRe: Rivka
in reply to a message by mirfak
Lol.
I find this so funny. A big part of the reason I love Hebrew names is because of my dad's love of the old testament and Hebrew language. I chose Miriam in part to honor him.
I find this so funny. A big part of the reason I love Hebrew names is because of my dad's love of the old testament and Hebrew language. I chose Miriam in part to honor him.
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Replies
Yah, I would think that the person who thinks "I wonder if they have a clue" didn't have a clue that the name is not singularly Jewish.
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it pretty much is ...
Linguistically I guess it technically isn't exclusively Jewish, but culturally it pretty much is.
Linguistically I guess it technically isn't exclusively Jewish, but culturally it pretty much is.
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I just read a book ("The Marrying of Chani Kaufman"), set in an Orthodox Jewish community in London;one of the characters was Rivka, her name was originally Rebecca, and she'd changed it upon her marriage.She was Jewish but not Orthodox until she married.
Good book, btw.
Good book, btw.
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I'm so dumb. I had no idea, lol. :P
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The problem with Rivka that it has a yiddish, even more than Hebrew or Old Testament vibe. It's not the same for Miriam or a bunch of other Hebrew names.
I think it's totally fine if, as a Catholic, you want to honor connections to Judaism, I think this name happens to be particularly unsuitable for this purpose.
I think it's totally fine if, as a Catholic, you want to honor connections to Judaism, I think this name happens to be particularly unsuitable for this purpose.
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I agree with you, 100%. It's very much tied to that culture. I *could* make an argument but it would be stretching it. I just don't agree that it's like Mohammad Rosenberg
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I disagree
Vigdis, I think its a beautiful name that, as a Christian, is lovely. I think that people who don't realize its a Christian name as well as a Jewish name are the ignorant ones. I think most people who aren't name nerds probably wouldn't even know its used in both religions anyway, so I don't see it as an issue.
Vigdis, I think its a beautiful name that, as a Christian, is lovely. I think that people who don't realize its a Christian name as well as a Jewish name are the ignorant ones. I think most people who aren't name nerds probably wouldn't even know its used in both religions anyway, so I don't see it as an issue.
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I'm ignorant, you say?
Gee, thanks for the tip. I'll try to remember to check with you or another proper name nerd, before I give any more personal impressions of names on the Name Opinions board.
Whether I'm ignorant or not, you know that arguing with people's personal impressions is silly, don't you? The database says the usage is Hebrew ... how many Catholic Hebrew speakers do you know? I know zero. I gave my impression - I did not insist that I was correct. I gave it because she asked for it. I trust she knows that I know, that I might be in a minority as small as 1, and that I'm making a judgment that could well be incorrect. I trust she knows that I don't mean I would laugh at her if she named her daughter Rivka. Why don't you know these things? Are you trying to discourage her from listening to me by calling my opinion ignorant, because you like the name? haha. Of course not!
Anyway, further explanation.
Rivka on a Catholic sounds trendy to me ... Hebrew names (and other exotic sounding forms of names) seem hip among Americans, in my impression. It would sound trendy to me on an American Jew as well (but I wouldn't wonder if they even knew it was a Hebrew form of Rebecca and not a separate name). Why would American Catholic parents choose Rivka and not Rebecca? I'd assume that someone non Hebrew speaking (that's virtually everyone who isn't Jewish), who named their kid Rivka, is looking for a "fresh" name, or a more hiptastic form of Rebecca and doesn't realize that to some of us, it sounds very likely to be the name of a Jewish girl - Well, it does to me at least, because where I live there happen to be scads of Hebrew speakers who came from Israel, and Rivka would not likely be the name of the American Catholic child, she'd be likely to be one whose parents are from Israel and various parts of Europe. I admit this may be distorting for my impressions of Hebrew names.
Sorry if that's ignorant because academically Rivka is also a Christian name... My personal impression is that Rivka is a name almost as markedly Hebrew as José is Spanish.
Gee, thanks for the tip. I'll try to remember to check with you or another proper name nerd, before I give any more personal impressions of names on the Name Opinions board.
Whether I'm ignorant or not, you know that arguing with people's personal impressions is silly, don't you? The database says the usage is Hebrew ... how many Catholic Hebrew speakers do you know? I know zero. I gave my impression - I did not insist that I was correct. I gave it because she asked for it. I trust she knows that I know, that I might be in a minority as small as 1, and that I'm making a judgment that could well be incorrect. I trust she knows that I don't mean I would laugh at her if she named her daughter Rivka. Why don't you know these things? Are you trying to discourage her from listening to me by calling my opinion ignorant, because you like the name? haha. Of course not!
Anyway, further explanation.
Rivka on a Catholic sounds trendy to me ... Hebrew names (and other exotic sounding forms of names) seem hip among Americans, in my impression. It would sound trendy to me on an American Jew as well (but I wouldn't wonder if they even knew it was a Hebrew form of Rebecca and not a separate name). Why would American Catholic parents choose Rivka and not Rebecca? I'd assume that someone non Hebrew speaking (that's virtually everyone who isn't Jewish), who named their kid Rivka, is looking for a "fresh" name, or a more hiptastic form of Rebecca and doesn't realize that to some of us, it sounds very likely to be the name of a Jewish girl - Well, it does to me at least, because where I live there happen to be scads of Hebrew speakers who came from Israel, and Rivka would not likely be the name of the American Catholic child, she'd be likely to be one whose parents are from Israel and various parts of Europe. I admit this may be distorting for my impressions of Hebrew names.
Sorry if that's ignorant because academically Rivka is also a Christian name... My personal impression is that Rivka is a name almost as markedly Hebrew as José is Spanish.
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I also thought that it sounded trendy, but wasn't sure how to phrase it. It has a "hipster Catholic" thing about it.
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I didn't call YOU ignorant (I was using the word as a generalization and not directing at anyone) and was not even replying to you, but yes, if people insist it is only a Jewish name then they are ignorant of the history of the name as a Hebrew name that is used by Christians and Jews despite many of those in the religions not speaking Hebrew. I'm not arguing with any one's personal impressions, I am arguing with it being thrown around as fact that its a singularly Jewish name, which is untrue.
You personal impression is fine. I'm sorry if you felt I was being aggressive to you. That wasn't the intention at all but seeing your reaction I feel maybe you felt it was.
You personal impression is fine. I'm sorry if you felt I was being aggressive to you. That wasn't the intention at all but seeing your reaction I feel maybe you felt it was.
This message was edited 1/8/2016, 10:44 PM
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ETA
If the vast majority of people have a very strong impression of it as a Jewish name, that's more significant than a technical fact. And the question was about impressions.
ETA: To put this a little better: Your reasoning seems to be "Rivka is from The Old Testament in the Bible, and Christians believe in The Old Testament, therefore, Rivka is a Christian just as much as Jewish name. That's a fact."
But if it has been used historically overwhelmingly only by Jews, that's a fact also, and has a strong influence on how the name is perceived.
The original question was "What would you think if...", not "Is this a Jewish name?", so people responded with the second fact in mind. Anyway, I saw only one response that could possibly be construed as stating a fact---"Rivka is so very Jewish." The rest were all dealing with impressions, so it's not really accurate to say that anyone was "insisting" it's only a Jewish name or that that was being "thrown around as fact."
Nobody said a Christian can't or shouldn't use it. You just seem to not want vigdis to be at all influenced by the fact that it's widely perceived as a Jewish name, but if that's the case she should at least be aware of it.
If the vast majority of people have a very strong impression of it as a Jewish name, that's more significant than a technical fact. And the question was about impressions.
ETA: To put this a little better: Your reasoning seems to be "Rivka is from The Old Testament in the Bible, and Christians believe in The Old Testament, therefore, Rivka is a Christian just as much as Jewish name. That's a fact."
But if it has been used historically overwhelmingly only by Jews, that's a fact also, and has a strong influence on how the name is perceived.
The original question was "What would you think if...", not "Is this a Jewish name?", so people responded with the second fact in mind. Anyway, I saw only one response that could possibly be construed as stating a fact---"Rivka is so very Jewish." The rest were all dealing with impressions, so it's not really accurate to say that anyone was "insisting" it's only a Jewish name or that that was being "thrown around as fact."
Nobody said a Christian can't or shouldn't use it. You just seem to not want vigdis to be at all influenced by the fact that it's widely perceived as a Jewish name, but if that's the case she should at least be aware of it.
This message was edited 1/9/2016, 6:32 AM
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