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HelpJewish names from the city of prague
in the 19th century, the government-appointed Chief Rabbi of Prague, and (relatively orthodox) proponent of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) Movement, Rabbi Shlomo Yehudah Leib (Solomon Judah Löb) HaKohen Rapoport, decided to document, with the help of his student Kalman Lieben, the ancient headstones of the jewish cemetery of Prague, lest they be lost to the everflowing sands of time. In a book called "Gal'ed" (biblical hebrew for Cairn), He documented the names of jews, both men and women, who were buried in the jewish cemetery of Prague, from the time of the Maharal of Prague (famous for the legend about creating the Golem) up until his day. I hope to document the names I find notable from this long list.
Men:
Yehoshua
Avigdor
Gedaliah
Gavriel
Gershom
Yehudah (the Maharal of Prague)
Bezalel (his father)
David
Shlomo Ephraim
Zvi Hirsch
Wolf
Yechi'el
Yitzhak
Yeshayah
Mordechai
Zeligmann
Natan
Yisrael
Azriel
Meir
Meshulam
Yonah
Eliyahu
Aharon Shim'on
Eliezer (Liebmann)
Yochanan
Ebrel (Avraham)
Shaul
Menachem
Elchanan
Yosef
Shema'yah
Zalman
Bendt
Zechariah Mendel (one of my favorite combinations)
Falk (His hebrew name was more than likely Yehoshua, as was the name for all jews named Falk in eastern and central europe up until the 19th century)
Baruch
Pinchas
Lipman
Leibel (Yehudah)
Leowe (named after the Maharal)
Shalom
Chaim
Kalman (Kalonymus)
Leon (Yehudah)
Elia
Binyamin Wolf
Yechi'el Michel
Hizkiah (Weichel)
Isaac
Shabtai
Naphtali
Reuven
Shimshon
El'azar
Feivish
Moshe
Yechezkiyah
Lemel (Hebrew name is most likely Asher)
Nechemyah
Chanoch
Yechezkel
Levi
Zerach
Yoel
Ephraim Fischel
Asher
Ber
Issachar Ber
Uri
Shimon Wolf
Petachiah
Sinai
Aba Mari (was a common name for the early Ashkenazi jews in France, Rhineland and Germany, but also in Czechia)
Women:
Sarah
Perl (the Maharal's wife)
Hendel
Elka
Slava
Rela (perhaps Rachel)
Baila
Chaya
Muskat
Naomi (Naominissel)
Tristel
Chava
Pesil
Matrona
Feigele
Rivka
Shprintzel (derived from Esperansa, the basis for thr matronymic jewish surname Szprinczak)
Reizel
Vreidel
Miriam
Drezil
Rozel (Rosa?)
Men:
Yehoshua
Avigdor
Gedaliah
Gavriel
Gershom
Yehudah (the Maharal of Prague)
Bezalel (his father)
David
Shlomo Ephraim
Zvi Hirsch
Wolf
Yechi'el
Yitzhak
Yeshayah
Mordechai
Zeligmann
Natan
Yisrael
Azriel
Meir
Meshulam
Yonah
Eliyahu
Aharon Shim'on
Eliezer (Liebmann)
Yochanan
Ebrel (Avraham)
Shaul
Menachem
Elchanan
Yosef
Shema'yah
Zalman
Bendt
Zechariah Mendel (one of my favorite combinations)
Falk (His hebrew name was more than likely Yehoshua, as was the name for all jews named Falk in eastern and central europe up until the 19th century)
Baruch
Pinchas
Lipman
Leibel (Yehudah)
Leowe (named after the Maharal)
Shalom
Chaim
Kalman (Kalonymus)
Leon (Yehudah)
Elia
Binyamin Wolf
Yechi'el Michel
Hizkiah (Weichel)
Isaac
Shabtai
Naphtali
Reuven
Shimshon
El'azar
Feivish
Moshe
Yechezkiyah
Lemel (Hebrew name is most likely Asher)
Nechemyah
Chanoch
Yechezkel
Levi
Zerach
Yoel
Ephraim Fischel
Asher
Ber
Issachar Ber
Uri
Shimon Wolf
Petachiah
Sinai
Aba Mari (was a common name for the early Ashkenazi jews in France, Rhineland and Germany, but also in Czechia)
Women:
Sarah
Perl (the Maharal's wife)
Hendel
Elka
Slava
Rela (perhaps Rachel)
Baila
Chaya
Muskat
Naomi (Naominissel)
Tristel
Chava
Pesil
Matrona
Feigele
Rivka
Shprintzel (derived from Esperansa, the basis for thr matronymic jewish surname Szprinczak)
Reizel
Vreidel
Miriam
Drezil
Rozel (Rosa?)
This message was edited 4/22/2023, 11:29 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
3
Replies
Great list of names. My favorites are:
Gedaliah
Zvi Hirsch - love a Hebrew/Yiddish double meaning name
Yeshayah
Mordechai
Zeligmann
Natan
Meir
Ebrel
Shaul
Yosef
Shema’yah
Zalman
Bendt
Falk - very curious about the connection between Falk and Yehoshua!
Leibel
Leowe
Kalman (Kalonymus)
Leon (Yehudah) - this sounds like another bicultural where there’s a connection through meaning/connotation (i.e. Lion of Judah)
Shabtai
Naphtali
Reuven
Shimshon
Feivish
Lemel
Levi
Yoel
Ephraim Fischel
Issachar Ber
Shimon Wolf
Petachiah
Aba Mari - does this mean father of Mari?
Perl
Hendel
Elka
Muskat
Naomi (Naominissel)
Pesil
Rivka
Shprintzel
Reizel
Vreidel
Miriam
Gedaliah
Zvi Hirsch - love a Hebrew/Yiddish double meaning name
Yeshayah
Mordechai
Zeligmann
Natan
Meir
Ebrel
Shaul
Yosef
Shema’yah
Zalman
Bendt
Falk - very curious about the connection between Falk and Yehoshua!
Leibel
Leowe
Kalman (Kalonymus)
Leon (Yehudah) - this sounds like another bicultural where there’s a connection through meaning/connotation (i.e. Lion of Judah)
Shabtai
Naphtali
Reuven
Shimshon
Feivish
Lemel
Levi
Yoel
Ephraim Fischel
Issachar Ber
Shimon Wolf
Petachiah
Aba Mari - does this mean father of Mari?
Perl
Hendel
Elka
Muskat
Naomi (Naominissel)
Pesil
Rivka
Shprintzel
Reizel
Vreidel
Miriam
1
1. about the Falk/Yehoshua dichotomy, I commwnted down below.
2. you are right about the Yehudah Leon. the Shulchan Aruch (basic book in jewish law) also brings Leon as a nickname for Yehudah.
3. Aba Mari means "Father-Master". Mar in aramaic means Master, and is often used as an an honorific, both in the Talmud and in modern Hebrew. Aramaic soeaking christians in the middle east (Including Israel and Palestine) use the term Mar to refer to saints (Mar Sabba, Mar Elias, and so on).
2. you are right about the Yehudah Leon. the Shulchan Aruch (basic book in jewish law) also brings Leon as a nickname for Yehudah.
3. Aba Mari means "Father-Master". Mar in aramaic means Master, and is often used as an an honorific, both in the Talmud and in modern Hebrew. Aramaic soeaking christians in the middle east (Including Israel and Palestine) use the term Mar to refer to saints (Mar Sabba, Mar Elias, and so on).
1
Here are the ones I like:
Men:
Yehoshua (love it, but I would spell it Joshua, simply because I am not of Jewish or Hebrew culture)
Gavriel (same as the above, would spell it Gabriel)
David
Shlomo Ephraim (I love Ephraim)
Mordechai
Azriel
Yonah
Eliezer (Liebmann)
Yosef (I'd spell it Joseph)
Zechariah Mendel (one of my favorite combinations)
Shalom
Leon (Yehudah)
Elia
Isaac
El'azar
Moshe
Levi
Ephraim Fischel
Women:
Sarah
Perl (the Maharal's wife)
Naomi (Naominissel)
Tristel
Miriam
Rozel (Rosa?)
Men:
Yehoshua (love it, but I would spell it Joshua, simply because I am not of Jewish or Hebrew culture)
Gavriel (same as the above, would spell it Gabriel)
David
Shlomo Ephraim (I love Ephraim)
Mordechai
Azriel
Yonah
Eliezer (Liebmann)
Yosef (I'd spell it Joseph)
Zechariah Mendel (one of my favorite combinations)
Shalom
Leon (Yehudah)
Elia
Isaac
El'azar
Moshe
Levi
Ephraim Fischel
Women:
Sarah
Perl (the Maharal's wife)
Naomi (Naominissel)
Tristel
Miriam
Rozel (Rosa?)
1
Wow, fascinating! Thanks for compiling these names.
Why were all Jews named Falk also given the Hebrew name Yehoshua?
Why were all Jews named Falk also given the Hebrew name Yehoshua?
1
I don't know. Joshua and his tribe were compared to oxen and beasts, not falcons. An unlikely explanation brought by Israeli professor Reuven (Ruvik) Rosenthal is that like a falcon who hunts down his prey, so did Joshua conquer the land of Canaan. But the professor admits it's amusing, yet unlikely. Perhaps it started with one jew named Yehoshua Falk and it gained popularity, and there were famous rabbis carrying that name as well.
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