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HelpRe: Salome, Sabbath and Odessa /names that feel Jewish but are not used by jews
in reply to a message by EES-rah-el-la (Israella
I'm from the US and am a native English speaker; my surname is Jewish, but I'm not and neither were my parents.
The only reason I'd think a name sounded Jewish would be if I knew a lot of Jewish people used it...I guess I could say the word Zion reminds me of Jewish zionists, but as a name, it seems likely to be fundamentalist Christian or possibly Rastafarian, so I wouldn't say it feels Jewish.
I have only seen Salome used as a modern name by French speakers; however, when English speaking (Protestant) Christians talk about Salome in relation to John the Baptist, I've only heard them pronounce it as something like "sa-lo-MEH" or "suh-loo-MEH" or "sal-o-MAY" which is like the Italian/Portuguese pronunciations, according to BtN. It doesn't seem religious to me (although if Christians are using it, I'd guess they're Catholics rather than Protestants). It sounds pretty, but I'm not particularly fond of it.
I associate Odessa "oh-DESS-uh" with The Odyssey and places (the Ukrainian city but also places in the US); it sounds folksy/antique and dramatic/epic to me. I picture about the same person that I would when hearing Ophelia, Fay, Twila, Odetta. It doesn't strike me as religious; it reminds me of the ocean vaguely, but I think that's because of The Odyssey. I used to like it, but it reminds me unpleasantly of war lately.
Sabbath has been a common word in English (used by English speaking Christians) since the 1500s, so it doesn't seem odd to me as an English/Christian word name; as you mentioned, it's not pronounced the same in Hebrew. Shabbat / Shabbatai / Shabbethai / Shabbetai I'd expect to be Jewish, while Sabbat seems like it could be pagan; however, I wouldn't be that surprised if English speaking Jews actually have used Sabbath or if religious Christians have used Shabbethai (it's in the bible). Personally, I like Shabbatai best of those. I've also seen Sabbata, Sabbate, Sabbatale, Sabate, Sabat, Sabato, Sabbato, Sabatino, Sabbatine, Sabateen, Sabatina, Sabatelli, Sabatello, Sabatella, Shabata, Shabatai, Shabatay in cemetery records...not sure what religion they were generally (Sabato is the general word for "Saturday" in Italian, so I guess variations of it are potentially secular?), although a few were definitely Christian.
The only reason I'd think a name sounded Jewish would be if I knew a lot of Jewish people used it...I guess I could say the word Zion reminds me of Jewish zionists, but as a name, it seems likely to be fundamentalist Christian or possibly Rastafarian, so I wouldn't say it feels Jewish.
I have only seen Salome used as a modern name by French speakers; however, when English speaking (Protestant) Christians talk about Salome in relation to John the Baptist, I've only heard them pronounce it as something like "sa-lo-MEH" or "suh-loo-MEH" or "sal-o-MAY" which is like the Italian/Portuguese pronunciations, according to BtN. It doesn't seem religious to me (although if Christians are using it, I'd guess they're Catholics rather than Protestants). It sounds pretty, but I'm not particularly fond of it.
I associate Odessa "oh-DESS-uh" with The Odyssey and places (the Ukrainian city but also places in the US); it sounds folksy/antique and dramatic/epic to me. I picture about the same person that I would when hearing Ophelia, Fay, Twila, Odetta. It doesn't strike me as religious; it reminds me of the ocean vaguely, but I think that's because of The Odyssey. I used to like it, but it reminds me unpleasantly of war lately.
Sabbath has been a common word in English (used by English speaking Christians) since the 1500s, so it doesn't seem odd to me as an English/Christian word name; as you mentioned, it's not pronounced the same in Hebrew. Shabbat / Shabbatai / Shabbethai / Shabbetai I'd expect to be Jewish, while Sabbat seems like it could be pagan; however, I wouldn't be that surprised if English speaking Jews actually have used Sabbath or if religious Christians have used Shabbethai (it's in the bible). Personally, I like Shabbatai best of those. I've also seen Sabbata, Sabbate, Sabbatale, Sabate, Sabat, Sabato, Sabbato, Sabatino, Sabbatine, Sabateen, Sabatina, Sabatelli, Sabatello, Sabatella, Shabata, Shabatai, Shabatay in cemetery records...not sure what religion they were generally (Sabato is the general word for "Saturday" in Italian, so I guess variations of it are potentially secular?), although a few were definitely Christian.
This message was edited 9/29/2023, 10:33 AM
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