Message: "Sima as a Russian / Jewish / Russia Jewish name?"

Sima as a Russian / Jewish / Russia Jewish name?

by KNY (guest)

5/7/2020, 4:51 PM

I recently found out by a friend doing genealogy that an ancestor who had an Americanized name, and immigrated to the US at the age of 3, had birth name Sima and NOT the name I knew her by, that she was married by and had her children by, etc.! What a find!

She was born in Odessa, (then) Russia in 1903. They were Jewish. Her birth name was Sima.

So I'm trying to research about Sima! I see on this site the Persian and Hindi names, which are unlikely to have been her name origin.

Nameberry llists Sima as Hebrew and meaning "ardent, fiery" as well as the Russian form of Seraphina.
Does anyone know, are either of these things true?
Either one - or maybe both together - could have been the reason her parents gave her that name.

Any advice greatly appreciated, either the Hebrew or the Russian side! Thank you! :)

#Jewish #Russian

Replies

- KNY (guest)

5/10/2020, 4:05 PM

Thank you all so much for your help! Really helpful. I love that Sima is a Russian nickname for Serafima :)

- The Imperatrix

5/8/2020, 7:11 PM

In Russian, Sima is used only as a diminutive form instead of a formal first name. Anisim, Maksim, Semyon, Serafima, and Simona can be called Sima.

The name you mentioned is likely to be a Jewish name.

- dorothy (Hekate Rose)

5/7/2020, 5:48 PM

I knew a Jewish girl with the name Sima... Sorry that's all I have

- KNY (guest) +1

5/7/2020, 5:17 PM

Sorry this thread posted twice! I have a follow-up since this investigation is a work in progress.

I tried to find any verification that this was a Russian or Jewish name and I found a site that listed "Simha". Then it hit me, "Simcha"! (I'm Jewish). The Hebrew word & name meaning Joy.

Is it likely that her name was Simcha and it was written as Sima because the ch is not a sound Americans can say?

- dorothy (Hekate Rose)

5/7/2020, 5:50 PM

That is very possible, they did that with a lot of names. More likely if she came to the U.S on a large scale immigration port, like Ellis Island, because they often were very rushed doing things of the sort.

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