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ArchivesRe: Jewish naming customs
in reply to a message by Anthony
True. Most Jewish people not living in Israel will give 2 names, a religious and a secular, two their children.
Sometimes the secular will be the English/French/whatever version of the religious (Mary Miriam), or the translation (Belle Yaffa), or just begin with the same letter (Mathilde Michal), or sound a bit alike (Andrew Dror), or they’ll not be related but the religious name will be the name of a grandparent (Claire Rahel for me lol).
The full religious name is, for men: [religious name] ben [religious name of the father], meaning X son of Y.
For example my dad = Yehiel ben Moshe
Women have two names: [religious name] bat [religious name of the father] and [religious name] bat [religious name of the mother], meaning X daughter of Y.
For example me = Rahel bat Yehiel, or Rahel bat Miriam
Nowadays a man would never be called X ben [mother name] unless he was an illegitimate child or his father converted to another religion or was excommunicated, 3 most horrible things that he wouldn’t want to show off anyway. In Biblical times it was a bit different, the son of a very great woman (Batyah, Moshe’s sister Miriam…) could be called “son of [mother name]”.
Jesus would have been: Yehoshua ben Yosef. Well, unless you believe he is the son of God, then he would be Yehoshua ben Miriam? This one is tricky.
Sometimes the secular will be the English/French/whatever version of the religious (Mary Miriam), or the translation (Belle Yaffa), or just begin with the same letter (Mathilde Michal), or sound a bit alike (Andrew Dror), or they’ll not be related but the religious name will be the name of a grandparent (Claire Rahel for me lol).
The full religious name is, for men: [religious name] ben [religious name of the father], meaning X son of Y.
For example my dad = Yehiel ben Moshe
Women have two names: [religious name] bat [religious name of the father] and [religious name] bat [religious name of the mother], meaning X daughter of Y.
For example me = Rahel bat Yehiel, or Rahel bat Miriam
Nowadays a man would never be called X ben [mother name] unless he was an illegitimate child or his father converted to another religion or was excommunicated, 3 most horrible things that he wouldn’t want to show off anyway. In Biblical times it was a bit different, the son of a very great woman (Batyah, Moshe’s sister Miriam…) could be called “son of [mother name]”.
Jesus would have been: Yehoshua ben Yosef. Well, unless you believe he is the son of God, then he would be Yehoshua ben Miriam? This one is tricky.
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Replies
Here is a really good Jerusalem Post article about Israeli naming practices. Really good.
Call Me Adiella
by Dina Shiloh
Jerusalem Post
Sunday, May 11, 1997 / 5 Iyyar 5757
For thousands of years Jews managed with just about 150 biblical first names, but these days the sky's the limit.
When Judith Djemal gave birth to her third daughter she couldn't think of a name. "The first two, Talia and Yael, were hard to choose as well, but with this one, I really didn't know what to call her. People kept suggesting names, but nothing sounded right," she says, sitting in the playroom of her children, surrounded by toys and stuffed animals.
So Djemal made up a name for her daughter: Adiella.
"I'd heard of the name Adiel for a boy, so we just added the ending for a girl. We wanted something unusual and different - but with a Jewish meaning. Adiella means 'jewel of God,' " she explains. Though Djemal says she has since seen "Adiella" in a book of Israeli names, she has never heard of another child with this name in Israel.
Adiella, now two, carries on stuffing a toy panda into a box, unaware she has a "special" name.
The search for something different and new is characteristic of Israeli parents, says Prof. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, a psychologist at Haifa University.
He has researched Israeli Jewish names for almost 20 years, using the comprehensive data of the Interior Ministry.
"Among Israelis, the desire to change and innovate in naming practices can't be explained on the basis of novelty-seeking alone," he says. "They are making an important cultural statement in their move away from traditional names, such as Sara, Rahel and Esther for girls, and Moshe and Avraham for boys."
Call Me Adiella
by Dina Shiloh
Jerusalem Post
Sunday, May 11, 1997 / 5 Iyyar 5757
For thousands of years Jews managed with just about 150 biblical first names, but these days the sky's the limit.
When Judith Djemal gave birth to her third daughter she couldn't think of a name. "The first two, Talia and Yael, were hard to choose as well, but with this one, I really didn't know what to call her. People kept suggesting names, but nothing sounded right," she says, sitting in the playroom of her children, surrounded by toys and stuffed animals.
So Djemal made up a name for her daughter: Adiella.
"I'd heard of the name Adiel for a boy, so we just added the ending for a girl. We wanted something unusual and different - but with a Jewish meaning. Adiella means 'jewel of God,' " she explains. Though Djemal says she has since seen "Adiella" in a book of Israeli names, she has never heard of another child with this name in Israel.
Adiella, now two, carries on stuffing a toy panda into a box, unaware she has a "special" name.
The search for something different and new is characteristic of Israeli parents, says Prof. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, a psychologist at Haifa University.
He has researched Israeli Jewish names for almost 20 years, using the comprehensive data of the Interior Ministry.
"Among Israelis, the desire to change and innovate in naming practices can't be explained on the basis of novelty-seeking alone," he says. "They are making an important cultural statement in their move away from traditional names, such as Sara, Rahel and Esther for girls, and Moshe and Avraham for boys."
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Wow, I didn't know the names you used made people classify you as religious or not! That that really encourages me to stick to traditional names...
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