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in reply to a message by Ella
Click here: Ella Elle for the meanings. They do not mean "Goddess" in Hebrew.
'El' means "God" when it appears in Hebrew names, but that does not mean that the meaning becomes "Goddess" if 'la' or 'le' is stuck on to the end of it.
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
'El' means "God" when it appears in Hebrew names, but that does not mean that the meaning becomes "Goddess" if 'la' or 'le' is stuck on to the end of it.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
This message was edited 9/11/2006, 12:14 AM
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Replies
Actually...
the word Ela does mean goddess in Hebrew. The letter A feminises words in Hebrew. The word is pronounced eh-LAH. Elle is how the word god is pronounced (the word's el).
But that's not the origin of the English name Ella, you can see the real one in the links Chrisell provided. (There is a Hebrew name, Elah, said and spelled the same way as the word goddess. It isn't given for the goddess meaning though, but for a plant called the elah. My dictionary says it's a terebinth.)
the word Ela does mean goddess in Hebrew. The letter A feminises words in Hebrew. The word is pronounced eh-LAH. Elle is how the word god is pronounced (the word's el).
But that's not the origin of the English name Ella, you can see the real one in the links Chrisell provided. (There is a Hebrew name, Elah, said and spelled the same way as the word goddess. It isn't given for the goddess meaning though, but for a plant called the elah. My dictionary says it's a terebinth.)
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As far as you know, Noa, has Ela ever been used as a name in Hebrew? I can't imagine that it could have been, with that male-monotheist tradition going back for millennia.
It could I suppose be used by non-Jews (or non-monotheists in general) if they liked; might even appeal to the sort of people who imagine that names regularly mean something like Moon Princess of the Forest! There's a romantic novelist where I live, sort of Afrikaans Barbara Cartland, called Ela Spence, but in her case it's a nickname.
It could I suppose be used by non-Jews (or non-monotheists in general) if they liked; might even appeal to the sort of people who imagine that names regularly mean something like Moon Princess of the Forest! There's a romantic novelist where I live, sort of Afrikaans Barbara Cartland, called Ela Spence, but in her case it's a nickname.
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Elah is used as a name, said and spelled the same way as the word for goddess, with a different meaning in the minds of most parents (I think). That's what I said before. The word for terebinth is exactly the same as the word for goddess. It's the name of a very good friend of mine, btw, and she got it for the plant for sure. :) I know about two others, as well.
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