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Help[Opinions] Jewish Names
So, my little series of short stories continues! This time, it's about an Englishman who falls in love with a jewish girl just at the start of WWII. My knowledge is that interfaith marriages between Jews were very rare back then, so I thought it would be interesting to write about, the trouble is I'm stuck on the names of their children. I've decided to give them English first names and Jewish middle names (the father's called William and the mother is Hannah Magdalena), and I've come up with Margaret Hendel for the first girl because Hendel is a form of Hannah (her mother) in Yiddish. For a boy, the name Itzhak is growing on me but I've nothing for the other names!
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Yeah, I said I'd give the kids ENGLISH first names- It doesn't matter if it's Catholic, Jewish, Yiddish or bloody Chinese. You can't say Magdalena isn't a name used by Jews. There's surely a Jewish person somewhere with that name and I've researched loads of Jewish women with the name Magdalena- it's a form of the JEWISH name Magdalene.
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Geez, calm down, no need to sound so defensive. You asked for opinions and I gave you mine. Maybe you've "researched", but I've been Jewish all my life--over 40 years--and lived in two different countries and I've never met or heard of a Jewish woman named Magdalena. It's just not done. Also, Magdalene is a place name that was translated as a name in the New Testament. Her name was Miriam, if you want to get anal about it. Jews don't accept the New Testament as part of the Bible, so neither Mary or Magdalena can really be considered Jewish names, they're simply *derived* from Jewish names. There's a difference. And I understand you want to give them English names, but I thought you wanted them to sound authentic. There are plenty of English names who don't have Catholic connotations and would be perfectly acceptable for a Jew.
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You'd best steer clear of Hebrew names that were used only in the Yishuv (interwar Palestine) by Zionist pioneers and names invented for use in the new state of Israel, because they would be anachronistic. Aviv, Aviva, Ilan, Ilana, Alon, Nitza, Aliza, Yaffa (translates Shayna) Zita, Doron, Gilad are among such names.
You are safer sticking with Biblical or Yiddish names. My favourites include Sheine and Sheindel (that spelling would have been more usual at that time than Shaina, Shaindel, Shayna, Shayndel), Deborah, Esther,Judith,Rachel, Rebecca, Miriam, Naomi, Penina, Asher, Benjamin, Ephraim, Hirsch, Judah, Isaac, Israel, Moses, Samuel, Velvel (Wolf), Zalman (Solomon). (If I were you, I'd resist the temptation to use such the Hebrew forms Dvora, Yehudit, Rahel, Rivka, because they would have been the synagogue names rather than the registered names at that period, especially in the case of an intermarried family). Magdalena for the mother's mn seems inauthentic - rather too Catholic. I suppose it depends on whether the Englishman met her in Britain or elsewhere. I don't think an English Jew would have had that mn.
(What people might not realise is that Jews usually name after relatives, but not living relatives in the case of the Ashkenazim).
You are safer sticking with Biblical or Yiddish names. My favourites include Sheine and Sheindel (that spelling would have been more usual at that time than Shaina, Shaindel, Shayna, Shayndel), Deborah, Esther,Judith,Rachel, Rebecca, Miriam, Naomi, Penina, Asher, Benjamin, Ephraim, Hirsch, Judah, Isaac, Israel, Moses, Samuel, Velvel (Wolf), Zalman (Solomon). (If I were you, I'd resist the temptation to use such the Hebrew forms Dvora, Yehudit, Rahel, Rivka, because they would have been the synagogue names rather than the registered names at that period, especially in the case of an intermarried family). Magdalena for the mother's mn seems inauthentic - rather too Catholic. I suppose it depends on whether the Englishman met her in Britain or elsewhere. I don't think an English Jew would have had that mn.
(What people might not realise is that Jews usually name after relatives, but not living relatives in the case of the Ashkenazim).
This message was edited 6/25/2008, 1:43 PM
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I love Hebrew names. :) One thing you might want to consider is that Itzhak is rarely used; however, Yitzhak is much more common. To get your brain going, here are my family's Hebrew names, with their English name in parentheses:
Yaakov Avram (Jack Abraham) - my dad
Channah Aliza (Hannah Hart) - me
Anina Savana (Julia Elizabeth) - my sister
Yaakov Chayim (Jacob Robert) - my cousin
Raisa Baila (Rosa Bella) - my grandmother
Sorry, I can't remember my mom's Hebrew name or my other cousin's. :( Some other favorites of mine:
Adina
Aliya
Ariel
Aviva
Ayla
Chaya
Devorah
Eliana
Eliora
Elisheva
Golda
Hava
Ilana
Lior
Livna
Margalit
Maya
Meira
Nava
Nessa
Nitza
Rachel
Raisa
Rayna / Reina
Rivka
Shaina / Shayna
Shamira
Yaakov Avram (Jack Abraham) - my dad
Channah Aliza (Hannah Hart) - me
Anina Savana (Julia Elizabeth) - my sister
Yaakov Chayim (Jacob Robert) - my cousin
Raisa Baila (Rosa Bella) - my grandmother
Sorry, I can't remember my mom's Hebrew name or my other cousin's. :( Some other favorites of mine:
Adina
Aliya
Ariel
Aviva
Ayla
Chaya
Devorah
Eliana
Eliora
Elisheva
Golda
Hava
Ilana
Lior
Livna
Margalit
Maya
Meira
Nava
Nessa
Nitza
Rachel
Raisa
Rayna / Reina
Rivka
Shaina / Shayna
Shamira
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These come to mind:
Shoshana
Zipporah/Tziporah
Tzivya
Liora
Aviva
Amir
Ariel
Elijah
Lior
Zalman
Aviv
Noam
Lucy Zipporah? Catherine Liora? Helen Shoshana? Mary Aviva? Thomas Ariel? Thomas Lior? William Aviv (it'd be nice to honour the father, since they honoured the mother, but having two Williams in a story might be annoying)? Arthur Zalman? John Zalman? Charles Noam?
Just some random first name ideas. Anything you like?
Shoshana
Zipporah/Tziporah
Tzivya
Liora
Aviva
Amir
Ariel
Elijah
Lior
Zalman
Aviv
Noam
Lucy Zipporah? Catherine Liora? Helen Shoshana? Mary Aviva? Thomas Ariel? Thomas Lior? William Aviv (it'd be nice to honour the father, since they honoured the mother, but having two Williams in a story might be annoying)? Arthur Zalman? John Zalman? Charles Noam?
Just some random first name ideas. Anything you like?
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A Jewish woman wouldn't be named Mary. And a Jewish man wouldn't be named John. Both are too Catholic. If anything her name would be Miriam, and his Jonathan.
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I have a sim family that has French/Jewish names. I'll give you the list of names I've used/might use for them.
I think if you made the French names more English (ie. Sylvie = Sylvia, Christophe = Christian / Christopher), most of these are usable.
Laurent Akiva, Asher Christophe, Isidore Zion, David Luc-Asa, Gideon Blaise, Apollinaire Noam, Uriel Cosme, Hubert Omri
Sylvie Margalit, Noa Marcelle, Sarah Tova-Rose, Emma Zipporah, Zakiah Tatienne, Mirabelle Liora, Avigail Esmé – Avril Eliora , Esther Seraphine
And here are a few more Jewish male names I had written down for them:
Adam, Amos, Ari, Ariel, Dori, Eli, Elior, Ethan, Hillel, Isaiah, Israel, Joel, Lev,
I think if you made the French names more English (ie. Sylvie = Sylvia, Christophe = Christian / Christopher), most of these are usable.
Laurent Akiva, Asher Christophe, Isidore Zion, David Luc-Asa, Gideon Blaise, Apollinaire Noam, Uriel Cosme, Hubert Omri
Sylvie Margalit, Noa Marcelle, Sarah Tova-Rose, Emma Zipporah, Zakiah Tatienne, Mirabelle Liora, Avigail Esmé – Avril Eliora , Esther Seraphine
And here are a few more Jewish male names I had written down for them:
Adam, Amos, Ari, Ariel, Dori, Eli, Elior, Ethan, Hillel, Isaiah, Israel, Joel, Lev,
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Christopher and Christian are both incredibly Catholic. A Jewish man would never have either of those names.
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