Jewish names and "y" names

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

What are some very clearly Jewish names that you like? Bonus points if you could reasonably use them outside of Orthodox communities or if they contain a "chet" (that grating "kh" sound).

This post was inspired by the name Yacob and the difficulty I'm having which conveying the pronunciation in writing. It's something like yaii-cobe. You say the letter "y", take off the "w"-sounding bit, and then "cobe" more or less rhymes with "cove".

Other names I like after the cut.

Noah
Eli (my name, it's short for Elijah)
Elisha
Ephraim
Asher (ah-CHER)
Ari
Moses
Ysrael (yees-rye-ell)

Female:
Hannah
Chana (kha-na). I also like Chava and Chaya, which I could never see myself naming a kid. Golda is another terrible name that I like
Tovah
Mara


Names that I like that don't telegraph "Jew" quite as strongly:

Male:
Judah
Jonas
Tobias
Gideon
Levi


Female:
Ada
Aviv
Zipporah
Natalie


You can transliterate your name here: http://www.my-hebrew-name.com/

I'm also wondering how you feel about names that are often spelt and pronounced with a "j" that are spelt and pronounced with a "y". Do you think most people know that names like Yacob, Yonas, and even Yosef and Ysabel (well, that's usually an "i") are real names, or do they come across as made-up and meant to be pronounced with a "j" (or "i")?

Comments

[aaww-my-bees.livejournal.com]

I love Jonas and Asher.

I didn't know the "y" names were real names. I did think they were made up.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

I imagine many "y" names are made up, but those example names are definitely real!

[adamantplatypus.livejournal.com]

I knew someone named Chava growing up.

[blue-suspenders.livejournal.com]

I like
Noah, Eli, Ari, Judah , Jonas and Levi

I didn't know they were real names.

[moshimoshi-13.livejournal.com]

I basically love all of them except Gideon and Levi. I especially love both boys lists.

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

I don't know how "Jewish" some of these names are anymore, as some are pretty common in non-Jewish communities as well, but:

Eli(jah)
Noah
Ezra
Silas
Jonah
Levi
Sam(uel)
Seth
Ben(jamin)
Asher
Tobias
Saul
Reuben
Caleb
Abraham
Amir/Amit
Asa
David
Gideon
Isaac
Joel
Nathan

Sarah
Abigail
Rachel
Rivka
Rebekah
Ada
Leah
Aliza
Amira
Judith
Miriam
Zusa

My absolute favorite boy names are Levi, Noah (which I can't use; I'll probably use Jonah instead), Caleb, and Sam, so I've got pretty 'Jewish' tastes, even though I'm not Jewish. I'd also definitely consider naming my daughter Leah.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

"Silas" always makes me self-conscious. I just never feel like I'm pronouncing it right. I like Saul, which is a very Jewish name, and David pronounced the Hebrew way (da-VEED, not day-vid). I also forgot Seth and Isaac.

I like Rebekah, but I knew a Rebekah growing up and it's not a name I could ever see myself using.

Thanks for this list.

[ex-bluebonn.livejournal.com]

My favourites are Saul and Elisheva.

[whenimdead.livejournal.com]

How is Ephraim pronounced?

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

Usually as eff-rem (like REM sleep). Like with most Hebrew names, there are a lot of other spellings, including Efrem, Efraim, and Ephrem.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

i thought it was EEph-rem...

[twolittlelines.livejournal.com]

there is a suburb/estate here called Ephraim Island - it is promnounced eff-rem

[arbus.livejournal.com]

williams college, which is the college in my town, was named after ephraim williams, and they are the "williams college ephs".

ephraim here is pronounced EEf-rem and the mascot is pronounced the EEfs.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

I... don't really understand how you determine which syllabus is stressed, so we're probably saying it the same.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

hm yea sorry, i am trying to say EEf as in "reef" and i was under the impression that you were saying eff as in "deaf"?

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

I do usually hear it as "eff" as in "deaf", but that's one of the weird things about languages that use different alphabets being put into the English alphabet. In particular, Hebrew can be written without vowels, and different communities both add vowels and transliterate differently.

I like my pronunciation, probably because it's what I'm used to, but I looked at some baby names sites and many of them seem to use your pronunciation of ee-fram or "eef" as in "reef".

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for making this post! I've been meaning to compile a list of Jewish names so I know what not to put on my list. :)

[lovablemess.livejournal.com]

Aviva is one of my favorite Jewish/Hebrew names.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

hannah was my number one girls name for many years, until it became way too popular for my liking.

in college, i knew a girl named hadassah. and my ex had a good friend named sephra. my long-time ex was jewish (though non-practicing) so i knew the y names were real names because i got into studying a bit of judaism when we were together.

i met a little boy named yosef the other day, he was orthodox.

i also love elijah, asa, levi, noah and ezra. asher is ok too, but the trendiness is starting to bug me.

Some Hebrew names I like...

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

My dad's dad was actually Jewish, so I have a Russian-Jewish last name. But I know very little about the religion, other than what I learned my freshman year of college in NJ because my dad was raised Catholic, I was raised... well, hippie, lol. Peace, love, & acceptance of all religions.

Anyways...
Adam, Alon, Ardon, Asher, Benyamin, Daniel, David, Elisha, Gavri'el (I wouldn't use it bc it's too obscure, but I like it), Issakhar (same), Jacob, Kheyn, Khever, Moshe (purely for the LOLZ factor), Natan, Noah, Yarden

Abra, Adah, Anais, Atara, Chavon ("kha-von"), Delilah, Josie, Leah, Marilyn, and Sarah.

Devora is the Hebrew name for "bee" and Melissa is the Greek name for "bee," so technically Devora would be my Hebrew name.

[tunknut.livejournal.com]

From your list, I love Ari, Mara, Jonas, Tobias, and Natalie, although with the exception of Ari I wouldn't automatically identify those names as Jewish. Also, I like Chana a lot, it's much more interesting than Hannah. I prefer Aviva to Aviv, all I can think of is Tel Aviv and all the bad pun potential that would involve...

Yacob, Yonas, and Yosef all look like legit, interesting names to me, Ysabel not so much.

Other Jewish-sounding names I like:
Males:
Baruch
Ezra
Yonatan

Female:
Maytal/Meital
Shira

Re: Some Hebrew names I like...

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

>>I prefer Aviva to Aviv, all I can think of is Tel Aviv and all the bad pun potential that would involve...

Oh, that's a good point. I like Aviva because it's a palindrome, but it's a little too feminine for me.

I like Shira, too.

[twolittlelines.livejournal.com]

Is Salome a Jewish name? I thought it was derived from Shalom? How is Salome pronounced?

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

It's sal-o-me or sal-o-may (I'd use the second). I feel like she'd get called "Salami" a lot.

[wowthatisminty.livejournal.com]

I know of a boy named Aviv who has a sister Tivana, and a girl named Aviva who has two sisters named Samara (older) and Mia (younger).

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I tend to like Jewish names. My favorites:

GIRLS:
Liat
Eliora
Elisheva
Ayelet
Levana

BOYS:
Adam
Eli
Ira

[amspeck-myworld.livejournal.com]

Names:
Boys: Amidor, Reuel, Admiel, Ittai, Yitro/Jethro, Tzahal, Zadkiel, Hoshea, Baruch, Natanel, Paltiel, Elian, Eliezer, Zedekiah, Kitron, YiShai, Omar

Girls: Salome/Shalomit, Serach, Amalia, Oryah, Asaela, Nesia, Naamah, Emunah, Yohanna, Yosefine, Doveva, Toriah, Yonita, Batela/Bateli/Batya/Batia/Bitya, Yitra/Jethra

I think most people know, J is a newer part of the language comparatively, and I typically prefer the original spellings.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

Chaya
Leora

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

Leora is sort of oddly pretty. It's one of those names that I wouldn't expect to be nice until I say it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__recidivist/]

I love the name Shoshana-- I can't believe I forgot it!

I'm an Education major and we do observations in different schools to see different teaching styles. One of the schools I went to was Orthodox and whenever I saw a girl whom I had met earlier but I wasn't really sure of her name, Sara(h), Rachel, or Esther was a safe bet for me.