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Our Non-Jewish Names

1/26/2023

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I previously shared an article by a Jew by Choice whose given name is Chris. I asked if folks had notably NON-Jewish names and whether that hampered them in Jewish environments. Here are some replies.

My name means a lot to me.  My mom chose it for me.  I love the Jewish name I chose too but my English name is so much a part of me. To my mom, I am and always will be the name she gave me.  
 
A new doctor I saw recently noticed my Jewish star necklace and asked me if I were Jewish.  We chatted about it for a bit.  I told him I was a Jew by Choice.  He asked me questions.  I don't mind answering them.  It seems to come naturally to me.  He seemed to have a lot of respect for my choice.
 
New neighbors moved in across the hall and the woman asked me if I were Jewish and referenced my mezuzah.  I said yes and she said so are we!!!  Yaaay!  She said she would like to do Shabbat some time.  How wonderful!
Shira
 
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Try looking my name up in Hebrew! I’ll just say that it’s a “bad word.” Fortunately I don't know that many Jews who are sufficiently conversant in the language. I chose Yona (dove) for my Hebrew name.
Yona
 
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My surname is Ireland. It is an Irish name; both Catholics and Protestants have it.

I understand how hard it is to be part of a community often enough under siege. It is hard to extend a welcome to strangers, and so as I have said, problems can happen involving trust.

The Jewish community is not the only one leery of outsiders. The Irish community is as well, though some may not realize it. It is due to its history, even extending to folk memories of events happening in 1658, when Cromwell invaded Ireland. During the next year, about a third of the Irish starved to death, were murdered, or sold into slavery in the Caribbean. I have those memories, because my mother comes from an Irish Catholic background.

I feel compassion for those threatened in the presence of an outsider, but also hurt due to experiences years back with Jewish peers, and also with Irish American political groups.

The name for this kind of distrust is PTSD.

It is a rare event to meet someone who understands how to say, stand down soldier, at ease, I will never hurt you.

That's a gift. Sure, someone like that might seem to be bending over backwards to extend an undeserved olive branch to someone who has done grievous harm. For example the Irish Protestant actor Stephen Rea, married a woman who was once a member of the IRA, and was arrested for a failed bombing attempt. Fortunately, she and her sister were apprehended.

Pretty bad decision on Stephen Rea's part or, maybe to understand much is to forgive much, even when it does not look possible.

There is someone on the other side of your fear of strangers, however justified and they may not be out to get you. We all need to give that some thought.
Ruth Ora
 
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My full Hebrew name is Sarah Hineni bat Avram Aveinu v'Sarah Imenu. When I am called up for an aliyah, I get questions about it. I tell them this story.
 
My parents were working in Germany on a contract when my mom became pregnant with me. This was in the 1950s, when there were plenty of ex-Nazis around; also, if I'd been born in Germany I might have been subject to German conscription laws. So my mom came back to the States to have me, and my dad stayed on to finish out his contract. When I was born, my grandfather sent a telegram to the hotel where my dad was living. Dad went downstairs to the bar and ordered a round for the house to celebrate. All the Germans were toasting him, when the bartender asked him, "What is your daughter's name?" My father proudly replied, "Her name is Sarah." The bartender gasped in astonishment and said, "But that is ein Judisher namen!" (That is a Jewish name!) The bartender and everyone else in the room was scandalized. 
 
I like to say that that bartender was prescient. At the time, and for many decades afterwards, I was NOT a Jew. There are no Jews anywhere in my family tree (although there are plenty of Sarahs). So when it came time for me to choose a Hebrew name, I saw no point in discarding a perfectly good one, especially one which had so irritated a bunch of ex-Nazis. So I added "Hineni", "I am here", as my second name. Therefore I am "Sarah Hineni bat Avram Aveinu v'Sarah Imenu" in the Tribe.
Sarah Hineni
 
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It would be hard to get more WASPY sounding than my English name! But to be honest I have never had any questions re: my name not sounding Jewish. My conversion city of Indianapolis, IN was comprised of a large number of Interfaith and Converts. However, in FL where I now live many are native born Ashkenazi Jews from NYC. But never had any questions about my name as I mingle with others at Shul!
 
My Hebrew name is to honor my Father whose was name David and also, King David. Like King David I have fallen short on a great number of times. I just keep on keeping on!
David
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I used my "English" name for my Hebrew name

12/8/2019

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When choosing your Hebrew name you may want something brand new, or you may want to use some aspect of your given name. Look up your name. There may be an idea in what you find.

One young woman wrote this about choosing her Hebrew name:

I started day-dreaming about what Hebrew name I would pick from the very beginning. Choosing your name is an opportunity to choose your identity... and I wanted my identity to be sassy and awesome, meaningful and intelligent, and infinitely cooler than I actually am. And then finally, after two years, I settled on the perfect name: my legal one. The name that my mother and father chose for me. Because becoming Jewish, for me, was an act of choosing to recognize *who I already am.*  I will always be my parents' daughter - a reality that I honored and recognized by keeping my legal first name as my Hebrew name. And just as I have now chosen a future among the Jewish tribe, I added "bat Avraham v' Sara" to my legal first name. My Hebrew name = my family of origin + my family by choice = my past + my future. My Hebrew name doesn't aspire to a new identity; instead, it does no more and no less than recognize me for who I am. 

My Mom cried when I told her. There had been serious potential for her to feel alienated by my conversion (though we were both trying hard to prevent that), but my choice of Hebrew name made her feel included, validated, and honored. It really helped to make my conversion a beautiful experience for everyone. 

(Granted: I'm really really lucky to have a legal name that is a diminutive of a classic biblical name!)

Nina found her name on Kveller's Jewish Baby Names List. Maybe yours is there!


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How did you choose your Hebrew name?

1/23/2019

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(A necklace of the name, Elisheva from the website www.israelblessing.com Take a look. They are quite beautiful.)









The Jewish online magazine Kveller offered an article titled, Call Me By My (Hebrew) Name. We sent the article to the list and asked about people's reactions. 

Nadav replied this way in regard to choosing his own name.

Recently I have been going by my Hebrew name from school to work and when meeting others. 
The reason I picked out the name Nadav is that I wanted a name that was strongly contemporary in the Jewish world (in Israel it is somewhat modern) but yet it is a Hebrew name and defines my Judaism.  I wanted to choose something "different" or not too common. I did not want to go by Moshe, Menachem, or Ya'akov. I considered those names since I thought they were "very Jewish". There is this artist in Israel that represented Israel in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest and his name is Nadav and I liked it so that is how I chose my Hebrew name.  I have thought of changing it to my legal name but haven’t yet. 
I have been told modern Hebrew speakers that my name means “generous” and I think it fits me pretty well. 

 
Note: Yes, Nadav does indeed mean “generous” or “noble” and is the name of the priest Aaron’s eldest son.


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Why I chose my Hebrew Name

10/5/2017

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We asked people on our email list about how they chose their Hebrew name. Here's a powerful and thoughtful reply.



​My Hebrew name is Orev ben Avraham Avinu v' Sarah Imanu.
“Why Orev (עורב)”? I've been asked.
 
Those well-versed in Tanakh might worry that I've chosen Orev in some misguided tribute to one of the two Midianite chieftains killed in Shoftim 7:25. But, no, the ill-fated Midianite is not my namesake. Because Orev means 'raven,' some friends of mine have assumed that my choice stems from my fondness for natural history and especially for reviled and
misunderstood species. I am fascinated and excited by ravens, but that
partiality isn't my principal motivation, either. Instead, I chose Orev because
of the raven's mysterious role in the story of Noah.
"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of
the ark which he had made. He sent out the raven, and it kept going and
returning until the drying of the waters from upon the earth. And he sent out the
dove from him to see whether the water had subsided from the face of the
ground." (Bereshit 8:6-8).
 
Where did the raven go?
Contemporary biblical critics contend that the raven's disappearance is another example of the biblical narrative's many sources. According to these scholars, when the stories of Torah were first edited and assembled, scribes often included details from differing accounts (rather than choosing between them). By this reckoning, one of the ancient riffs on the flood story had it that a raven was released while another, slightly different version of the tale assigned the recon flight to a dove. The two versions were simply spliced together so that Noah released the raven and then the dove. The literary, analytical, and rational inclinations of this particular Torah reader make me appreciative of such striking examples of narrative juxtaposition and myth-making. But while I appreciate our sacred text through a decidedly non-supernatural lens, I also invest Torah with much social and mystical power. These two, very different approaches to Torah — one universalist and secular, the other specific and traditional — place me in a grey zone of contemporary Jewish identity, but I consider this balancing act (this push-pull or hybrid position) to be the very essence of the Conservative movement’s philosophy, and it’s a primary reason I’ve chosen to convert in the stream’s mikveh.
 
But what does this have to do with my name? Back to Noah’s raven; what became of it? There are a number of traditional drashs that explain the raven's disappearance, but I view the stray bird as an analog of my Jewish neshamah. This orev "flew the coop," so to speak, but has at last come back to the ark (through covenant).
 
I find a satisfying etymological riff on this interpretation in the Hebrew name itself, עורב .Ayin means "eye," Vav means "and," Resh means "beginning" or "head," and Beit means "house" or "home." Orev, therefore, can be read as "eye and head home," an oblique reference to the raven's "seeing" his way home. Likewise, my neshamah has turned anew (or returned) to Judaism and Jewish peoplehood.
 
Another gratifying etymological connection has been made between orev and erev, meaning 'evening' or 'dusk.' Both words are comprised of the same letters, and Hebrew linguists believe that the word orev was derived from erev, a reference to the raven's dark plumage. If so, the raven’s name is born of the gloaming, my favorite time of day, one electric with magic and possibility, and ideal for sustained rumination.
 
But the etymology can be (and is) taken one step further. Ervuv is the Hebrew word for 'mixture' and, just as day mixes with night at erev, some rabbis point out that, although it is officially deemed treif, the raven is the only bird species to split the difference on the Mishnah's four kashrut qualities; it possesses two kosher attributes and two treif attributes, and is therefore a "mixed" creature.
 
This mixture angle is also important to me. When I emerge from mikveh, I will (halachically) be a Jew. Were you to ask me then if I stood at Sinai, I would confidently say ‘Yes.' Yes, at least, with respect to metaphysics and psychology...but my personal history is not that of Hebrew school, kugel, or Camp Ramah. My Gentile past will inform my Jewish identity in unexpected, generally positive ways, but the individual ger, like the individual shul, will never please klal Yisrael. Because I expect to be actively engaged in my Jewish community (across the denominational, political, and theological spectrums), I know that my very "Jewishness" will sometimes be challenged. Some fellow Jews will review my attributes and deem me kosher; others will say I'm treif. I'd be fibbing were I to claim that this limbo doesn't trouble me, but I also recognize that it provides me with a special opportunity to examine questions of identity. I will be wholly Jewish and yet I will be "the stranger that sojourns among" my fellow Jews.
 
The name I have chosen embodies two themes that are important to me: my (re)turn to Jewish peoplehood and also the peculiar/particular Jewish identity of the ger.

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Thoughts on Jewish Names

10/2/2017

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(Image, a Hebrew name necklace from www.judaicawebstore.com)

A few months ago I sent everyone a link to the article, How to Pick a Hebrew Name on www.myjewishlearning.com's site. The gentleman who called my attention to the article had this to say about the article: 
The story reveals that really there are no rules, it's whatever-floats-your-boat. 
My own reason for choosing a double Hebrew name, one Biblical and one modern Israeli, Jedidiah Eyal, is that my Hebrew name thus covers the two ends of the spectrum.  I chose mine based on names that spoke to me because of their sounds, especially when said together, as opposed to the meanings thereof. 

He also send me a link to a Hebrew Name site.

I received a very interesting and important comment from another reader who said this:

 I've actually been thinking more about the latter part of my Hebrew name -- the "ben avraham v'sarah" part.  For a convert, I find this the most challenging part, because it automatically outs you as a convert, even at times when you may not want to be outed. I'm all for being a proud convert, but I like "outing" myself on my own terms.  I have been a guest in congregations who asked me to do an aliyah.  I don't know these people and I don't want the first thing they know about me to be that I'm a convert.  But I have no choice in that instance, unless I lie about my Hebrew name.
 
Do you have any ideas or examples of converts who have not used "ben avraham v'sarah"?  At times I have just been inclined to say "ben avraham", as it seems a little more ambiguous.


This is an issue that has plagued many Jews by choice. Here Jewish law forbids Jews to bring up a convert's status, but the very use of their name labels them as such. I believe that it is fine to simply say, Ezra ben Avraham. (Assuming your Hebrew name is Ezra.) Many Jews are called to the Torah using only one parent's name. You would be telling the truth without initiating a discussion of your conversion.

Do you have other suggestions for this situation? Please share them in the comments.


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What's in a Jewish Name?

10/28/2016

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Rabbi Milder of Beth Emek in Pleasanton sent out an email to his congregation about Jewish Names. 

If you are working out what Hebrew name you'll choose, take a look at what Rabbi Milder has to say.

Note that he sent this message out and invited congregants who don't have a Hebrew name to get one on Shabbat Shemot, Friday, January 20, 2017 

What's Your Jewish Name?

It's not Frank, even if you can transliterate that into Hebrew letters.
Your Jewish name includes your Jewish parent's name, because it is an indication of how you acquired your Jewish identity. That's why Jews-by-choice get the parentage of Abraham and Sarah [Avraham v'Sarah], not their own parents' names, as their own parents are not Jews. Similarly, the child of one Jewish parent and one non-Jewish parent includes the Jewish parent's name in his/her own Jewish name. This is a name that has a ritual role, and is a Jewish identifier; hence, the focus on Jewish lineage. So, if Peter (Pesach) has a Jewish father named Paul (Shaul) and a non-Jewish mother named Mary, his Jewish name is Pesach ben Shaul. His Jewish name is not Pesach ben Shaul v'Mary.
Back to Frank. Jewish names are names derived from Jewish tradition. They generally have a Hebrew etymology. For that reason, Carol is not a Jewish name. It may be the name of a Jew, but Carol's Jewish name is a name drawn from our heritage, not from the heritage of other peoples.
Many of us have Yiddish names. Some rabbis prefer to translate Yiddish names into their Hebrew equivalents, while others (like me) view Yiddish names as part of our heritage. Zisl ben Motke v'Sheindel is a name that might have been used for centuries in Jewish ritual contexts, like Ketubot (wedding contracts) or Aliyot (being called to the Torah).
Over the course of time, the pronunciation of Jewish names sometimes becomes corrupted. It is always appropriate to reclaim the authentic pronunciation of the person for whom you were named, particularly if the way your great-aunt pronounced it makes no sense whatsoever.
I would like to help you record your authentic Hebrew name. Please be in touch!

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New Topic: How Did You Pick Your Hebrew Name?

3/8/2012

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​We asked our Jews by Choice readers how they picked their Hebrew names. Here are several answers.  We love these stories!

I always thought I'd pick Ezra. I have always been inspired and gotten chills when I think about the impact that he had on Judaism, starting to read the Torah publicly in the midst of a Jerusalem being rebuilt. But my son really liked that name so I went back and looked for another one and opted for Yohanan. For the last 450 years a somewhat similar name (Johan) has been in my family for men (alternating with Jacob from generation to generation) and I felt it was a good way to link my family history with our Jewish future. 

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I have to laugh when I think about how I chose my Hebrew name.  I read a book (I do not now remember which) that said that "all female converts" take the name Ruth.  So when my rabbi asked me what name I wanted, I said, "Ruth."  He said, "Great choice!" and I thought "Whew, I passed the test!"  After my conversion, I found out that I had had a choice!  I thought about changing the name, and thought about at all the names I might pick.  Eventually, though, I realized that Ruth was the name I would have chosen all along.  The Biblical Ruth is my role model:  a woman who transforms her own life and the lives of those around her with kindness and good will.  

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I had no idea how to give myself a Hebrew name. I think I saw a limited list in an Anita Diamant book, and looked through them. I suddenly had the idea to name myself after my mother. Mom died 8 years before, and her Christian religion was very important to her. It may sound like crazy logic, but I named myself after her - Chava for Eve - in order to honor her even though I knew she would have disapproved.

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This is a topic I love, since I love names and their origins and sounds.  My Hebrew name is Eliezer Shalev.  While quite often a Hebrew name is just one name, I chose a two-name combination, for two reasons.  (1) Eliezer is a Biblical name, which means G-d's (El) helper (ezer);  I've also seen it translated as G-d is my helper.  I like this name for both its meaning and how it sounds.  (2) Shalev is a modern Israeli name, somehow morphed out of shalom, all aspects of which I relate to.  So the two-name combination bridges the ancient and the modern, the span of Jewish history as it were, and the two names sound good together to my ear.  It's something I enjoyed discussing with my converting advisor, Rabbi Chester.  It took me months to work it out. 
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