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emilrae: The story behind it was that her husband (Judah's son) had died, leaving her childless. In Judaism, in such a case, the departed's male lineage must continue in form of marrying his widow to his younger brother. Judah's second son, Onan, had sex with Tamar, but refused to impregnate her. To quote wiki, he "performed coitus interruptus so that there wouldn't be any offspring he couldn't claim as his own, so God killed him". Tamar then tricks Judah himself into impregnating her, in order to continue the family line. One of their sons is said to be an ancestor of King David (who incidentally a daughter Tamar). This Tamar suffers a cruel fate when her half brother, Amnon, rapes her. Her full brother, Avshalom (Absalom) later has Amnon killed for this.
Becky - Again, Tamar could be a good solution, since she was Judah's daughter-in-law, so still part of the family. Except I would try not to mention that particular story too much, considering that she disguised herself as a prostitute in order to get Judah to impregnate her... Still, I think Tamar is a great name. I want to use it for a future daughter, but my husband is worried people would call her Tammy.
Reply to Mirnada: I think that Jonah is such a popular name, that most religious connotations surrounding it are weakening, by now. It's one of those trendy OT names that have taken on new life. Personally, when I think of Jonah the prophet, all I really think of is A) he was a prophet B) he was swallowed by a whale but saved by God I think the majority of the US population don't know the biblical story well enough to attach the non-compassionate attribute to him. Strangely, Jonah has always been far more popular as a girl's name, in Israel due to the prophet vs. dove meaning. As an Israeli and native Hebrew speaker, it's funny but when I think of a boy Jonah, I connect it to the biblical story. When I hear of a girl Jonah (or Yona), it says 'dove' to me.
Reply to Becky: What about Tamar, Yael, Noa, Dinah, Naomi or even Eve? All less popular, but not weird sounding OT names for girls. I happen to think Ruth is a good option too. Not super common, sounds classic, and how cute would a little girl named Ruthie be?
Hi - Hope you don't mind my answering your question. I'm Israeli - grew up moving back and forth between Israel and the US. Most Hebrew names used in the US, especially by religious Jews, are not very commonly used in Israel. Modern Israeli names are usually shorter and more difficult for English-speakers to pronounce - like my name, for instance. It's Inbal (pronounced Een-balle), the French pronounce it beautifully but Americans tend to botch it up pretty badly. Over the past 10-20 years there's been a major trend of naming girls with traditional boys' names (not the opposite, though): Lior (means My Light) Tom (means Innocence) Shay (Shai) (means Gift) Ron (means Joy) Shachar (means Dawn) Omer (has to do with harvesting) Gal (means Wave) Tal (means Dew) Those are just a few examples. My sister is one of the oldest girls named Ron that I know - she's 27. She goes by Ronnie in the US though. Most of the more popular old testament names used here are hardly ever used in Israel anymore - other than among religious groups. Sarah, Leah, Rachel, Rebekah, Naomi, Esther, Devorah, etc. are far more popular names for mothers and grandmothers than for anyone under 40-50. As for boys' names, again the ones popular in the US are not common as baby names in Israel. They are more our grandparents' names. But there are more obscure Old Testament names that are very modern in Israel, such as: Oded Yotam Ohad Ido Itay Yoav Daniel and Jonathan are probably among the most popular crossover names that are found both in the older population and the younger, in Israel.
Hi Becky - As an Israeli, I can recommend a few names that might be on the right path for you: Noah for a girl! It is a biblical name and the most popular name in Israel. I absolutely LOVE it! (the guy with the ark, known as Noah in English is actually named Noach in Hebrew so these are two different names) Elah - pronounced Eh-lah. It's not biblical, but has an old fashioned charm to it. I'm saving it for my future daughter. :-) The name has 2 meanings: Pistachia (a tree) and it also means goddess. Alma - again, not biblical but the word Alma (means young woman in Hebrew) is commonly used in the Old Testament. Very pretty. Yael - this is one of the most common biblical names that sound modern in Hebrew. Keren - one of Job's daughters was named Keren Hapuch. Keren is a very common modern Hebrew name. It means horn and ray. Lia - I love this name. It's a modern twist on the old fashioned Leah. Tamar - another favorite of mine that is both biblical and modern at the same time. It means date. Bathsheba/Bat-Sheva: Not a modern name, but I've always loved it. It sounds very romantic to me, probably more due to my Thomas Hardy association (Far from the Madding Crowd). If you would like more ideas, I'd be happy to made additional suggestions. As for the names you mentioned, my favorite in Hebrew is Michal, but every Michal I've known suffered with mangled pronunciations of her name by English speakers. The gutteral "ch" sound doesn't carry well. Sarai is pretty and underused, IMO. Devorah is my 70 year old aunt, so to me that name is a bit old. Zipporah is very old fashioned and never used in modern Israel (at least not in the circles I traveled in - it might be more common among the ultra-orthodox population). Avigail is pretty and I believe it's been gaining popularity in Israel too. Shira is modern, pretty and always sounds very refreshing to me. Good luck!
I know a sib-set named Jana and Jeremiah. I like those two names paired together. Oh, and I just have to share this. A new woman who joined my book club told us the names of her two sons. She got to choose the first names and her husband got to choose the middle names: Case Shazam Zach Flash Seriously.
Eo: Cainan is actually one of my husband and my top ranked names for a future boy we might have. I love the fact that the one name encompasses both a traditional OT feel with a modern sound.
Miriam: We're thinking along the lines of Noa, Lia or Mia at the moment, but it could change by the time it's relevant to our situation. I just wish Noah wasn't such a popular boy's name. It might make a girl named Noa feel uncomfortable. zoerhenne: No offense taken, however, those names are not atrocious to a Hebrew speaker since A)they are pronounced differently than in English B)they don't carry the meaning they do in English (aside from Uzi, but the only reason the gun bears that name is because it was first created by an Israeli man named Uzi). I believe each culture has names people from other cultures find atrocious. NicoleM: Gor and Anar aren't really common Israeli names. I've never heard of them, to be honest. Maybe they had original parents or maybe the names were Russian? Eo: Bar is a common name in Israel these days and is a unisex name. Bar means "wild nature" in Hebrew, but you are correct in your question. It means "son" in Aramaic and is therefore found in many last names as "Bar-Yossef, Bar-On, Bar-Tal" and many others. HMF: I actually watch Big Love and have noticed the beautiful Israeli actress Noa Tishbi guest starring, but I never noticed that she was actually playing an Israeli character. I thought she was a Gypsy or South American on the show. Ladonna is definitely not a Hebrew name.
Miriam - The double meaning of Nimrod is not lost on me, as are the less than desirable meanings of several other Hebrew names: Moran - (thank goodness my cousin Moran was born 2 months prior to my birth or this would have been my name) a conservatively common Hebrew name for either boys or girls Dudu/Dudi - common nicknames for David Osnot (pronounced oh-snot) - another conservatively common name for girls (the namesake of the OT Joseph's Egyptian wife). I myself do not have children as of yet, but my American (non Jewish) husband and I are already trying to come up with name options that work well in both English and Hebrew.
Miriam: Yes, Ziva is the exception to the Yael rule! (I only wish they'd cast an actual Israeli to play her). :-)
As an an Israeli, I'm always curious when I hear there's an Israeli character introduced on a TV show or in a movie. Then I realize this Israeli woman is ALSO named Yael. Yes, Yael is a common name in Israel and has been for many decades, but there DO happen to be a few women NOT named Yael as well! Oh and Zohan? Really? Was that a typo for the actual Hebrew name Zohar? Nevermind the tackiness of the movie itslef, but the name really bothered me. Also, most Israeli men found on US TV shows or in movies tend to have Old Testament names. Surprisingly, the OT name trend is far more popular for American Jews than for Israelis. In Israel the well known OT names (David, Jacob, Joseph, etc.) tend to be considered rather old fashioned and you won't find many non-religious Israelis with those names under the age of 40. I'm sure TV producers can hire researches to find more believable MODERN Hebrew names for the young Israeli characters they occasionally introduce.
Tirza, J&H's mom, RobynT and Valerie - thanks for your input. I decided to leave just Inbal on my resume, but at my interview today, I told the interviewer she could call me Belle. She seemed almost relieved to hear it! Although she did want to know how Inbal is pronounced. After hearing the proper pronuncition, she was even happier to have the Belle option. :-) Ditta - Jotham is another OT name that's rare here but is highly popular in Israel. There were 2 men named Jotham in the bible (pronounced Yoh-tahm). The first was Gideon's youngest son who protested the crowning of Abimelech, and who escaped death (unlike the rest of his brothers). The second was a king of Judah. I really like that name! The name Leda makes me think of a swan, probably cause I'm a Greek Mythology buff and Leda "gave birth" to Helen of Troy who came out of a swan egg. That's because Zeus had seduced Leda in the form of a swan, thus impregnating her with Helen.
Hi Everyone, I hope it's ok to use this board to post a question concerning names. My name is Inbal. It's a modern Hebrew name that most Americans mispronounce. The correct pronounciation is Een-balle with the accent on the second syllable. I recently moved to the US and am now in the process of looking for a job. Seeing as how my name is almost scary looking, I'm wondering if I should adopt an Americanized nn in order to ease the process. And if so, should I have the adopted nn on official stuff like my resume, or just use it when introduced to people? The nn I tend to use when making dinner reservations or getting coffee is Belle. It fits nicely, I think because not only do the names sound alike, but Inbal means the clapper inside a bell.
Joan = Joab. Sorry about the typo.
Having been born in Israel, I have a modern Hebrew name - Inbal. Since I spent much of my childhood in the US, I came to resent my foreign, hard-to-pronounce name and would fantasize about being called by a variety of trendy, commong names used in the US at the time (Jennifer and Jessica were a personal favorite for me as a kid in the 80's). Had I been born a boy, my parents were going to name me either Ron or the biblical name Yoav (Joan - the head of David's army). My sister was eventually given the unisex name of Ron (unisex names are big in Israel these days) and she loves it, but I think her experience as a female Ron is far different from what I'd experience as a male. I do think, however, that Joab is a better male counterpart to Inbal since it still sounds foreign (especially spelled in the Israeli manner of Yoav) and as a boy, I probably would have resented is just as much as I did Inbal (I don't resent it anymore, by the way). But as a male Ron, growing up in the US would probably have been a very different experience.
I only know Rej-ee-nas in real life. I know the latin word for queen, Regina is usually pronounced as rej-eye-na though. Like Elizabeth Regina. The feminind equivalent of Rex.
Re the name Gwendolyn. An old friend recently had twin girls and named them Gwen and Lynn. I don't know the middle names, but their first names were chosen to honor their grandmother - Gwendolyn.
Rjoy, I believe the character in Fiddler on the Roof's name is short for Eliezer, a common if outdated Hebrew name originating in the OT. Eliezer was Abraham's steward. He's the one Abraham sent to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Eliezer found Rebekah and brought her back to marry Isaac. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I think the NT Lazarus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Eliezer, which translates to something along the lines of "my God helps".
Levi is such a popular Jewish last name because it is the name of the Israelite tribe of priests. All of the Cohens out there are ancestors of priests from the Levi tribe. According to the OT, God proclaimed the Levi tribe as his priests - the tribe did not work the fields or receive their own land in the land of Canaan, as they worked for God. The other tribes were ordered to give 10% of their profits (goods, cattle, etc.) to provide for the Levis. I used to think all Levi/Levy's were Jewish, but recently found out that Levi is also an Irish last name. Who knows? Maybe this goes back to the theory that the Celts are the lost tribes of Israel?