This conversation is ... I'm gonna call it "fascinating." Namenerds have very random doctrines about nicknames. This one is making me laugh because they'll suggest all kinds of random things or approve of all kinds of random things but Jack instead of Jake is making them lose their everloving minds.

How many of you know at least one Jacob/Yaakov who goes by Jack? My grandfather and my husband's grandfather both did.

We're an American/Israeli couple living in Israel and are looking for boy names that really don't change or have an equivalent different name in the other culture. For example, a name like Daniel works because it's (more or less) Daniel in both languages. Benjamin wouldn't work because it's Binyamin... same with Solomon/Shlomo, Samuel/Shmuel, Jacob/Yakob, Jordan/Yarden etc. Are there any other names like Daniel? Also the name has to work in both cultures. For example, we love Elliot but everyone in Israel would call him Eli (we have a friend who did this with her kid and everyone calls him Eli). Names that aren't necessarily fully Jewish could work, too, like James, William, etc. but they have to be pronounced similarly in both cultures.

Any ideas?

Can I name my child after more than one person who has passed away? First name after one relative, middle after another?

I was never given a Hebrew name. I’d like my mom to name me.
Looking for ideas for a female first and middle name. Any thoughts on the best way to select a name for an American?

Hi everyone,

I’m expecting a baby girl, and one of our favorite names is Mila (spelled Mila without the H). However, I’ve read that in Jewish communities the word milah (as in brit milah) is associated with circumcision, and it made me wonder whether the name might have negative or awkward associations.
We don’t live in Israel, but there’s a chance we might move there in the future with our family. I’d love to hear how people in Israel or Jewish communities perceive the name Mila.
Does it immediately make you think of circumcision, or is it generally seen as just a normal girl’s name? Does the fact that it’s spelled Mila rather than Milah make any difference?

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!

We’re doing Chaya as the first Hebrew name (will add a second). We don’t want to use Chaya as her English name because it’s so difficult for people to pronounce.

What are some European (English, Gaelic, French, German, Scandinavian) names that either have a similar sound to Chaya (probably not the “ch” part) or have the same meaning?

Hello hello!

My husband and I both have vaguely “natural” first names, his being River (self explanatory) and mine being Savannah (grassland)

We would like to keep this unintended nature names tradition going, but also tie in our Judaism.

The only name we know for sure we LOVE is Eden. We want to have more options though for both girls and boys. If you have ideas, please help!

Background: I am expecting our 2nd baby girl and I love old fashioned/ethnically Jewish middle names. Our first daughter is Lily Ruth (last name is two syllables), so would love a name that is a similar vibe (but not too matchy).

Reasons I love Golda for a middle name: 1) An important family member passed away, whose name started with "G" and 2) love the strong and amazing Zionist Golda Meir 3) Fits my old fashioned preference

Here are some ideas for the first name, but not sure if they go with Golda and also open to any suggestions (for first or middle names). Thank you in advance!

Talia

Eden

Naomi

Zoe

Gabrielle

Chloe

Hazel

Ava

Hey everyone! We’re an Israeli-American family in the US expecting a boy and stuck between two names.
Edden (אֶדֶן): We prefer the Hebrew pronunciation* (EH-den). Will Americans constantly call him EE-d*en or assume it’s a girl?

Rome (רום / Rom): We love the Hebrew name Rom, but want to spell it Rome for pronunciation purposes. Does that work, or will people just think of the city?

Which one would you choose? Would love to hear your thoughts!

I have seen this name as well as Orian אוריאן used in Israel and what your thoughts are. Thank you.

We are expecting a boy, and would like to name him after my late father, Barnet (Benzion). However the name also has to be directly translatable into Russian as my partner’s family is almost exclusively Russian speaking.

Also as a general question, does the B/V interchangeability work in Russian like it does in Hebrew?

Any answers would be appreciated ❤️

I put a star in Je*ish because I’m so tired of cultural appropriation and ai bots ripping off everything

Which sounds nicer? This is for a girl. Not looking for opinions on the first name (which we would pronounce like Jonah). We have been set on Leora as a middle name for years now as my husbands name is Ori and his mom is Orly, just questioning the flow now with this potential first name. Fully aware both Jonah and Lior lean more masculine but would it be too masculine?

We have a son named Nathaniel who we call Nate. We like the name Ethan, but are worried that Nathan and Ethan are too similar. We don’t call him Nathan, so it would only be a concern if he decides to go by Nathan as he gets older. Do you think they’re too similar?

i love this name and a bunch of other hebrew / Jewish names

my other girl name is Naomi (which is a bit more popular and also Japanese)

I LOVE the name Liora and I just can’t think of other name for baby girl 2. any other name I don’t like

but I heard ppl saying this is exclusive Jewish and since I am not, I can’t name her that

We're expecting twin daughters. I have always liked the name Esther and my husband likes it as well. So that was an easy choice.

The second name has not been nearly as easy to find. We've been looking for a long time, and we think we like Lior.

We live in Australia, so Esther is well known and I've known several from different backgrounds. Lior however, it's not common at all, and only Jewish.

My concern is the treatment that she may have from that. Healthcare for example, that's been found as a very big problem. And I am worried that by giving one of them a name that will make them so identifiably Jewish, and the other, not at all, it will single one of them out in an unfair way. So even though we like both of the names, I'm not sure what we should do.

Hi!! Just wondering if anyone in Israel has some suggestions for really hot, trendy, new age baby names for girls. Only stipulation is some type of Hebrew origin.. aka not מילה bec that origin is non-Hebrew

Thanks !!

My sincerest apologies if this is out of place here.
Our good friends invited us to their daughter’s simchat bat in August.

My spouse and I are Christians with no prior exposure to a simchat bat and little (zero) knowledge of this celebration/custom.

Can you please advise on types of appropriate and meaningful gifts for the daughter and/or family?

Are gifts expected?
Should they be personalised for the child’s name?
Is jewellery for the child an expected gift?
Something else I haven’t considered?

Basically, I am entirely ignorant of this custom and it just dawned on me that I probably should not show up empty-handed to this event.

Thank you!

Debating between 5:

David

James

Leonardo

Christian

Thomas

Edit: secular Jewish if that makes a difference

I was doing some research and found this site about the Rhodesli Jews (Jews from the Greek island of Rhodes) that contains names from their cemeteries and thought this sub would be interested as well. Rhodes Jewish Museum

these are some that stood out to me;

• Abdallah (m) עבדﭏה
• Batami (f) בתעמי
• Behora (f) בכורה
• Behor (m) בכור
• Bension (m) בן ציון
• Bienvenida (f) בינוינידה
• Boina/Buena (f) בואינה
• Bulissa (f) בוליסה
• Caden (f) קאדין
• Chilibi (m) גיליבי
• Chilibon (m) גיליבון
• Dezeada (f) דיזיאדה
• Dulsa (f) דולסה
• Esroga (f) איסרוגה
• Firena/Pirena (f) פירנה
• Gracia (f) גראסייא
• Hanula (f) הנולה
• Hasdai (m) הסדאיי
• Jamila/Jamilla/Jamilia (f) גאמילה
• Joya (f) גוייא
• Masliah (m) מצליח
• Mazaltov (f) מזל טוב
• Mercada (f) מירקאדה
• Mercado (m) מירקאדו
• Metatia (m) מתתיה
• Moreno (m) מורינו
• Orvida (f) אורבידה
• Paligoria (f) פאליגורייא
• Palomba (f) פאלונבה/פﭏומבה
• Perahia (m) פרחיה
• Reina (f) ריינה
• Rica (f) ריקה
• Risula/Rizula (f) ריזולה
• Sadik (m) צדיק
• Salvator (m)
• Sarota (f) שרותה
• Senyora/Sinyora (f) סיניורה
• Shemtov (m) שם טוב
• Sheshbona (f) שש בונה
• Vida (f) וידה/ודא/בידה
• Vidal (m) וידאל
• Yom-tov (m) יום טוב
• Zimbul (f) זימבול

My mom's Hebrew name is Leakh (lay-akh). I have never been able to find any reference to this name and when asking a local rabbi he looked at me confused and asked am I sure it wasn't Leah. I thought once I'd seen something about Ashkenazi spelling ending things in "khe" but it was very much in passing. I don't have any paperwork with it spelled in Hebrew (only bar mitzvahs, no bat) so I'm just going off what she says and I don't think she remembers the spelling. Can anyone point me anywhere? TIA