Jewish Baby Girl Names

[Mommal]

Hi y'all! This may be the wrong place for this issue, but here goes anyway. DH and I- both big ol' Jews- are expecting a girl. That's a problem for us: we seem not to agree at all on names for girls. He likes names like Melanie, Natalia, Irina- I hate hate hate them! I like Orli, Noa, Binah, Aya- he hates them!

I want a Hebrew/Jewish name for this kid, because I have never really been comfortable with the whole "My name is Christina but my Hebrew name is Yocheved" disconnect. So in short, here's what I'm looking for: a Hebrew/Jewish girl's name that is "feminine" and works well in English, some name meanings, and/or some helpful baby name websites. TIA for helping a sister- and her DH- out!

[hollytheteacher]

I know the cutest, sweetest little jewish baby girl named:

Mara

and for a cute nickname her family calls her Marzipan! How cute is that!?

[Just Kate]

My faves:

Aviva (Spring)
Eliora (My G-d is my light)
Mayim (water)
Miriam
Rivka
Talya/Talia (dew)

[Adele_Mommy]

Here is a short online list of Jewish girl names that I think has a higher proportion of pretty names than lists that try to be all-inclusive. This site has name meanings too.

I like Eliana, Leia, and Tamara myself, but I think you should talk with your husband about what he likes about his choices and dislikes about yours and you should explain the same to him. Is one of you more concerned with meaning and the other with sound? Or it looks like your dh likes multisyllabic names with "ie" and "l" sounds whereas you seem to prefer a shorter two-syllable name. Maybe something like Leia would make you both happy?

Good luck and congratulations!

[holz]

You and your DH sound just like me and mine We're having the hardest time agreeing on names. The only one we've agreed on so far is Bethany.

Others that I love are
Nechama
Tamar
Tovah
Ayala
Rivka
Chaya
Chana
Batya
Hadassa
Liora
Miriam
Penina

Good luck!

[lolar2]

I'm partial to Rebecca (my name).

Lots of Biblical names are common in English-- Sarah, Rachel, Leah, Hannah, Eve, Judith, Dinah, Susannah, Sharon, Miriam, Naomi, Ruth....

[javilu]

how about Ilana?

[Faliciagayle]

We have the book "Best Baby Names for Jewish Children" by Alfred Kolatch; it's quite good. Not all the names are "Jewish" e.g. Hermione, but he always lists a Hebrew equivalent. For Hermione, "messenger," he recommends Shimshona, but I've also seen Erelah. I recommend it

DDs name came to me because of the meaning. Are there certain words or phrases you're drawn to, other than the ones you already listed?

Orli "my light," "light is mine"
Noa "peace" "rest"
Binah "understanding, intelligence, wisdom"
Aya "to fly swiftly"


I love my Hebrew name, but I do wish it was more in line with my English name.

[mirlee]

I vote Miriam, but that's my name. :-). I also like Chana, Esther, Rivka. I also like Haddassa.

[Kelilah]

I like Rivka, but my husband doesn't. Our list includes Mira, Talia, and Shira, though! I especially love Shira.

[russsk]

My SILs and/or cousins have pretty much taken my favorite girl names, but here they are:

Noa
Naomi
Rivka
Dafna
Yael
Ayelet
Naama
Yifat
Racheli
Malka

[mommyshoppinghabit]

DH is from Israel. I just went to look on his Facebook page, so here's a bunch of more contemporary names (Rivka, Malka, and Miriam are all names of people over 50), although I cant say that the following are necessarily Biblical, if that's what you're looking for):

Adi (emphasis on the d)
Mirav
Ravit
Maya
Yuli
Imbal
Orly
Deekla
Norit
Netta (I think it's short for Nathalie)
Lilah
Liora
Rinat
Ira
Anat
Corinne
Carmit
Dorit
Efrat
Einat
Hila
Keren
Leeron
Limor
Michal
Sarit
Dahna

[Nickarolaberry]

hmm, well in my community Rivka, Malka, and Miriam are still pretty popular at all ages

Okay, here are a few thoughts on Hebrew names that cross directly with English names and still have very deep spiritual meanings:

Gavriela (Gabriella) - means G-d is my strength

Ariella - Lionness of G-d

Tzofiya (Sofia) - 'scout' of G-d (this is a name that appears in the traditional Shabbat song Eishet Chayil -- Woman of Valour-- and also in the Israeli national anthem HaTikva)

Daniella - Justice/Judge of G-d

Eliana - My G-d answered

Rina/Reena - joy

Tamar(a) - date palm

Devorah/Deborah - honeybee

Chana/Hannah (graceful)

Kaila/Kayla (can't remember the translation)

Aliza/Eliza -- beloved

Then you have the Biblical names with wonderful namesake/spiritual relevance: Sarah, Rebecca (Rivka), Rachel, Leah, Miriam, Dina, Esther, Ruth, Chava/Eve, Tamar, Michal, Naomi, etc. etc.

B'sha'ah tova!

[Faliciagayle]

We're also in the process of divining a name for our next baby and I ran across this site http://www.learn-hebrew-names.com/ which looks waaaaaay more informative than general baby name sites.

Good luck!

[umami_mommy]

my very fav is "dina" and i also like "shira." (both biblical)

my hebrew name is shoshona, which is pretty, but kinda passe.

i do think there is a huge difference between a "jewish" name and a modern israeli name.

[Mommal]

Thanks, all! You've presented me with some lovely names- many of which I can't use because I have a huge family and so many names are already taken. Rachel? We have 3. There are 2 Noams, a Rivka, a Penina, a Noami, etc.... We follow that Ashkenazi minhag that says you shouldn't name a baby after a living relative- and while I know I could use a family name and say "We didn't name her after you" the concept still freaks me out a bit. Like I'd be putting the ayin ha-ra'a on someone... (Why oh why can I blithely dismiss every superstition but this one?)

Can anyone give me info on the derivation for the following names?
Meira
Samara
Aya
Tirza
Naima (anyone have the Hebrew chops to pass judgement on this one? "Na'am" and "naim" both mean pleasant, and there's a name Na'ama, but I'm not sure that Naima is a name or that if it were it would make sense grammatically.)

[anniebee]

Since I ended up with a Joel and an Asher, I never got to use the ones on my girl list!

Our favorites were Rivka, Aviva, and Tirzah.

Good luck! How fun for you guys!

[Faliciagayle]

Originally Posted by Mommal

Thanks, all! You've presented me with some lovely names- many of which I can't use because I have a huge family and so many names are already taken. Rachel? We have 3. There are 2 Noams, a Rivka, a Penina, a Noami, etc.... We follow that Ashkenazi minhag that says you shouldn't name a baby after a living relative- and while I know I could use a family name and say "We didn't name her after you" the concept still freaks me out a bit. Like I'd be putting the ayin ha-ra'a on someone... (Why oh why can I blithely dismiss every superstition but this one?)

Can anyone give me info on the derivation for the following names?
Meira
Samara
Aya
Tirza
Naima (anyone have the Hebrew chops to pass judgement on this one? "Na'am" and "naim" both mean pleasant, and there's a name Na'ama, but I'm not sure that Naima is a name or that if it were it would make sense grammatically.)

I don't have the Hebrew chops for this, but briefly, Naima is a female derivative of Noam, which means "pleasantness."

....So if you're uncomfortable with naming after a living relative, you might want to reconsider...