When you think of the name Eli,

[Anonymous]

half the boys in the prek class at my kids school seemed to be Eli/Ely. It seems to be the trend of the moment so go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and just to clarify, I'm not afraid of people thinking my hypothetical son is Jewish, I was wondering if people would think it was odd that I chose the name, given that we are not Jewish. There is a big difference. Honestly, its like you cannot read. I sometimes wonder how people have jobs when they can't comprehend a few lines of text.

OP, if you want to mock us for a lack of reading comprehension, maybe you should see what color that kettle of yours is. A grammar lesson:

its = possessive

it's = it is

Get off your high horse, why don'tcha?

[Anonymous]

Eli Llly

[Anonymous]

I've known both Jewish and non-Jewish people named Eli. It could go either way. But I think that it is too biblical and also somewhat weak sounding. Plus it's gotten so popular that it doesn't even have originality value anymore. IMO Ian is a great name. So is Evan.

[Anonymous]

I'm southern and I know lots of non-Jewish Elis, so no, I don't think Eli sounds Jewish.

For the PP who said it would be weird if a non-Jew named their kid Hillel or Shalom, I know a Christian woman who named her son Cohen. After Seth Cohen on the OC (not kidding). Totally nuts, if you ask me, for a little Christian boy to be named Cohen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm southern and I know lots of non-Jewish Elis, so no, I don't think Eli sounds Jewish.

For the PP who said it would be weird if a non-Jew named their kid Hillel or Shalom, I know a Christian woman who named her son Cohen. After Seth Cohen on the OC (not kidding). Totally nuts, if you ask me, for a little Christian boy to be named Cohen.

Especially since that's a last name, but whatever.

[Anonymous]

Well, I think Eli is a nice name, and as many posters have pointed out, there's a long tradition of Christians (esp. Protestants) appropriating originally Hebrew names. So while I do think Jewish when I meet an Eli, I don't think it is a big deal to meet non-Jewish Elis.

I'm also Jewish myself and see no reason to take offense at OP wondering if people who meet her son will fixate on the suggestion that a name like Eli is an unusual choice for a Gentile. Choosing names for our children is one of the early things we do to give them a good start in life. If OP concludes that her son might do better without the "what's he doing with a name like that" distraction, she's actually being quite reasonable. Not to say that the name won't fit him, of course. OP needs to decide that, too, and will be fine whatever she chooses.

FWIW, I grew up with a (Jewish) classmate named Shannon Schwartz. My father always snickered when I mentioned her because of her Irish-Jewish combo name. Of course, this was silly and insensitive, but sometimes people have these reactions.

[Anonymous]

My entire family, including me, have Hebrew names, and none of us is Jewish. I love what I consider to be traditionally-Jewish names (like Eli), but they seem to be getting appropriated by evangelical Christian families these days.

[Anonymous]

fyi, OP...the Old Testament belongs to both Jews and non-Jews alike. Eli is not particularly a Hebrew name. Get a grip!

i did have to laugh reading the Post real estate section this past weekend. an Asian reporter wrote a piece about selling her house. her 2 y.o. daughter (obviously half-Asian, half-jewish?) is named Ida Rosenberg. i thought that was a hoot! a little asian toddler with an old jewish lady's name!!

and there is NOTHING wrong with that!! it was adorable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm southern and I know lots of non-Jewish Elis, so no, I don't think Eli sounds Jewish.

For the PP who said it would be weird if a non-Jew named their kid Hillel or Shalom, I know a Christian woman who named her son Cohen. After Seth Cohen on the OC (not kidding). Totally nuts, if you ask me, for a little Christian boy to be named Cohen.

Cohen is also a Gaelic name. We had first heard the name in that context many years ago, loved it, and had decided when I was pregnant we would name our son - if we had a boy. I didn't realize the Jewish connection until we told a couple of people. Didn't care that it had a Jewish connection in and of itself, but found out that it's more than just a name - it's from a long line of priests. We didn't want to offend anyone. Ended up having a girl, so it wasn't an issue. Funny - we went with a Scandinavian name we liked - and my husband is black (I'm white).

[Anonymous]

I thought Cohan was the Irish version (as in George M)?

And all those Old Testament names were very popular with Colonial New England settlers -- I think Puritans just loved the dour, smite-y parts of the Bible. Probably would have picked names from Revelation if there were any.

[Anonymous]

I like it, I did not associate it with a Jewish name.

[Anonymous]

If used as a Gaelic name, I don't think it's spelled Cohen... Maybe something more like Cowan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've known both Jewish and non-Jewish people named Eli. It could go either way. But I think that it is too biblical and also somewhat weak sounding. Plus it's gotten so popular that it doesn't even have originality value anymore. IMO Ian is a great name. So is Evan.

Again with the "weak" names? Should everyone be named Samson? Or is that too Jewish-sounding? What if you want a "weak" son who becomes a nice, employable MIT nerd when he grows up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If used as a Gaelic name, I don't think it's spelled Cohen... Maybe something more like Cowan.

I think the modernized version can be a combo of several spellings - Cowan, Coen, Cohen...... I think Cowan or Coen are more popular spellings. We found the name "Cohen" in my Clan Hamilton quarterly - I'm Scottish. Someone who had written one of the articles in the newsletter was named Cohen. We thought "boy it really has a strong sound" and did some research about it's Gaelic background.