When you think of the name Eli,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know Eli was a Jewish name. I always think of Eli Whitney, who invented the light bulb. Great name.

I thought Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

[Anonymous]

I am not Jewish, I don't have many Jewish friends, but I do know a bunch of little kids named Eli....

I think it's pretty mainstream these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:do you necessarily think Jewish? The reason I ask is that we are not Jewish, and I don't want to seem weird if we pick that name. Its traditionally a Hebrew name, but many Hebrew names kind of go "mainstream" like John, Adam, etc. What do you think?

We are not Jewish & named our son Elias and call him Eli for short. He has a second name that is also very religious. In fact, we are totally non-religious and gave our other child a name that is heavy with religious meaning but we also thought it beautiful and a relative was so named. The two of them together sound like they could have grown up as Puritans. Tack "sister" and "brother" in front of their names and it sounds like they might have grown up in the deeply religious south.

No one has ever made any assumptions about our faith or lack thereof.

If you like a name, use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds Jewish to me, but it wouldn't be my first thought (Eli Manning would, despite me knowing nothing about football).

We named our DD a very stereotypical Jewish name. We are not Jewish. Every so often someone will ask if we're Jewish. It's not a big deal, we just say no, we just liked the name.

Our kid is named Eli and almost every adult guy who meets him will joke about Eli Manning .... no one ever mentions anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know Eli was a Jewish name. I always think of Eli Whitney, who invented the light bulb. Great name.

Not sure if the PP meant to be funny but Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin (Edison invented the light bulb)

Now back to the OP's question. I'm Jewish and my Dad's name is Eli. He was born in Brooklyn and I think a lot of Northern Jewish boys were named Eli from his generation. That being said, I grew up in the South and it also happens to be a traditional name for southern boys (hence Eli Manning, Eli Whitney, etc.). So multiple groups have used it.

I think it's a great name OP, if you like it go for it.

Thank you! I thought I was wrong about the cotton gin all these years.

[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.

Ya know what's nuts to me? Naming your kid after someone on the OC. !

[Anonymous]

Pamela Anderson name her boys Dylan and Brandon. So 90210!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know Eli was a Jewish name. I always think of Eli Whitney, who invented the light bulb. Great name.

I thought Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

I think of Laura Nyro's old song "Eli's Coming." Eli's coming, Hide your heart, girl!" Very catchy!

[Anonymous]

I never associated the name one way or the other but my Jewish BIL happens to be named Eli. I like the name.

[Anonymous]

When I hear Eli, a name I happen to love by the way, I do think Jewish. The name however, is so common these days that I would never find it wierd to meet a non-Jewish person with that name.

[Anonymous]

That was one of our top 2 choices for DS 18 mo. ago. We are Catholic so didn't cross our minds that some may think it is a Jewish name. I have plenty of Jewish friends & when I told them afterwards that it was one of our choices, they didn't say anything about it being a Jewish name. We didn't go with it b/c the Giants had just won the superbowl & didn't want to think we named him after Eli Manning. Now pregnant with #2 & if it is a boy we are still considering Eli, but I must warn you, I am starting to hear the name on the playground & in grocery stores so I fear it could be very trendy.
All that being said, name your kid whatever you want.

[Anonymous]

I have met so many Jewish kids and kids from many non-gaelic/celtic/British Isles and Ireland ethnicities, including asian kids, who are named Declan, Dylan, Ian (gaelic for John), Sean, Kevin, Brayden, etc.
Many Jewish girls with the English name Emma.

That doesn't strike anyone as strange but naming a presumably European/Christian kid something Jewish is somehow a problem? Where are the Yankel Walters, the Tyrone Sullivans, the Kim Le Smiths, and the Juan Bennetts? Seems like people name over into the favored ethnicities but don't cross over to less desireable ones. I say this as an Argentine Jew, knowing damned well that no one wants to trade up to minority/brown status.

[Anonymous]

I don't think that the question was offensive. We are both jewish. When we were naming our child we were concerned b/c the name is in the new testament, though not a commonly known one (it's a common name, just not commonly associated with the new testament). It is actually a form, though, of an old testament name. We went ahead with the name and no one has ever said anything though I occassionally wonder if people think it's odd that we didn't go with the old testament form instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you guys misunderstood OP and then just really ran with it. Or there are some seriously over sensitive people on this board. Well with regards to Jews anyway. She didn't mean it would be weird if someone thought her son was Jewish because of his name or that it would be a bad thing if they did. What she meant was along the same lines of someone naming their child Atsuko when you're not Japanese. It wouldn't be bad or horrible, just curious. No different than naming your kid Siobhan or *Declan when you're not Irish.

*This thread is about the name Declan. Please see this thread to fully realize how hypocritical people on DCUM are when it comes to the perceived Jewish offense as opposed to when it's an African American

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/105/58163.page

I agree with this poster - it would be curious, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. FWIW, my cousins - who have a very Jewish last name - named their first son Eli, then gave their second son unusual and stereotypically Irish first and middle names. I have always found that quite entertaining, but hey, it's their kid, they can do what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. Say what you want, I agree with PP--you sound like an anti-Semite. You said it would be "weird" if people thought you had chosen a Jewish name. Why the heck do you even care? The message that is coming through loud and clear is that, god forbid, you don't want someone thinking your kid is Jewish.

I don't think it's anti-Semitic to ask such a question. I'm Christian and my husband is Jewish and I'm raising our kids as Christians (this is our agreement). Since our kids' last name is Jewish, we purposely avoided Jewish-sounding first names (e.g. Ruth, Nathan) because we thought it would be confusing/"mis-branding" given that they self-identify as Christians, and participate in a Christian community.

To OP: I don't think Eli necessarily connotes Jewish.

WASP with a son named Nathan. I think of it as more of a biblical name than a Jewish name since we all share the Old Testament.

Mixed-marriage poster/author of the post you quoted here, and I agree, except that your Nathan doesn't have a Jewish last name (my kids do). If they had a different last name then Nathan would sound and look entirely different.