Hebrew names for non-Jewish family?

[Anonymous]

My puritan ancestors did that. I have an Obadiah in my family tree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the Hebrew name Vered, which means rose.

Jewish PP - it is nice. Honestly I have never met anyone named Vered in all my life, and I spent time living in Israel. Where did you get the name from? Would you use it for a boy or a girl? What do you think you'd be conveying with that name?

I thought Shoshana meant rose??

Do you think only one name can mean rose?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would stay away from names that are Yiddish or culturally Jewish: Shoshanna, Ari, Avi, Aviva, Rivka, Lev, Lieb.

Names in more common usage are fine - Edith, Judith, Asher, Sara, Rachel, Jacob, etc

I'm on the fence about Yael. I feel like it's rare enough in the US that it's not really that glaring but I
would still think you were Jewish. And it's Ya-el.

Edith and Judith arw in common usage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yael (pronounced Yale) is one of my favorite names. We aren’t Jewish snd I’m still going to use it.

Pronounced as "Ya- ale" - not Yale. No one will say "Yale."

Ive never heard it pronounced as Yale. That’s really odd. It’s Yah-ehl. And yes I’m Jewish. And I would think it’s odd to use if you are not Jewish; same as I would think a Jewish person with the name Christina is odd.

I know Jewish people named Christina and Kristin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a jew and I think that's weird.

Me too. Why would you want a Hebrew name if you're not Jewish?

m
Because they like the name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the Jewish people who think it’s weird feel when people use Irish names? Think: Sinead or Siobhan Rosenblatt. Ok? What about Sinead or Siobhan Jackson...and the Jacksons are black.

PP Jewish person who thinks it's weird when non-Jews use Jewish names: I roll my eyes at all the Irish-named non-Irish children. There are just so many of them that at some point I've come to accept: people just like Irish names. It seems like among a certain group of kids born in the 2000s, Irish names are neutral of cultural association.

Funny enough, I have some kids in my life who were born to parents who are a mix of Portuguese, German, Puerto Rican, and Jewish - and all of those kids have very Irish names. What can you do.

If Jewish names headed in that direction - stripped of cultural association or meaning - I'd be weirded out, I think. But, hey, maybe it would also lead to less anti-semitism - and we'd all take that, nu?

What do Irish people - whether from Ireland or just family history - think pf Irish names being so popular?

I think the parents are trendy and roll my eyes at them. I roll them twice if the birth announcement comes with a pronunciation guide.

But I do love to correctly announce their toddler's name and watch how crestfallen they look. It's like they see the "no one will know how to pronounce it" warnings not as people saying their kid will be inconvenienced, but rather as proof they'll be the 'smart one' on the playground among other parents - constantly getting to correct people. IME they hate it when this is taken away.

This is super weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the Jewish people who think it’s weird feel when people use Irish names? Think: Sinead or Siobhan Rosenblatt. Ok? What about Sinead or Siobhan Jackson...and the Jacksons are black.

How many Siobhan Rosenblatt's do you think are out there? I'm guessing none. That's a deep cut Irish name. Ryan maybe, but Sinead?

Actually, there’s a girl with a strikingly similar name (first name Uber Irish, last name Uber Jewish) in the NoVa area. Family is Jewish (both parents). They just liked the Irish name. I doubt she’s the only one on the planet.

Soledad O’Brien is a journalist and anchor who has both Irish and Spanish heritage. She is known for anchoring programs on CNN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How on earth do you know if someone is Irish? A ton of white Americans have Irish ancestry. Maybe the mother's family is Irish? Or are you only allowed to have first names that match the father's ethnicity?

Have you ever seen Irish people? I recently met a friend's relative traveling from Ireland, and I was like "Hello, person who looks exactly like me and all my sisters!" A huge proportion of US Irish people immigrated all at the same time from the same counties during the Potato Famine, so yeah, there's often a very characteristic look.

The potato famine was in the mid 1850s. You’re saying people who immigrated to the us then have ancestors who all look similar now. 😂 that is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister's name is Jessica. We aren't Jewish. It's fine to use whatever name you want, but I would consider anglicizing it as others have mentioned.

Wtf. Most people named Jessica aren’t Jewish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the overall opinion?

We aren’t Jewish but like the name Eidel.

Obviously many non-Jewish people name their children Hannah, Rebecca, Elijah and Ezra but what about names like Adira? Shoshannah?

Please give your children names they can live with with as both children and adults. I was given a Biblical name that I hated. One of the first things I did with my first paychecks was to go to court and change my name. Do not do this to a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the Jewish people who think it’s weird feel when people use Irish names? Think: Sinead or Siobhan Rosenblatt. Ok? What about Sinead or Siobhan Jackson...and the Jacksons are black.

How many Siobhan Rosenblatt's do you think are out there? I'm guessing none. That's a deep cut Irish name. Ryan maybe, but Sinead?

Actually, there’s a girl with a strikingly similar name (first name Uber Irish, last name Uber Jewish) in the NoVa area. Family is Jewish (both parents). They just liked the Irish name. I doubt she’s the only one on the planet.

Soledad O’Brien is a journalist and anchor who has both Irish and Spanish heritage. She is known for anchoring programs on CNN

Be honest, when you hear the name Soledad .the first thing that comes to mind is the prison.

[Anonymous]

I know 2 people named Jedidiah, neither is Jewish. One is a Southern Christian woman, one is a male Jehovah's Witness. I think initially, the name is surprising at first introduction, but then you quickly adapt, and it's normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yael (pronounced Yale) is one of my favorite names. We aren’t Jewish snd I’m still going to use it.

Pronounced as "Ya- ale" - not Yale. No one will say "Yale."

I'm Jewish and I have never heard Yael pronounced as Yale

I would assume a non-Jew with a Biblical name is Evangelical - and would probably therefore infer all sorts of political and cultural things about them

If that's the message you are trying to convey, or if that's who you are, go for it!

You would assume that about any non-Jew with a Biblical name, or just an uncommon one.

You really make political inferences about kids with names like Daniel and Joshua?

Why does the name being popular, make less assumptions for you, than a less popular name like, say, Levi?

No, not Daniel or Joshua. I don't make any assumptions about a kid with such a popular name.

It's the uncommon Old Testament names that would raise those assumptions.

Levi isn't really a Jewish first name - if you name your kid that, I will just assume you're Evangelical.

But for names that are used basically only by Jews or Evangelicals? If you have one of those names, and I know you're not Jewish, it's a fairly safe inference that you are Evangelical.

Perhaps if people of other demographics start naming their kids with those names, and there are enough of them, that assumption will change. Like Irish names are so popular among certain folks now I might no longer assume that someone named Saoirse is Irish.

Levi makes you think Evangelical not Jewish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How on earth do you know if someone is Irish? A ton of white Americans have Irish ancestry. Maybe the mother's family is Irish? Or are you only allowed to have first names that match the father's ethnicity?

Have you ever seen Irish people? I recently met a friend's relative traveling from Ireland, and I was like "Hello, person who looks exactly like me and all my sisters!" A huge proportion of US Irish people immigrated all at the same time from the same counties during the Potato Famine, so yeah, there's often a very characteristic look.

OMG

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do the Jewish people who think it’s weird feel when people use Irish names? Think: Sinead or Siobhan Rosenblatt. Ok? What about Sinead or Siobhan Jackson...and the Jacksons are black.

PP Jewish person who thinks it's weird when non-Jews use Jewish names: I roll my eyes at all the Irish-named non-Irish children. There are just so many of them that at some point I've come to accept: people just like Irish names. It seems like among a certain group of kids born in the 2000s, Irish names are neutral of cultural association.

Funny enough, I have some kids in my life who were born to parents who are a mix of Portuguese, German, Puerto Rican, and Jewish - and all of those kids have very Irish names. What can you do.

If Jewish names headed in that direction - stripped of cultural association or meaning - I'd be weirded out, I think. But, hey, maybe it would also lead to less anti-semitism - and we'd all take that, nu?

What do Irish people - whether from Ireland or just family history - think pf Irish names being so popular?

I think the parents are trendy and roll my eyes at them. I roll them twice if the birth announcement comes with a pronunciation guide.

But I do love to correctly announce their toddler's name and watch how crestfallen they look. It's like they see the "no one will know how to pronounce it" warnings not as people saying their kid will be inconvenienced, but rather as proof they'll be the 'smart one' on the playground among other parents - constantly getting to correct people. IME they hate it when this is taken away.

I dunno, this judgment strikes me as stupid. My last name is quintessentially Irish. (Think: O'Reilly, Kelly, Brennan, etc). But my Irish ancestor emigrated to America in the late 1600s, so I am very far away from my Irish roots--so far that I don't identify culturally as Irish American. My paternal grandmother was born in Sweden, so I'm a quarter Swedish, and the rest of my heritage is English, Welsh, Scottish, French. And a smidge of Irish, too.

So it's ok with the world if I name my kid Sinead O'Reilly, even though I don't identify as Irish American. But not ok if I name my kid Dagmar O'Reilly? What if I give my my kid my DH's German last name? Sinead Schmidt? Same mother and father as Sinead O'Reilly, but now you're rolling your eyes? ~shrug~