Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People may get over it, but honestly many Jewish people will think it is a bit clueless or tacky. If you named your non-Jewish kid I would assume you had no Jewish friends and were not very cosmopolitan/educated. Same way I would feel if you named your daughter Tova or Aviva.

David is a Jewish name. Miriam is a Jewish name. Would a Gentile baby with either of those names seem clueless or tacky to you?

Hebrew is a beautiful language.

That's not really the point. The point is that Ari is heavily *ethnically* Jewish at the moment. David is not. Miriam moreso, but not as much as Ari. But do whatever you want - it's your right to name your kid whatever you want, but be fully informed as to how some people will hear it.

Anonymous wrote:People may get over it, but honestly many Jewish people will think it is a bit clueless or tacky. If you named your non-Jewish kid I would assume you had no Jewish friends and were not very cosmopolitan/educated. Same way I would feel if you named your daughter Tova or Aviva.

David is a Jewish name. Miriam is a Jewish name. Would a Gentile baby with either of those names seem clueless or tacky to you?

Hebrew is a beautiful language.

Anonymous wrote:Ari seems better for a boy.

+1

People may get over it, but honestly many Jewish people will think it is a bit clueless or tacky. If you named your non-Jewish kid I would assume you had no Jewish friends and were not very cosmopolitan/educated. Same way I would feel if you named your daughter Tova or Aviva.

^ we are not Jewish by the way...as a PP said, I think people will get over it instantly if they even make the association to begin with.

I Love it! It does make me think Jewish, but so many names are jewish I just don't see how it matters. DH wanted to use it for our second but it rhymes with my first name so I nixed it. Personally I like Ari.

Actually I do think Jewish names have gone mainstream: see the number one boys name for the las decade, Jacob. See also the rising popularity of Eli, Asher, Ezra, etc. I think it's fine to name your child Ari.

I have an Ari and am not Jewish. I actually started a thread asking this same question almost 2 years ago (in Expectant Moms & a rather long one in Off Topic if you want to search). We knew our son would have some issues and wanted to give him a strong name - we loved that it means Lion and Brave. The feedback that I got was that it is Hebrew and actually used in a lot of non Jewish cultures. It has been great and we couldn't imagine another name for our little Lion .

Character played by Paul Newman in Exodus.

I am Jewish. I would 1000% assume a boy named Ari or Arie is Jewish. It's a VERY Jewish name. I think it's way more common for Jews to name their kids Connor these days (Irish name) than non-Jews to name their kids Ari or Moshe etc. Irish names have gone mainstream. I don't think Jewish names have (although some biblical Jewish names have, like Asher). Ari isn't quite as Jewish-sounding as like Moshe or Shlomo or Shaya, etc., but it's more Jewish than say, David or Eli.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, appreciate the feedback. I honestly had NO idea that this was so strongly tied to being Jewish, and perhaps more importantly, that people would actually think I was extremely weird for naming my child that. Now rethinking my entire list as apparently I love Jewish names!!!! I guess I never really thought I needed to deliberately name my child within my "heritage" but sounds like most people are still affected by this....

OP, name your son a name you love. Honestly doesn't really matter where it comes from. I'd be that most people know Ari as a Jewish name because of Entourage.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - No other kids. Not Jewish.

Would it be odd for non-Jewish family to have an Ari? Perhaps spell it Arie?

Ari is fine for a non-Jewish family.

I don't recommend spelling it Arie.

Ari would make me think Jewish, but I also would get over it pretty quickly if you used it and you are not Jewish. I like it! And unlike others, I kind of like Arie better. But I knew a boy named Arie when I was young so I guess I have that association. Can't remember if he was Jewish or not.

OP here, appreciate the feedback. I honestly had NO idea that this was so strongly tied to being Jewish, and perhaps more importantly, that people would actually think I was extremely weird for naming my child that. Now rethinking my entire list as apparently I love Jewish names!!!! I guess I never really thought I needed to deliberately name my child within my "heritage" but sounds like most people are still affected by this....

Arie is the typical Dutch spelling. Look it up - very common name.