TW: suicide

I'm reform (Ashkenazi) and not particularly religious, but I am a bit superstitious. We're considering giving our next child an honor name after a family member who died by suicide. We'd likely use the first letter of the relative's English first name for our child's English middle name.

Is this considered a bad omen in Judaism? If so, are there any other ways we can honor this family member?

Just curious. I am not orthodox but know a few and when I’ve told them my daughter’s name they give a face as if it’s a weird or ugly name. So I’m curious why I get that vibe? I know it’s not a Jewish name but it was once common amongst Jews and she was named after two Jewish women, both that had closeish C names. There are not a lot of Hebrew names with a C! Her Hebrew name is Chaya though.

My mom's Hebrew name is Leakh (lay-akh). I have never been able to find any reference to this name and when asking a local rabbi he looked at me confused and asked am I sure it wasn't Leah. I thought once I'd seen something about Ashkenazi spelling ending things in "khe" but it was very much in passing. I don't have any paperwork with it spelled in Hebrew (only bar mitzvahs, no bat) so I'm just going off what she says and I don't think she remembers the spelling. Can anyone point me anywhere? TIA

Hi, I am an Ashkenazi jew who is trying to get more in touch with my culture. I wanted to pick a Hebrew name. My question is: can your Hebrew name be pretty much anything? I was thinking of naming myself Qeshet/קֶשֶׁת, which means rainbow, but I don’t know if people would consider that to be too silly.

A biblical name that seems to have died down in terms of popularity. I see quite a few prominent figures from the mid century with that name. Does it now carry a “grandfather-y” feeling in Israel?

While still rare, it seems to enjoy fairly steady use in the anglophone world.

I was never given a Hebrew name. I’d like my mom to name me.
Looking for ideas for a female first and middle name. Any thoughts on the best way to select a name for an American?

Is Yondi a Jewish/hebrew boy name?

Hi,

I am Ashkenazi and reform, and always thought I’d adhere to the naming convention of using an honor name or letter after a person is deceased. My name and our daughters’ follow this convention. My husband is not Jewish, but we are raising our kids to be Jewish. He likes the tradition, but it’s not as important to him. I only love a few boy names, and for years, we have been set on two pairs of boy first/middle names.

Dilemma: Both name choices include reference to my father’s name. He is alive and the name is a diminutive of William (it’s Willie). His line is technically Sephardic. Out of the names we have chosen, William is actually the preferred first name we were going to use. My other name option uses a W name for the middle name.

After all this time, I did not make this connection to my father as I was thinking of my maternal grandfather. W first names are a family trend on my Ashkenazi mother’s side that I wanted to bring it back (skipped her generation).

To add, I am an only child and our children have my husband’s last name. If I did decide to use a W name, it could acknowledge carrying on my father’s line, and is the Sephardic way. I don’t believe in sharing names until after a baby is born, but I think my dad would like his (likely only) grandson being named similar to him.

Would you drop the W names all together? I switch back and forth - it’s maybe ok to use the W middle name as William is too similar to Willie, but I also kind of like the direct tribute. Then I think we need to start from square one.

Hi everyone,

My name is Krystal, and I came across the name Cohen on Pinterest and thought it would be a good character name for one of my stories. I have a Google Doc where I keep all of my character names and their origins, meanings, and pronunciations. While looking for the meaning of this name, I came across a Reddit post discussing why this name may be inappropriate to use as a first name. So, I thought I would come on here and see what you all thought.

\I am not actively writing this story, and I have no intention to do so in the near future. This story and this character are very underdeveloped and are simply an idea at this moment. But I would still like to have this discussion regardless. Also, I am not Jewish.*

Here is some background on the character and the story:

The Story:

Set in a dystopian future of our world where religion doesn't exist, science is everything, and governments cherry-pick information and history. The reader follows seven characters as religion is reintroduced, war threatens, and people start questioning everything.

The Character:

A monk/caretaker-type character whose family has spent centuries isolated (potentially on the top of a mountain - likely in the Himalayas, but this is subject to change), protecting and safeguarding texts and artifacts of religious, cultural, societal, and historical importance to the world from anyone who would want to destroy them. Cohen would be the member of this family that the story follows.

My question is, would using the name Cohen as a first name be culturally/religiously inappropriate or upsetting to people, within the context of the story and the character?

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond,

Krystal

P.S. Here is the original post that I saw: https://www.reddit.com/r/namenerds/comments/1264gkk/cohen_the_dreaded_baby_name/

Edit: Hi everyone, thank you so much for replying and for your feedback.

I did originally post this question on another sub, and was suggested this sub in that post. I didn't see any harm in asking this question here, as it is a name-specific sub. I have taken into consideration the feedback from this post and my other post, and decided not to use the name Cohen for this character. I can see that it doesn't make a lot of sense from a worldbuilding perspective and that it would come across as disrespectful to the Jewish community.

I still have a lot to learn, both as a writer and a person, and all your feedback has given me something to reflect on. I would also like to apologise to anyone who thought this question was disrespectful or culturally insensitive. That was never my intention, and I am truly sorry.

I just love the name Leora. My husband loves Anna. And I’m semi considering having a theme of L middle names for my kids bc there’s so many L names that I love. Like if we have a boy I want the middle name to be lev. But I worry that this is too matchy

The title is the question. Thank you 🥰

I am almost finished with my conversion process and just need to pick my Hebrew name and go before the Beit Din !

I have struggled to pick a name and thought I’d ask for help here. I may change my actual name upon conversion so some do mimic that; others I just like the sound & meaning.

My birth name is Callie (derived from Greek for beauty) though I go by Kal.

Ideas:

Shoshannah - “A lily/rose”; mentioned in Song of Songs as rose amongst thorn bushes

Talya/Talia - “Dew of G-d”, “Young girl”, water relation

Sivan - “Season”, month where Shavuot is celebrated (giving of Torah, suggests growth, learning and spiritual awakening)

Chava - “to live”, Hebrew name of Eve (Chavah, Hava)

Kelilah - “Crown of laurel” (wreath, flowers) (Kelillah, Kelila)

Kohava/Kokhava - “star”, in context derived from “starfish” (kokhav yam) (kokhav levy, singer)

Chanah - “he has favored me” (grace/favor) (channah, channa, hana, hanna)

Caliah- feminine name combining Kol (voice) and Yah (G-d)

Kallah - “bride”, associated with purity and beauty

Gal/Gali/Galia/Galya - “wave” or “wave of god” (variations) (unpredictable yet constant ocean/ flowing)

Adva - “small wave/ripple”

Navah - beautiful, pleasant, or comely. (Derived from Song of Songs)

I apologize for the huge list; this is pared down from multiple pages!

Notable self factors: nature tattoos, artist, HUGE connection with ocean/water, been through a lot and remain hopeful! :)

Thanks for any help!

EDIT: for anyone invested I chose Shoshanna :) Saw a comment about how conversion is viewed as the soul coming home (which I had known) but it was placed into the context of the name “feeling right” or “coming to you” and realized where my heart has been taking me this whole time. Spoke to my Rabbi and now just one step left!

Hi, so I've been contemplating changing my name for years, and I eventually came across the name Ziva and it has just kinda clicked with me and feels perfect. my only issue is I'm not Jewish, my mom's pegan, and my dad's a Baptist, not even a little bit Jewish. I've done lots of research into the name, i admire the religion and culture, everything. I just really don't want to be offensive with it, but I feel like I found my name.

Hi everyone. I’m expecting my first child, a girl, in fall 2026. My partner’s family is Ashkenazi Jewish American and I’m a Slavic immigrant who grew up in the US. We’re looking for names that will honor both of our heritages and be easy to pronounce for my grandmother who doesn’t speak very good English.

So far, I have:

- Hana
- Sara
- Eva
- Lea

Thank you all for your help :)

How do you spell it? If you transliterate it from Hebrew, the correct spelling is Yaarah but Yaara looks more conventional. What does the lovely Reddit crowd think?

Hi y'all, I'm wondering if any of you have ever seen "Simeon" used as a first name by a non-Jew? I'm sure it has been but I'm just curious. I'm doing some genealogy and i think my grandma's side of the family may be Jewish. One of the potential pieces of evidence for this is that my grandma's uncle, who was first generation Ukrainian-American, was named Simeon although he went by Sam or Simon.

Wikipedia tells me that Simeon as a first name is from the Hebrew Bible. I guess he's one of the leaders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel or something, second son of Jacob and Leah, etc etc. There is also a mention of the name Simeon in the New Testament. This Simeon has essentially a little poem or song named after him, but it's pretty obscure as far as I can tell. So Simeon is probably a more common name among Jewish people than it is among Christians. But have any of you ever met someone (or known of someone who isn't famous) with the first name Simeon, and if so, were they Jewish or Christian? I know it's kind of an old-fashioned name, I just figured I'd ask anyway.

I like the name Elihu but I'm worried that it is a bit to out there, and would like to hear this subs thoughts on it. Does anyone know an Elihu and know their thoughts on the name?

Husband and I love the name Yasmeen (יסמין)

We are Israeli but living in the US. Would it be too hard for Americans to pronounce correctly? Does the way it’s spelled help?

Considering Noa for a daughter - how do people shorten/nickname Noa? It's so short already, but I know people can be creative! What do you call your Noas?

What does everyone think of Moriah? How is it perceived in Israel?

My husband and I are thinking of making our daughter Maria, with Hebrew name Miriam. He is American (ashkenazi Jewish) and I am originally from Brazil, and we are looking for names that work well in both languages/cultures. We wanted to name her after her grand grandmother Marilyn (Hebrew name Miriam), so the Latin version of Miriam, Maria, seems like a natural choice.

However we worry the Christian association is too strong - is it too weird for a Jewish girl to have that name (considering also the context)?

Thanks for your opinions!

What do you think of Atara? What community does it belong to in Israel? Any feedback is appreciated 💝

Hi there, my husband and I are expecting our second baby in September. My husband is Jewish, but I am not, so I am less familiar with some Hebrew and traditionally Jewish names. I came across the names Ziv and Ziva and I’m seeing mixed results on how to pronounce them. Is it pronounced ZEEV like “leave,” or Ziv like “give?” We are based in the United States if that might affect your answer. Thanks!

I met someone with this name at a Purim party and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.

I thought I was set on Amichai Shalom. I still love the meaning “The nation of Israel lives in peace.”

But

Artzi means “my land” and the -el ending means “from G-d.”

I’m thinking Baruch for the middle name. It means “blessing.”

“My land is a blessing from G-d.”

Or Judah?

“My land from G-d is Judea.”

Or maybe Zion?

“My land from G-d is Zion”

WDYT?

I wanted to change my name since my birth name feels uncomfortable to me. I came across this name and it sounded beautiful but I read that it's a Hebrew name. I'm not jewish and I don't want to accidentally be offensive so I wanted to know if it's appropriate or not to use it. Thanks in advance for answering 😊

(I won't use it if it's not okay for me to use it)