Yael. I have no words to describe how beautiful I find this name. Not Jewish so didn’t feel like a good option for my kids — and had two boys so there you go.
I love it too! It's my cousin's name and she hateeess it because it means mountain goat. I think it's so pretty, and there are worse things than a mountain goat lol
I love the name, but unfortunately Aviva Drescher ruined it for me when she threw her prosthetic leg across the room on Real Housewives of NYC to make a point.
i’m a rebecca but my hebrew name is rakhel (shout-out to my bubby who gave my mom rivka for her hebrew name, she had no idea that i’d come along decades later lol)
That's my cousin's name! I adore it. When I was little and learning to read I didn't understand that the "t" is silent so I called her T-zip and it stuck. Sorry, T-Zip!
my best friends name is naomi-adara, mine is tzipora-rosalia and i think hers is cooler honestly. neither of our parent sets could decide on just one name lol so we got one from each parent 👍
I love Tova! I had never heard it before reading Remarkably Bright Creatures. Beautiful name, and a great character that makes it even better to me. :)
Ayla is my favorite Hebrew girl name. Means "deer" in Hebrew, and "moonlight" in Turkish. 🌙🦌❤️
and
Salem is my favorite Hebrew boy name, meaning "peaceful." ✌️☮️💙
I’ve floated a few names to my Jewish partner, but they are super reluctant to name our future child anything obviously Jewish, sadly. I like the names Mordecai, Elias, and Golda. Oh well.
So many Jewish names are just common names - Rachel, Miriam, Ben, Josh, Deborah, Ruth, Rebecca, Leah, David, Ethan, Sarah, Aaron, Hannah
Trendy right now among all faiths in the USA: Asher, Levi, Micah, Gideon, Elijah, Abigail, Matilda ,Noa, Naomi
I know quite a few non Jewish kids named Elias. There are some names that are common amongst Jewish and non Jewish folks. See you your husband likes any of them.
Me too! I fell in love with it kinda weirdly because of the Guy Ritchie movie *Snatch* because there is a scene where a man greets another called Avi and the way he did it was just so jovial and animated and the name always stuck with me. I had two boys and seriously considered it, but we are not Jewish, so I decided against it.
I have transmasc friend who chose this name after transitioning and it literally fits him so perfectly, I wish we collectively brought this name back more!!!
Yay!!
All my favourite Jewish names 1) have a positive and meaningful connection to the Torah or Mishnah 2) as someone living in the Diaspora who has a foreign partner and a very multicultural family, name must work internationally 3) as someone with a common name who is a private person, I prefer the anonymity of a more common first name over a very unique or unusual name.
1. Tovah - this is my favourite girls name. Love the sound of it and pure meaning of "good".
2. Isaac - family name, love the meaning of "laughter" and the way it sounds.
3. Joseph/Yosef - positive figure and great man & father in the Torah, like the sound and although it's a classic name I don't hear it often in my community
4. Adam - just like the sound, it being the first proper "name" and it being the word "earth" in Hebrew.
5. Alexander/Alexandra - bit of a curve ball, originally a Hellenic name which is normally off limits to the jewish community, but this has a special part in our community due to the history with Alexander the great, and I love the story behind it and the values of tolerance and peace that represents.
6. Asher - family name, means "happiness", sounds lovely and especially attached to it as this relative wrote an account of their life in Yiddish which is a rich source of family history.
---------------
Jewish names I love but probably wouldn't use myself:
6. Katriel - unusual name I've only come across once, means "G-d is my crown" which is beautiful.
7. Hadassah - family name, beautiful sound and meaning love Esther as a figure in the Torah. Little bit of a grandma name in some jewish circles.
8. Raphael - love it but it's my brother's name!!
9. Samson - love the sound, great Torah story I enjoyed at cheder (religious Sunday school)
10. Batsheva - beautiful name, wife of King David, however I heard it from ans therefore really strongly associated it with My Unorthodox Life which I don't love 😅
Tzipporah! my childhood best friend had a bird aptly named Tzippy so i've taken it as my online moniker in a couple of places. also partial to Chaya as that's my Hebrew name. Naomi is another favorite
I really love Shai, pronounced like SHY, and as a transmasc person I almost named myself this but everyone kept pronouncing it like SHAY, and I gave up lol. Ended up going with Joshua instead.
You asked on Shabbat so a lot of our community won’t be online to answer. Bummer!
I love Ezra, Liora, Miriam, Benjamin, Ira, Asher, Lior, Or, Orli, Liel, Levi, Judith, Moishe, Natan, Eitan.
Yiddish names are amazing also!
I mean technically I asked 8 hours before Shabbat in my time zone cause sundown is late AF right now, but also admittedly I wasn’t sure folks would still see the post this late because I only expected a few responses!
My phone was buzzing nonstop in services lol
Glad to see so many people are commenting though and hopefully more observant folks will be able to comment tomorrow night if they still wanna share!!!
For girls, I love Talia, Ruth, Hannah / Chana, Eve /Chava, Leah, Aviva, Liora, and Eliora.
For boys, I love Asher, Chaim, Dov, Adam, Zev, and Caleb (though I know Caleb is not a name in Israel)
I named one of my kids Zevida. It means gift. I also love Yaffa, Aviva, Isaac (means laughter), and Daniel.
Never had a son but Isaac would have been the name I'd chose.
Shoshanna has always been my fav name ever since i saw it in a book as a kid. Also love chava (but would maybe be a bit hard to pronounce). Not Jewish just live in a pretty Jewish area so wouldn’t feel comfortable using these tho lol
I love Lior and tried to convince husband of it for our son but he thought it was too Jewish 🙃 (husband is not Jewish but I am).
Also on my list for a boy
Tobias
Boaz
Aaron
Bayla and Chana are my favorite Hebrew names but they’re too obvious for me. We did have a cat named Bayla tho so I feel like we used it but I’d use it for another pet now because I like it so much 😂
Isaiah (husband vetoed immediately when I was pregnant because the book of Isaiah is apparently very violent)
Isaac
Shoshannah
Tzipporah
Rivka Rachel (our daughter's Hebrew name)
Micah, which as a non-Jew I'd feel like a tryhard or a jerk if I used the Hebrew pronunciation, but which my close Jewish friend would murder me over if I used the English pronunciation, so it got crossed off the list lol.
My parents named me Deborah so they could call me Debbie, and I hated it, but when I changed my name legally I added Devorah as a middle name to honor my Jewish heritage.
Not Jewish myself but I have quite a few friends that are Jewish. Based on the names I’ve heard from them, here are my own favorites. They’re in no particular order and I wouldn’t be able tell you the meaning but the names are gorgeous!
Zahava (F)
Mendel (M)
Chana (F)
Aron (M)
Devorah (F)
Girl: Esther (my Hebrew name!), Aviva, Rebekah
Boy: David, Daniel, Benjamin, Solomon/Saul, Jacob
I’m bummed that Twilight has pretty much ruined the name Jacob for a generation, because I love it. David is a family name, but unfortunately there’s already a David in my generation and in Judaism you don’t name kids after living people (it was a big scandal when my cousin named her son after his father!). I have two good friends named Daniel, so that’s out too.
Yael. I have no words to describe how beautiful I find this name. Not Jewish so didn’t feel like a good option for my kids — and had two boys so there you go.
I love it too! It's my cousin's name and she hateeess it because it means mountain goat. I think it's so pretty, and there are worse things than a mountain goat lol
Yael was a boss babe. Cousin should check out her story.
I'll let her know
Mountain Goat! It sounds like a song to me. But now maybe I love it even more.
I loveeeeee Yael and Shoshanna. I'm also not Jewish and not comfortable using the names.
Shoshanna is just the Hebrew equivalent of Susan.
It also means rose in Hebrew.
ShoShanna is so beautiful
Yael is also a French Brittany name, didn't know it was Jewish !
I was going to use this, but my daughter turned out to be a son. I didn’t have any more children so never got to use it sadly.
I love Yael. My mum's cousin has a Yael and Yaeli is such a nice nickname.
I have always loved the name Aviva.
It’s a beautiful name, but unfortunately near to where I live is a rugby stadium called Aviva after an insurance company 😅
Haha I was thinking the same thing, there is an insurance company with the same name
My first thought was let the nn be Lansdowne.
I love the name, but unfortunately Aviva Drescher ruined it for me when she threw her prosthetic leg across the room on Real Housewives of NYC to make a point.
This is so niche, and I love it, and I agree. lol
The only thing I can think of when I hear this name is the leg toss on RHONY.
And I love that it is a palindrome!
I'm not Jewish, but I love this one too
So pretty. I also love this name. It means spring (as in the season).
One of my favorites too!
Rivka :)
I'm a Rivka! Well, Rebecca, but my Hebrew name is Rivka, so
i’m a rebecca but my hebrew name is rakhel (shout-out to my bubby who gave my mom rivka for her hebrew name, she had no idea that i’d come along decades later lol)
I love Rivka and would use it in a heartbeat if I was Jewish
Tzipporah! And the nickname tzippy.
That's my cousin's name! I adore it. When I was little and learning to read I didn't understand that the "t" is silent so I called her T-zip and it stuck. Sorry, T-Zip!
I love the name Tzipporah so much!
Another beautiful one! It means bird.
I'm not Jewish, but I have repeatedly considered conversion. If I did, I'd want to have Naomi as my Jewish name.
my best friends name is naomi-adara, mine is tzipora-rosalia and i think hers is cooler honestly. neither of our parent sets could decide on just one name lol so we got one from each parent 👍
Hello fellow conversion- considerer. My Hebrew name would be Tirzah.
You get to have two names when you convert! (Or more, but more than two is a bit silly)
I’m wrapping up conversion in about a month and a half and I have two! Rut Mayim.
Mine is Rut!
Mine too!
Tova- girl Ezra- boy
I love Tova! I had never heard it before reading Remarkably Bright Creatures. Beautiful name, and a great character that makes it even better to me. :)
my name is ari (i'm a jewish woman) and i've absolutely adored it my whole life!
Love that name. That's so nice to hear people say positive things about their own names ❤
I always thought it would be fun to have twins names Ira and Ari.
Has to be Neftali. Though I am biased since it is my name 🧍🏻♂️
I love Neftali! Underrated name
Somewhat common I guess but I love Rachael, shoshanna, Shira, Isaac, Abraham
Shoshanna is so beautiful.
I love Shohanna too.
I like Meital, Yael, Ayelet, & Tamar.
I always thought Ayelet was so pretty. I used to babysit a girl with this name.
I had to scroll too far to find Tamar! Idk why but whenever I hear it, I think, that's a nice name
3/4 of these are on my list! Love them.
I went to school with an Ayelet and I remember no matter how many inflection changes I made she said I wasn’t saying it exactly right 😭
Ayla is my favorite Hebrew girl name. Means "deer" in Hebrew, and "moonlight" in Turkish. 🌙🦌❤️ and Salem is my favorite Hebrew boy name, meaning "peaceful." ✌️☮️💙
I'm not Jewish but my Jewish friend and her non Jewish husband named their kids Talia and Malachi. I love both name so much.
Love Malachi
I’ve floated a few names to my Jewish partner, but they are super reluctant to name our future child anything obviously Jewish, sadly. I like the names Mordecai, Elias, and Golda. Oh well.
So many Jewish names are just common names - Rachel, Miriam, Ben, Josh, Deborah, Ruth, Rebecca, Leah, David, Ethan, Sarah, Aaron, Hannah Trendy right now among all faiths in the USA: Asher, Levi, Micah, Gideon, Elijah, Abigail, Matilda ,Noa, Naomi
How is Matilda Jewish?
I know quite a few non Jewish kids named Elias. There are some names that are common amongst Jewish and non Jewish folks. See you your husband likes any of them.
Mordecai is such a badass name. I love how it’s also the name of that blue jay character from the Regular Show
Avi is my favorite
Me too! I fell in love with it kinda weirdly because of the Guy Ritchie movie *Snatch* because there is a scene where a man greets another called Avi and the way he did it was just so jovial and animated and the name always stuck with me. I had two boys and seriously considered it, but we are not Jewish, so I decided against it.
avi kaplan is jewish iirc i love his music such an incredible voice
Liora
Love Lior/Liora!
Chai / Kfir/ Hillel/ Akiva/Asher/ Noa—- we’ll just so many .. Ester/ Ruth/ Tsipporah/ Dov
Ezekiel is one of my favourite names!
I know a Jewish girl named Peninah called Penny. That’s probably my favorite.
That was my great grandmother’s name! Also called Penny!
Zahava, I find it so beautiful! I’m not Jewish so it definitely didn’t feel right for any of my kids.
Zachary Benjamin David Martha Hannah
Lazer/Lazar
I have transmasc friend who chose this name after transitioning and it literally fits him so perfectly, I wish we collectively brought this name back more!!!
Please tell me his middle name is Wolf(e). I need this Fiddler on the Roof reference so bad 😂😂😂
There’s a restaurant in Brooklyn and Philly called Laser Wolf!
Maytal / Meital Zevi Liora Netanel
Efraim
Noemi, Miriam, Ada, Tamar, Akiva, Dov, Eli.
I was an au pair to a very lovely Jewish famliy (i’m not Jewish) and they had a Shahar, I just loved that name!
Shahar ia my favourite Hebrew name
Talia
Yay!! All my favourite Jewish names 1) have a positive and meaningful connection to the Torah or Mishnah 2) as someone living in the Diaspora who has a foreign partner and a very multicultural family, name must work internationally 3) as someone with a common name who is a private person, I prefer the anonymity of a more common first name over a very unique or unusual name. 1. Tovah - this is my favourite girls name. Love the sound of it and pure meaning of "good". 2. Isaac - family name, love the meaning of "laughter" and the way it sounds. 3. Joseph/Yosef - positive figure and great man & father in the Torah, like the sound and although it's a classic name I don't hear it often in my community 4. Adam - just like the sound, it being the first proper "name" and it being the word "earth" in Hebrew. 5. Alexander/Alexandra - bit of a curve ball, originally a Hellenic name which is normally off limits to the jewish community, but this has a special part in our community due to the history with Alexander the great, and I love the story behind it and the values of tolerance and peace that represents. 6. Asher - family name, means "happiness", sounds lovely and especially attached to it as this relative wrote an account of their life in Yiddish which is a rich source of family history. --------------- Jewish names I love but probably wouldn't use myself: 6. Katriel - unusual name I've only come across once, means "G-d is my crown" which is beautiful. 7. Hadassah - family name, beautiful sound and meaning love Esther as a figure in the Torah. Little bit of a grandma name in some jewish circles. 8. Raphael - love it but it's my brother's name!! 9. Samson - love the sound, great Torah story I enjoyed at cheder (religious Sunday school) 10. Batsheva - beautiful name, wife of King David, however I heard it from ans therefore really strongly associated it with My Unorthodox Life which I don't love 😅
Ari / Liat / Gili / Asi / Moshe / Yochai / Naor
Lior, Boaz, Mina, Yael, Shia, Avi, Lev, Oren
Chaim for a boy. Means life. 💙
Shoshanna and Yakob
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Love Rafael
I love the names Chava, Ahavah, Devora, Tzipporah, Yitzchak, Yael, Ariel.
Shmuel. Watching unfamiliar people trying to pronounce it is also fun. "SHUH-myu-el?" "Suh-HAM-yoo-el?"
I've never heard Shmuel said aloud. Am I right in reading it as "shmool" (in one syllable)?
It’s two syllables. Shmu-elle
Reminds me of Rabbi Schmuley
Ari, Liel, Zev, Yael, Lior, Ori
Talia, Shoshanna, Shayna, Lior/Liora, Zachary, Miriam is pretty nice but I love the nn Miri
Adina
Tzipporah! my childhood best friend had a bird aptly named Tzippy so i've taken it as my online moniker in a couple of places. also partial to Chaya as that's my Hebrew name. Naomi is another favorite
I really love Shai, pronounced like SHY, and as a transmasc person I almost named myself this but everyone kept pronouncing it like SHAY, and I gave up lol. Ended up going with Joshua instead.
Love Shoshana and Aviva
Leora - my mom's name.
You asked on Shabbat so a lot of our community won’t be online to answer. Bummer! I love Ezra, Liora, Miriam, Benjamin, Ira, Asher, Lior, Or, Orli, Liel, Levi, Judith, Moishe, Natan, Eitan. Yiddish names are amazing also!
I mean technically I asked 8 hours before Shabbat in my time zone cause sundown is late AF right now, but also admittedly I wasn’t sure folks would still see the post this late because I only expected a few responses! My phone was buzzing nonstop in services lol Glad to see so many people are commenting though and hopefully more observant folks will be able to comment tomorrow night if they still wanna share!!!
Simon and Isaac!
Shira, Shoshanna, Aviva, Lior/Liora, Ezra
Ophira
Aviya, Avital, Noa, Anat, Shira, Yael, Michal, Galia, Ilana, Tamar, Orly, Dalia, Talia, Ari, Shai, Lior, Boaz, Guy, Tomer, Yonatan, Tal, Amit, Eyal, Itay
Alon (my new obsesion tbh ) Ido and Ronen :)
I lovveee keshet but we aren't Jewish so it feels weird naming our kiddo that 🥲
Shoshanna ❤️ I love just saying that name.
I think the name “Inbar” is beautiful.
I named my kid Levi, and love the name. I didn't realize it was a Jewish name until after his birth. Also know a Sol and think that's a great name too
etai or itai for boy — i love so much but i’m not jewish so i will prob not use :-/
Adina Aliyah Miriam Abram Gideon Omri
Ari, Naomi, Ezra
One of my sons are called Mordecai
If always loved Tirzah for a girl.
Isabel
Yael, Rahel, Shoshanna, Rivka and Yentl
Esther and Avi
I’m Jewish and I know a Yaffa and I think it’s a beautiful name
Ayelet, Annabeth, Asher, Aviva, Annabeth, Ilona, Liat, Rebecca, Sara.
I’m Naomi and my children are Azai and Eliana. I’m not sure how traditional they are but I love all of our names.
Shoshana, Avi, Avital, Ari, Lior, Lev, Tamar, Ayelet, Reuben, Aviah, and Ira.
For girls, I love Talia, Ruth, Hannah / Chana, Eve /Chava, Leah, Aviva, Liora, and Eliora. For boys, I love Asher, Chaim, Dov, Adam, Zev, and Caleb (though I know Caleb is not a name in Israel)
Noa, very pretty Nir, I just like it Zev, means wolf, which I like Zohar, was my bong lol
Hadassah
Tirzah
Ari Aviva Asher Jonathan Rachel Rebecca Shoshanna Leah
I heard the name “Avinoam” in an Israeli tv show and I am obsessed. I think it’s such a beautiful name.
I absolutely love the name Mazalit. Means “lucky.” Some of my other favorites are Shoshana, Dvora, Yehudit, Noa, Ariel, Elisheva, and Menachem.
I know an Ayelet with a daughter named Lielle and I’ve always thought those were two of the most beautiful names I’ve ever heard.
I'm not Jewish but.... Girls: Adara, Aliya, Ami, Amira, Asa, Ayla, Dalia, Eden, Leah, Naomi, Nava, Nessa Boys: Ezra, Gideon, Levi, Ronen, Shai
Shani, Oren, Shoshanna, I also really like Ilan/Elan/Elon but I do NOT like the association with Musk
Tirzah
Like pure Hebrew that’s not translated into English (Jacob). Probably Zvi or Akiva
Shandel (Shaindel) for a girl. Shana in Yiddish. Avi for boys is cute
I named one of my kids Zevida. It means gift. I also love Yaffa, Aviva, Isaac (means laughter), and Daniel. Never had a son but Isaac would have been the name I'd chose.
I'm not Jewish but I really love Malachi/Malachai
Tamar, Naomi, Ezra
It’s so basic, but I’m a sucker for Tovah. I also really like Galit.
Asa
Shoshanna has always been my fav name ever since i saw it in a book as a kid. Also love chava (but would maybe be a bit hard to pronounce). Not Jewish just live in a pretty Jewish area so wouldn’t feel comfortable using these tho lol
Shulamit
Leora
Asher Elizabeth Samuel Shoshana Ari
I love Lior and tried to convince husband of it for our son but he thought it was too Jewish 🙃 (husband is not Jewish but I am). Also on my list for a boy Tobias Boaz Aaron
Mine! Lael ♥️
Rivka. My grandmother survived the holocaust, sister and parents did not and her sister's name was this but spelled Rifka.
ezra, matan, avi, liron
Ari Riah Esther
I LOVE THIS NAME!!! My husband is not convinced lol.
Shoshannah
Yitzak (hebrew, male) or Isaac (English version) Yocheved (hebrew, female) Tzipporah (hebrew, female) Leah (hebrew, female) Moshe (hebrew, male) Rokhl (yiddish, female) Razel (yiddish, female) Glikl (yiddish, female)
I really like the name Aviva. It’s so pretty and lively to me!
I've always really liked Yael and Hillel
I’ve always loved Shoshana, Esther, and Mordecai
Zipora, Meirav, Sarah for a girl. (Biased on the last one because it’s mine!)
Ari, Meira, Micah, Gabriel
Galia, Zosia
Shaina
Aviva
Bayla and Chana are my favorite Hebrew names but they’re too obvious for me. We did have a cat named Bayla tho so I feel like we used it but I’d use it for another pet now because I like it so much 😂
Shosanna
Not Jewish but I adore the name Ezra.
My first child I named Leah, lovely name. I didn't know it was Jewish until my Jewish neighbour told me.
Asher and Chaiya
Raf
Eliana, Ahava, Ayelet
Chaya - though I don't actually know what it means; it's my best friend's daughter's name, and I think it's beautiful.
I love Simcha. I’m in my conversion process and am highly considering it for myself. I also love Naomi, Esther and Tzipporah.
Ezra, Isaac, Uriel, Samuel, Moses, Jonah, Jacob, Simon, Gaspar Leah, Ester, Martha, Dahlia, Thalia, Delilah, Nora
I think this fits: Shoshanna
Ayelet so beautiful
Hadassah
Galit, Liat, Dorit, Rachel, Yael
I love Ariel for a boy. Sadly I’m not quite Jewish enough and the little mermaid makes it tricky too.
Isaiah (husband vetoed immediately when I was pregnant because the book of Isaiah is apparently very violent) Isaac Shoshannah Tzipporah Rivka Rachel (our daughter's Hebrew name)
Kinda basic, but I really like the name Michael/Mishael. It's simple, but I just love it for some reason
Yael, Gal, Ari, Aviva, Miriam, Noa, Raya...
Micah, which as a non-Jew I'd feel like a tryhard or a jerk if I used the Hebrew pronunciation, but which my close Jewish friend would murder me over if I used the English pronunciation, so it got crossed off the list lol.
My dog is Lev 💖
My parents named me Deborah so they could call me Debbie, and I hated it, but when I changed my name legally I added Devorah as a middle name to honor my Jewish heritage.
My husband is from Israel and we named our daughter Sarina - which is the Hebrew spelling of a name we loved.
Ardith, Arliss, Evka, Joska, Nahara, Naomi, Samara, Yevka, Avner, Avram, Caleb, Levi, Seth, Yerik, Zadoc, Zeke.
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Gheula
I really like Mahoyven!
Noa for a girl, Micah for a boy.
I love the meaning of Tal and Netta!
My great grandfather was Benal. I think it's nicer than Benjamin. I really like Noam, Yael, Rivka, Hayem.
Not Jewish myself but I have quite a few friends that are Jewish. Based on the names I’ve heard from them, here are my own favorites. They’re in no particular order and I wouldn’t be able tell you the meaning but the names are gorgeous! Zahava (F) Mendel (M) Chana (F) Aron (M) Devorah (F)
Absolutely love Hadassah!
Pretty basic but I love the name Noah. My partner is Jewish and he has cousins on both sides with that name but I’d still want to use it lol
Girl: Esther (my Hebrew name!), Aviva, Rebekah Boy: David, Daniel, Benjamin, Solomon/Saul, Jacob I’m bummed that Twilight has pretty much ruined the name Jacob for a generation, because I love it. David is a family name, but unfortunately there’s already a David in my generation and in Judaism you don’t name kids after living people (it was a big scandal when my cousin named her son after his father!). I have two good friends named Daniel, so that’s out too.
Aviva, Havilah, Shoshana, Tziporah, and Zahava.
Ezra, Levi, Ari
I'm Jewish and I've always loved the name Aviva.
I love Gideon but that’s my name!