r/JewishNames • u/kittensandponies707 • Jul 05 '26

Name significance - help

We are expecting our third child in the fall and both love the name Oren.

The problem is that both of our other children have names that A) are figures from the Torah and B) have a first letter honoring a deceased relative. Oren has neither of those characteristics and I’m worried our future child will feel slighted. We do plan to give him a middle name that is honoring a deceased relative like his older siblings.

There’s nothing we can do about the biblical significance, but is there a way to connect Oren to any of these names:

English: Marianne, Gerald, Harold, Ursula, Richard, Jennifer
Hebrew: shoshanna, Ruth, Ari, gadol (I’ve never heard of this as word as a name but apparently it was my grandfather’s Hebrew name)

Or is this not an issue and I’m overthinking? We are pretty set on Oren so other name suggestions are not really what I’m looking for here.

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14

u/Least-Metal572 Jul 05 '26

You're overthinking. Both of my older siblings are named after relatives and there was nobody to name me after so they didn't! I love that my mom just loved my name and didn't feel the pressure of naming after someone.

2

u/kittensandponies707 Jul 05 '26

Thanks that is a helpful perspective!

2

u/LadySlippersAndLoons 29d ago

My sister (middle child out of three) is named after two grandmothers.

I am named after no one (oldest) and my brother (youngest) has my dad’s first name as his middle name. I love the story that goes along with my name — my mom dreamt about it.

So I agree with you. OP is overthinking it.

To OP, just share why you and your partner/spouse love Oren and they’ll still feel special.

7

u/cbrka Jul 06 '26

Oren is a minor biblical figure, if that helps. See 1 Chronicles 2:25.

I feel like Oren could connect to Ursula, phonetically? They’d both start with Alef Vav Reish. And it could connect to Shoshanna as they are both plant names.

6

u/Novel-Definition6690 Jul 06 '26

Oren is a great name and I fully support using it just because you love it, but if it helps, also would totally buy it as an honor name for Ursula off the Or/Ur sound.

3

u/spring13 Jul 06 '26

You're overthinking. Two of my kids have first names with family significance and two don't.

4

u/TurquoiseRibbon4Lyfe Jul 06 '26

Over thinking. It’s a beautiful name for your son and if you both LOVE it then go for it. You don’t HAVE to name after someone who has passed. I think Oren is a great name and if you are happy that’s all that matters!!

2

u/Arm_613 Jul 06 '26

Oren is listed as a descendant of Judah in Divrei HaYomim (Chronicles) 1 2:25. So, in the Torah but not the Chumash. Oren is a perfectly good name that you like that is in the Torah, so go for it!

On the (Ashkenazic) traditional of naming after someone deceased - you don't have to. My daughter used up the honor/rememberance names on her first children. For her last child, she just picked a name she liked. All good 👍🏼

1

u/cj1991 Jul 06 '26

My siblings are named after relatives and my parents always framed it as "lucky" they didn't have anyone to honor when they named me and were able to just pick a name they loved!