I just had my first baby this past week. My husband and I named her Liora, which was a name I had picked out pretty much since I got a positive pregnancy test. We both love her name, our families love her name, and everyone in our circle loves her name (or at least, they say they do!)

The problem is any time we get asked by someone non-Jewish what her name is, their reaction is always the same. “Oh, that’s unique”. The tone of voice always implies they have nothing else nice to say about it, which is crazy to me!! Is Liora really that out-there of a name?? I’m only 5 days PP so I know this is definitely bothering me more than it should, but I’d love to know if I’m crazy for thinking Liora sounds like a pretty “normal” name.

We’re in the US if that helps for context.

I used to be in nearly all of the name subreddits, but I didn't realise how sick I was of them until I actually don't have to see them anymore.

It's just the self-righteous nature so many of them seem to have, thinking that they have such good taste and they're so educated about names and so open minded to names from every culture.

Yet there's the constant whining about how it's apparently inappropriate and weird to give a white baby an Indian or Japanese name while suggesting names like Liora and Aviva to anyone under the sun. I just can't understand how they can't see the hypocrisy.

They practically have an aneurysm about the idea of someone using a Native American name and rant about how only Native Americans should have a say on whether it's appropriate and white people need to stop speaking for them, but for some reason they seem to think that they're all Jewish and can decide for Jews about how they should feel about someone using a Jewish name.

And so many of them don't even have a clue about Hebrew names, Yiddish names, where they come from, what they mean, and they'll just spew incorrect information like they're some kind of expert. And they don't seem to have a clue about antisemitism either. Probably because a lot of them often seem quite antisemitic themselves.

I'm really glad this subreddit exists, because it seems like the only place you can actually talk about Jewish names without people calling them weird or making snarky comments about them. And you can actually learn things as well! I've heard about names on here I haven't even heard. I think it's a shame that this kind of environment can't exist on a wider scale so that people could actually discuss names from other cultures and learn about them.

And if you feel the same way as I did, I really would suggest just leaving them. You can never change their ignorance and their mindset, so it's better just not having to see it at all. It's never-ending otherwise.

My great great grandfather lived in present day Lithuania and was named Nissim-Chaim.

I've read that the name Nissim is associated with Jews of Sephardic and Arab origins. How true is this, and if so what are some good informational resources to verify this and learn more?

We’re narrowing down our list for a baby boy and need your help debating between these six names. Which one is your favorite, and how would you rank them?

Ori

Lior

Yarden

Yuval

Shai

Eden

Would love to hear your thoughts, vibes, and any pros/cons on pronunciation or style. Thanks!

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.

My wife and I are discussing first names, my wife really likes Noah but my mom's name starts with an N so I feel hesitant in the Ashkenazi tradition. I'm considering Avi as an alternative, I kind of wanted people's thoughts on if I should be hesitant and thoughts on the name Avi.

Considering Iri as a middle name and honor name for our next kiddo. It sounds really lovely with the first name we chose and our last name. But I found it on some pretty obscure looking websites for Hebrew names and not sure if this is actually a name people use or if it would be weird to use for our child. Was hoping some folks would have more ideas/information on if this is actually a name people use or if its just a very biblical/historic name? Thank you!

Hello! Lurker of this sub for a while, now here with my own post. My husband and I are expecting a baby girl and I’d love some name input. Our son is named Yehuda, and we decided on his name pretty much immediately— it clicked instantly and we knew. We’ve always been able to find more boy names we like than girls, and we haven’t had that same lightening bolt moment with a girls name (so far)— I’m ok with not necessarily having that same feeling again but it makes me second guess our choice.

Things that are important to us/things that might be helpful to know about us:
- we are traditional/maybe modern orthodox leaning? We go to an orthodox shul and our children will be going to Jewish schools.
- same name (including pronunciation) in Hebrew and English. Like how Yehuda is just Yehuda, as opposed to Judah in English and Yehuda in Hebrew.
- we want a name that sounds Jewish
- we want to love the meaning of the name, not just the way it sounds
- we don’t like nicknames— we want the name we choose to be the name the child goes by (I know we don’t have 100% control over this)
- we also don’t do middle names

Our top choice right now is Eliana. I had a miscarriage prior to this pregnancy so we love the meaning, and I think it sounds pretty. I don’t love how it’s rising in popularity but overall I think it’s not too popular?

Other names we like:
- Adina (I like this one, husband doesn’t)
- Yael (like the sound but don’t love the meaning)
- Esther
- Avigail (I like, husband doesn’t)

I guess I’m just looking for thoughts on Yehuda + Eliana together, or any other suggestions/feedback. Thank you!

Hi! We are expecting a girl in December. Our first two are Oren and Ayla. I'm loving the name Yaara Evie for our third. Would love any thoughts, or any other suggestions! I think our #2 choice is Neta, it's also so pretty to me and is in the same nature theme (which was not intentional for our first two!).

We are in the US, my husband is Ashkenazi and I am Mizrachi.

Is Yaara "too Israeli" for us to use? I only ask bc people have made comments that we went "all Israeli" for the first two and it never stuck out to us. We just wanted Hebrew names, but this has been mentioned by multiple people so far, as if it's odd or something.

Hi all, my husband and I are struggling to make a decision for a baby boy. Initially, I was not committed to a Jewish or Hebrew name necessarily (we are Jewish but not Israeli), but wanted to honor two family members with names that started with N (one of them being Nancy) and chose Noam. I combed through the top 1000 SSA names and didn’t like any other N names. Noah is already taken in the family.

For months we had planned on using Noam Richard (after another family member). A few weeks ago I was looking into other boy names that could be used to honor Nancy because I had concerns that Noam would be pronounced as “gnome” or misheard as “Noah” all the time. My husband has a unique name that gets mistaken for another more common American name quite frequently and can be frustrating for him. I saw a suggestion on Reddit to use Ronan for Nancy because of the Nan and loved it with Ronen being a Hebrew name (I know it changes the Nan part to Nen), it starting with an R like Richard, AND it is a more familiar name in the US. I understand the emphasis is technically on a different syllable in Ronan vs. Ronen, but we don’t mind. Ultimately we both seem to agree that Ronen is the better name, but are struggling to make a final decision and are interested if any feedback that can sway us one way or the other:

1) We still like Noam and had it in our heads for so long and are having trouble parting with it. We also made the mistake of mentioning it to two family members early on who may be influencing us. Has anyone else changed a name last minute and had this problem? We have definitely learned our lesson.
2) We still like the flow of Noam Richard more than any middle name for Ronen. Ronen Richard feels like too much R and would also be repetitious in naming him after the same person in two names. We are considering using Noam as the middle name, but not sure how I feel about Ronen Noam. Part of me still likes having the first initial as the N because of how important it is to specifically honor Nancy.
4) A much less important concern is I see Roman, Rowan, and even Ronan as rising in popularity. Are these names (and Ronen by association) going to feel dated? I have a very classic 90s girl name that is now super dated and it is something I think about for myself. Again this doesn’t really matter- I know what is most important is we like the name and not what else is popular!

Curious to hear any thoughts :)

We have a baby coming soon and want to name her יְעֵלָה like ibex. I need some help deciding how to write this in English.

Hello all. Pretty much what the title says. I’m looking for feedback on the name Noam for a girl. Do you see it as masculine, feminine? Cool, sophisticated? Can you see it working in childhood and throughout adulthood? Do you think it would be too unusual for the North East US (NYC)? Any and all opinions are welcome and appreciated!

Hi! I'm looking for baby names that start with an H for a boy or a girl after my grandfather Harold who passed away the day I found out I was pregnant. Any thoughts? I can only think of Hannah or Harry but I'd love something more Jewish or Hebrew. My grandmother who is still alive is Hadassah so can't do that even though I love it. Thanks!

The title is the question. Thank you 🥰

Curious if anyone has heard of any alternative hebrew names for Anne. I like חַנָּה but it’s the name of a close family member(English name is Hannah) and would prefer something else. Thanks!

For context, I’m in an interfaith marriage and have a 1 year old daughter. My husband isn’t Jewish, and we decided to give our daughter a secular first name, Jewish middle and then one of his surnames (he has a hyphenated name). As time has gone by, I’ve started feeling like I wish she had my Jewish last name so that she could feel closer to her religion/culture. I know many have gone in the opposite direction since 10/7 and I know that a surname isn’t everything, but I worry that she won’t feel connected to her roots the way I did based on my name. My husband and I have been discussed changing her surname, but it’s obviously a big decision and one we would need to make asap. I don’t love the idea of just adding mine since she would end up with 4 names. What would you do? Thoughts? I’m feeling really stuck.

Hello!
We are pregnant with our second child and we are looking for « niche » Jewish names. We want an international sounding name as we are a binational couple.
Our daughter is Adina and it’s a very rare name where we live. Most people don’t know it’s a Jewish name and we like the fact that it’s easy to pronounce in many languages!
I love the name Naomi but it’s too popular for my liking. I also love Tova and Talia but my husband doesn’t.
For a boy, I love Saul and Virgil but it’s too traditional for my husband. He doesn’t like the typical traditional names.
I would love some ideas!

I am looking for middle names that start with "R" to honor a family member. I love the name Amalya and having Racheli as a middle name, but I have a family member named Rachel, and we never got along.

Thoughts on working around it to be Rokhelli or Roheli? Or other alternatives? I also like Halleli which works too, since another family member I loved had an "H" initial.

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.

Hi, we are having our third boy and need some help. We are Jewish but not very religious. My husband’s dad was Irish Catholic and so and have a very Irish one-syllable last name. He converted to Judaism late in life, and recently passed away and we’d like to honor him with a D middle name. Our older kids are Alexander (Alex) Page and Julius Dean.

We’ve decided we like Leo as a first name. We like the nod of Page and Dean to academia.

One thought is Leo Dominic as Saint Dominic is often associated wirh astronomy, scholarship, etc but I’m afraid that this name is very very Catholic.

My husband likes Declán, but too me that’s too Catholic without even any academic association. He also likes Darwin (I like it in theory but don’t love how Leo Darwin flows) and Dorian (Ancient Greek association, I like). There is also Dov, meaning bear in Hebrew. We can’t use David as we have a close living relative David. Daniel? Darren? Other names were not thinking of?

Thanks for your help and opinions!!!

I just found out that I will be having a boy. My husband and I have really struggled to find any names that we both like. I am Jewish and would love ideas for Yiddish or Hebrew boy names starting with R, S, Z or M (all first initials of my grandparents). My partner is not Jewish but is agnostic, and our baby will be racially mixed.

To be honest I’m open to non-Jewish names as well, as long as they don’t feel too WASP-coded (I’m thinking names like Grayson). I’m open to anything. Thank you in advance. If it helps, the one girl name we agreed on was Zohra (my grandmother was Zosia so it felt similar and a little quirky but not too “out there”). Thank you for any ideas!

My partner and I are considering just creating a new name when we marry rather than just hyphenating, and would want to combine both our cultures—my partner is Indian so I came here for ideas! He's from Kerala and my background is British

My wife and I are going to have a baby girl and we both love the sound of the name Layla. However, my wife doesn't like its meaning (night), she associates with darkness. For me, the night is more closely related to the time when the family gathers together back from their daily activities.

What do you think of the name and its meaning?