Tehlila should be spelled Tehilah, should it not?
Never found out until just now looking under comments on 1 of my name combos that the name is spelled Tehila on the site, but I've never otherwise seen it w/out the h and it feels super unnatural to me... Anyone out there w/ a better knowledge of Hebr. than I do that has anything to say about that? Is it just that being a transliteration from Hebr. some people have the h in there and some do not? Kind of like how some people spell Sara(h) with the h and some w/out. Josiah or Hezekiah would feel quite weird w/out the h... How do people decide which names need to be consistent with that and which do not?*vote on my name pics at http://www.babynames.com/Names/namelist.php and http://www.behindthename.com/polls/search.php?searchtype=userid&terms=33210&when=all*I've opened my PNL for viewing now too, so you may also vote on that.
vote up1vote down

Replies

"Is it just that being a transliteration from Hebr. some people have the h in there and some do not?"It is exactly that.Here's an example.My name is Ilana, which is a Hebrew name. In Hebrew it is spelled אילנה.
Note the letter on the furthest left (Hebrew is read left to right). It's the "h" in Hebrew. But my name isn't spelled "Ilanah," it's "Ilana." But one isn't more correcct than the other, because the "h" is silent.
vote up1vote down
Do you find that some transliterations feel more natural with, some moreso w/out and some more inconsequential?
ie. Josiah or Hezekiah would feel unnatural to me w/out the h. So might Hadassah achtually if we want to be consistent gender-wise. Somehow the h at the end gives the name Hadassah that perfect balance. I think Ilana looks nicer in En. than Ilanah. Sara or Sarah can go either way imo.
vote up1vote down
I think it has to do with the language Hebrew names are translated into. In English, the "-ah" ending is kept (Sarah, Leah, Rebekah, Deborah), but in most other European languages it is omitted - for instance, in Portuguese we have Sara, Lia, Rebeca, and Débora. Since the majority of Old Testament names are rarely used in Europe, the English transliteration of the names tends to be more common.
vote up1vote down
I think that some of them feel a bit more natural to people because they are seen more often in one spelling than another. All of the name you have mentioned are Biblical (including Hadassah), so we see them romanized with the "h." Sara isn't as big of a deal for us because there are a ton of women that spell it without the "h."Having these names with the "h" keeps them more literal to the Hebrew spellings even if it is silent. So no, I don't think that it would be inconsequential.
vote up1vote down