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For those of you just as nutsy about Hebrew names as I am
I have some names that I'm going to run by an Israeli friend of mine to see which are still socially acceptable in Israel. We were chatting yesterday about names and I suggested Yocheved. He said that this is the Israeli equivalent of naming your child Ernest or Beulah; your kid will be laughed out of school. Another favorite, Zipporah, is very dated and was popular around the time we were using Doris, Betty, and Shirley. I'm curious about what you think of these names and if you know anything about their current popularity (I'll star the ones I know are in high circulation at the moment).GIRLS
Yael*
Yardena
Merav
Naomi
Adiel
Ziva
Zehava
Chaya
Aviva
Liraz
Hadar*
Bar
Emunah
Leah
Anat
Inbar*
Nili*
Lihi
Lital
Galia
Sivan
Maya*
Ora
Orli
Talia
Roni*
Shaina
Kinneret
Livnat
Sarai
Yafa
Kelila
Michal
Dana
Shira* and Shiri*
Yona
Charna
Keren*
Smadar*
Shachar*
Sahar
Limor
Nava
Avital
Einav
Miri
Tzofiya
Rotem*
Shani
Nitza
Yaen
Reut
Nahal
Ami
Peri*
Yemima
Yasmin
Silona
Avia
Rona
Rina
Kalanit
Aliza
Shoshana
Leili
KefiraBOYS
David
Yosef*
Benjamin
Levi
Noah
Ezra
Tor
Yishai
Isaac
Ronen
Kenan
Yakov
Elam
Elad
Gilad*
Yoav
Yotam
Yaniv
Omri*
Oren
Raviv
Tzvi
Ziv
Zev
Amit
Reuven
Yuval*
Eran
Eitan
Ilan
Idan*
Itai*
Yonatan*
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I have a friend Avital so it can't be too outdated.I've seen a couple really young boys named Moshe too, I love that name. I just can't imagine it on someone past the age of 5.
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That's me!I adore Hebrew names, especially the boys names--they just seem so strong and masculine. The girls names you have listed are very pretty, however. GIRLS
Yael*
Merav
Naomi
Adiel
Aviva
Leah
Lital
Maya*
Ora
Talia
Livnat (gorgeous, esp. nn Livie!)
Sarai
Shiri*
Charna
Avital
Miri
Nitza
Avia
Kalanit
Aliza
Leili
BOYS
David
Yosef*
Benjamin
Levi
Noah
Ezra
Tor
Isaac
Ronen
Elam
Elad
Omri* (curse you, Jonny Greenwood! You named your daughter this and now I know it as a girl's name...and love it!)
Oren
Ziv
Zev
Amit
Eitan
I also like: Noam, Lior / Liorit, Liat, Aviv, Avram, Adi (m), Ari, Achim, Yair, Noach, Tamir and Yachin.
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Love the Hebrew names :)I like:GIRLS
Aviva-I know one girl w/ this name
Talia-I know a tv character w/ this name lolBOYS
David-I know a few of these
Benjamin-I know a couple of these
Levi-I LOVE this one. I only know one kid w/ this name
Noah-I LOVE this one too
Ezra-And this one
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I believe Aviva is quite popular now. I know two girls from Israel with the name and another few who are Jewish Americans that are called Aviva as well. (My university is 40% Jewish.) Another you don't have that is popular at my school is Adina (g). I think I saw on another name site that Maya is becoming popular in Israel. At my school I also know a few Esthers and a Shoshana. I've heard of several Talias, but I only know one personally. And Rebecca/Rebekah is really, really popular among the Jewish Americans at my school as well.Most of the boys at school are named David or Benjamin. I know two Anats who are both male and several Levis.ETA: I forgot to mention that I adore the name Yocheved, and outside of anywhere with a large Hebrew-speaking population, people wouldn't realize that it's dated or whatever. So I think it's fine unless of course you are in Israel.

This message was edited 1/10/2009, 4:24 PM

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Oh I love Yocheved and if I were Israeli I'd ponder using it even if it was outdated. Other names I like:Yael - Even if it it overkill
Merav
Aviva - I used to just love it but I've seen it too much on these boards so it's rapidly crossing into meh territory.
Nili - I've never heard of this. It's cute. What's it mean?
Talia
Yafa - Used to be one of my favorites.
Shiri - So sweet, though I'd never use it, even as an Israeli.
Yava
Einav - What's this mean?
Miri
Yaen
Nahal - Though this would sound better on a boy.
Yasmin
LeiliYosef - Though it's overused.
Noah - The Hebrew prn is cool.
Ezra
Isaac - Though the Hebrew form is Yitzhak, which is also nice.
Elam
Omri
Eitan - Probably my favorite Hebrew boy name.
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It's an acrostic for the phrase "the glory of Israel shall not lie." Probably one of my all-time favorite Zionist choices.Einav means "grape." Sort of prosaic, but I love the sound.
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Interesting. Thanks.
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I tend to like Hebrew girls names more than boys. I kept the ones I like and starred the ones I love:GIRLS
Leah*
YasminBOYS
David
Benjamin
Levi
Noah
Ezra
Tor
Isaac
Ilan
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I love Hebrew names but I know nothing whatsoever about their popularity in Israel. I seem to recall someone telling me that feminized versions of girl names like Aviva and Liora were dated, and now girls are just named Aviv and Lior. I'm sad to hear about Zipporah, as I really like that one.My favorites from your list:
Naomi
Ziva
Zehava
Chaya
Aviva
Leah
Galia
Maya
Talia
Livnat (prefer Livna)
Sarai
Kelila
Michal
Avital
Tzofiya
Rina
Kalanit
Aliza
ShoshanaDavid
Benjamin
Noah
Ezra
Isaac
Tzvi
Ziv
Ilan
Yonatan
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Could you ask your friend about Aviva, Noa, Michal, Chaya, Miriam, Eden, Kineret (Kinneret) and Keturah? that would be awesome. Such a surprise to hear the Zipporah is seen as dated, it is among my favorites.
Aviva is one of my favorites. It's so beautiful and I love its meaning. A wonderful name.I love Maya, too. Maia used to be my favorite spelling but since I know about Maya's Hebrew meaning, I prefer Maya.Oh I love Avia. I thought about spelling it Aviya but I guess it could be perceived as trendy by many or as just another Ava variant.ahhhhh Kinneret. I love it! I also like Rona, but I prefer Roni and Ronia nn Roni. Chaya and Hadar are lovely. I like Miri (prefer Miriam nn Miri), Naomi, Dana, Michal, Nahal, Sarai and Talia.I really dislike Rotem. It reminds me of "rotten". Nitza reminds me of Nizza (the party island) so I'm not a fan.Zev is cool and I like Noah, though I prefer it on a girl. I also love Noa for a girl.
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Noa is currently the no. 1 most popular name for baby girls in Israel! I love it as well. I'll ask him about Eden and Keturah in addition to the ones I have down; I love Keturah!
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thanks :) yeah Noa seems to be very popular there. I found the top 5 once but I was unable to find it again. I'm pretty sure that Roni was among the top 5 as well.
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From what I've hear and seen, Noa and Michal are amongst the most common girls' names for Israelis my generation (ie born in the 1970s and early 1980s).
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I love Hebrew names!I have no idea about the current popularity of any of these but I like:GIRLS
Yael*
Adiel
Chaya
Emunah
Leah
Anat
Maya*
Ora
Talia
Sarai
Yafa
Nava
Rotem*
Nahal
RonaBOYS
Benjamin
Noah
Ezra
Isaac
Ronen
Yakov
Elam
Omri*
Oren
Reuven
Yuval*
Eran
Ilan
Idan*
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This reminds me when I discussed names with my ex, who was Israeli (and very secular). I mentioned I liked Zipporah very much and he said "that kind of name is only for the ultra-Orthodox" and when I suggested Anna or some variant as it's both Jewish and Italian he said it reminded him of an old cleaning woman. He liked modern Hebrew names like Eshkar, which might have nice meanings but which don't sound nice at all to my ears. Of your list I like/love: GIRLSYardena
Merav
Ziva
Aviva
Liraz
Leah
Lital
Maya*
Ora
Orli
Talia
Roni*
Shaina
Livnat
Kelila
Michal
Shira* and Shiri*
Shachar*
Avital
Shani
Yasmin
Aliza
Shoshana
Leili
KefiraBOYS
David
Yosef*
Benjamin
Levi
Noah
Elad
Gilad*
Oren
Tzvi
Ziv
Zev
Amit
Reuven
Ilan
Yonatan*

This message was edited 1/10/2009, 11:41 AM

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