Anyone using an "ethnic" or "non-Anglicized" name?

brachatzipora · January 2013

My husband and I have always agreed that we want to give our child an Israeli/Biblical name in the original Hebrew rather than the Anglicized equivalent. For example, we would use Yonatan instead of Jonathan (it's not on our list, but we are keeping our specific choices underwraps until bris or baby naming).

The names we've chosen are similar in style to Yonatan, and both have a sort of English-version nickname (eg. Yoni) but the child could also decide later in their life to go by the straight up English version (Jonathan) and we agree we'd be fine with that. Both choices also very meaningful because the boy's first initial is Y after my father-in-law and the girl's first initial is M after my mother, both of whom died of cancer during this pregnancy.

We live in a very Jewish community and have a lot of friends who have made similar choices in giving their child an Israeli name. Just curious if there's anyone else out there doing a name that's part of their culture/heritage.

jane.says · January 2013

I am not, but I have Jewish friends who have done the same (chosen the Hebrew name rather than the English). I love their kids' names because they are so unique and meaningful. I think it's a lovely choice

RissNRuss · January 2013

I would love to, but my husband has a really hard time with the pronunciations. Our boy name is FN: my maternal grandfather's Hebrew name MN: my paternal grandfathers name (very English).

I have suggested a few for a little lady that I've found and loved (Elisheva, Rivka) but nothing has struck his fancy yet. Our backgrounds are very spread, but I would love to stick to a name that is more traditional to our backgrounds... Italian, Spanish, Puerto Rican, Jewish, Polish, Syrian. It's challenging. Personally I love heritage based names. My father was born in a country that uses Juan, but he prefers John "on the mainland".

stephaniejaye · January 2013

We've considered some Hebrew names. But absolutely no one knows how to pronounce our last name based on the spelling, so we don't want them to have two unfamiliar names. We might go with Hebrew for the middle name.

ilovemarfa · January 2013

We decided to choose catholic saint names. Our son is named after a catholic saint as will this boy.

ESD_0707 · January 2013

ilovemarfa:
We decided to choose catholic saint names. Our son is named after a catholic saint as will this boy.

We use Catholic saints' names too.

flerlgirl · January 2013

I am not, but I love this idea! There are so many beautiful Hebrew names and I think it would be a really nice thing for your child to have that culture as part of his life.

AZMagnini14 · January 2013

We are doing Greek names as that is my heritage and the church we were married in. Our girl name is Athena Zoe. Boy name is either Xander Anthony or Maximos Anthony. Although Greek, the boys names have also become more Americanized I feel.

momofcatan · January 2013

We haven't decided on anything yet (we'll have a week until the bris or naming, why start arguing about it now :P) but I've given a lot of thought on the same topic. There are 3 situations I'm looking at and the which one will depend on the name we pick:

1. We pick a Hebrew name that also works as an English name (easy for anyone to pronounce) and that's the name

2. We pick a Hebrew name that we like, but would be hard for people outside our community to pronounce. In that case I would want to make the legal name of the child the anglicized version but we call them by the Hebrew name. I like that this gives them the option when they grow up and are in the professional world to go by a more "normal" name, but we call them the name we like.

3. My husband is a fan of a lot of English names so we might end up going with an English name and completely different Hebrew name. Would then call the child by the English name.

CocoMcGee · January 2013

ESD_0707:

ilovemarfa:
We decided to choose catholic saint names. Our son is named after a catholic saint as will this boy.

We use Catholic saints' names too.

My grandma also did this!

GraceInCA · January 2013

I've seen both. I've seen someone who was Chava go by Eve because it was easier, but I've also seen plenty of people keep names like Yona instead of going to Jonah, Moshe instead of Morris, etc. If you live in a very Jewish community (I do as well), it shouldn't be an issue as the kid grows up. By the time they are an adult, unless they live in a very small community, it's not a big deal either.

smithm24 · January 2013

We are not but I love that you are using a name that is part of your culture/heritage and you want honor people in both of your families with the name! I respect anyone who wants to honor their culture/heritage and family.

bumpuser8448316 · January 2013

I'm not but I think it's a really great thing when you can honor your heritage that way. I love when people use meaningful names that honor culture.

freudenk · January 2013

We are naming our little boy after my DH's Dad. It's Persian, and has an American nickname. We get mixed reactions when we tell people, but it's not going to change!

flerlgirl · January 2013

MandJS:
Umm... HI! I totally missed that you got your BFP. YAY!!! B'shaa tovah!
And to answer your question. The girls are Shirya Mirit and Tamar Leah (pronounced the Hebrew way, a la the Star Wars princess, not Lee-uh). FWIW, Yaakov is on the top of our boy list consistently, as that was my grandfather's name. And that's what we would use - not Jacob.

A. Love the name Tamar! Not that I dislike Shirya... uh... this is awkward.

B. Bonus points for the Star Wars reference.

brachatzipora · January 2013

MandJS:
Umm... HI! I totally missed that you got your BFP. YAY!!! B'shaa tovah!
And to answer your question. The girls are Shirya Mirit and Tamar Leah (pronounced the Hebrew way, a la the Star Wars princess, not Lee-uh). FWIW, Yaakov is on the top of our boy list consistently, as that was my grandfather's name. And that's what we would use - not Jacob.

Hey there! I missed your LO's birth! Mazal tov! I love both of your daughter's names so much (my husband is a hazzan, so lots of colleagues have used Shira or Shirya. Gorgeous!).

brachatzipora · January 2013

Thanks everyone for your thoughts! Didn't realize we had so many Jewish ladies here. Smile

And also, those of you using saint's names, that is so great. Are you basing on the Saint's Day or just picking meaningful ones to you. I'm a musician, so even though I'm not Catholic, I always get excited when I see St. Cecelia stuff at museums!

And those of you using Italian or Greek names, yay there too. Both your languages and cultures are so beautiful, I love the names so much. I'm so excited to hear about the heritage-based names once our LOs start getting born.

GraceInCA · January 2013

freudenk:
We are naming our little boy after my DH's Dad. It's Persian, and has an American nickname. We get mixed reactions when we tell people, but it's not going to change!

My dad's best bud from college did this. He is Persian (wife is not), and they named their son Babak, but everyone called him Bobby. I thought both the name and the nickname were nice.

CocoMcGee · January 2013

GraceInCA:

freudenk:
We are naming our little boy after my DH's Dad. It's Persian, and has an American nickname. We get mixed reactions when we tell people, but it's not going to change!

My dad's best bud from college did this. He is Persian (wife is not), and they named their son Babak, but everyone called him Bobby. I thought both the name and the nickname were nice.

This reminds me of what my friend just did. Her family is from India and her husband's family is from Australia, they gave their baby his last name, which is very anglo, and the first name is a very ethnic Indian name. I love it.

ChristyD6 · January 2013

We would love our daughter to have one Turkish name. Our top pics are Ayla or Aylin (in both the "Ay" is pronounced "eye"). Our last name is super ethic aka hard to say so our biggest issue is making sure the full name isn't too much of a mouthful. Here in SC we do not live in a Turkish community... I think there are about 25 Turks in the whole greater Charleston area and we've met most of them

brachatzipora · February 2013

ChristyD6:
We would love our daughter to have one Turkish name. Our top pics are Ayla or Aylin (in both the "Ay" is pronounced "eye"). Our last name is super ethic aka hard to say so our biggest issue is making sure the full name isn't too much of a mouthful. Here in SC we do not live in a Turkish community... I think there are about 25 Turks in the whole greater Charleston area and we've met most of them

Those names are gorgeous! One of my college roommates is also married to a Turk and their daughter is Ayla. So beautiful!

Want a personalized experience?

Anyone using an "ethnic" or "non-Anglicized" name?

Re: Anyone using an &quot;ethnic&quot; or &quot;non-Anglicized&quot; name?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

Want a personalized experience?

Anyone using an &quot;ethnic&quot; or &quot;non-Anglicized&quot; name?

Re: Anyone using an &amp;quot;ethnic&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;non-Anglicized&amp;quot; name?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards

Anyone using an "ethnic" or "non-Anglicized" name?

Re: Anyone using an "ethnic" or "non-Anglicized" name?