Photo by Liron Kupinsky
G. writes:
I love your blog! especially the baby names sections but I wanted to ask for myself specifically. I am due to have a baby girl B’H at the end of the month and I am thinking of baby girl names that have a nice meaning, sound nice in English (I am from Australia), are a little unique/uncommon and are acceptable in Israel.
We are dati leumi so something that would fit in when we make Aliya please G-d one day.At the moment my favourites are:
Lee-Elle
Lital
Anael
Talya
Maytal
HalelWill these names be ok in Israel? I am afraid of naming her the equivalent of Eugine or Gertrude.
Be-shaah tovah! You have an ear for good names–all of these are in the top 50 or so for 2011.
Any other suggestions?
More on Israeli baby names:
Top 20 Israeli Baby Names for Boys, 2010
Top 20 Israeli Baby Names for Girls, 2010
All Posts on Israeli Baby Names
I know Israeli /Anglo-Israeli girls under 10 with all of these names.
Talya may be a little too common for what the reader is looking for–at least among the Anglo crowd. Around 15 years ago, my sister said to me that in Teaneck (where she lives) every family is required to have a Talya. As to Anael–I would NOT use that in an English speaking country–a little too close to Anal. Someone once told me you should have someone else hear a name you are considering to point out ways the name could be made fun of on the playground.
What if the spelling were Anaelle or Annaelle (which is the pronounciation)?
avital,noa,tehilla also come to mind
I agree with Miriami about Anael, same problem in Hebrew, regardless of how you spell it. Eliana has the same meaning, but I think it is becoming a pretty common name.
Annaelle is better to me but maybe you should check with some one who has a nasty 9 year old son 🙂
Great names. Some of them were on my list for my newest baby. We named her Adi. Some others from my son’s DL gan that you might like: Yali (that’s a boy but I’ve heard it for a girl too), Nehora, Roni, Tohar, Linoy, Neima.
My oldest granddaughter is named Hallel, so we obviously love the name. It’s a very popular name, replaced Tehilla. It’s spelled the same in Hebrew as the masculine Hillel. Some people call their daughters “Hallili” instead. It’s the same root but the verb, feminine command. That way it’s clear to anyone reading her name that she’s a she.
All names finishing with YA have a connection with ashem and that affects the personality.
I’m sorry my comment doesn’t refer to this discussion.
Instead I’ve got a new question:
Is Yaeli a common first name in Israel or just the nickname
for Yael? We like Yaeli more, but here in Germany we have to prove
that it’s a “real” name at least in another country.
BTW, you already helped us last year to decide for a girls name.
Finally we didn’t choose Avigajil / Abigail because of it’s bad connotation
in German. Now we’ve got the sweetest Noa (almost one year already).
While Noa might be a kind-of-boring-choice in Israel, in Germany there are
only boys named Noah. But we – -mostly – get nice comments.
And now in October Noa will get a sister – or brother?
Thank you for any help!
I also enjoy the rest of your blog.
Very interesting female point of view on Israeli culture.
Yaeli is only a nickname for Yael, I believe. But there is also a girl’s name Yaela (pronounced in Hebrew more like Ye’ela) – I’ve heard of a few girls by that name.
Hi, thanks for the compliment! I just put your question up in my new post: https://www.amotherinisrael.com/israeli-baby-girl-name-june-2013/
We have Adar, which is usually for a boy but can also be for a girl, as in our case.
When we chose this name in the States, we thought — well, it’s only got 4 letters and no “ch” or “ts” so we should have no problems.
Let’s put it this way — any name that is not common in English will have problems. In English, she is called Adair (popular Irish boys name), Adara, Adora (“like adorable!”). In Hebrew, people usually think her name must be the well-known “Hadar”.
When we say “No, Adar, like the month … like Purim!” we are sometimes met with blank stares (we are not Orthodox). Then we are of course asked whether she was born in Adar (she wasn’t). It does provide many opportunities for us to explain the Jewish lunar calendar to non-Jews. I honestly thought this would be much easier.
Only Israelis and black people seem to be able to correctly pronounce my child’s name. Both groups also respond enthusiastically. Plus, my girl loves her name and can already spell it to help people out. So we are 100% confident that we made the right choice. Adar is the perfect name for our happy, happy girl. But we were surprised that a four letter name (with two vowels!) could possibly cause so much confusion.
Thanks, it’s helpful to give feedback on how Israeli names are accepted abroad.
I know an Adar (girl) who was born in Adar. Dati-leumi Israeli, though, so easier to connect the dots. She has a big personality and is not afraid to correct people who call her Hadar by mistake 🙂
Hi Guys-
Bishaa tova, my husband and I are expecting our first. we still do not know if it will be a boy or a girl, but as I am quite a bit name crazed, I am trying to come up with possibilities for both.
We plan on making aliyah (pls gd) in the relatively near future, so we want it to be a name that works both among Israelis and Americans (No “R“ or “CH “ or “TS“ names)
If its a girl, we want to name after my relative who went by the name Ellie and her hebrew name was Simcha.
Here is where it gets tricky, my husbands sibling is named Ellie (also girl)- so we need to steer clear of all the `Prefix- Ellie`names. I myself dont like the name Simcha, so thats out of the question aswell (I dont love the name Gila, I do like the name Liron, but then we have the `R`issue…)
I like the names Ana-elle, leelah, Lia but there are already a few cousins with those name, and preferably would like a unique sounding name, that has a nice meaning.
I know there are alot of limitations here, but I REALLY would appreciate suggestions!
Thank you all so much!!
Hello!
We are expecting our first in June – a girl! We would consider ourselves to be Conservative Jews in the US. We like Hebrew names that can be used in the US/Israel / internationally. We are looking for names that start with M and N to honor our grandparents. We are really having trouble with the M names! For N, we like Nessa and Navah. We wanted to use the name Mila, but were advised against because of the connection to Brit Mila (!). Any suggestions? Thanks in advance! (ps we like michal for the Hebrew name but too hard to pronounce in English).
What about the names :
Maya ????/ ???
Maayan ?????- it means a spring ( stream/ water) in Hebrew – I think could be nice to honor grandparents bc u. Addition to the ‘m’ requirement, has a symbolic meaning of continuity between generation ( water flows into the stream and continues flowering out)
Other options:
Noa
Naomi
What about mili then? That’s a well known Israeli girls name.
Hello, going back to Mila as a girl name, how does it sound in Israel overall? Cute or too connected to Brit Mila? How about the nAme Neeve / Niv for a girl? It is trending in the US, but how does that sound in Israel?
My daughter and I both say no to Mila. We don’t know any girls named Niv, but there probably are.