Are any of these names in Tanach?

amother

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 8:48 am

I'm due in 7 weeks b'h and dh and I are having a very hard time coming up with boys names. He wants names from the Torah such as binyomin, yehuda, michoel, yosef, yaakov etc. but I happen not to like them.
I like the following names but do any of them come from people in Tanach?
Ezra
Noam
Yishai
I happen to love Noam but don't want to suggest it until I know where it comes from.

Any other names like these you can think of?

Sherri

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 8:51 am

Ezra Hasofer (a book of Tanach is Ezra)
Yishai is Dovid Hamelech's father

causemommysaid

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 8:53 am

amother wrote:

ezra and yishai are both names from the tanach

noam I think your out of luck. its one of those names that are not biblical, more like an emotion or a midda.

its still very jewish though. why dont you do a combination. one torah name and one "midda" name

bigsis144

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 8:57 am

Ezra is from K'suvim (Ezra and Nechemia led klal Yisroel when they returned from Galus Bavel)
Yishai is Dovid HaMelech's father

Noam may not have been a name (means "pleasantness"), but the word at least appears in Tanach ("shivti b'veis Hashem kol yemei chayai; lachazos b'noam Hashem u'levaker b'Heichalo" -- passuk in Tehillim)

ETA: my brother's name is Ezra. Smile

zaq

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 9:03 am

Noam may not be from Tanach, but it still has strong religious associations. "Achat Sha'alti...shivti beveit haShem kol yemei chayai, Lachazot beNOAM hsShem ulevaker beheichalo".

"Deracheha darchei NOAM vechol netivoteha shalom"

There's a sefer NOAM Elimelech written by R' Elimelech of Lizhensk

From Yedid Nefesh: "...ana Kel na refa na lah behar'ot lah NOAM zivecha"

DrMom

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 9:28 am

Of course Ezra is from the Tanach. Ezra HaSofer.
Yishai (Jesse in English) is David HaMelech's father.

zaq

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 9:56 am

There's no explaining why the names of some Tanach good guys make the Hit Parade for centuries on end while others go in and out of fashion and still others remain so obscure as to have their provenance questioned when they're unearthed after several millennia.

Your typical yeshiva classroom full of Yaakov-Moshe-Dovid-Yitzchak-Yoseph-Yehoshuas is too, too boring IMO. Some names are clearly the Biblical equivalent of Caspar Milquetoast, and no one in his right mind would name a child after Machlon or Kilion, but there are many beautiful yet underutilized given names in our religious writings. I've always had a soft spot for Shemaya and Avtalyon, don't ask me why. I've met exactly one Shemaya but never an Avtalyon.

Also, why **not** do as our matriarchs and patriarchs did and give our children names that express our feelings about or hopes for them, as opposed to simply recycling the same six and a half names ad infinitum?

amother

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 12:17 pm

zaq wrote:

Thank you so much. Now I'll suggest it and tell dh that...lets hope he agrees.

amother

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 12:19 pm

zaq wrote:

Thats exactly why I'm against all these torah names my dh is suggesting. I feel like they are so overdone and I want something different, something I am not sick of hearing.

finallyamommy

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 4:03 pm

Yishai is Tanachi, as people have said. Ezra, too, though I don't think it's so uncommon.

But, actually, my husband and I have had this conversation before--he, too, prefers uncommon names. Most of his favorites are in Nevi'im, I think-- what I remember offhand is Zecharya, Yirmiya, Ovadya, Yechezkel.

There's also Yeshaya, a Navi, and sounds close to "Yishai" Fairly common in Litvish circles after the Chazon Ish (Avraham Yeshaya), but I think Yeshaya by itself isn't so much.

Hope that helps, OP! B'sha'ah tova!

Last edited by finallyamommy on Mon, Feb 03 2014, 5:08 am; edited 1 time in total

spring13

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 5:19 pm

zaq wrote:

I always wondered why it was ok for previous generations to get creative with names, but nowadays an awful lot of frum people hold to some seriously rigid rules about what they think is appropriate - or frum enough.

amother

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:47 pm

I have a Boaz. Good Tanakhi name that is virtually unused. A forefather of David haMelech, a righteous man. Not sure why no one names for him but Avraham's servant Eliezer gets his name used all the time.

Ezra was on our list as well as Noam, when we were picking names for DS.

amother

Mon, Jun 25 2012, 6:49 pm

We ran the name (Boaz) by our very black-hat yeshivish rabbi to see if he thought the name was okay, and he said it was good and loved the reasons we picked it.

etky

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 1:44 am

I don't know if these are the type of names you are looking for but there are many "modern" Hebrew names that one hears that are really of biblical provenance, just slightly obscure. Examples: Ido, Eliav, Matanya, Avidan, Netanel, Itay, Carmi, Ohad, Eilon, Aviad etc.

Ruchel

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 6:16 am

It's not like naming after someone is new, I think the first occurence is in the Talmud.

Not everyone puts creativity before honoring our ancestors who made us alive. Not everyone even values a creative name. Many value a sentimental attachment, a long life segula to your parent, a good role model or a history. Because in 10 years you may not like Snir-Shaili anymore but hopefully the aforementioned things remain...

I don't think most "modern" names are even pretty enough that it's worth forgetting our names... so let's not bash Moshe Yitzchak Yaakov.

Italians are known to use real but very rare names: Hulda, Boaz, etc.

gp2.0

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 7:38 am

If you figure that there was a time period when many Jews were illiterate or not very learned, it makes sense they'd stick to the basic avraham yitchak yaakov or naming after grandparents.

eatingbagels

Tue, Jun 26 2012, 8:20 pm

Aaron's children's names were Nadav, Avihu, Elazar (more common) and Itamar. Those aren't typical but certainly not as common as Moshe, David, and Yaakov. Ehud is also another one from Navi.

Just for fun: here are a bunch of names from the shevatim's children. Have at them:

From 46 בְּרֵאשִׁית

וּבְנֵי, רְאוּבֵן--חֲנוֹךְ וּפַלּוּא, וְחֶצְרֹן וְכַרְמִי. 9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, and Pallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
י וּבְנֵי שִׁמְעוֹן, יְמוּאֵל וְיָמִין וְאֹהַד--וְיָכִין וְצֹחַר; וְשָׁאוּל, בֶּן-הַכְּנַעֲנִית. 10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.
יא וּבְנֵי, לֵוִי--גֵּרְשׁוֹן, קְהָת וּמְרָרִי. 11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
יב וּבְנֵי יְהוּדָה, עֵר וְאוֹנָן וְשֵׁלָה--וָפֶרֶץ וָזָרַח; וַיָּמָת עֵר וְאוֹנָן בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי-פֶרֶץ חֶצְרֹן וְחָמוּל. 12 And the sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
יג וּבְנֵי, יִשָּׂשכָר--תּוֹלָע וּפֻוָה, וְיוֹב וְשִׁמְרֹן. 13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puvah, and Iob, and Shimron.
יד וּבְנֵי, זְבֻלוּן--סֶרֶד וְאֵלוֹן, וְיַחְלְאֵל. 14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
טו אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי לֵאָה, אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לְיַעֲקֹב בְּפַדַּן אֲרָם, וְאֵת, דִּינָה בִתּוֹ: כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ בָּנָיו וּבְנוֹתָיו, שְׁלֹשִׁים וְשָׁלֹשׁ. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore unto Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter Dinah; all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
טז וּבְנֵי גָד, צִפְיוֹן וְחַגִּי שׁוּנִי וְאֶצְבֹּן, עֵרִי וַאֲרוֹדִי, וְאַרְאֵלִי. 16 And the sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
יז וּבְנֵי אָשֵׁר, יִמְנָה וְיִשְׁוָה וְיִשְׁוִי וּבְרִיעָה--וְשֶׂרַח אֲחֹתָם; וּבְנֵי בְרִיעָה, חֶבֶר וּמַלְכִּיאֵל. 17 And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel.
יח אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי זִלְפָּה, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַן לָבָן לְלֵאָה בִתּוֹ; וַתֵּלֶד אֶת-אֵלֶּה לְיַעֲקֹב, שֵׁשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה נָפֶשׁ. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bore unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.
יט בְּנֵי רָחֵל אֵשֶׁת יַעֲקֹב, יוֹסֵף וּבִנְיָמִן. 19 The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
כ וַיִּוָּלֵד לְיוֹסֵף, בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה-לּוֹ אָסְנַת, בַּת-פּוֹטִי פֶרַע כֹּהֵן אֹן--אֶת-מְנַשֶּׁה, וְאֶת-אֶפְרָיִם. 20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore unto him.
כא וּבְנֵי בִנְיָמִן, בֶּלַע וָבֶכֶר וְאַשְׁבֵּל, גֵּרָא וְנַעֲמָן, אֵחִי וָרֹאשׁ; מֻפִּים וְחֻפִּים, וָאָרְדְּ. 21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.
כב אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי רָחֵל, אֲשֶׁר יֻלַּד לְיַעֲקֹב--כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ, אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר. 22 These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob; all the souls were fourteen.
כג וּבְנֵי-דָן, חֻשִׁים. 23 And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
כד וּבְנֵי, נַפְתָּלִי--יַחְצְאֵל וְגוּנִי, וְיֵצֶר וְשִׁלֵּם. 24 And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
כה אֵלֶּה בְּנֵי בִלְהָה, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַן לָבָן לְרָחֵל בִּתּוֹ; וַתֵּלֶד אֶת-אֵלֶּה לְיַעֲקֹב, כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ שִׁבְעָה.

ElTam

Wed, Jun 27 2012, 7:55 am

My daughter had two Nadav's in her class at one point. I also known an Itamar. He's Sephardi.