Eliana | Imamother

amother

Ginger

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 7:44 am

DH and I just cannot seem to agree on a girl's name, and we care coming down to the wire. I thought of Eliana, but DH dislikes what he calls "modern" names. In this situation he means names that originated pretty recently. Anybody know of a source for the name, or a historical individual with the name? I am well aware of the beauty of the meaning, it's a big part of why I want to use it, but I need to convince DH...

singleagain

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 7:50 am

Wikipedia says this:

Many sources derive it from Akkadian/Assyrian, literally translated as "My God has answered me."[1] It is composed of three Hebrew elements: EL, meaning GOD; ANA, meaning ANSWERED; and the Yud, located after EL, indicating first person possession.[2] Biblical sources: "And he erected there an altar, and called it El- [God] elohe-Israel [El, the God of the Patriarch Israel]" (Genesis 33:20). "And Efron answered [ana] Abraham, saying unto him," (Genesis 23:14).[1]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik.....aning

Ruchel

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 8:15 am

Don't trust most websites for names.

behindthename is good

I seem to remember Eliana actually mentioned in the Beider dictionary - but I can't seem to find my Beider...

http://www.behindthename.com/name/eliana

finallyamommy

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 9:29 am

For less modern names, along the same lines, would you consider Yehudis (thankful), or Tehilla (praise), or even Elisheva (G-d promised)?

amother

Ginger

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 10:04 am

Thanks for the suggestions. We already have a Tehila, I don't like yehudis, and Elisheva we kind of nixxed though I don't remember why. Nobody knows of anyone famous-ish with this name?

amother

Ginger

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 10:30 am

amother wrote:

Well, I think the sister of Nachshon and wife of Aharon (Vaera 6:6) was pretty famous.

I meant someone with the name Eliana

Teomima

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 10:57 am

I think you'll both just have to accept that no one biblical has this name. However, MANY biblical people were given literal names (Yitzchak, Yaakov, Reuven, Shmuel, etc) that were meaningful to their parents at the time of their birth. I think calling Eliana "modern" is a bit of a stretch, just because there was no one by that name in the tanach. If anything, it's about as close as you could get to a biblical name without actually being one, simply because you could so easily see it appearing in the tanach that's it's hard to believe it doesn't.

amother

Ginger

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 11:03 am

Teomima wrote:

For sure. I guess I'm just wondering more in terms of a more recent historical/famous individual, some Rav's wife or daughter or something...

essie14

Thu, Dec 22 2016, 11:21 am

Teomima wrote:

Agreed.
The former Rav of my shul has a daughter named Eliana. She is 19. Is that old enough and chashuv enough for you?

amother

Pearl

Fri, Jan 06 2017, 6:55 am

amother wrote:

Anyone with this name also have an English name or is it easy enough to pronounce?

It's easy enough to pronounce. Our Hispanic neighbors have a daughter Eliana - it's apparently a common Spanish name too.