Regret not giving english names

amother

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 8:59 pm

amother Magenta wrote:

I thought Sephardim give English names?

Different types of Sephardim might? We’re only Sephardi by look- my husband is ashkenaz so no real Sephardi minhagim

amother

Tangerine

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 9:03 pm

I gave most of my kids English names for convenience. I don't think it will ever actually save anyone's life, but I also like that we are not immediately identifiable as Jews based on our names. A couple of my kids have names that could go either way so I just used their Hebrew names legally. Our last name sounds more European than Jewish.

amother

Silver

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 9:18 pm

amother OP wrote:

Ca I say I’m a bit jealous? What did you do about last names though?

Could go either way.

I did it for him though

My name is in Yiddish

amother

Lightyellow

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 9:33 pm

No regrets. All my children have only Hebrew names. The time is now to be proud. Bh' my grandson's name is Amichai. No English name.

amother

Topaz

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 9:42 pm

Rappel wrote:

I'm actually really happy that my mother put our very Jewish names on our birth certificates.

When I made aliyah, I realized that, legally, my name had to match phonetically with my American birth certificate. If my proper name were not there, then then it would have disappeared from my Jewish identity.

There's nothing like seeing קלסי or מרגרט spelled out in Hebrew to realize how incredibly permanent names are.

My family that made Aliyah's names on their teudat zehut do not match their birth certificates.

amother

Forsythia

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 9:44 pm

My last name is very obviously Jewish so in regards to documents an English name wouldn't help us.
About leaving your kids with the Spanish housekeeper if needed ch"v, do you think radical Muslims will spare your Spanish housekeeper? Something tells me if it gets that bad, they'll be out for everyone's blood not just Jews.

amother

Topaz

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 9:50 pm

#BestBubby wrote:

I put English names, but have a Jewish last name.

And my sons english name is jewish, how many
Non jews named Abraham?

Lots

amother

Bluebell

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 10:06 pm

Def English names on the birth certificate for bureaucracy.
Happens to be I’m Sephardic so my last name isn’t recognizably Jewish ( Jews and non Jews have my last name ) but thats not going to save me if I’m meant to go

amother

Kiwi

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 10:14 pm

FYI you can give your baby any last name you choose (in the US). There is no law saying that a child must share surname with either of their parents.

TranquilityAndPeace

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 10:31 pm

Tao wrote:

I give my kids English names. Nothing to do with not being proud to be Jewish. It's just super awkward to be sitting in the dentist office and hearing the poor secretary break her teeth over your Chanoch Baruch's name.
If I name a child an easy to pronounce name like Miriam I wouldn't add an English name. It also seems to me unprofessional, if your child works in a non-Jewish environment one day or interacts with a lot of non-Jews, it gets uncomfortable.

I used to think like this.

Then I noticed people with names like Condoleeza and Barak and Rashida etc are very successful in professional, powerful, secular, environments. Perhaps a generation or two ago, those with unusual names did encounter far more discomfort in public.

Ellie7

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 10:43 pm

I have a legal name different than the Hebrew name I've always gone by and I hate it. College (and grad school) applications were a mess. Checks can be an issue if they're made out to my Hebrew name. And I find people are really respectful about asking how to pronounce my name.

I gave my kids only Hebrew names and have no regrets.

amother

DarkYellow

Mon, Oct 30 2023, 11:36 pm

Sorry, but this seems like cowardice and lack of bitachon to me.
I am PROUD of my Jewish name. And yes, it has a ״ח״ in it
It was in that zchus that we were nigaal from mitzrayim. It sets apart. It gives me pride!
I regret that my oldest sons birth certificate has an English name (the counterpart of his Hebrew- like Jonathan for yonason). I did not do that for my next children, because I had matured at that point and had pride in their Jewish names
Also, as a grandchild of strong and proud Holocaust survivors who kept their Jewish names and remained strong in their Yiddishkeit, I was never under any impression that we were safe in galus. But I WAS instilled with a pride in who I was.
So no. I will not hide. I will not pretend to be one of them. You want to kill me? Kill me al kiddush Hashem!!!

amother

Amaryllis

Tue, Oct 31 2023, 12:05 am

I have an English name and it is a pain in the neck

I did not give any of my kids English names for this reason. I did only put one name though on their birth certificates even though they all have two Hebrew names, and they're all pretty simple to pronounce.

Reality

Tue, Oct 31 2023, 1:36 am

amother Topaz wrote:

My family that made Aliyah's names on their teudat zehut do not match their birth certificates.

Uh, no, unless they made aliyah a long time ago.

It is a huge hassle to change your name and if you ever want to collect social security, good luck!

Reality

Tue, Oct 31 2023, 1:47 am

If you gave your kids an English spelling of a Hebrew name on your birth certificate, that's a Jewish name. For example, David or Israel instead of Dovid or Yisrael. Believe me the antisemites know.

If you make aliyah and your first name is Deborah and your last name is Moses for example on your marriage license, your new legal name in Israel will automatically be Devorah Moshe because those are exact translations.

I also want to echo and agree that we should stand up tall and proud to be Jewish! Having a Jewish name is a huge zchus for your child. Who are you fooling by putting down an English name on a birth certificate? Your child is most likely going to look Jewish anyway. Are you also making sure they don't sound Jewish? During the Holocaust many Jews who tried to pass were given away by their accent.

amother

Phlox

Tue, Oct 31 2023, 2:34 am

I grew up extremely out of town. So of town that most people have never heard of it. My parents gave me only a Jewish name. Even now they really don’t know what they were thinking. My parents were not religious at the time at all. So, in hindsight, it makes sense, but the time it literally made zero sense. So clearly the decision that you made us the correct decision. God guides decision of naming your child.

English3

Tue, Oct 31 2023, 3:46 am

We specifically put the full Jewish name on the birth certificate. There has been stories of people not knowing the name to put on their grand parents kever because no one knew the real Jewish name. Hashem should help that my children should all remain frum till 120 but they will always have their full Jewish name.

amother

Fuchsia

Tue, Oct 31 2023, 4:08 am

My grandparents feel that what helped them in the war was their non Jewish name which they were known by until they died recently, but the name was extremely non Jewish (One of the biggest anti-Semites in history) if I say it all my family will realise.
They made my parents put non Jewish names on all our documents, for me it wasn't such an issue as it's a Jewish and gentile name, like Sarah Rachel etc. I don't think it made any problems for my siblings that had a complete different name.

My husband didn't want it for my kids, anyway in Israel it's more complicated to do it.
My brother in Israel was very strict to do it and would manage to get his kids passport written in English with the non Jewish version or tweaking the Jewish name and pretending it's spelt like that in English with a silent letter.
By me they wouldn't even let me Write Issac instead of Yitzchak. Which is a shame if we take a passport from my birth country.