The name ella | Imamother

amother

Quince

Tue, Oct 19 2021, 3:00 pm

watergirl wrote:

I have a friend who wanted so badly to name their daughter Zoe, so they decided that the hebrew spelling of Zoe is an acronym for "Zeh Hayom Asah Hashem" and went with it. To each their own (and I love the name Zoe).

People can also do what my parents did which was common in the 80's and before - pick an english name you love and pick a hebrew name, and the names do not necessarily have anything in common, and enjoy. I go by my english name and my hebrew name is connected to it, but many people have just names their parents liked.

Or you can be creative and come up with a meaning if you want... not everyone holds there must be a source for a name. I am not offering my opinion on the matter and am supportive of everyone doing as they wish.

I agree, up to a point. People naming their babies don't need my opinion or my support. It's their baby and the name is their choice. Parents can pick any name they like or make up a name, but if they're here asking for opinions I would add that there's real significance to the name of a Jewish neshama. I wouldn't want to give a Jewish baby a non-Jewish name or a name with an origin that connects it to something unpleasant, or worse- impure. We don't want to give our kids names that sound strange in the culture we're living in or names that people might make fun of but at the same time we want to connect the neshama to something spiritually significant. A lot of people discuss the name with their rav. He doesn't choose the name but he might help with deciding if the meaning or origin of the name are right for this child.

watergirl

Tue, Oct 19 2021, 3:12 pm

amother [ Quince ] wrote:

They have a Jewish name for their neshamos to connect to. They just go by a different one unless they have a misheberach or for boys, an aliyah. And remember, a lot of "Jewish" names are no more than stam hebrew names, and I would argue have no more kedusha than a name in any other language.

So like the example up-thread, someone names their daughter Bailah and calls her Bailey only and never Bailah - its the same idea really.

amother

Whitesmoke

Tue, Oct 19 2021, 3:37 pm

amother [ Yarrow ] wrote:

If you want to give a nonJewish/English/French/Spanish whatever name, go ahead, but Ella and Emma are not tradiontally Jewish names.

As I wrote upthread, my friend's grandmother was named Ella עלא in Europe before the Holocaust - Bobover chassidim.