Do NOT pick "blessing"

YaelB

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 6:10 pm

I have a cousin (non-Jewish) who is named Blessing. HE has suffered his whole life for it.

shalhevet

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 6:18 pm

Were you referring to my post on the other thread? It was actually a joke - one of the reasons we were redeemed from Egypt was they didn't change their (Jewish) names, so I was kind of taken aback that someone would want to trade a beautiful name like Bracha for something non-Jewish.

Sorry, I didn't realize anyone would take it seriously (or that anyone is called Blessing irl... LOL

saw50st8

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 7:10 pm

Shalhevet, many people choose secular names because names like Bracha are not pronouncable to most of the public.

My coworkers name is Ravindrath. He goes by Mike.

Sherri

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 7:10 pm

saw50st8 wrote:

Shalhevet, many people choose secular names because names like Bracha are not pronouncable to most of the public.

My coworkers name is Ravindrath. He goes by Mike.

spring13

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 7:20 pm

saw50st8 wrote:

Shalhevet, many people choose secular names because names like Bracha are not pronouncable to most of the public.

My coworkers name is Ravindrath. He goes by Mike.

Yup. Dh has a lot of Chinese coworkers who go by English names because most non-Chinese people can't say their real names quite right. The differences between the languages are way bigger than most people realize; the ch in Bracha is almost nothing in comparison!

Mimisinger

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 7:51 pm

Whereas, we feel the complete opposite. Ds is in the science field and have always worked with a lot of Asians - Chinese and Indian and they ALL use their given Chinese/Indian names. So why should WE have to Americanize ourselves?

Btw, Shalhevet, I totally got your meaning in the original thread. And, I found it humorous.

We only give Hebrew names. And yes, my first dc has a chet which is hard, especially when family doesn't really get it, but frankly, tough noogies. It's a beautiful name from the Torah. This is who we want him to emulate. Not Mike.

amother

Wed, Dec 07 2011, 11:36 pm

my names Matty. מטל ppl automatically assume im a male! 'till I meet them or talk to them on the phone! its fun to hear/see their reactions!
I once called a vedor about a problem and I was transferred to matty. so I said hi matty, this is matty___ from ____ here. and he was like - who?!?! so I said matty. he's probably still hiccuping now!

anon cuz too many ppl will recognize me

Yearoldmother

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 7:52 am

We live in Israel and we go through a bunch of names before we choose because we want it to
Sound normal and we want to like it whether it's pronounced the american way or Israeli way.

My mother and all her siblings go by their English names even once they came to israel. It's funny to hear Israelis say "Jill" there's no j sound in Hebrew!! Smile

shabbatiscoming

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 8:02 am

Yearoldmother wrote:

Many people keep their english names even if and when they come to Israel. My husband always went by his english name and did not change it just because he came to Israel. I dont see the need. There are so many different kinds of names in this country.

Ruchel

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 2:14 pm

Many frum people have or give secular names, to the extent that you are abnormal if you don't plan to (BTDT). Some also think the Jewish name is too holy for every day use in the non Jewish world. Some also insist on giving the full name of the person they name after, secular and Jewish.

I didn't ever hear the Jewish name of my country's chief rabbi until recently.

amother

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 2:20 pm

My name is Chani. I used to work for a lawyer in NYC and many of the clients were foreigners who had trouble pronouncing my name. Whoever could, could and whoever couldn't called me Hani, and I had no problem with that.

Until one of the associates (herself Jewish, but not in the least observant) called me into her office to suggest that since so many clients were having difficulty with my name, I should just drop the first letter and officially become Hani. My response: "Sure, Uzanne." Never heard another word about it.

amother

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 2:22 pm

shanie5 wrote:

Better Blessing than JINX (and yes, I do know a woman named Jinx!)

A colleague and I used to compete to see who knew people with the most unusual names. He won with a former assitant's grandchild, whose name was pronounced EYE-dee-aht, and spelled Idiot.

Anon because if you know me, you know the story.

Mimisinger

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 2:26 pm

amother wrote:

You're AWESOME!!!! Not worthy

LisaS

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 2:27 pm

amother wrote:

I laughed out loud - good one!

Ruchel

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 2:33 pm

To poster "Matty": If your name is Matel, from what I read, maybe write it Yiddish way and add an alef in the middle.
My Mati is mem alef tet yud.

EmesOrNT

Thu, Dec 08 2011, 3:24 pm

my full name is chana miriam and while most everyone calls me Miriam, strangely enough, I'm chana on all my official documents!