Yona for a girl? | Imamother

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Forum -> Pregnancy & Childbirth -> Baby Names

Yona for a girl?

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dankbar

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 2:45 pm

in my circles Yonah & Simcha are both only used for boys

Iymnok

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:11 pm

Simcha I only know Sefardi women/girls except the one Belzer girl who had to be named after a grandmother.

amother

Black

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:13 pm

Iymnok wrote:

I know a couple of ladies named Yonah. One married a Yonah.

I know a woman named Yonah married to a man named Noach. They actually have a beautiful painting in their home of Noach and the dove, surrounded by the pesukim about Noach and the Yonah. A friend made it for them as a wedding gift. I always thought that was very clever!

dovebird

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:15 pm

thunderstorm

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:18 pm

blessedjmom wrote:

I have a friend Yona. (Yemenite)

The female Yona I know is also Yemenite.

thunderstorm

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:18 pm

amother [ Black ] wrote:

Love it!

amother

Bisque

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:18 pm

I know a yona who is a girl but I think of it as usually a boy's name. Personally I don't like gender neutral names especially if it's more common to be used for the opposite gender at least in my circles. I want people to know what gender my child. I know other people feel differently.

WitchKitty

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:21 pm

I know a Yemenite woman and Ashkenazi man.

finallyamommy

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:46 pm

I've heard of Yona for both boys and girls, but I personally wouldn't use it for a girl since it is a male name in Tanach.

Would you consider it with a second name? If you call a girl, say, Yona Malka or Yona Chaya or Yona Miriam or something it would be obvious and the "gender-neutral" concern wouldn't exist anymore.

Or use something like Yonina or Yonit?

Rappel

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 3:52 pm

What is "Yonina"?

PinkFridge

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 4:46 pm

The Dov Dov books were written by Yona Weinberg.

amother

Apricot

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 4:52 pm

I have a girl yona (named after a relative). I added a name, more obviously girly.
For example, Chaya Yona (not her real name)

nchr

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 4:58 pm

I would think Jonah is a boy, but Yona sounds neutral to me. I don't know what circles you're in, but would Yonina work?

amother

Ruby

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 5:00 pm

Iymnok wrote:

Simcha I only know Sefardi women/girls except the one Belzer girl who had to be named after a grandmother.

There is a yiddish female name Simchy. I also know a chassidish family who asked the Bobover Rebbe what to name their daughter born on Simchas Torah and he hinted at Simcha and so there you go.

agreer

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 5:05 pm

Hate the name Yona on a girl. It really doesn't work for me. Yonina is a much better name. I think it means female dove.

WitchKitty

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 5:22 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

The Dov Dov books were written by Yona Weinberg.

And is that a boy or girl?

amother

Mauve

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 5:31 pm

A woman.

Shuly

Tue, Jun 18 2019, 5:34 pm

I know 2 Ashkenazi ladies named Yona.
And a lot of boys with that name.

sbk

Wed, Jun 19 2019, 1:21 am

correction: when I posted that Simcha is the opposite, should've written that it's the same

amother

Azure

Wed, Jun 19 2019, 1:27 am

Yona and Simcha are both feminine nouns, so the Sefardi tradition of using them for girls makes sense. When you think about it, Simcha is a girly name. I don't know why Ashkenazim use it for boys.

I wonder if the Navi Yonah had a hard time with his name.

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