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Forum
-> Pregnancy & Childbirth
-> Baby Names
yerushamama
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 Wed, Jun 19 2019, 1:31 am
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One big issue with gender neutral names is that so many people make an incorrect assumption as to the person's gender.
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Tof Umachol
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 3:41 am
My daughter had a teacher named Yonati, which means "my dove", and is a term of endearment for a woman out of Shir HaShirim. It would only apply to a girl, not a boy.
(In Israel. It is pronounced with the accent on the "ti".)
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JoyInTheMorning
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 4:53 am
I'm sure you all learned Parashat Noach at some point, and read about the yonah that Noach sent out:
וְלֹא-מָצְאָה הַיּוֹנָה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף-רַגְלָהּ
And then he sent her out again:
וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ
Clearly yonah is female!
So you have evidence from chumash that Yonah is feminine, and evidence from Trei Asar that Yonah is a boy's name. You can do whatever you want!
Growing up, I knew a girl who was a Yonah. She was very blond, but now that I think about it, her last name was Israeli and she could have been Sephardic.
Tangent: I don't get how so many people didn't know that Sefer Yonah is read on Yom Kippur at Mincha. Do so few women go to shul on Yom Kippur? Okay, I sort of get it once you have kids, but when you were growing up, didn't you learn this? And even if you didn't learn it, and you don't go to shul, don't you have a machzor that you can flip through while you're staying home? I'm truly puzzled.
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JoyInTheMorning
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 4:57 am
And you guys sing zemirot, right? Or listen when the men sing them?
Remember the zemer יוֹם שַׁבָּתון אֵין לִשְׁכּוחַ ? The third line of the refrain is יונָה מָצְאָה בו מָנוחַ; again, Yonah is clearly feminine.
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amother
Purple
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 7:32 am
Female Yonah chiming in! Ashkenazi, originally from Brooklyn. For a long time I was the only female Yonah (yes with an h!) I ever knew until I got to high school, when all of a sudden people started telling me of other female Yonah's they know. Happens to be that I adore my name and the uniqueness of it. I have never gotten weird looks, only compliments from Jews and non Jews alike. And only once have I gotten junk mail from a yeshiva addressed to a Mr.
It does seem nowadays that Yonah with an h generally is for boys, but without an h is for girls. Family and close friends call me Yoni. And for the record, my DH maintains that Yonah HaNavi got saddled with a girl's name.
It's not for everyone, but I say go for it!
(Anon for obvious reasons. If you know me, feel free to say hi!)
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amother
Jetblack
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 8:01 am
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My name is Yonit. It's part of my legal name, not my jewish name and only my mother called me that.
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amother
cornflower
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 8:14 am
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I know 2 female Yonahs, but to me, an Ashkenazi American, it sounds very strange. I would go with Yonina or Yonit.
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amother
Saddlebrown
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 10:34 am
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My middle name is Yona. I was always self conscious of it. I didn't hide the fact but never used it. With that fact I know a female Yona and female Yoni (whose name is actually Toba which is the Yiddish version of Yona)
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Ruchel
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 2:08 pm
Colomba, Tauba... it's traditional
Hide?? what?? which planet is this??
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shanarishona
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Wed, Jun 19 2019, 3:41 pm
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Person I know (female) named Yona hates it because of the boy connotation
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WitchKitty
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Thu, Jun 20 2019, 2:25 am
| JoyInTheMorning wrote: | I'm sure you all learned Parashat Noach at some point, and read about the yonah that Noach sent out:
וְלֹא-מָצְאָה הַיּוֹנָה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף-רַגְלָהּ
And then he sent her out again:
וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ
Clearly yonah is female!
So you have evidence from chumash that Yonah is feminine, and evidence from Trei Asar that Yonah is a boy's name. You can do whatever you want!
Growing up, I knew a girl who was a Yonah. She was very blond, but now that I think about it, her last name was Israeli and she could have been Sephardic.
Tangent: I don't get how so many people didn't know that Sefer Yonah is read on Yom Kippur at Mincha. Do so few women go to shul on Yom Kippur? Okay, I sort of get it once you have kids, but when you were growing up, didn't you learn this? And even if you didn't learn it, and you don't go to shul, don't you have a machzor that you can flip through while you're staying home? I'm truly puzzled. |
Very good point actually, but now I'm puzzled. How do you say a male dove? 
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amother
Rose
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Thu, Jun 20 2019, 2:43 am
| Rappel wrote: | | What is "Yonina"? | My name is Yonina. When I was born, over 40 years ago, my parents did not think to call me yona. They only knew of boys with that name. So they femanized the name and called me yonina. It has the same meaning as yona.
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singleagain
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Thu, Jun 20 2019, 7:52 am
| WitchKitty wrote: | | Very good point actually, but now I'm puzzled. How do you say a male dove? |
When I was a kid we had Hebrew song tapes called Shirim Ktanim ... One was about animals and there was a song about having morning guests "shnei yonim, Yona v'yon" however, it was a kids song and the last line says they came by the "chalon" (window) for all I know... They just needed to make it rhyme. 
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amother
Khaki
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Thu, Jun 20 2019, 12:58 pm
I know of a girl named Yonah after her grandmother Toba. The name Yonah serves as a modern alternative.
Last edited by amother on Wed, Sep 16 2020, 3:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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urban gypsy
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Thu, Jun 20 2019, 1:04 pm
| ectomorph wrote: | | Not a fan. I don't like gender neutral names in today's day and age. |
Why specifically in this day and age? Could you please elaborate
This week I spoke to a woman making a donation from a Rabbi Aaron X
Turns out it was actually from herself and she was Rabbi Erin
It was super embarrassing, I bet that happens to her constantly
Regarding Yona in particular, I would not bat an eye hearing it for a girl, totally normal for my circles.
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