Chabad names- how to still be unique??

Good Friend

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 1:25 pm

NotInNJMommy wrote:

There's lots of reasons previously described as to why it's nice/special to name after the Rebbeim/Rebbetzins. There are also many who name after family. There are some who choose different names.

I have one child with a very common Chabad name, one with a normal Jewish name (after a grandmother), and one with a unique name chosen because of the timing of their birth and the name being in the parsha/having special meaning. Trust that you and your husband will know the right name for your child when the time comes. Also, there've always been lots of Mendels, and everyone does ok. (At least it's not the year right after the Rebbetzin's passing where everyone was Chaya Mushka, Chaya, Mushka, or some close variation. I taught 10th grade one year, and it was that class of girls that I had to call almost all by last name. Smile

)

Yes, my brother was born right after Gimel Tamuz (the date of the Rebbe's passing) and he was one of 8 Menachem Mendel's in his class of 13. Hence the going by last name.

I know a girl in a class full of chaya Mushkas who had a nickname made from her last name (think something like Silvie if her last name would be Silverstein) and she still goes by that nickname today, many years later.

yonabets

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 1:27 pm

happy chick wrote:

Just as aside note, when you don't give a complete name (such as Menachem mendel, Yosef yitzchok, sholom dovber etc), it's not the Rebbes name. Breaking apart a name, creates a diff meaning. Also, adding a name to a Rebbe name is disrespectful.
Read more about it in the book "what's in a name".

Menahem Mendel and Yossef Yitzok or sholom dov ber is not the same thing.
Menahem Mendel is one name .Mendel is Menahem in yiddish . It use to be the way they give name .like :dov ber or Shlomo Zalman....so you don't need to give the 2 names!
(I haven't read your book .)

amother

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 1:40 pm

amother [ Pewter ] wrote:

Oh and my brother is Meir Shlomo for the Rebbes grandfather if you are looking for more options.

Ooooh wow, I really love this name! How is it not more popular?? I think we've got a winner Very Happy

Thank you!

I smile thinking back of when I had my first child, I gave birth in a haredi hospital. We sat in the breastfeeding room talking about names and I said I'd no idea. They looked at me like I was nuts. Because it was so obvious that you named after the grandparents, then your Rebbe and THEN you could choose what you like! The joys of being converts Tongue Out

amother

Rose

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 1:41 pm

Can I suggest you and your husband discuss this with a rov or Mashpia? I am from a Lubavitch family for many generations and when we need guidance on a name (or other matters of course) we go to those who know better! You mentioned your husband is a baal tshuva,. It is crucial for everyone but especially in your situation that both of you establish a relationship with. Rov and mashpia. please get guidance and preserve your Sholom bayis!

amother

Scarlet

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 2:17 pm

amother [ Rose ] wrote:

This is very good advice.
(I love the name Meir Shlomo too.)

thatworn

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 2:29 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Lubavitch in general is not a fan of "U-NEEQ" names. It's not a very Jewish thing to do.

If you want your child to be accepted in your circles, go through the traditional names until you find one that really speaks to you.

Trust me, your child will be plenty unique on his own, with his shining personality and good deeds. Very Happy

We're Chabad and some of our children have weird names, all for family. I love weird names. My poor children. Actually I had a bit of rachmonos on my son whom I wanted to name Yisro, as he was due on Shavuous. The Rov said it's not done so much these days to name a child Yisro, but we can name whatever we want and we ended up giving him a different outlandish name of an esteemed ancestor.

OP you have to like the name you give your son! There are so many chabad names out there - as someone suggested, look into the family trees of the rebeeim. A HaYomyom generally has a lot of information about each Rebbe and his siblings, children, etc. If you see a name that appeals to you, sing its praises to the DH and see if he agrees.

happy chick

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 2:37 pm

egam wrote:

This.

I know many Menachem Mendels and many of them go by any possible variations of the first or middle name. Also, there's a very interesting phenomenon in American yeshivos, where boys call each other by their last names. Which is very strange to me.

That may work well in yeshiva. But when a kid calls someone's home in the evening and says "hello, can I please speak to goldstein?", that's an issue ☺️

happy chick

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 2:40 pm

yonabets wrote:

Not what I meant. The name dov is bear in Hebrew and ber is bear in Yiddish. Tzvi is a deer in Hebrew and Hersh is a deer in Yiddish. Dov ber and tzvi Hersh are 2 names, but technically mean the same thing.

amother

Pewter

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 3:02 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Ooooh wow, I really love this name! How is it not more popular?? I think we've got a winner Very Happy

I should post this on the ruach hakodesh thread but my parents had a name picked out for my first brother - a family name - and then the Rebbe spoke about his grandfather and my father said THAT’S the baby’s name! And my mother agreed.

amother

Mauve

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 3:30 pm

happy chick wrote:

That may work well in yeshiva. But when a kid calls someone's home in the evening and says "hello, can I please speak to goldstein?", that's an issue ☺️

Lol, I have six brothers and when the phone rang, I picked it up and a bochur on the line asked to speak to "__(our last name)__" I burst out laughing and told him he found a house full of them, which does he prefer.

amother

Turquoise

Mon, Aug 10 2020, 3:47 pm

happy chick wrote:

That may work well in yeshiva. But when a kid calls someone's home in the evening and says "hello, can I please speak to goldstein?", that's an issue ☺️

Happens all the time in Israel, absolutely the norm

amother

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 4:48 am

Oy I'm so disappointed, just when I'd fallen in love with Meir Shlomo and read about him, DH said he only wants a name of one of the Rebbeim Sad

Back to the drawing board. This must be the real reason pregnancy lasts 9 months...

chocolate fondue

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 5:52 am

You can tell him that many people name after the Rebbe's father (Levi Yitzchok) and other family members first because the Rebbe didn't have children of his own to name after his family, so we do it instead, to give the Rebbe nachas.

On the other hand, bear in mind that even if you have the most common name in the school, your child will still be unique and special to you.

I thought my eldest would be a boy and we had planned a name that I loved. We didn't even discuss girls names. When she was born we just looked at each other and said 'Chaya Mushka, I guess?' I was a bit disappointed to have such a 'typical' name. And she's one of 4 Chaya Mushkas in her class!

But each one is called by a different nickname, and she's such a lovely girl and I'm so proud of her... At the end of the day, the name just becomes associated with the child; when you hear his name you'll think of him and how unique he is, not the other way around. I hope that made sense.

amother

Sapphire

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 6:19 am

Two stories.

1) We had been debating between Yisrael and Yisrael Noach but then I had a dream and we knew we should go by what we'd been told, so we gave that name instead.

We may still give Yisrael or Yisrael Noach sometime in the future.

2) One of my friends was supposed to be named Nechama Dina. But after she was born her father had a dream about the rebbetzin, so she was named Chaya Mushka instead.

banana123

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 6:24 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Oy I'm so disappointed, just when I'd fallen in love with Meir Shlomo and read about him, DH said he only wants a name of one of the Rebbeim Sad

Back to the drawing board. This must be the real reason pregnancy lasts 9 months...

So many people name Levi Yitzchak and Chana, after the Rebbe's parents. And you also have Shalom Shachna, though that's a bit less common.

But anyways, what about Shmuel? That was the Maharash and it's not a specifically Chabad name.

salt

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 8:48 am

amother [ Lavender ] wrote:

This is very common in my kids' Israeli schools (girls and boys, dati leumi).

Also in girls' schools?
I've seen it in many boys schools, all ages, all sectors, but not for girls.
We have a very common last name. The first time my DS was called by his last name, which was on one of his first days in 1st grade, by the hasa'ah driver, he didn't respond - he didn't realize the driver was talking to him Smile

amother

Lavender

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 10:08 am

salt wrote:

Yeah, also girls' schools, especially junior and high school.

amother

Orange

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 2:03 pm

happy chick wrote:

I don't understand this. Wasn't the Rebbe Rashab named after the Mittler Rebbe and someone named Sholom?

amother

Tue, Aug 11 2020, 2:21 pm

amother [ Cyan ] wrote:

Sounds like you and DH have seven names from which to pick.

Good for DH. Next time he pushes a 9+ lbs baby out his nether regions, he can totally choose from those 7 names. Or all 7 names together in a super kadosh conglomerate.

I'm calling this kid Muhammad, because I'm just so fed up of trying to please such a stubborn DH.