Torah as a girl's name?

amother

Khaki

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 10:16 am

I agree with the above posters dont do it. I just thought of something if you already did...Torah tziva lonu...
U can nickname your daughter Tziva and call her tziva or tzivi or tzivia

BadTichelDay

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 10:25 am

My dd had a girl named Rinatya in her class last year. I know an Anael. Both are in Israel and DL and not of American origin. But Torah? I would not recommend it. Too far out, imho.

amother

Mistyrose

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 11:19 am

My daughter has a Truah in her class. In the beginning it was bizarre to us, but now, its just her name. But I think torah is over the top and she would be teased terribly for that.

notshanarishona

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:23 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Is it totally crazy? I know some people are against any unusual name, so let me put it like this: would Torah be less advisable than say Rinatya or Ahavatel?

Those are all crazy. Might as well call your kid Donald Trump for all the teasing you will be setting them up for.

ora_43

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:32 pm

BadTichelDay wrote:

My dd had a girl named Rinatya in her class last year. I know an Anael. Both are in Israel and DL and not of American origin. But Torah? I would not recommend it. Too far out, imho.

In Israel names like that have more of a hardcore DL yishuvnik vibe. As dh put it, "I'm sure there's a kid running around barefoot on a hilltop somewhere with that name." Smile

Some parents don't mind that they're giving their kid a name that's very strongly linked to a certain subgroup of society. It's like chassidim giving yiddish names, or secular people giving names like Nimrod. But I think Americans tend to be more likely to give those names without realizing the association. We're just like "ooh, Havatzliezer, that's pretty" and put it straight on our mental list of baby names without thinking twice.

(I mean, I like the names Osnat and Dodavahu, so no judgments here. Just cautionary tales.)

L25

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:38 pm

op. as others have said. I don't think it's a good idea.
orah intersting point about subgroups. I actually do pay attention to that when I name my kids. I want my kids to have names that will work in whatever stream of judaism they want.

iyar

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:41 pm

Osnat is a beautiful name, and unlike a lot of imamother names of the month it's a genuine name of a person in the Torah (and not an evil person like Nimrod or Atalyah).
But can you tell me ora- Is Dodavahu a real name or is that Kefira A Kochvi's younger sister?

BadTichelDay

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:41 pm

ora_43 wrote:

In Israel names like that have more of a hardcore DL yishuvnik vibe. As dh put it, "I'm sure there's a kid running around barefoot on a hilltop somewhere with that name." Smile

Well, that's indeed where that Rinatya and Anael (and we) live, in a yishuv, the next hilltop is up the road ;-)
But dh, I and the kids have no such DL names - we named after relatives with good old solid names.

ora_43

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:46 pm

iyar wrote:

Right? I think Osnat is so pretty. But no English speaker will give it as a name, which - that's fair.

Dodavahu is real! Eliezer ben Dodavahu appears in Sefer Melachim.

(although now I'm a little nervous that Kefira A. Kochvi is real, too. At a minimum that's probably close to someone's actual name. Your name is beautiful, Kefira - it means "lioness," people - maybe not exactly a popular name for Israeli children, but actually quite pretty.)

iyar

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 1:09 pm

Thank you Ora! I didn't know that. I don't know if I'd name a boy that though. Sounds like someone's aunt, no?

And Kefira, if you can overlook the lioness for a minute, you must realize there's an unpleasant connotation there.

amother

Green

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 1:18 pm

ChanieMommy wrote:

Why not Tehilla?
That's more or less established...

It's very established no? I love the name. I'm thinking of maybe naming this baby Tehilla if I'm carrying a girl.

amother

Emerald

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 1:55 pm

ora_43 wrote:

Yes.

And those other two are pretty bad, too.

Dear American MO people: we like creative names. That's great. We like to get creative with Hebrew and find names that are personally meaningful. Also great!

But do we really need names that so so clearly mark our kids as American? Like, "Anael" is one thing, "Renatya Naima Tamid" is another.

And honestly, past age 10 or so, not many people are saying, "I hate Tohar, I've met 3 other kids named Tohar, I wish I had a completely unique name like Kefira Azamra Kochvinezzer."

Or, in English terms: Audrey is a unique-ish name. "Desani Ferrari" and "Khaleesi" are unique in a whole different way. Be the right kind of unique.

... Sorry, OP. You just had the misfortune to post this right after a couple of similar threads about odd names.

Remember that your children are real live human beings of their own, who will really have to pronounce their names in business meetings with a straight face someday. Unique names are nice; names that nobody has ever heard of get old fast.

(#askmehowIknow Can't Believe It

)

You made me shake with laughter!

amother

Emerald

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 1:57 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

I knew a Torah growing up, I always felt really bad for her. It was a very “my parents are socially clueless Baalei Teshuva” kind of name.

She actually was named after a chashuveh lady in EY named Torah!!
As in tor the bird. (Tor vegozal)

amother

Ginger

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 2:04 pm

I have an unusual name.
It's a objectively a beautiful name, and I've encountered at least ten others with the name by now (I'm in my forties), but growing up I didn't feel particularly enthralled with it, especially as I also didn't like the way some people pronounced it.

My brother has an unusual name and got teased for it, and now actually goes by a different name.

We named our kids pretty normal names, there are many other ways that they can express themselves iyH.

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 2:06 pm

Just skimming this thread - Anael is really not that unusual in Israel these days. I know quite a few of various ages, and we live in a regular mixed city (yes most of them are DL but urban types).

I don't know any Rinatyas but I don't think that's a cruel name to give - it's just Rinat with a flourish at the end. Pretty standard. I can't imagine any kids in school making fun of a name like that.

The other examples here - yes some of them are crazy. NO don't name your child Torah.

(And also be aware of where you live. The name Bracha, which someone gave as an example of a standard common classic name, is actually a name that could cause teasing in some places. It's considered very old fashioned (and hasn't come back yet) in most non-charedi circles).