English name for...

amother

Gardenia

Sun, Dec 05 2021, 3:54 pm

My sister Rena was given the legal name Renee at birth, but she changed it the second she was old enough. Her second name is Yiddish and there is an English middle name equivalent that she kept. I know nonJews named Dina, and I would leave that as well.

amother

Wine

Sun, Dec 05 2021, 5:58 pm

Would you call Shulamis Shulie? If so, I have heard of the English name Julie for Shulie.

As for Rina, what about Raina?

Menucha, honestly my first thought is Beth, which makes no sense unless you’ve read Little Women and know that Beth’s father calls her Little Tranquil.

Dina could be Dana, or I guess Donna but that’s pretty dated.

salt

Sun, Dec 05 2021, 10:36 pm

my mama wrote:

I love the name Dana for Dina too!

Dana is just as much a Hebrew name as Dina.
Dana is the female form of Dan.

How about Marina - for either Menucha or Rina.

I agree with Shelley for Shulamit.

amother

Antiquewhite

Sun, Dec 05 2021, 11:52 pm

I have a coworker named Deena.
For months I was trying to figure out if she was frum (she worked remotely and wore a long sleeve shirt on Zoom) but nope, she is Italian Catholic.

I am liking Sarena for Rena as I feel like you can introduce yourself/have your paperwork as Sarena and it is not confusing at all, it’s like calling Andrew-Drew. It doesn’t feel like a different name, just a (non confusing) nickname.

Deena you can leave or go with Diane or any of the above suggestions.

Shulamit-I personally don’t like the Shelly, which is a nickname for Rochelle. No suggestion there.

Menucha needs an English name or she will be Menu - cha.
You can go easy like Michelle which is very vanilla although not common for children these days, or Mina which is both the name of an Americanized Jews born at the turn of the last century who were of Russian descent, or is a common Indian-American name. (As in India, not Native American).

amother

Marigold

Mon, Dec 06 2021, 12:07 am

My grandmother ( secular British) was known all her life as Betty. On her kesuba says Beila but for some reason its not even sure if it was actually Beila, it may have been Basya.

For good reason we have a minhag to record the details , date, time of birth and names in the back of a sefer ( I assume it predates computers and municipal records)

I do anglicise my childrens names on their birth certificates if the sound of the hebrew name is difficult to be pronounced eg with the hebrew Ch sound, the simpler ones I kept as is. The ones I changed I kept as close as possible to the hebrew one as above example with my grandmothers name. It could happen that a hebrew name slips out of use , and there is no record of it , no Aliya Letoira to have to remember it etc

jerusalem90

Mon, Dec 06 2021, 12:07 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I'm looking for legal (English) names that can work for the following Hebrew names.....
Menucha
Reena
Dina
Shulamis

If you have no suggestions for English names please do not say anything at all.
I do not want to hear opinions on whether or not to give English names for a baby.... I give English names and this new baby will have one as well I'm just stuck on what to do for the following names.... and none of these are names I would put directly on birth certificate so please do not suggest that either.

Thank you.

Menucha -》 May, Mina, Mindy

Reena I would write as Rina and that is fine and lovely by English standards. You could also do Rita, Regina, Renata

Dina is already a normal English name. You could do Daisy, Danica.

Shulamis -》 Shannon, Cheyenne, Sheela, Misty

amother

Cappuccino

Mon, Dec 06 2021, 1:20 am

amother [ Gardenia ] wrote:

Can you tell me how?

It would make my life a lot easier if my English name matched my Hebrew name...

amother

Burgundy

Mon, Dec 06 2021, 4:29 am

amother [ Marigold ] wrote:

For good reason we have a minhag to record the details , date, time of birth and names in the back of a sefer ( I assume it predates computers and municipal records)

What you have is Jews copying the larger world's custom of keeping a family Bible.
My guess is that yours doesn't predate Queen Victoria.

There were Jews who kept a record of their yuchsin, but writing in back of a holy book is not traditionally Jewish. There's no reason not to do it, but the idea didn't originate with us.