Baby girl names Av-related

amother

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 4:24 am

I'm very excited about the fact that I'm having a girl bez"H!

I really wanted a boy and both DH and I had a strong feeling that it was a boy, so we were shocked to find out it was a girl. But now I'm getting excited about girl names.

Had it been a boy, we pretty much knew what we would name him, but since it's a girl we're open to all options. Both of us lost our remaining grandmothers since our last DD was born, but they both had uncommon Yiddish names that we don't want to use. Neither of us particularly like the Hebrew versions of those names either, and it won't please our parents anyway, so we don't need to name specifically after them.

We'd love to honor their memories, and also I'm due right after Tisha B'av, so something geula/nechama oriented would be nice.

I'm not a huge fan of the name Nechama.

We're American olim in a litvish chareidi community.

All name suggestions welcome!

amother

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 5:19 am

Thanks for these suggestions!

I like a lot of them, great starting point for conversations with DH. He just wants to wait and see if there's anything in the pasha or haftara around when she's born that speaks to us, but I want to have a list of ideas just in case.

Here's my list of hakpados:

Ruchama happens to be a family name but I hate it. No one in our immediate family used it, but we have first cousins with the name. Any ideas of names that meet my requirements that can go with it to make it a second name?

amother

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 5:22 am

What does Elisheva mean? I think it's the only suggestion here that meets all my requirements!

What do people think of when they hear Naama? Also do you pronounce it NAama or NaaMA? (Another annoying US-Israel difference!)

LovesHashem

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 5:32 am

I loveeee Naama. It's really not so common in chareidi circles but it would be acceptable.

Too bad my dh doesn't like it.

Is it so bad to have names that sounds different with Israelis and Americans? We have a saf/tag name and for example let's say shulamis/shulamit (not the name) and we spell it in English with a T at the end. That's how we spelled it even on American birth certificate and passport.

Rarely does someone call them Shulamis and when we do we just correct them.

I also have a name that sounds different in English and Hebrew and it's okay (not a saf/taf name) . It's life. I like the way it sounds both ways.

amother

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 6:51 am

That's really interesting about Ruchama! Thank you for telling me that! Like I said, I really don't like it, but it would make some people very happy if we used it. It's going on my list as a second name.

Reason I thought of Naama is because I love it and it's similar to a Hebrew version of the grandmother's Yiddish names.

I don't think it's so uncommon in Israel - both my DDs have a classmate with that name.

It's not terrible if the names are pronounced differently, but I don't want it to be glaring. Some of my kids have names that are pronounced differently here (think DOvid vs DaVEED) but in my head the taf/saf is a major difference in how the name sounds, and in the community we come from in the US, most people use saf, so our relatives would comment and/or be confused.

Iymnok

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 6:59 am

We just named our daughter Elisheva. I think DH wrote up 9 reasons and background of the name. If you pm me I’ll send it to you.
She was the wife of Aharon hakohen and the sister of Nachshon ben Aminadav.
Her kever is in Teveria. (Along with Tzippora, Avigail, Yocheved, Bilha and Zilpa)

amother

Lotus

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 7:32 am

amother OP wrote:

Now I know why I couldn’t sleep here last night in the USA. I was tossing and turning and finally came on to imamother. I might have named someone’s child in Israel! 😊

LovesHashem

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 8:58 am

amother OP wrote:

Yes they will comment and be confused. But after being corrected a few times they will get it and it will be a non issue.

amother

DarkPurple

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 9:00 am

amother OP wrote:

Taf and saf and Dovid really aren't so huge, not like my husband. Also I kind of like that here things are pronounced they way they are in loshon hakodesh.

My husband's name is Dovie which becomes Dubi in Hebrew. At this point he just started telling people his name Dov or Yisroel (his second name) because he really hates being called a teddy bear.

WhatFor

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 9:02 am

Shira
Ashira
Eliana
Technically Aviva has a similar sound to Av, but different meaning, if that works.
Ahava
Or Avital (not sure how common it is in Israeli Yeshivish but it's a name from tanach.)

To be fair, possibly most of these except Shira and Aviva are used more in DL circles but throwing the rest of them out there in case any of them are also used in yeshivish Israeli circles.

dena613

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 10:19 am

amother OP wrote:

You realize that your list of "hakpados" just basically nixed every name out there?

ImStrong

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 10:29 am

dena613 wrote:

You realize that your list of "hakpados" just basically nixed every name out there?

Thought of that as well... In the first post you wrote open to anything but later you made a list of requirements

But no judgement, it is your child and you are entitled to choose the name and make sure you like it.

I dont have any more suggestions but good luck!

amother

Amber

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 10:34 am

amother OP wrote:

I named my daughter Elisheva and I love the name. I’ve gotten plenty of compliments on it.

Elisheva means Hashem is my oath, or sworn to Hashem - something like that.

And if you’re looking for an Av connection, her husband Ahron was niftar on Rosh Chodesh Av.