Where do Yiddish names come from?

First Lady

Yesterday at 7:54 am

zaq wrote:

Some and some. Charna is Russian for black, Beila is ditto for white. Kreinda or Kreindl means a crown. Bluma is a flower, but Blima with a yud, not a vav, is poetic for "nothingness" as in "תולה ארץ על בלימה". (That is clearly not the meaning of the name Blima, for who would name a person "nothingness"? No, it's just the Chassidish/Hungarian/Galitzianer pronunciation of Bluma.)

OTOH Basha and Pesha are corruptions of Batya, Hencha and Chinka are corruptions of Chana...Todres is Theodorus, a Greek name with the same meaning as Matanya. (Gift of G-d) So why use Todres? Good question! And why is Shprintze, a corruption of Esperanza,meaning hope, acceptable while Tikva is not?

Don't get me started.

There is an Encyclopedia of Ashkenazic Names that can tell you the source of most names including many you never heard of because they died out centuries ago.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
The name Bleema can also be spelled with a Yud and Aleph. I know non Chassidish people called Bleema that spell it this way and it means flower.

Bnei Berak 10

Yesterday at 7:55 am

zaq wrote:

There are women in Israel named Tikva but not in frum circles.

amother

NeonBlue

Yesterday at 7:55 am

amother Jean wrote:

Pretty much. Though people who still use Yiddish games prefer not to look at it that way.

Most people who give Yiddish names name after grandparents. It's not like they're choosing a name out of the blue.

amother

Kiwi ↓

Yesterday at 8:11 am

First Lady wrote:

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
The name Bleema can also be spelled with a Yud and Aleph. I know non Chassidish people called Bleema that spell it this way and it means flower.

Right like Bluma.
I know a Frumi! Bit mean imo. It was years ago, she must be in her 40's now. Maybe back then it was more acceptable.

amother

Snow

Yesterday at 8:30 am

amother Kiwi wrote:

Right like Bluma.
I know a Frumi! Bit mean imo. It was years ago, she just be in her 40's now. Maybe back then it was more acceptable.

Frumi is a very common name around me. I wouldn’t even blink

amother

↑ Sapphire

Yesterday at 10:02 am

Ruchel wrote:

Shprintza is from ladino
Is ladino also OK to bash or is it again something about Ashkenazim?

The highest gedolim use or used yiddish, ladino, judéo Italian, judeo Arabic names for their children.

None are ok to bash. Was there any bashing here?

amother

Emerald

Yesterday at 6:57 pm

My name is פרומט.
It doesn't mean frum. I don't know what it means, but if it would mean frum, there wouldn't be a tes at the end.
There is a name פרומא and that one may mean frum. I don't know.

amother

↑ Jean

Today at 12:49 am

amother Emerald wrote:

I think they're the same name. Frumit/Frumette started as diminutive of Fruma, and over time evolved to become used independently.

sequoia

Today at 1:01 am

amother Freesia wrote:

Most of my older relatives were known by multiple names:
Joseph-Yale-Yoel
Max-Mendel
Lena-Leyka-Leah
Rose-Raizel
Marty-Maishe-Moshe
Betty-Bunya
In doing family research, I discovered that there were many names in the shtetl as well. People had Russian or Polish names as well as Yiddish or Hebrew names. Many were also used as nicknames.

My grandpa’s sisters were Chaika (Clara), Feiga (Fanya) and Pessia (Polina). My grandma’s brother was Moshe (Misha).

amother

NeonGreen

Today at 1:06 am

It comes from being passed down mostly but didn’t start out as Jewish names usually. Same goes for Spanish Jewish names like the sfardim have like Grace, Margalit etc. Basically it becomes “Jewish” from the fact that Jews use it.

I wouldn’t give a Yiddish name because I like names with a biblical source. Or at least Hebrew. If I had a grandmother Raizel, I would name Shoshana. There’s usually a Hebrew version.

mommy3b2c

Today at 1:06 am

Yitta was originally Yehudis . Same with yittel. Pessa, Pesya, pessel originate from basya . I actually am fascinated by this topic. Chanca, hencha, chancha were all once Chana.

amother

Whitesmoke

Today at 1:29 am

Ema of 5 wrote:

Batya is a biblical name….where it comes from is clear, at least in the Chumash.

Actually, her name in the Chumash is Bisya.

I think Yiddish names are becoming less and less common, at least in non chassidish circles. Why would someone name their daughter Freidy if they can call her Aliza? Why name someone Gittel if she can be Tova? Why choose Raizel when you can choose Shoshana? Why burden your child with a name like Recha when you can choose Rochel?

No offense to anyone here but imo Hebrew names are so much nicer and more authentically Jewish.

amother

Denim ↓

Today at 1:30 am

I'm also fascinated by this topic!

amother Cerise wrote:

There is sefer that says where certain names originated from. I for one always thought the name Bashy came from Russian but it comes from Bas Sheva and Basya apparently does too.

I tried to google it and found this link. You'll be surprised to see the mekoros for some names.

https://www.sefaria.org/Beit_S.....ng=bi

Thank you for the link! This is so interesting!

amother

↑ Denim

Today at 1:32 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

It's really community dependent.

imaima ↓

Today at 1:37 am

UROOT wrote:

I always wonder this! Like are yiddish names sourced in torah/judiasm? Or are they the equivelant of naming your child "Rose" or "Serenity" just in the language that was used at the time?

Just the same way other names are born. It’s not unique to yiddish or Judaism.

↑ imaima ↓

Today at 1:42 am

amother Kiwi wrote:

I imagine it is in some communities. Not so much in my world.

Fruma or Frumit are regular names.
Just because a recent sarcastic way of relating to frum people came up, it doesn’t make the name bad. The name came first

↑ imaima

Today at 1:47 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

With all due respect it is not up to you to decide if something is more authentically Jewish than the names that were a part of the Jewish culture for centuries.
Why would anyone name these names? Because they like the sound better. They name after beloved relatives. Freidy is nice in a different way than Aliza is.

singleagain

Today at 6:47 am

imaima wrote:

Fruma or Frumit are regular names.
Just because a recent sarcastic way of relating to frum people came up, it doesn’t make the name bad. The name came first

Sure the name came first, but the way culture perceives the name is key. How many baby girls do you think have gotten the name Karen in the last nearly 7 or so years since the meme exploded?