Where do Yiddish names come from?

amother

↑ Whitesmoke ↓

Fri, Dec 13 2024, 1:10 am

amother Glitter wrote:

This is true but not universally so. My husband’s family is not frum and don’t speak Yiddish and his sister was given Chashke for her Hebrew name because she was named for a beloved great aunt. (I realize Chashke comes from Chasiah which is Hebrew origin.) a non frum work colleague just named her baby Golde. I’ve met secular Jews my age with Hebrew names like Masha Mindel. Many Jews find beauty and value in the Yiddish-origin names of their ancestors, even if they don’t speak the language.

It’s also fine to choose to adapt a Yiddish name to fit with your values. But don’t project it on everyone or assume it’s better.

Woah, relax. I clearly said this is MY opinion. I personally happen to like most hebrew versions of names better than their yiddish counterparts. I didn't project anything. And I said that in my circles yiddish names are commonly being replaced by hebrew ones that mean the same thing. I never claimed this to be a universal practice.

amother

↑ Whitesmoke

Fri, Dec 13 2024, 1:21 am

amother Glitter wrote:

This is a very ahistorical view. Jews have been using names that are specifically from Jewish languages (Yiddish, Latino, Judeo Arabic, etc etc) for centuries and centuries. To claim a Yiddish name that has been used for centuries by Jews is not “authentically Jewish” but the modern Hebracized version that has only been popular for a few decades is more authentic and better just ignores a very long history of how Jews have chosen and created names.

Im not at all Chassidish but we have many Yiddish names among our family because thats the culture and legacy of our family. I dont feel the need to update these names to a contemporary Hebrew replacement. I dont judge anyone who chooses exclusively tanachi or contemporary Hebrew names or whatever, but don't disparage people who choose Jewish names from deep family traditions.

Ok, you clearly didn't understand my post. Yes, I know this has been going on for years, but after the Jews left a specific land and/or stopped speaking that language, many of these names stopped being considered "Jewish". This is the case for most of the litvish world who no longer live in Europe and many of whom don't speak or understand Yiddish.

You don't have to agree with me of course, but for ME, I still maintain that a Hebrew name (NOT modern Hebrew, but lashon kodesh) is more authentically Jewish than a Yiddish name that has no meaning for me or my family. Yes, even if this word was never a name in the times of Tanach, if it APPEARS in Tanach in some form, to me that's more Jewish than say, Aidel or Shprintza. Feel free to disagree. Names like this include:

-Shoshana
-Ahuva
-Bracha/Baruch
-Chaya/Chaim
-Malka
-Nechama
-Zev
-Aryeh
-Dov
-Tzvi

Etc. Again, feel free to disagree but this is my opinion and the reason I don't give my kids yiddish names.

↑ Ruchel ↓

Fri, Dec 13 2024, 4:12 am

amother Snowflake wrote:

Throw the tomatoes, but sometimes I wonder if these explanations are not attempts at retro-fitting. So that bedi'avad it sounds holier and more Jewish than just admitting to having taken a word from some non-Jewish language of the local country.

Never heard a rabbi say baila isn't anything else than Bella and that is fine

Also the one yud? Not what I see including from knowledgeable families

amother

↑ Cerise ↓

Fri, Dec 13 2024, 5:42 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

There are people who prefer to give a name from the Torah even in Yiddish speaking places, but they would never name their child Shosahana because taking a word that was never used for a name historically and making it into name is not an option. You're taking holy words from the Torah and giving them new uses and meaning and that is dangerous and definitely a shaila for your Rav. If the name has been used for hundreds of years, that is different because we have a mesorah for it. There are plenty of names that fall under this category such as Bracha. I don't believe it's a name in the Torah, but it has been used as a name historically.

↑ imaima ↓

Fri, Dec 13 2024, 6:02 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

What is your origin that your family only has Hebrew names from Tanach and no Yiddish names or any language used by sephardic Jews? Like not a single one, going back for generations

Also, when did Yiddish stop being spoken? Was there ever a break in Yiddish speaking communities existing? Hebrew as a conversational language is a new thing actually but Yiddish was always spoken since it started

amother

↑ Cerise ↓

Fri, Dec 13 2024, 9:41 am

Ruchel wrote:

Sorry I'm unclear
Ladino Bella takes yud and heh
Yiddish in my experience yud doubles and alef

The double yud in Yiddish for names is almost always a mistake. Shaindel, Faiga, Baila, all come with one yud when spelled correctly. So a bird in yiddish is spelled with two yuds, but the name faiga is only with one. I think there are a few names that may be spelled with two yuds like Fraida and Pia, but I may be wrong about these, and otherwise it's almost always one yud.

I guess the he at the end is sfardish and ladino. Who says that Baila with an aleph and Baila with a he are even the same name? They may be very different. I linked to a sefer that explains sources of names and is used all the time when someone needs to know the spelling for gitten.

amother

↑ Starflower

Today at 12:08 am

imaima wrote:

My grandfather’s family were Israeli. Of all the people whose names I know, only one had a Yiddish name, and it was a second name that wasn’t used. I don’t know of any other Yiddish names in that family, although there could be more. Everyone else only had Hebrew names.

↑ Ema of 5

Today at 12:12 am

amother Cerise wrote:

Those names that were used for hundreds of years also, at some point, didn’t have any basis. NOW you can say there is a mesorah for them, and in a hundred years people will say there is a mesorah for these names as well.

amother

Maroon ↓

Today at 12:50 am

amother Linen wrote:

This is because innovation died out in the shtetels of Europe. Meaning, new things were allowed up until about 200 years ago, and then things froze. After that, it became all about "mesora. " Throughout history, parents have named their children using their own feelings and ingenuity. But these days we are considered too weak or low to make up names, and we aren't supposed to mess with the holy names of the past. This is what has been explained to me. (Although I don't get why Raizel is more holy than Shoshana, or Faigel is more holy that Tzipora.)

This is also the reason why in many chassidish groups, they wear the same style clothing that was worn by their ancestors in Europe. It doesn't go back more than 100-200 years. That was the point at which things froze. And after that, any change made goes against the mesora.

This is an interesting point, I'm curious as to a source. In general, records are very hard to find going back prior to the mid to early 1800s, depending on location. How would we know what names were or weren't common prior to that?

amother

↑ Maroon

Today at 12:59 am

amother Snowflake wrote:

I agree with this, and I don't think it changes B.Chadash's point. Names have the meaning we imbue them with. Baila might have originally come from Bilha or Belle or Bella, but if we have in mind this beautiful acronym, that now represents our tefila for the dc. (Speaking as a mother of a Baila, when we chose the name after a grandparent, this acronym really resonated.)

amother

↑ Sapphire

Today at 1:06 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

FYI Baruch is a biblical name