Where do Yiddish names come from?

amother

Opal ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 2:21 pm

amother Cerise wrote:

Depends where. I know very many Draizys and Hentshys. Kayla is less common. Baylie is not even yiddish it is aramaic and very common. I don't know anyone named Reva.

So interesting. I know 3 Revas, not sure what language it originates from.

Is Baylie its own name or is it from Bayla? Also, what is the source for either or both being Aramaic?

Also, someone mentioned Shraga Feivel, which is interesting, because Shraga is Aramaic, and Feivel is Yiddish. But they make a pair like many Hebrew/Yiddish combinations.

amother

↑ Opal ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 2:31 pm

We are also makpid to use only names in lashon hakodesh, that means names from Tanach or Hebrew words that appear in Tanach/Mishna/Tefilah, etc. My family is Israeli going back over 200 years. There aren't Yiddish names going back something like 10 generations (no idea what the names were before that). Our family was from Europe before that, so maybe there were Yiddish names back in the day, but just like minhagim changed when Jews moved to Europe, they also changed when Jews moved it Israel a few hundred years ago as the populations here were a mix of ashkenazi and sefardi. Interestingly, at the time, many of the ashkenazim who moved to Israel used more sefardi sounding names to fit in, as the sefardim were the majority in many places in Israel back then. In that part of our family, the names are Hebrew.

We do have other branches of my family or my husband's family that were Eastern or Western European. So plenty of Yiddish names. But we use the Hebrew translations of the names instead, or something similar sounding, as we are makpid to use names in lashon hakodesh only, due to the Jews not changing their names in Egypt. Obviously, many say now that Yiddish or other non-Hebrew Jewish names are Jewish names because we have being using them for generations. My question is as follows to understand the minhagim of others - how long does something have to be in use to be considered mesorah?

amother

↑ Cerise

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 11:12 pm

amother Opal wrote:

The sefer I quoted is over 300 years old.

Today there are other problems because there are people who name their child Chaim Leib when the grandfather was rally named Chaim Aryeh simply because they did not know, so you can't rely on the sefer itself rather what the individual has always been called. In a situation like that, someone's best bet is to ask a rav what to do if say he calls himself Kalman but his real grandfather was named Klonimus.

I had a great great great etc grandfather named Elchonon Henla ztzl. I am so curious about that name. I've asked a few rabonim who deal with gitten about it but haven't gotten an answer. He was a very special person who wrote a sefer so the name is not a mistake, just something very interesting.

Ultimately, a name is what someone is called, so people can name their child Leib instead of Aryeh/Yehuda. It's when people start making up names that they really could be getting into halachic issues and when they belong to ask a dayan not just a rav.

amother

Latte ↓

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 11:34 pm

amother Opal wrote:

Is Reva the same as Riva or different? If the same, some hold it's the same as Rivka, but others, that it's a stand alone name by now. My daughter is named Rivka after Riva

amother

↑ NeonGreen

Mon, Dec 16 2024, 11:56 pm

amother Latte wrote:

Is Reva the same as Riva or different? If the same, some hold it's the same as Rivka, but others, that it's a stand alone name by now. My daughter is named Rivka after Riva

If that’s the case, my mother and grandmother have the same name lol.
I’m also always wondering where Reva comes from. I would never give a Yiddish name but it happens to be pretty and was my grandmothers name. I hope it has a Torah source so I can use it someday. Obviously can’t do the Rivka variation…

amother

Peachpuff

Yesterday at 12:23 am

amother Whitesmoke wrote:

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.

How is freidy "aliza"
It means joy, and Rena means joy. Aliza also means joy?

amother

↑ Latte

Yesterday at 1:29 am

amother NeonGreen wrote:

That's so interesting, that your grandmother was Reva and mother - Rivka.
Maybe it's similar to Rikkel and Rivka? Two different names now, but I think Rikkel came from Rivka?

amother

↑ Whitesmoke ↓

Yesterday at 1:40 am

imaima 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

I do have several ancestors with Yiddish names, but my father already stopped using these names when he was naming us kids, firstly, because it was complicated to find out what many of these names actually mean and how they're spelled, but more importantly, because as I wrote in my post (which many seem not to understand) we are not yiddish speakers and these names have no meaning for us. I simply followed my father's approach and only chose names/words that appear in tanach for my children, as did most of my siblings.

Yiddish has not been spoken in many yeshivos for a while already.

amother

↑ Whitesmoke

Yesterday at 1:47 am

amother Cerise 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.

Wow. Just wow. You literally made up a halacha here. So again, according to you, Reb Chaim's name is a halachic problem and "dangerous?"

I did not make up any new meanings here, not sure what you're talking about. And it might surprise you to know that Shoshana has been a Jewish name for centuries. Where do you think the name "Suzanna" comes from?

amother

↑ Aqua

Yesterday at 4:36 pm

amother Peachpuff wrote:

How is freidy "aliza"
It means joy, and Rena means joy. Aliza also means joy?

Please don’t take this personally. I don’t want to call out any one specific person, but the amount of ignorance on this thread is astonishing. That in itself isn’t a bad thing. We can’t all be experts in every language, in medical issues, emotional issues including family relationships, education including early childhood education, disabilities including mental disorders, nutrition, neurology, architecture, interior decoration and fashion. There are a great variety of topics here. It would be nice if people gave advice and commented on subjects in which they have some proficiency. That’s unfortunately not the case. It’s an important thing to keep in mind. While many women use this forum to connect and discuss things, there are those that are actually looking for answers or information. The second group needs to be aware that the information they’re getting may be unreliable and inaccurate. Using this information as if it’s well sourced and correct can be harmful to your health and wellbeing.