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Chaya



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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 7:13 pm
I’m a BT. Growing up, everyone I knew was named Emily, Allison, Lucy, you get the picture.

My first exposure to frum life introduced me to girls with Jewish names. One in particular I always thought was so beautiful was Chaya.

But what is its source? There is no Chaya in Tanach (yes I know there’s Chava but that feels like completely different name to me), and I know it is supposed to mean life but apparently it also means animal, and people say “vilde Chaya”, wild animal, about misbehaving children?

Why?

It’s so pretty, I want to use it, but why name your child “animal”? When did it become a name?

I’m specifically asking about Chaya by itself, so please don’t tell me “name her Chaya Mushka or Sheina Chaya and have the Rebbetzin in mind.” I want to be able to tell my parents something other than their association with “vilde Chaya”, practically the only Yiddish they know,
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m-u-a-mama




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 7:30 pm
Chaya means life
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lamplighter




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 7:31 pm
Chaya is a beautiful name, it means life.
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amother
Aster


 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 8:19 pm
amother OP wrote:
I’m a BT. Growing up, everyone I knew was named Emily, Allison, Lucy, you get the picture.

My first exposure to frum life introduced me to girls with Jewish names. One in particular I always thought was so beautiful was Chaya.

But what is its source? There is no Chaya in Tanach (yes I know there’s Chava but that feels like completely different name to me), and I know it is supposed to mean life but apparently it also means animal, and people say “vilde Chaya”, wild animal, about misbehaving children?

Why?

It’s so pretty, I want to use it, but why name your child “animal”? When did it become a name?

I’m specifically asking about Chaya by itself, so please don’t tell me “name her Chaya Mushka or Sheina Chaya and have the Rebbetzin in mind.” I want to be able to tell my parents something other than their association with “vilde Chaya”, practically the only Yiddish they know,


Vild- is wild in Yiddish
Chaya is life

Pretty sure “vilde Chaya” is referring to wild life more than wild animal.

My daughter is named Chaya Mushka ❤️
I know you didn’t want anyone telling you to use that name 😉

She brought us so much hope and life when she was born healthy after my first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.
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amother
Maize


 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 8:25 pm
My daughter is named Chaya, and she’s full of life knh. We named her after my grandmother who was a very very special woman. Absolutely love the name.
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amother
Calendula


 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 11:46 pm
My name is Chaya and I’ve been told that Chava’s original name was Chaya. It was only changed after the cheit.
Chaya= the mother of all human life.
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kiwi strawberry




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Aug 25 2024, 11:56 pm
The reason animals are called chayos is just because they are 'alive'; chaya doesn't actually mean animal. It means life, and as a name it is considered a beautiful name.
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mushkamothers




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 26 2024, 12:17 am
kiwi strawberry wrote:
The reason animals are called chayos is just because they are 'alive'; chaya doesn't actually mean animal. It means life, and as a name it is considered a beautiful name.


Even when used re animals it means "living beings"
As opposed to beheima- an animal in the literal sense
Or bakar- cattle

To act like a vilde chaya is just rowdy. It's not like a beheima which is uncouth and no manners
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salt  




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 26 2024, 1:51 am
It's like Chai.
Have your parents heard of the saying "Am Yisrael Chai" - so it's the feminine form of Chai.

The Hebrew for animal is ChaYA - with the emphasis on the ya - and the name Chaya is usually pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, so it sounds quite different.
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amother
Moonstone


 

Post Mon, Aug 26 2024, 5:51 am
I have 2 daughters
Chava
And
Chaya!
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  salt




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 26 2024, 6:17 am
You can also explain to your parents that all Hebrew words have a root.
So the word Chai - חי - means life or alive.
Which is why an animal is called a 'חיה' - because it's a *living* being.

Many words come from the same root, but don't mean the same thing.
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imaima




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Aug 26 2024, 6:30 am
amother Aster wrote:
Vild- is wild in Yiddish
Chaya is life

Pretty sure “vilde Chaya” is referring to wild life more than wild animal.

My daughter is named Chaya Mushka ❤️
I know you didn’t want anyone telling you to use that name 😉

She brought us so much hope and life when she was born healthy after my first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.


Wilde chaya means a wild animal as a derogatory term
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amother
Turquoise


 

Post Mon, Aug 26 2024, 6:44 am
salt wrote:
It's like Chai.
Have your parents heard of the saying "Am Yisrael Chai" - so it's the feminine form of Chai.

The Hebrew for animal is ChaYA - with the emphasis on the ya - and the name Chaya is usually pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, so it sounds quite different.


Am Yisrael Chai is a great association. Additionally, your parents may remember people (men or women) who wore necklaces with a charm that said Chai in Hebrew.
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amother
Firebrick


 

Post Thu, Sep 12 2024, 10:45 pm
I heard a beautiful dvar torah that Chava's name before being expelled from Eden was Chaya. Yud is typically a masculine letter representing unrealized energy, and vav represents the actualization of that energy, bringing it down to reality. Thus to become mother of all life, Adam renamed her Chava, drawing all that yud energy down to earth.
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amother
Hawthorn


 

Post Thu, Sep 12 2024, 10:48 pm
My name is Chana
People can’t pronance the ch
I get a called all kinds of diff names
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