You're right.
Penina, one of the names I liked got 10% of the vote. It was a little little-girlish.
Levana was better, but only 15% liked it. I think it has an elegant sound, but the people have spoken.
Margalit (26%), I find hard to pronounce and I think it sounds like I'm trying too hard to match the Hebrew to the English name. Yes, most people do that but I've never been like most people.
Thanks to a long-ago discussion with my late father (which I won't relate here), I know he'd approve of Miera, as did 45% of you. And since my father's name is part of mine, this comes full circle.
Hebrew names are formally (your name) son/daughter of (father's name). I guess that's pretty common in different cultures. "Ben" or "ibn" in Jewish/Arabic culture. And depending on where he lived, Donald's offspring might be Donaldson, O'Donald, McDonald, or MacDonald.
For the record, Miera is pronounced May-ee-ra. It can't be My-ra because there's no hard "I" sound in Hebrew. It means "illminate." In Hebrew, it's מֵאִירָה.
So if Meg is ever called up to read from the Torah, she'll be Miera bet Huni Yosef.
Showing posts with label Jewish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jewish. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
What's In a Name?
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how our chosen names can hide our heritage. I mentioned that neither Meg (Margaret) nor Winters are Jewish names.
Jewish heritage passes from mother to child, so intermarriage can certainly produce a Jewish Winters, but I think most people would consider it British, not Jewish. Of course, those are not mutually exclusive.
Margaret, like Mary, is typically a Catholic name but one reader mentioned a Jewish friend named Margaret. I know a Jewish Margaret who prefers Peggy.
Jewish babies are assigned a Hebrew name. Traditionally, the Hebrew name is similar to the English name, so I did a bit of research.
Margaret does have Hebrew equivalents. So if I ever need to give my Jewish equivalent, I can safely choose from Levana, Margalit, Meira, or Penina. I kind of like the first and last ones. What do you think? There's a little poll to the right to choose your favourite.
Jewish heritage passes from mother to child, so intermarriage can certainly produce a Jewish Winters, but I think most people would consider it British, not Jewish. Of course, those are not mutually exclusive.
Margaret, like Mary, is typically a Catholic name but one reader mentioned a Jewish friend named Margaret. I know a Jewish Margaret who prefers Peggy.
Jewish babies are assigned a Hebrew name. Traditionally, the Hebrew name is similar to the English name, so I did a bit of research.
Margaret does have Hebrew equivalents. So if I ever need to give my Jewish equivalent, I can safely choose from Levana, Margalit, Meira, or Penina. I kind of like the first and last ones. What do you think? There's a little poll to the right to choose your favourite.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
