The names tag has no wiki summary.
16
votes
3answers
364 views
Am I allowed to give my kid a non-Hebrew (non-Jewish?) name?
I'd seen some poster that said it's horribly wrong to ever give your kid a non-Jewish/non-Hebrew name. Is that the norm?
16
votes
2answers
303 views
How does a son call up his father for an Aliyah?
Suppose a son is the Gabbai in a Shul and needs to call up his father for an aliyah (or his brother who is the son of his father). Does the son say his father's name? Does he say something else ...
16
votes
2answers
262 views
Why are none of the Pharaohs in the Torah identified by name?
Throughout the Torah, the various Egyptian Pharaohs are always referred to as simply "Pharaoh" or "the king of Egypt" (or both), but never with any other parts of their official titulary.
By ...
15
votes
1answer
173 views
Is there any source for not sharing a baby's name before the bris?
For some reason, I have it ingrained in me that a baby boy's name before the bris is a secret and should not be shared. Are there any sources for this, or is it something made up?
14
votes
2answers
835 views
Abbreviations before/after names
What are the more common abbreviations one might see printed before or after a person's name, and what do they mean? Please include honorifics (R'=Rabbi) as well as memorial - or prayerful - suffixes ...
14
votes
7answers
667 views
Phrasing of refuah prayer when praying for a non-Jew
How would you phrase a refuah (recovery from illness) tefillah (prayer) for a sick gentile?
"Thomas ben [=son of] Mary"?
"Thomas Smith"?
Is it appropriate to include the name during the ...
14
votes
2answers
243 views
Naming after the living. Why is it considered bad?
This is a fairly straight forward question. I am under the impression that this is bad. This is why you don't see many Moishe Abromowitz, III.
Why is this bad, and why isn't that practice carried ...
14
votes
3answers
144 views
Why did Avraham name his son before the Bris (circumcision)?
Why does the Torah seem to imply that Avraham named his son before the bris?
First:
וַיִּקְרָא אַבְרָהָם אֶת שֶׁם בְּנוֹ הַנּוֹלַד לוֹ אֲשֶׁר יָלְדָה לּוֹ שָׂרָה יִצְחָק
And Abraham called ...
14
votes
2answers
278 views
How do you pray for a sick baby who has not yet been named?
Is it possible to say a Mi SheBerach for a sick baby who has not yet been named? If so, how is it done?
And if one cannot say a Mi SheBerach, is there another prayer that can be said?
What if there ...
14
votes
2answers
380 views
What was wrong with the word Talmud?
The Wikipedia article on The Talmud says:
and Pope Pius IV commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name. The convention of referring to the work as "Shas" (shishah sidre ...
13
votes
1answer
139 views
Calling a father Abba, when his name is Abba
May a child call his father Abba - if his name is Abba?
13
votes
1answer
261 views
Time-frame for naming a newborn girl
I have heard many differing Minhagim as to the time-frame for naming a newborn girl. There are those that name at the first possible opportunity and some that wait till the second Shabbos. Many others ...
12
votes
3answers
282 views
When/where did the practice of “recycling” names begin?
Perhaps this had never bothered anyone in the past, but for someone like myself who delves into genealogy, the fact that there are family naming patterns is a great boon. Of course, we can go only so ...
12
votes
4answers
182 views
Rabba bar bar Chana
There is a rabbi in the Talmud referred to as רבה בר בר חנה. Why is he called that way? It says that Rabba was the grandson of Chana.
Who was Chana? Was it(?) a woman? Why wasn't he called after his ...
11
votes
6answers
301 views
11
votes
4answers
386 views
Did Moshe have an earlier name?
Moshe was given his name by Pharaoh's daughter after she drew him from the water. However, Moshe was already three months old when this happened. Did he have a name before Pharaoh's daughter found ...
11
votes
4answers
266 views
Prayer for Illness - Why use the mothers name?
Why when someone is sick do we say his mothers name not his father's?
11
votes
2answers
456 views
Why Yehoshua **Bin** Nun and not Yehoshua **Ben** Nun
The Torah refers to Yehoshua as Yehoshua Bin Nun. (See here for an example).
Why Bin Nun and not Ben Nun?
Are there any places in Tanach where he is referred to as Ben Nun?
Is there anyone else in ...
11
votes
2answers
221 views
Why are the descendants of Rav Pappah mentioned in the text of the Siyum for a tractate of Talmud?
Who are the descendants of Rav Pappah mentioned in the text of the Siyum for a tractate of Talmud, and why are they so important that we mention them all by name? Why don't we mention any other great ...
11
votes
2answers
134 views
“Avram” for when he was young?
The Gemara in Brachot 13a teaches us that we should only refer to Avraham as Avraham and not as Avram.
תני בר קפרא כל הקורא לאברהם אברם עובר בעשה שנאמר (בראשית יז) והיה שמך
אברהם רבי אליעזר אומר ...
11
votes
1answer
246 views
What is a “Sephardic Jew”?
My name is Paul Avila (yea, I know, doesn't sound Jewish at all) I was born in the Azores Portugal and moved to the United States when I was 2. People always ask me if I am Persian. Never ...
11
votes
2answers
275 views
What is a “Rabbi Meir Bal Hanes” tzedaka?
I have seen several Tzedaka organizations calling themselves something like "Colel Chabad (or Kupas Ha'Ir) Rabbi Meir Baal Haness Charity".
What does it mean that it is a "Rabbi Meir Baal Haness" ...
11
votes
1answer
226 views
Origin of the term Yoshke?
I have often heard Jews refer to Jesus as "Yoshke". Is the origin of that appellation based on halachic issues regarding mentioning names of foreign deities, or some other Jewish law or custom? When ...
11
votes
1answer
313 views
Does one choose one or two pesukim for names?
What posuk does one choose at the end of shmonei esrei if one has two names? do you use two pesukim? or take the posuk that starts with the first initial of the first name and ends with the last ...
11
votes
2answers
125 views
David called “hamelech”, “hamelech David”, and “David”
My son noticed in Ⅱ Sh'muel chapters 5–6 that, although David is generally called "David", there are times he's called "hamelech" (="the king") or "hamelech David" (="the king David"). (I'm ...
11
votes
2answers
195 views
Why name but five creations?
God is described as creating many things in B'reshis chapter 1: animals, people, stars, plants, etc. However, about only five of his creations does it say that he called them by a name:
"וַיִּקְרָא ...
11
votes
2answers
136 views
Promised to name son Shimon - now husband is Shimon!?
A woman who desperately wanted to get married traveled to Meron, the burial place of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai, and vowed that if she found her match, she would name her first son Shimon in his merit. ...
10
votes
3answers
148 views
Jarchi = Rashi?
Is Rabbi Solomon Jarchi the same as Rashi? I saw Jarchi on the Internet on a Google search awhile ago, that it was Salomo son of Isaac, a French Biblical commentator and was wondering if it was the ...
10
votes
3answers
142 views
Why “Moshe Moshe”?
When Hashem appeared to Moshe at the burning bush in parshot shamot perek gimil why did he call Moshe's name twice? He could have just said "moshe" ONCE!
10
votes
1answer
128 views
How to call up a ger who converted with his father?
In general a Ger is called up as [name] Ben Avraham. However, what if the Ger converted as a child together with his parents? I would think it is the same but I recently saw someone who is in that ...
9
votes
5answers
184 views
Males named מיכל?
Where does the male name מיכל (as in יחיאל מיכל) come from? Is it a diminutive/corruption/translation/elision of מיכאל, derived therefrom in some other way, or simply a false cognate?
9
votes
5answers
244 views
Why are parshat Noach and parshat Toldot named that way?
I was taught that the parshiyot are named for the first significant word (or, rarely, phrase) in the parsha, and obviously names have to be unique. This week's parsha begins "eileh toldot Noach" and ...
9
votes
4answers
242 views
Naming after bad people
Why have there been famous(ly righteous) Jewish people named after Yishma'el, who, Chaza"l tell us, was evil and an enemy of Jews? Has anything similar happened with Esav? Korach? Others?
9
votes
4answers
209 views
Jewish names that are not common
Why is it that many names of Tanoim and Amoroim are not commonly used? These were big Tzadikkim yet their names are almost unheard of. For example Tarfon, Chisda, Pupa, Avtalion, etc.
9
votes
1answer
119 views
Why was Rabbi Yitzchok Alfasi known as the Rif - rather than the Ria? (הרי"ף - רבי יצחק אלפסי)
Rabbi Yitzchok Alfasi was known as the Rif. The Roshei Teivos of his name is רי"א, and as far as I know there is no other historic figure known as the רי"א. Then why was he known as the Rif?
9
votes
3answers
163 views
What's the origin of having more than one name?
I suppose this is more of a history question: as in when did Jewish people start naming their children with more than one name? But I would also be interested in knowing the circumstances behind it?
...
9
votes
1answer
137 views
Names of the books of Tanakh
When did the books of Tanakh get their canonical names? I understand that Five Books of the Torah were named after the first words in them, and that most of Navi was named after their authors, but ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Etymology/connection between Ari, Aryeh, Yehudah, Leib, and Leibel
What is the relationship between the following names that often go together is some combination?
Ari/Aryeh
Yehudah
Leib/Leibel
I've encountered many men, young and old, with the following first ...
8
votes
2answers
114 views
Why is 'Rabbenu Tam' called Rabbenu Tam?
Rabbenu Tam's name was יעקב בן מאיר. Why then is he known as Rabbenu Tam?
8
votes
3answers
402 views
What is the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton?
I come from Christianity.SE, where I asked almost the same question. Isaac Moses assured me that the question would not be disrespectful and could be asked here.
God's name is written as the ...
8
votes
1answer
122 views
Avram-Avraham; Yaakov-Yisroel; Yitzchok-?
Why from the three Avos, Avraham and Yaakov had their name changed, and not Yitzchok?
8
votes
3answers
254 views
Is it permissible to name one's child with a name from the opposite gender?
Is a person allowed to name a boy with a girl's name and vice versa?
I remember seeing that one musn't, although in Nach one finds these things a lot.
I understand it is not best practice for ...
8
votes
2answers
172 views
Why don't we name children Yitro?
Yitro appears to be an overall positive character in the Torah. At least as much as Noah or Saul, yet I do not know of contemporary (or even ancient) Jews named Yitro. Why is that?
8
votes
3answers
246 views
Referring to Non-Jews
What's the most diplomatic and politically correct way to refer to non-Jews. Both in conversation, and in terms of this site?
8
votes
2answers
128 views
Why is Yitzchak spelled with a “sin” in Tehillim 105:9?
I just came across this strange variant spelling this morning. I've been in the habit of reciting Tikkun HaKlali recently and saw this in Artscroll's Tehillim this past Shabbat. Thinking it was a ...
8
votes
1answer
61 views
Hamaor Hagadol vs Hakatan (books)
R. Zerachiah ha-Levi composed a comentary on Rif, named "Sefer Hamaor".
Why is it split into "Hamaor Hagadol" (on Noshim and Nezikin) and "Hamaor Hakatan" (on Zroim, Mo'ed and Chullin).
8
votes
1answer
152 views
The spelling of Eliyahu's name
Why is it that is some places in Melachim Eliyahu is spelled with a Vav and sometimes the Vav is missing? I have looked in as many sources as I can think of and can not find an answer.
Examples:
...
8
votes
3answers
131 views
What is the etymology of סמאל?
I've heard that סמאל (Samael, a "bad" angel) is related to the word שמאל (left). Is there any basis for this, and are there any other explanations for his name?
The Hebrew Wikipedia claims that it is ...
8
votes
1answer
80 views
Why is it considered respectful to capitalize G-d and its derivatives/pronouns?
I recognize that in English proper nouns are supposed to be capitalized, especially in the case where a proper noun is also a common noun (e.g. the mall vs. the Mall), but only when referring to G-d ...
8
votes
2answers
134 views
Is there value in gender-adapted names?
There are various Hebrew names in use that are feminizations of pre-existing masculine names. (The opposite case may exist as well, but I can't think of any examples.)
Examples:
Yaakova
Rafaella
...
