Biblical Names in Israel

If you were to stop a boy in a street in Jerusalem and ask him his name, he is likely to answer: Ithamar (Exodus 6:23), Ehud (Judges 3:15) or Avshalom (II Samuel 3 :3). The return to biblical names marks a definite change of outlook, which came about within the last three generations. With the return to the homeland, began the revival of biblical names which had been almost forgotten in the course of our wanderings all over the earth. A noted Hebrew scholar relates: At the end of the Six-Day War, while visiting a patient in hospital, he was passing near the maternity ward when he stopped by a young soldier on leave for a few days from the Golan front in order to be with his wife who had just given birth to a girl. The proud father told our scholar that he was in a quandary. He was searching for a biblical name, but wanted one that would recall his war experience. The scholar remembered that the Golan Heights were settled by Yair the son of Menashe (Yair the son of Menashe took all the region … and called them after his name Havoth-Yair“, Deuteronomy 3:14) and suggested for the young lady the beautiful name Yaira. Thus a new name from the Bible was coined. The Bible contains about 1500 personal names, but only 140 of them were in use among Jews iu the diaspora. In the past three generations 460 additional names from the Bible have come into use in Israel. But so many other new names have since been adopted in Israel that the total is now about 2,000. Many of these new names originate also from the Bible. In the text they designate localities like Jaffa, Eilat, etc., while others are names of plants and animals. So you may find names like Yardena, Kinneret, Jerusalem, not only on the map of Israel but also in the persons of our boys and girls here. Likewise, we have Ail (ram 7’!1), Leviah (lioness ‘!!~’:>), R’em (antelope Cl!,), and the very popular Sabra name Opher (deer ,~1ll)- names that can be heard in the roll-call of the average army unit. Occasionally, the hasty adoption of Biblical names can cause some confusion. For instance in the names Yitzhaq Nissim (Chief Rabbi), Moshe Carmel (a member of the Government), R’uven Avinoam (the poet), one cannot tell which is the family name and which is the personal name. Another difficulty arises from the practice of using the same biblical name for individuals of either sex. Many young ladies bear the name of the prophet Yonah, Then there are Vered (for Rose), Carmel, Tel (a hill). When in a list of letters you come across such names, how are you to address them, Dear Sir or Dear Madam?

The desire to revert to names in the Bible has also brought into circulation some names that are undesirable. Among current names are included Goliat, Nimrod (Genesis 10:8), and Izevel ( ~ Jezebel, the wicked wife of King Ahab). Our youth, who are well versed in Bible, will most probably soon drop such names. In recent years Jews all over the world have taken a new interest in Israel, and many have begun to study the Hebrew language and Jewish history. But how many have given a thought to their children’s names? It is worth noting that our Sages laid great stress on guarding our traditional names. They maintained that the Children of Israel were redeemed from the slavery of Egypt because they did not change their names. Statistical data in this article were taken from a detailed study of this subject by Dov Rosen. a senior official in one of our government departments, who made a study of Jewish names for a number of years and published an interesting book on this subject.