Hebrew Names that Start With S

Rarely, if ever, heard outside the Jewish community.

This biblical place-name for the region now known as Yemen started to feel fresh again as the name of the heroine of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal, played on screen by Cate Blanchett.

More modern options: Shaw, Shay, or even Sean.

Sariah is the perfect compromise name for when you say Sarah, and your spouse says Mariah. Spelled Saria, it's a character in the video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Author Toni Morrison is an acknowledged master of naming, and Sethe, the name of one of the main characters of Beloved, which can be pronounced as Seth or Seth-eh, relates to the male biblical name Seth but is also the name of the Egyptian god of confusion.

Associated with music; don't be surprised to see it on collections of Hebrew songs.

Despite its Irish sound, this commonly used word name has usually been confined to Jewish families.

This down-to-earth Bible name is surprisingly little-used, considering the popularity of other Old Testament names. Shem was Noah's eldest son, and is the origin of the term Semitic (as in the language family).

Most parents would choose the more contemporary Simon.

Shoshanna is a variation of one of the best-known original Hebrew baby names for girls , the original of Susanna. This is the spelling used by Shoshanna Lonstein, a designer who creates the Shoshanna clothing line and also the name of one of the four leading characters on the TV show Girls, Shoshanna Shapiro.

Supermodel Shalom Harlow glamorized this name, which is heard as a greeting every day in Israel.

Shula is a short form often used on its own in Israel. Sula is another, related, option. As an Arabic name, it has a bright, fiery meaning.

Sami is cute if overused in its more familiar Sammy form.

See SARAI.

The late actress Sada Thompson introduced this obscure but usable form.

Shulamit--which has a variety of different spellings--is a serious-sounding Old Testament name that appears in the Song of Songs. Its common nickname is Shula, which is sometimes used on its own. Toni Morrison used the sleeker variation Sula in one of her novels.

Familiar as the most common form of greeting in Hebrew, but also associated with top female model Shalom Harlow.

Unusual Samantha alternative with little aural appeal.

With its appealing double-a configuration, this is the name of an Israeli kibbutz on the Galilee beach. For girls, Saar is a popular modern name in the Netherlands, a shortened form of Sarah.

The cake company pretty much knocked this otherwise-pretty compilation name out of consideration for most parents.