Jewish Names

Adds some zest to Rosa.

Ayal is a boys' name used in modern Israel but virtually unknown in the US. Even more popular in Israel is the female form, Ayala.

It looks like a creative respelling of battle, but this name is anything but. Instead, Batel is a Hebrew name with a lovely meaning.

In the US, best known as the name of Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago and White House Chief of Staff under President Obama.

The original form of the Hebrew Meyer.

Biblical wife of Moses whose name has many variations, with and without the initial T and final h, with one p or two. However you spell it, it's an original choice that also carries teasing potential; those zipper jokes will get old fast, though Zippy is a cute nickname.

More distinct than Violet, Viola, or Violeta — Violina has an indisputably beautiful and romantic sound.

Botanical Hebrew choice that leads to the sweet vintage nickname Nettie.

Sprightly name popular in Israel with beachy meaning and international flex.

Old Testament name of a son of Moses used by the Puritans, and now by Orthodox Jews.

Mordechai and Mordecai are equally valid — both are used as transcriptions from the Hebrew bible, and one did not originate before the other. But although popular culture tends to prefer the (slightly simpler) Mordecai, Mordechai has always been the more common version for babies born in the US.

Tomer was once a Top 100 name in Israel — it fell out in 2016.

A possible alternative to the ever-common Leah.

A name commonly heard on New York's Lower East Side at the turn of the last century.

Part of a group of similar midcentury names rarely given to babies today.