Hebrew Girls

Where Abraham took his son Isaac to sacrifice him. Taylor Hanson chose this as the middle name for his son Viggo, his fourth child, but most will see it as a girls’ name. Make life simpler and spell it Mariah.

To some, Nancy is a sweet, sparkly, vintage choice with plenty of energy and style. For it strays too much into '"old-lady" territory to be cool again yet. It's out of fashion in France, New Zealand, and Canada; it lingers towards to bottom of the US charts. In the UK however, Nancy has been a Top 100 name for nearly a decade where it fits right in with Evie, Mabel, and Pippa.

Naomi was once a primarily Jewish name from the Old Testament that referenced the mother-in-law of Ruth. Because of this, it is a symbolic name given to girls on Shavuot when the story of Ruth is read in the synagogue.

This female form of Nathan can be pronounced with three syllables or four.

Nickname for the star Gamma Cassiopeiae given by the late astronaut Gus Grissom after his own middle name (Ivan) spelled backwards. Navi also relates to the prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

One of the less attractive Hebrew choices.

Because of its meaning, this is a symbolic name given to girls born on Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.

A simple but unusual name with roots in disparate cultures, Neri appears in the Bible as a male name and is still sometimes used for boys as well as girls. The appeal of Neri are its deep roots combined with its simple, upbeat, modern feel, ala Peri and Rory.

A version of a symbolic name given to girls born on Hanukkah, the festival of lights. It can also be spelled Neriya(h), but this spelling made it into the Top 1000 in 2013. Neriah was among the fastest-rising names of 2022, possibly in part due to up-and-coming musical artist NERIAH.

All too likely to be confused with the ultratrendy Nevaeh.

Feels truncated, as though a first syllable was snapped off.

This Old Testament female name has been one of the most popular girls’ names in Israel over the last decade. Also highly popular in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, and a new entrant to the US Top 1000, it may be misunderstood here as an attempt to streamline and feminize the more familiar Noah – although it's a separate name with a separate derivation.

Okay, this is going to be confusing...

Pretty Hebrew name that would create a strong but feminine impression, as well as a variant of the Germanic name Odilia or Ottilie.

Often heard in Israel, spelled with or without the final h.

This name used for both sexes in several cultures is quite well used in Israel.

This form of the Biblical Rachel is well-used despite its somewhat counter-intuitive spelling which can make English speakers think the name should be pronounced with a k sound, as in Raquel. The spelling may be inspired by Michael, but it's pronounced just like Rachel, with a soft ch. Lately it's on the decline, dropping more than 100 places in 2009 and leaving the US Top 1000 in 2013.

Rachel was derived from the Hebrew word rāchēl, meaning "ewe." In the Old Testament, Rachel was the favorite wife of Jacob, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. International variations include the Spanish Raquel and Israeli Rahel.

All the old ae/ay middle names for girls are back--Kay, Fay, Mae/May, --and Rae is one of the coolest, used as such by celebrities as Mark Wahlberg and Daniel Baldwin. Even more popular in the celebrisphere is the jazzy Ray spelling: among those who used it as their daughters' middles are Bruce Willis, Dermot Mulroney, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman and Lee Lee Sobieski.

Spell it Rafaela (Spanish), Raffaella (Italian), Rafaela (German), or Raphaela (Hebrew), this is a euphonious and lovely name with a dark-eyed, long-flowing-haired image, which is, like Gabriella and Isabella, beginning to be drawn into the American mainstream.