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People whats do you think for a baby name Yehoshua Eliyahu ..we are Jewish but don’t want people to think we are Christian because Christians bealive their Jesus is yeshua and Eliyahu will say about it ..so don’t want to mix it with Christian story
Honestly, until maybe last year, I thought that Yehoshua was a totally Christian invention or play on a Jewish name because I only heard about it in reference to J****, and never in the Torah.
So if I was judging by the name only, on whether or not the person with this name was Jewish or Christian, I would not know.
That’s just me though.
I did hear of Joshua btw… just never referred to as Yehoshua.
LB, you didn’t grow up frum?
Joseph, I like how you asked a question to demonstrate to sarit90 that my perspective is coming from a secular upbringing.
No, sarit90, I did not grow up frum.
That’s likely why I only recently heard about Yehoshua as being a Jewish name for Joshua.
If I heard Yehoshua Eliyahu I almost couldn’t imagine him being anything other than a religious Jew. I’d be completely shocked if he were anything other than completely Jewish.
That’s a very long name.
Joseph: What about someone named Israel?
I’ve not met any personally but I think have met a nonJewish Israel and def heard of a number of guys named Israel.
Only one was actually Jewish.
Yisroel is a very common Jewish name, with their English name usually Israel. If a gentile was named Israel I’d probably find it a bit surprising though nowhere as shocking as a gentile named Yehoshua Eliyahu.
A gentile named Joshua Elijah, though, would not be too surprising.
Israel Kamakawiwo?ole was a Hawaiian musician. Not Jewish.
May he come bi sha’ah tova
Joseph, she’s mentioned before that she is in the process of becoming bt. Even though she sounds like she is already quite Frum.
Yeshua is not Yehoshua. Other than Spanish speakers (and the parents of James J. Angleton of the CIA), Christians don’t name their children after the founder of their religion.
yehudayona………………
actually MANY Christians do name their children after the ‘founder’ of their religion:
Commonly given first names:
Christian
Christine
Christopher
and many derivatives such as Chris…or spelled with a K
Yeah, but that’s more of a title than a name. It’s like naming your kid Lawyer instead of CT.
Sarit,
Yehoshua and Eliyahu are both very holy names from Tanach. It would be disgusting and possibly a huge chilul Hashem to refrain from using those names for the reasons you mentioned.
I’m actually surprised that there are so many posts in this thread and no one had said this yet (especially you, Joseph).
Jews, not just in the US, never use the personal name “Jesus” even in countries where it is a common male personal name. Instead we use the name “Yehoshua” or “Joshua”. We NEVER Anglicize the names as “Jesus” (which is an Anglicization of a Latin version of the Greek version or the Aramaic version of Yehoshua – which got murdered linguistically along the way). Most people are unaware that the English names Joshua and Jesus are both derived from the same Hebrew name (similarly James/Yaakov or Elisheva/Betty).
No one would confuse “Yehoshua Eliyahu” for “Jesus Elias”.
Here’s a small list:
Yehoshua – I like it because it’s the name of a very Holy figure in Tanach
Eliyahu – I Like it because it’s the name of a very holy figure in Tanach
“It would be disgusting and possibly a huge chilul Hashem to refrain from using those names for the reasons you mentioned.”
Im not sure that I agree.
Bringing karbanos on a bama and davening with arms stretched upwards were both presumably holy practices. Yet we stopped doing them becasue Goyim used it for avadoha zarah. IF they reffered to their deity by a “very holy name from Tanach” I dont think it would be wrong to refrain from using the name certainly when there is no “chiyuV” to use a particular name.
sarit90: There are various names that have been used for centuries. While I may like a certain name, others don’t. Ashkenazim tend to name after deceased relatives while to many sefardim naming after a living relative is a “segula larichat yamim”.
I would suggest that you buy or borrow the ArtScroll Bris Milah book by Rabbi Paysach Krohn and read the sections regarding naming children.
ubiquitin,
I hear. Maybe in a case where it was the same name I would have a different opinion. But in this case, they aren’t even the same, they just sound he same.
Meno
I totally agree. As Joseph said I f I met a Gentile named “Yehoshua Eliyahu” I would most definitely do a double take, it is clearly not a common practice among Christians to say the least.
Akuperma I did not know that regarding James ,Betty
Thanks for sharing
Sarit,
There was a great Rabbi in New York, who passed away about 2 years ago called, Rabbi Eliyahu Yehoshua Geldzahler. There is nothing wrong with these names and they are holy names. No need to worry about other People’s stories.
The question reminds me of another great Rabbi called Rabbi Yisrael Eliyahu Yehoshua Trunk, Rabbi of Kutna, who lived in the 1800s. He used to spell his name ?????????? (Yisraeliyahoshua) as the letters of his name sort of run into each other.
??????????
Cool!
iacrisma
“Ashkenazim tend to name after deceased relatives..”
The interesting thing I have found is that German-American Jews (after all Germany was Ashkenaz) do name for a male parent. Growing up in New Haven, there were quite a few German-American Jewish Juniors.
The other peculiarity in naming in New Haven was the common use of ‘Mary’ as the English name for Jewish females. This was spread among all national origins, not just German descent.
FYI: Rereading the thread…
sarit90: Just to clarify that when I said, “May he come bi sha’ah tova,” I meant the baby boy b’esrat Hashem, with good health and every blessing.
Thank you 🙂
CTLAWYER: I quoted from Rabbi Krohn’s Bris Milah book and personal knowledge. I will ask my “yekkishe” friends what the minhag is in their community (most of them come from Washington Heights).
Tuvya is one of Moshe Rabeinu’s name. It’s used, but not so common. Never heard of the variation Tuvyahu.
If you like the name, great- it doesn’t really matter if it wins the popular vote on the CR.iacrisma…………
My maternal side is German-Jewish-American (arriving in NY 1868)
There is a big difference between Yekke and German
Not all German Jews are Yekkes (wearers of the short coats).
Most German-American Jews in Washington Heights (KAJ) are relative newcomers to America. My parents lived in NYC until 1950 and my mother said she never came across this phenomenon until moving to New Haven.The German-Jewish Synagogue in New Haven (now in a suburb and not orthodox) was chartered by the State of Connecticut in 1840
What about naming after a Gadol? Like Yosef Shalom after Rav Elyashiv zatsal who was nifter recently and was a gadol hador. The name means “he will add peace” (Yosef means he will add, and Shalom means peace). Shalom is also one of Hashem’s Names. It is also one of the most important concepts in Judaism and the main thing we are all davening for and trying to acheive.
Now that I think of it, it is really a beautiful name with a beautiful meaning. You also get a lot of choices as to what to call him: He can be Yosef, Shalom, Yossi, Joey, Joe, and of course, Joseph. You can also try Yo! or Sephy but I’m not sure if he’ll appreciate that.
Anyhow, if you name after a Gadol Hador, it’s like giving your son a bracha that he will be like him, and since Rav Elyashiv zatsal was the biggest Talmid Chacham in recent years, that would be some bracha to give your kid!
You can also name him Ovadiah Yosef after R’ Ovadiah Yosef zatsal who was also a big Talmid Chacham and Gadol Hador who was nifter a few years ago.
Or Moshe after Rav Moshe Feinstein, zatsal. Or Yisrael Meir after the Chofetz Chaim, zatsal. Yisrael Meir has become a very common name lately. It’s also a nice name. Yisrael is one of Yaakov Avinu’s names (Jacob) and Meir means “to light up”.
Elizabeth is from Elisheva and I think Betty is from Elizabeth. So is Beth, so Elisheva should really be the hebrew name for Beth, but Beth’s are usually Batya. I think Eliza and Lisa might also be from Elizabeth so they are all really Elisheva.
I didn’t know that about James, though. Ditto on the “thanks for sharing”.
So what did you name him in the end?
I think a person has to consider whether their child will go by their Hebrew name at all. If you name your child some kind of old-world name from Tanach that is not heard in our times, then he might be embarrassed by it as he gets older. Since his name will be called when he gets an aliyah, that might become an uncomfortable situation for him to be in, one which he might decide to avoid encountering. This may seem extreme, but we are not naming our child for ourselves, but rather as a reflection of his neshama. It is said that a parent gets ruach hakodesh when naming his child. The name does affect the child.
Nechomah – that is a very good point,
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