Animal names as first names in Hebrew

The Hebrew Language has many first names which are animal names, some of which are derived from the Bible, while others are more modern.

Biblical names

Many characters in the Bible have animal names, most of them of smaller animals and herbivores. Several of these are still in Hebrew use (mainly female names), and have also passed into various other languages, mainly via Christianity.

* Rachel רחל—Little Lamb or Ewe
* Deborah דבורה—Bee
* Zipporah ציפורה—Bird
* Yael יעל—Mountain Goat, literally Ibex (ascending) [Note: Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionary.]
* Jonah יונה—Dove
* Caleb could be a variant of Kelev—Dog, even though its most plausible origin is a transposition of the name as found other Semitic languages such as Phoenician and Ugaritic, meaning "servant of the Lord" [http://mikranet.cet.ac.il/pages/item.asp?item=12328] . The name has become popular in North America, but is not used in Hebrew-speaking Israel.

Other animal names of characters in the Bible did not become common names in later times, among them:

* Hamor חמור—Donkey
* Nahash נחש—Snake
* Achbor עכבור, a variety of Achbar עכבר—Mouse
* Shaphan שפן—Hyrax
* Huldah חולדה—Weasel or Rat
* Oreb עורב—Raven

Note: the Bible mentions a character named Zeeb זאב—Wolf—a name which did become common among Jews in later time and up to the present (now pronounced Ze'ev). This usage is unlikely to be derived from the Biblical character, who was an enemy of the Hebrews, a Midianite King killed by the Judge Gideon—while the Jewish custom was to adopt only the names of Biblical characters whose original bearers were deemed righteous. Therefore, the later appearance of the name among Jews, simultaneously with the names of other large animals, is more likely to a complement to the name Benjamin, who is compared to a "ravenous wolf" in Genesis 49:27.

History

At least since the first decade of the 18th century, animal names which had not been used as given names in Biblical times (most of them being the names of large predators) are evident among the East European Yiddish-speaking Jewish communities.

Typically, bi-lingual names were used, the animal name appearing first in Yiddish (the vernacular of daily life), as companion names for the tribes, and then in Hebrew (the Holy Language for these communities). [Note: Most examples of people with such names given here are of rabbis - not necessarily because only rabbis had such names, but because rabbis are the most likely among Jews of that society to have Wikipedia pages.]

* Dov דב Ber בער - Bear (of which "Ber" is the Yiddish cognate). Among those having the name can be mentioned:
** Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch
** Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn
**Dov Ber Berochov (the Socialist Zionist thinker)

* Arieh אריה Leib לייב - Lion.
** Rabbi Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller
** Rabbi Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzberg
** Rabbi Aryeh Leib Malin
** Rabbi Aryeh Leib Jelin
** Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (Yehudah was one of the Twelve Tribes and is represented by the lion)

* Zeeb זאב Wolf וואלף - Wolf
** Rabbi Zev Wolf of Zbarazh
** Rabbi Zev Wolf Levitin, (mentioned in Mashpia)
** Rabbi Yehudah Zev Wolf Kornreich (mentioned in Biala (Hasidic dynasty))
*** Binyamin Zev is another variant, because Binyamin was another of the Twelve Tribes and is represented by the wolf)

* Tzvi צבי Hirsh הירש - Deer
** Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov
** Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Spira (father of Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapiro)
** Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh of Chortkiv (father of Shmelke of Nikolsburg)
** Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Lustig (mentioned in Oholei Torah)
** Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb (a clinical psychologist, who serves as the Executive Vice President of the OU)

Harav Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (more commonly known by the acronym "Netziv") was sometimes referred to as "Reb Hirsh Leib", a Yiddish version of his Hebrew name. Naftali, another member of the Twelve Tribes, is represented by the deer, as he is compared in the Bible to an אילה שלוחה, or "swift hind." However, "zvi" is Hebrew for a gazelle. While deer and gazelles may appear similar superficially, they are in different taxonomic families: deer are Cervidae and gazelles are Bovidae. But since gazelles are unknown in Europe, the name tzvi was transposed onto deer, the most similar animal. The relatively common practice of naming children "Naftali Zvi" or "Zvi Hirsch" originated with this error, and has continued on in the tradition of naming offspring after deceased relatives.

With the advent of Zionism, Hebrew became the spoken language and Yiddish was discarded (and until the 1950's, actively campaigned against). Accordingly, use of Yiddish names was discontinued and only the Hebrew ones retained in the Hebrew-speaking society built up in Ottoman- and British-ruled Palestine, from which Israel eventually emerged.

Modern names

In addition to the above animal names, several new ones have appeared in recent decades.

To the above-mentioned Tzvi צבי (gazelle), Israeli society added:

*Ayala / Ayelet איילת / איילה - Doe (female name)
*Ofer עפר - Young Deer (male name)

Both words exist in the Bible as the names of the animals concerned, but became given names only in the 20th century.

Also, Aryeh אריה (Lion) is often shortened to Ari ארי.

Another newly established Israeli name is Talya טליה (Female Lamb). The name Tali טלי, a common female name in contemporary Israel, might be derived either from it, from Avital, or from "Tal" טל (Dew).

References

External links

* [http://www.jewfaq.org/jnames.htm Judaism 101: Jewish Names]
* [http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/STRINDEX.htm Strong's Hebrew and Greek dictionary]