Editing Jewish name (section)

== Given names ==
Given names, also known as "first names," have a range of customs within different Jewish ethnic groups. Common given names, however, remain similar in many parts of the Jewish community, with many of them based on figures in the [[Hebrew Bible]] or honoring relatives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jewish Naming Practices |url=https://www.kveller.com/article/jewish-naming-practices/ |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Kveller |language=en}}</ref> These are distinguished from the Hebrew name, which retained the original formulation of Jewish names.

=== Sephardi customs ===
Sephardim have often named newborn children in honor of their living grandparents. This practice typically uses these names in a specific order: the father's father, the father's mother, the mother's father, the mother's mother.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Naming Traditions |url=https://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/givennames/slide7.html |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=www.jewishgen.org}}</ref>

=== {{anchor|Yiddish name}}Ashkenazi customs ===
In stark contrast to Sephardi customs, Ashkenazim have a longstanding [[superstition]] about naming a child after a living person. Instead, only a deceased relative's name may be used. According to this superstition, naming a child after a living person could appear as though you are waiting for that person to die. This practice is rooted in Jewish custom and has no standing in Jewish law.<ref>{{Cite web |title=named after non-Jewish grandparents Archives |url=https://www.ccarnet.org/responsa-topics/named-after-non-jewish-grandparents/ |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Central Conference of American Rabbis |language=en-US}}</ref> While not many Jewish people necessarily believe in the superstition per se, the lack of precedence makes practices such as a (living) father naming his son after himself an unusual occurrence for Ashkenazim.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Jewish Names - Judaism 101 (JewFAQ) |url=https://www.jewfaq.org/jewish_names#Surnames |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=www.jewfaq.org}}</ref>

A peculiarity of [[Yiddish]] names for [[Ashkenazi Jews]] was recording legal names in diminutive form. These diminutive forms could be either [[hypocoristic]]s (pet names) or deprecative.  This tradition was more widespread for female names rather than for male names. There was a wide variety of suffixes added to a normative form of the name. Depending on the country of residence, the suffixes were borrowed into Yiddish, e.g., from German, Russian, Polish, Belarusian, etc. languages. In many cases these suffixed were used to create nicknames from regular words.<ref name=jege>[https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/givennames/yidnames.htm 5.2.  YIDDISH NAMES] from the project "GIVEN NAMES, JUDAISM, AND JEWISH HISTORY" of [[JewishGen]]</ref>
Some examples: [[Leiba]], Leibuța (Romanian-language) from [[Leib]], Berele or Bereleyn from [[Berl]]/[[Berel]], Khaytsi, Chayka from [[Chaya (Hebrew given name)|Chaya]], Rivka from Riva which itself was from [[Rebecca (given name)|Rebecca]], [[Motke]], Mordkhe, or Mordka from [[Mordechai]], Feygele, [[Faygele]] from Feigl/Foigl ("bird", which could also be used as a female name), etc.

''See also'' [[pleonasm#Bilingual tautological expressions|Bilingual Hebrew-Yiddish tautological names]]