In 1928, the Warsaw Jewish community published a list of Jewish given names, with the name in Hebrew, a transcription of the Hebrew, and the Polish equivalent. The list was intended to show the proper forms of Jewish names, and also included a second larger list of names which were meant to show incorrect alternatives that should not be used.
This is an excellent list, and particularly useful for understanding what names were in use at the time, and for looking up the Polish versions of names (although keep in mind that one’s name in Hebrew need not have mapped directly to the Polish equivalent). The booklet is titled Spis Imion Żydowskich in Polish and לוח השמות העבריים in Hebrew (It actually has a a title page and introduction in Polish on one side, and a title page and introduction in Hebrew on the other side).
One way to use this list, besides searching for names you might have found in a document or on a gravestone, is to find the canonical name. For example, if you are looking for a relative that you found in a document listed as Libcia or Liwsza, and are looking for their birth record, it’s useful to know that those names derive from Liba.
This page contains the female names from the book. For the male names, see Pre-War Male Jewish Names in Poland.
I originally found this booklet at the National Archives of Israel in Jerusalem, but I later found a digitized copy posted online the Repozytorium Cyfrowe Instytutów Naukowych (Digital Repository of Scientific Institutes) site.
The original list contained the Hebrew name, the Polish transliteration, and the Polish version of the name, if it existed. Additionally, I’ve added in the alternative (incorrect according to the book) forms of the names from the second list. Nothing has been changed from the original. Sometimes this can be a bit confusing as the transcriptions do not follow English transliteration, and may not seem familiar if you can’t read the Hebrew to see which name it is referring to. For example, in the transliterations they use the sz instead of sh, w instead of v, j instead of y, and c for the צ (which in English would usually be Tz, Ts, or simply Z). This leads to transcriptions such as Awigail for Avigail (Abigail), Basja for Batia, Eliszewa for Elisheva, Rywka for Rivka (Rebecca), and Szelomit for Shlomit.
Note that you can sort by specific columns by clicking on the column title (click twice to flip the sort order). You can also search by using the search box on the top right of the table. Searching will allow you to easily find the alternate forms, although keep in mind the differences in Polish and English transcriptions.
Pre-War Female Jewish Names in Poland
One name showed up in the second list that didn’t show up in the main list, Machla, so I’ve added that name to the list. Krajna-Atara is shown with a dash in the main list, and separated by commas in the second list, and for clairty I’ve displayed the names separated by commas.
