Over the past few years I’ve collected many lists of Jewish given names. Lists come from books from the 19th and early 20th century, including from Poland in 1886 and 1928, from the US in 1925 and 1939, and the more recent lists of Israeli names. For a full look at the name lists I’ve published, see the Names page.

Recently I published a list of articles on names from an Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) group in Israel. This is an area I’ve long wanted to analyze, but haven’t had enough data. There are many reasons this group is interesting, but one is that they continue to use names that have fallen out of favor with the rest of the Jewish community, in particular Yiddish names (although Yiddish names were not preferred by the previously mentioned Israeli group). While I myself am Orthodox, I wouldn’t consider myself an expert on the lives of the Ultra-Orthodox community, which in the US is centered in New York, particularly in sections of Brooklyn. One of the problems I had was finding a source of names that was accurate, and available to me online, when this community tends to avoid using the Internet. Another problem I had was the desire to have the names in both English and Hebrew. While one could find ways of collecting names from newspapers, they would usually be in only one language. Having the names in both languages is helpful for identifying unusual names, and also lets one see the variations of how a name in Hebrew is used in English (more on that in a bit).

A couple of years ago I came across a possible source of names, which were the posting of information on families in mourning in the community. In the communities where there were large Ultra-Orthodox populations, these mourning details would be published in the local Jewish newspapers, although only in English as far as I could find. However, they also started to post the names online, and in most cases the online version had the full names in Hebrew as well (the deceased’s name, and depending on whether they were Ashkenazi or Sephardi, the name of the father or mother). The problem with these online postings was that they only had a few names at a time, only those whose families were sitting Shiva (which means in most cases that they had to have died in the past week). It was impractical to collect enough names to learn anything, when you could only get a few names at a time, and then had to wait another week or so, to possibly get more names.

The posts are actually incredible genealogical sources, not only because they give information on the deceased (including the name of one of their parents), but because they list the mourners and their relationships to the deceased. Since the community tends to have many children, these lists can be quite long. Here’s an example of one listing:

I’ve blurred out the surnames and phone numbers from the listing, but let’s summarize. In addition to the name of the deceased in both Hebrew and English, there are twenty-two mourners listed, including her spouse, both parents, seven siblings, and twelve children. While not all have given names (some married daughters do not), there are ten different surnames, allowing one to connect the families together. One note about the phone numbers. In the earlier listings, there was a notice pointing out that phone numbers were not included to protect privacy and prevent unwanted solicitations. As COVID-19 hit, and it became impossible to have a shiva in-person, that notice and the name of the neighborhood went away, and individual phone numbers for many of the mourners started to be published. As restrictions lifted in more recent months, a combination of the approaches began to show up, with some listing phone numbers, some having in-person, some requiring vaccinations and masks, etc.

What given names are shown in this one family? Rivka Yocheved, Shulem Yoseph, Benzion, Devorah, Avraham Shloma, Yaakov Eliezer, Moshe Aaron, Yechezkel Shraga, Chesky, Lipa, Yoel Yeshaya, Chaim Mordachai, Malky, Leah’la, and Freidy. For my purposes, however, only two of the names have both the English and Hebrew shown, that of the deceased and that of her father. However, as I collected the names, I didn’t actually collect the mourners names, so in my list I would have the Hebrew for both, but only the English for the deceased.

While I initially did not collect these names because it would have taken too long to accumulate enough names to make it worthwhile, I realized I could collect the names from archived copies of these posts that were stored in the Internet Archive. A lucky find of the posts being re-published on a different site, expanded the number of archived posts considerably. I went through a few hundred posts, and manage to collect over 1300 names in both Hebrew and English. There are many more given names that in Hebrew, since their full name frequently had at least two names for themselves and their parent (and some people have up to five Hebrew names). Of course many names repeat in the list, but from those repeated names in Hebrew, it was possible to glean a lot from the parallel English names.

The data is a bit messy, so I’m hesitant to post the full list itself, but I wanted to show some of the information I found. Keep in mind that while the names here come from people being mourned by people in the Ultra-Orthodox community, not all of the people themselves were Ultra-Orthodox. My impression is that the list contains Ultra-Orthodox and adjacent people, such as children and parents that may not be quite as strict (although most of the people are probably Orthodox).

Let’s start with the names of the matriarchs and patriarchs, which are perennially popular (although historically this wasn’t true until the middle ages).

Hebrew	ENGLISH	variants
שרה	Sarah	Sura, Surie, Sury, Sarala, Sheila, Sonia, Eva
רבקה	Rivka (Rebecca)	Rifka, Rivky, Ruth, Roseline, Robin, Renee, Regina
רחל	Rachel	Rochel, Rochela, Rochelle, Ruchel, Ruchele, Ruchie, Ray, Raye, Rose, Rozy, Ruth
לאה	Leah	Lea, Lila, Lillian, Lily, Linda, Livia, Loretta, Lorraine, Lucy, Lynn

The first variants are basically alternate pronunciations and diminutives of the names (although at least in this data set none of those for the name Leah). The later variants are simply English names used by these women, which map only loosely to the names, usually starting with the same letter.

One interesting name that shows up is Ruth. Note that it shows up as an alternate name for both Rivka and Rachel. Four different women in this dataset had the Hebrew name רחל (Rachel), but the English name Ruth. Ruth of course is also a biblical name, being the subject of the Book of Ruth, and being the great-grandmother of King David. My own great-grandmother changed her name from Rachel to Ruth around 1920 – the story goes because Rachel sounded too Jewish and she couldn’t get a job. She changed her name to Ruth and the next day got a job as an operator at Macy’s (where she met my great-grandfather who was working there as a security guard). Another similar name may be Rose/Rozy, which may have also have sounded less Jewish at the time.

Here are the patriarchal names:

Hebrew	English	variants
אברהם	Abraham	Avrohom, Avrum, Avi, Arthur, Alan, Arlen, Harry
יצחק	Yitzchak (Isaac)	Yitzchok, Isidore
יעקב	Yaakov (Jacob)	Yankel, Jack, Jakey, Gerald

These follow a similar pattern to the matriarchal names, and similarly reflect the fact that many of the people in these records were named in the pre-war period, and shared common English ‘translations’ of names like Isidore for Isaac, and Jack for Jacob. Note that Isidore was also commonly given to those whose Hebrew name was Yisrael (Israel). Also note that while in English Jack is a diminutive of John, it was commonly used by Jewish immigrants as an English version of Jacob. I discuss this specific name derivation in my article Don’t get stuck inside the box, where I mention my own grandfather Jack who was known alternately as Jakob (in Austria), Yankel (in Poland), Jacques (in Belgium), and Jack (in the US). This article discusses several issues that genealogists sometimes get stuck on, but shouldn’t (like assuming someone named Jakob in one record isn’t the same person as someone names Jack in another).

One interesting name was צבי יהודא (Tzvi Yehuda) that was Herschel Leib in English. At first glance those are different names, but in fact both names pair very clearly. Tzvi Hersch is a common name pairing, where Tzvi and Hersch are the Hebrew and Yiddish words for deer (-el is marks a diminutive in Yiddish). Yehuda Leib is also a common pairing, where Yehuda is compared to a lion in his blessing from his father Jacob (Genesis 49), and Leib is Yiddish for lion. See my article Animals and Name Pairs in Jewish Given Names for more information on these kinds of pairings.

The following table shows all the female names that showed up at least twice in the list:

Hebrew	English	Variants
אהובה	Ahuva	Loraine
איידל	Aidel
בתיה	Batia	Basya
בתשבע	Batsheva	Bernice
בילא	Beila	Bila, Bella, Blanche
בלימא, בלימה	Blima	Blimi, Blimu, Bea, Blanka
ברכה	Bracha	Barbara
בריינדל	Breindel	Betty, Bea, Bernice
חנה	Chana	Anna, Annette, Anita, Arlene, Chany, Helen, Charlotte, Eileen, Hillary
טשארנא	Charne	Helene
חוה	Chava	Chavie, Eva, Evelyn
חיה	Chaya	Helen, Claire, Eileen, Eleanor, Vivian
דבורה	Devora	Dora, Dorothy, Doreen
דינה	Dina
עלקא	Elka	Eleanor, Estelle
אסתר	Esther	Estelle, Esta, Esti, Esty, Edith, Else, Erna, Norma
פיגה, פייגא	Faiga, Feiga	Feigi, Faigy, Fay, Frances
פייגל	Faigel	Faigy, Fanny
פריידא	Freida	Freidy, Francis
פריידל, פראדל	Freidel	Fraidel, Fradel, Frieda, Felice
פרומט	Frumit	Frimet
גננדל	Gendel	Jenny, Lisa
גיטל	Gittel	Gitty, Gertrude, Geraldine, Gussy
גאלדה	Golda	Goldie, Gisella
הענדל	Hendel	Henda
הענא	Henna	Henya
העניא	Henya
הינדא	Hinda	Hindy, Helen, Olga
הינדל	Hindel	Helena
קילא	Kaila	Kaylu, Klara
לאה	Leah	Lea, Lila, Lillian, Lily, Linda, Livia, Loretta, Lorraine, Lucy, Lynn
ליבא	Liba	Laura
מלכה	Malka	Malky, Mildred, Madeline, Magda, Maxine
מאשה	Masha	Marcia, Magda
מזל	Mazal	Mabel, Fortune
מינה	Mina	Minna, Minnie
מינדל	Mindel	Mindy, Madeline
מירל	Mirel	Mirele, Miri, Muriel
מרים	Miriam	Marianne
נעמי	Naomi
נחמה	Nechama	Natalie, Norma
פערל	Perel	Pearl, Perl, Pauline, Phyllis, Piroska
פעסל	Pesel	Paula
פעסי	Pessy	Pauline, Phyllis
פייא	Pia
רחל	Rachel	Rochel, Rochela, Rochelle, Ruchel, Ruchele, Ruchie, Ray, Raye, Rose, Rozy, Ruth
רייזל	Raizel	Reizel, Rose
רעכל	Rechel
רבקה	Rivka (Rebecca)	Rifka, Rivky, Ruth, Roseline, Robin, Renee, Regina
רויזא	Roza	Rosa, Rose, Roizy, Roselyn
רות	Ruth
שרה	Sarah	Sura, Surie, Sury, Sarala, Sheila, Sonia, Eva
שיינדל	Shaindel	Shayndel, Shaindy, Charlotte, Cynthia, Janice
שבע	Sheva	Shavy
שפרא, שפרה	Shifra	Shyfra, Saundra, Shirley, Charlotte
שלמית, שולמית	Shulamis	Schulamith, Shlomis
סימא	Sima	Selma
טויבא	Taube	Toby, Eva
טובא, טובה	Tova	Toba, Toby, Tauba
צפורה	Tzipora	Tzippy, Tzippori, Francis
צביה	Tzivia	Tzirel
יהודית	Yehudis	Yidis, Judith, Judy, Yolan, Isabelle,
יענטא	Yenta	Yenti
יוטא	Yuta	Yita, Judith, Judy
זיסל	Zissel	Zissy, Giselle

The following table shows all the male names that showed up at least twice in the list:

Hebrew	English	Variants
אברהם	Abraham	Avraham, Avrohom, Avrom, Avrum, Avi, Arthur, Alan, Arlen, Harry
אהרון	Aharon (Aaron)	Ahron, Aron, Arnold, Arkady, Arthur
אלטר	Alter
אריה	Aryeh	Leibel, Leiby, Leo, Leon
אשר	Asher	Usher, Allen
ברוך	Baruch	Boruch, Bert
בן ציון, בנציון	Benzion	BenTzion, Bernie
בער	Ber	Ben
בצלאל	Betzalel	Charlie
בנימין	Binyamin (Benjamin)	Binyomin, Binyamen, Bernard, Bernie
חי	Chai
חיים	Chaim	Henry, Herbert
חנוך	Chanoch	Henoch
דניאל	Daniel	Danny, Donny
דוד	David	Dovid, Duvid
דוב	Dov	Berel, Berl, Berish
אפרים	Efraim	Ephraim, Ephrayim
אלעזר	Elazar	Louis, Larry
אליעזר	Eliezer	Lazer, Lezer, Louis, Leonard
אלימלך	Elimelech
אליהו	Eliyahu	Eli, Elias, Ellis, Elliot
עזרא	Ezra	Izzy
פייביש	Feivish	Fred
גדליה	Gedalia	Gedayla, Gilbert
גרשון	Gershon	George, Joshua
העניך	Henich
הערש	Hersch	Hersh, Heshy, Harry
הלל, הילל	Hillel
אייזיק, איזיק, אייציק	Isaac	Yiddish spellings of Yitzchak
קלמן	Kalman
לייב	Leib	Leon
לב	Lev	Leonard
ליפא	Lipa
מאיר	Meir	Meyer, Michael, Marvin, Warren
מלך	Melech	Marc, Mark
מנחם	Menachem	Mendel, Martin
מנשה	Menashe	Menasha
מנדל, מענדל	Mendel
מיכאל	Michael	Mekhail
מיכל	Michel	Mechel
מרדכי	Mordechai	Mordche, Motti, Marcus, Martin
משה	Moshe (Moses)	Moishe, Morris, Murray, Moussa, Martin, Marcel, Mark
נחום	Nachum	Nuchem
נפתלי	Naftali
נתן	Nathan	Nosson, Nussen, Norman
נחמיה	Nechemia
נתנאל	Netanel	Nesanel
נח	Noach	Noe
פסח	Pesach	Paul
פנחס	Pinchas	Pinchos, Pinchus
רחמים	Rachamim	Raymond, Ramon
רפאל	Raphael	Rafael, Rafuel, Refael, Rephael, Ralph
ראובן	Reuven	Robert, Richard
שבתי	Shabtai	Shabsi
שלום	Shalom	Sholom, Shulem, Sidney
שאול	Shaul	Shaiall
שמעון	Shimon	Simon, Semyon
שמשון	Shimshon	Sydney
שלמה	Shlomo (Solomon)	Shlomie, Sol, Selim, Sammy
שמואל	Shmuel (Samuel)	Sam, Sammy, Shmiel, Stanley, Stuart
שרגא	Shraga
שמחה	Simcha	Simchie, Steven, Sheldon
טוביה	Tuvia	Tuviya, Toby, Zoltan
צבי	Tzvi	Tsvi, Hersch, Herschel, Harry, Herman
וועלוועל, וואלוועל	Velvel
יעקב	Yaakov (Jacob)	Yankel, Jack, Jakey, Gerald
יחזקאל	Yechezkel	Chaskel, Harold
יחיאל	Yechiel
יהושע	Yehoshua	Shia, Shea, Saul
יהודא	Yehuda	Leib, Jeno, Juda, Yidel, Leo, Yida
ירחמיאל	Yerachmiel
ישעיה	Yeshaya	Shaya, Shia
ישראל	Yisrael (Israel)	Yisroel, Izzy, Irving, Sruly, Sydney
יצחק	Yitzchak (Isaac)	Yitzchok, Isidore
יוחנן	Yochanan
יואל	Yoel (Joel)
יונתן	Yonatan	Yonasan, Yonason
יוסף	Yosef (Joseph)	Youssef
יודא	Yuda	Yida, Ervin
זאב	Zev	Volf, Velvel, Walter, William, Willy
זישא, זיסא	Zishe
לייבש, לייביש	Leibish
נטא, נטה, נטע	Nuta
פייוועל, פייויל	Feivel
קאפל, קאפעל	Koppel
חנינא, חנינה	Chanina	Howard