Is my kid an ancient hebrew good luck charm?

June 19, 2008 11:41 AM

A few years back, an older Israeli man told me that my daughter's name, Kameya, meant "good luck charm" in ancient Hebrew. Was he just pulling my leg?

We made up the name based on her godfather's name (Kamehameha) which supposedly means "very very powerful" in Hawaiian. We've since learned from random people who comment on it that it's a town in Japan and similar to the equivalent of "manually" or "with hands" in Tagalog.

But only this one gentleman commented about the Hebrew, saying it was three letters. But I have yet to find a way to Google for ancient hebrew.

Obviously, it's a great story. And easier as an explanation than "Her godfather's parents honeymooned in Hawaii so they named their kids after Hawaiian royalty and then we named our daughter after him."

Anyone able to confirm or deny? Be able to point me to the letters which would comprise her name? Or even know that it also means, oh, foot fungus in German or something?

We stress the second syllable (Kuh-MAY-Yuh, since we have the flat short a of midwesterners and we're going for equivalent to Kamehameha). And yes, she has a normal middle name in case she hates it as a grownup.

posted by Gucky to writing & language (6 comments total)

Well, I can't help you with the proper written Hebrew characters as I don't know a lick of Hebrew, but googling for "kameya hebrew" found a bunch of references to amulets and Jewish artifacts. From the results, it sounds like "kameya" (the plural is "kameyot," I believe, which seems to be the more commonly used word) is either a term for an amulet or for the inscription on an amulet, and since amulets are supposed to be protective wards, it sounds like this fellow was right about her name.
posted by Kosh at 11:56 AM on June 19, 2008

depending on your pronunciation, Kameya is indeed a good luck charm in hebrew.
posted by yeara at 11:57 AM on June 19, 2008

Yes, a kameya is a good luck charm, like an amulet. The Hebrew spelling is קמיע, or kuf, mem, yud, ayin.
posted by mhz at 12:09 PM on June 19, 2008

Oh, and the Hebrew pronunciation is also ka - MAY - uh.
posted by mhz at 12:11 PM on June 19, 2008

And it can apparently also be written as קמע (same spelling as mhz, but without the yud, and the linked version has the diacriticals if you're curious), which fits your three-letter criterion as well.
posted by Partial Law at 12:15 PM on June 19, 2008

Once again, the collective you is truly awesome.

My daughter will be jazzed about it as well.
posted by Gucky at 2:54 PM on June 19, 2008