How to translate Hebrew names to English, particularly Chaim and Yona

April 7, 2009 7:30 PM

I know that some Hebrew and English names are identical (e.g., Maia, Deborah, and Miriam), some English and Hebrew names are similar (e.g., Isaac/Yitzchak, Jonathan/Yonatan, Jonas/Yona), and some are translations (e.g., Eve/Chava). Are there other less obvious correspondences between Hebrew and English names? Specifically, nobody has been named for my late grandfathers, whose Hebrew names are Chaim and Yona. We could use those as Hebrew names for a boy, but what are the options for Hebrew names for a girl and English names for either? My Hebrew name is Chava, so I would not want to use that as a feminine version of Chaim.
posted by anonymous to Religion & Philosophy (13 answers total)

How much leeway do you have? On one side of my family, they've gone so far as to only take the first letter of the name they want to use (which I don't approve of, really).

Chaim - Chelsea, Michaela, Kimberly, Evelyn (from Chava=Eve)
Yona - Yvonne, Yolanda, Iona, Naomi, Joan

I'm playing like, aural-Hebrew/Anglo-text twist right now.
posted by thebazilist at 7:42 PM on April 7, 2009

For girls:
Yonina (little dove) is very close to Yona (dove)
Chaya is close to Chaim...both come from the same root of life (though Chaya actually means "animal," it is a very common Hebrew name).

For a boy, the closest to Chaim is probably Hyman, but I would really think twice about naming your son Hyman.
posted by j1950 at 7:44 PM on April 7, 2009

Yonit is also there on the Yona/Yonina front. I suppose Janet is close for an English name.

The source for Chaya as 'animal' is 'living thing – its literal meaning is life, and it's the exact feminine form of Chaim. Don't know about an English name though.
posted by mhz at 7:54 PM on April 7, 2009

Yona/Yonah is commonly translated as Jonah (the prophet who spent some time in a fish), and is also pretty commonly used as a girl's name in Hebrew. It becomes Yonah, with a slight emphasis on the second syllable. Yonina and Yonit are options as well.
It also translates in English into Dove, which could be a girl's name. The name June is pretty and sounds similar, although it has no other connection to the Hebrew.

Chaim is a little tougher. For girls, Chana/Hannah sound similar, but don't have the Hebrew meaning of life. (On preview, Chaya works for this.) I know you've ruled out Chava for the Hebrew name, but you might not object to the English names Eve, Eva, Eveline, etc.
For boys, you have the options of Hyman, Hymie, or Manny, but to my ears those aren't any better than sticking with Chaim.
posted by Bun at 7:57 PM on April 7, 2009

Just as an aside, it doesn't look like Eve is a translation of Chava. The English version of the name of Adam's wife, Eve, comes from Latin Eva (which doesn't mean anything in Latin), which comes from the Hebrew Chava. It's a lot like the Isaac/Yitzchak link.
posted by rustcellar at 8:04 PM on April 7, 2009

I think Chaim is often transmuted into Jaimie - which works for boys and girls.

Dunno about Yona. How about something like Iona for a girl?
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:21 PM on April 7, 2009

Our daughter's name is Mayaan which works for both boys and girls as well.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 9:22 PM on April 7, 2009

This site suggests that the nanmes Chaim, Alter (old man), and Zaidye (grandpa) were all used as Yiddish amuletic, or lucky, names for male children whose families had previously lost children in childhood- naming the child a "long-life" name was considered lucky.

So maybe there's a somewhat tangentially related name for a girl that has the same kind of connotation/translation?
Like Zaidye->Sadie or Bobbie (Bubbie)?

Or Chaim could roughly translate & feminise in English as Vita or Vida,
Also, Chava could become Ava.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:56 PM on April 7, 2009

Chaya (not Chava) is the usual feminine equivalent of Chaim. And as another poster said, there are many girls called Yona; I know one myself. In fact nowadays it's probably more used as a feminine than a masculine name. If you wanted a specifically feminine name associated with "Yona" then perhaps Tzippora? A "Yona" is a dove, while a "Tzippora" is a bird (of any sort).
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:57 PM on April 7, 2009

For Chaim: Zoe. It means "life" in Greek.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:04 PM on April 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

Chaim is Life - Chaya is Enlivened
Yona is Dove - can a name for both female or male
posted by watercarrier at 4:02 AM on April 8, 2009

If you want to stick with the "life" meaning, you could also name a girl Vida.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 5:39 AM on April 8, 2009

Nthing H,ICST, but with a t rather than a d. What were their English names? My paternal grandfather was the youngest of five kids when his family first came to the States (another sister was born later). Except for my great-uncle Ben-- whose name was the same in English-- their names were Anglicized to:

Reise--Rose
Moshe--Morris
Yuddus--Edith/Helen (I've been told she used both names)
Lazar--Louis.
posted by brujita at 9:32 PM on April 8, 2009