A May 2021 Pew Research Center study revealed that younger Jews in the United States were more likely than older generations to migrate to the religion\u2019s extremes; compared to their elders, more American Jews in the 18-49 demographic identified as either Orthodox or of \u201cno particular branch.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are also the Jewish generations bringing new Jews into the world and, in naming their babies, they are exhibiting similar trends.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia-area rabbis and cantors who officiate at baby-naming ceremonies are seeing parents both rediscover classic names and bring new ones into fashion.<\/p>\nCantor Mark Kushner (Cantor Kushner Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Cantor Mark Kushner is a full-time, certified mohel, as he describes himself. A 2019 Jewish Exponent article on baby naming said Kushner had \u201cmultiple decades of experience performing brit milahs and simchat bats,\u201d and estimated that he\u2019d been \u201cinvolved in the naming of thousands of children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kushner is still active in the area, and he rattled off some of the names he\u2019s been seeing in the past few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people are using names like Rebel, Skye and Crew,\u201d he said of the more modern names.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also, on the opposite, a preponderance of Jacob, Max, Leo,\u201d Kushner added of the more classic names.<\/p>\n
A December Kveller article backed up at least half of Kushner\u2019s claim, listing several older, more traditional names among the top selections of 2021. Monikers included Asher, Ezra and Gideon for boys and Abigail, Ava and Eliana for girls.<\/p>\n
Babynames.com, which ranks the most popular baby names in the U.S., listed some classic boy names, like Oliver and Theodore, near the top as well, while the girls\u2019 list showed more-modern selections like Luna and Hazel.<\/p>\n
Kushner explained that these trends probably come from two emotional places in the minds of parents; they want their kids to stand out and they want a name to offer insight into a child\u2019s, and eventually into an adult\u2019s, personality.<\/p>\n
Skye, for example, is a peaceful insight; parents who choose this name hope for their baby to have the quality of a blue sky: relaxed. Kushner has conducted several ceremonies for new babies named Shir, which means song in Hebrew. Those parents probably desire their child to live a life of rhythm, music and happiness.<\/p>\n
This kind of symbolism is also an excellent reason not to name your kid Rebel, according to the cantor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you call your child Rebel, be careful what you wish for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Jonathan Kremer, who leads the Shirat Hayam Congregation in Ventnor, New Jersey, believes that the classic and modern naming approaches are positive. Not only do they show respect for tradition and a desire to be unique, but they also reveal a generation of adults that\u2019s less enamored with popular culture.<\/p>\n
Kremer used to see more kids with trendy names, perhaps inspired by celebrities. He mentioned Britney, for Britney Spears, and Lindsay, for Lindsay Lohan, as two examples that he remembered from 10 or more years ago.<\/p>\n
But in the past decade, the rabbi has seen everything from Brooklyn for a girl to Erez, meaning cedar tree, for a boy, to biblical options like Rachel and David.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t escape popular culture if you\u2019re online,\u201d Kremer said. \u201cBut my impression is parents are pushing away from that and letting their hearts be their guide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Aaron Krauss, who guides Beth El Synagogue in Margate, New Jersey, agrees with Kremer that these developments are for the better.<\/p>\n
In particular, Krauss is happy to see traditional and even biblical names making a comeback.<\/p>\n
Parents who use Jewish-sounding names are confident in their Jewishness, according to the rabbi. They are also a stark contrast to their ancestors who, in an understandable effort to assimilate, chose names that didn\u2019t sound as Jewish.<\/p>\n
Today, in a society with more intermarriage than it used to have, even \u201cthe non-Jewish partner seems to be comfortable with a Jewish name,\u201d said Krauss.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a step in the direction of people feeling more comfortable with their Jewishness,\u201d he added.<\/p>\nCantor Mark Kushner with a couple and a new baby at a naming ceremony. (Cantor Kushner Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
No matter what the modern trends are, though, Jewish naming practices continue to take on timeless qualities, according to local rabbis.<\/p>\n
First and foremost, there\u2019s a divine inspiration, they say.<\/p>\n
A couple of months ago, Rabbi Moshe Brennan of the Chabad of Penn Wynne and his wife did not know what to name their newborn son. So before leaving the hospital, Brennan wrote Nehenya, meaning comfort, on his son\u2019s form.<\/p>\n
Ten days later, Brennan\u2019s cousin, who was doing some research on their great-grandmother, sent him a picture of their great-grandmother\u2019s grandfather\u2019s grave. It said Mordecai, son of Nehenya.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a name in the family,\u201d the rabbi said. \u201cNo one else in the family for five generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to pick a name and you feel and think you\u2019re making the choice,\u201d he added. \u201cBut it\u2019s simply being revealed to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a more conscious element, according to Rabbi Abe Friedman of Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Often, parents will tell Friedman before a naming ceremony that they picked a moniker to honor a relative. The rabbi will respond by asking them to think about why they wanted to honor that relative, and then to explain those reasons to the child in a letter they read aloud during the ceremony.<\/p>\n
By the time they stand up to speak, they understand what stories, qualities and lessons they want to pass down from the elder to the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think parents are very aware of what they\u2019re choosing,\u201d he said. \u201cThis name is a container of meaning.\u201d JE<\/p>\n
A May 2021 Pew Research Center study revealed that younger Jews in the United States were more likely than older generations to migrate to the religion\u2019s extremes; compared to their elders, more American Jews in the 18-49 demographic identified as either Orthodox or of \u201cno particular branch.\u201d These are also the Jewish generations bringing new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13404,"featured_media":169782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,34,18,9001],"tags":[12440,10151],"section":[],"coauthors":[13277],"yoast_head":"\n
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