Saturday, December 09, 2006

The Name Game II

My favorite Hebrew weekly newspaper, Sha'ar L'Matchil (Gateway for the Beginer - offering news in easy Hebrew) recently reported on the most popular names in Israel for 2005 as compiled by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Top girl's name = Noa, with 3% of baby girls getting that name. (The biblical ark builder, Noah, is pronounced very differently in Hebrew, No-ach).
Top boy's name = Uri, with 2.1% of baby boys getting that name.
Next top boy names:

  • Noam (pleasantness)
  • Itay
  • Ido
  • David
  • Roi (shepard)
  • Amit (friend)
  • Yosef (Joseph)
  • Moshe (Moses)
  • Yonatan (Jonathan)
Next top girl names and their English meanings:

  • Shira (song)
  • Agam (lake)
  • Maya
  • Tamar (data palm)
  • Roni (happiness?)
  • Yael (mountain goat)
  • Adi (jewel, precious stone)
  • Sarah
  • Yovel (jubilee)

And some new girls names that made the list too:

  • Elia
  • Gaya
  • Alma
  • Oryan
  • Yaheli
  • Noya
  • Chava
  • Liam
  • Tohar
  • Tair
  • Nama

Not many changes in boys names.

In 2005, 144 thousand babies were born in Israel. 23% Muslim, 74% Jewish.

Most popular Muslim names included Mohamed (14%!!), Ahmed, Machmoud, Machmad. The most popular Muslim girl name was Aya. Among Christian boys, the most popular names were Elias (Elijah), George, and Fadi. Among Christian girls: Nicole, Natalie, Maya.

And nope, Cholent's name to be is not on the lists but we're not telling yet!



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My friend Sarah was thinking about naming her daughter Aya (I think the meaning is a portion of a sura in the Quran) and was shocked to hear that it was the most popular Muslim girl name in Israel last. We'll see if she still chooses to use it...

Harmony