So I’m 14 weeks pregnant and though we will find out the sex in a month or so, the whole family is offering up names to us this week, so we can’t help but start diving in. We originally were going to name after my grandfather, [name]Sol[/name], who passed away in 2006. But last week, my other grandfather (at the age of 96 and after being sick for a long while) passed away. Since we’re Jewish, it’s important to us to name after recently deceased family members.
So now we need a boy’s name that works for both grandpas. (If the baby’s a girl, we will still name after my two grandpas–but that’ll be another thread.) Because of the Jewish thing, the baby will have two sets of first and middle names, one in English and one in Hebrew. We have an idea of how to incorporate my grandfathers’ names in Hebrew, and maybe an English middle. But we’re still missing the most important part: An English first name. Here’s what we’re thinking:
Paternal Grandpa’s names: English, “[name]Bernard[/name] [name]Mendel[/name]”, known exclusively as [name]Bernie[/name], & Hebrew, “[name]Beryl[/name] [name]Mendel[/name]”. [name]Bernard[/name] means “Strong as a [name]Bear[/name]” and “[name]Beryl[/name]” in Yiddish is a diminutive of Ber, meaning [name]Bear[/name]. [name]Both[/name] meanings were really perfect for my tiny grandfather who was a crazy strong football star in his younger days. “[name]Mendel[/name]” is a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew “[name]Menachem[/name]”, which means “the comforter”
Maternal Grandpa’s names: English, “[name]Sol[/name]” with a sometimes nn of “[name]Solly[/name]”(he had a nickname name and no middle name) & Hebrew, “[name]Shlomo[/name]” ([name]Solomon[/name] in Hebrew). [name]Both[/name] mean peace.
For the baby’s Hebrew name, we’re thinking “[name]Baer[/name] [name]Shlomo[/name]”, for obvious reasons. Technically [name]Baer[/name] is Yiddish (or [name]German[/name]), but it’s common for part or all of a Hebrew name to be Yiddish, so we’re fine with that. It’s still written with Hebrew letters. Any opinions on this name are appreciated–even though it’s not on the birth certificate, it’ll be formally used in Hebrew school and synagogue.
For the baby’s English name, DH suggested today (to my surprise) using [name]Solomon[/name] as a middle. Paired with the right first name, it could be charming in an old man name kinda way. And I am a big fan of vintage charm. I also like that it has 3 syllables because our last name, Katz, is so short. For the baby’s first name, we really want more than anything a name that we love. So we’re going to be more flexible. I think it would be very cool for the first name to mean “strength” or “strong” or something similar. That way, the baby’s first names would both attribute to [name]Bernie[/name] and his middle names would attribute to [name]Sol[/name]. That said, we don’t care what letter it starts with. We’re more interested in meaning and sound (and I love fun nickname ideas). Any ideas?
________ [name]Solomon[/name] Katz, nn ____