Looking for a Hebrew middle name for [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. Here are our picks in order of our favourites. We are open to suggestions, as long as they’re proper Hebrew names.
We also considered [name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], but weren’t super crazy about it. [name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] is definitely my favourite. What do you ladies and gents think?
I don’t speak Hebrew, and there’s not a big Jewish community here, so I don’t have much sense of what sounds modern, classic, dated, etc among the Jewish (or Hebrew-speakig) community.
Part of me thinks I should leave this to be answered by people with more knowledge, but since no-one else has replied I’ll give my opinion based on sound and a few personal association.
I like [name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] best from your list. I think a name that doesn’t end in an ‘a’ sound works best with [name_f]Ella[/name_f] (or an -a name with more syllables).
I also think [name_u]Yael[/name_u] is a strong name (and a powerful namesake), which balances the lilting prettiness of [name_f]Ella[/name_f] well.
[name_f]Chaya[/name_f] and [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] are both lovely names, though.
Some other thoughts (I’m using behindthename as my source. Apologies if any are not genuine Hebrew names or if they’re inappropriate):
My favourites of those are Ella Kinneret and Ella Meital.
I know a (Jewish) Meital who spells it Maytalle, which is nice if you don’t mind the Latinised/ nonstandard spelling.
Hmm, I’m not sure that any of your choices flow too well with [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. [name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] repeats the “el” sound which is quite prominent in both names, and the matching -a endings with [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] and [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] aren’t ideal. Of course if that’s the middle you love you may not mind that the flow isn’t perfect though.
My first thought was [name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Miriam[/name_f], but it doesn’t feel quite as Hebrew as your choices. I also like [name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Avital[/name_f], [name_f]Ella[/name_f] Galit and @a_r’s suggestion of [name_f]Ella[/name_f] Kinneret. A lot of Hebrew girls’ names seem to end with an a so it’s not easy! I’m no expert though, hopefully someone else will come along with more suggestions
I agree that those options have a lot of repeated sounds with [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. I think a three syllable name would work well for more contrast–I like [name_f]Shoshana[/name_f] and [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] from pps.
We live in an extremely Jewish community and have family members who have married into Jewish families, so I’m familiar with a lot of Hebrew names, however I’ve never heard [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] pronounced any other way besides k[name_m]HY[/name_m]-ah (I don’t know how else to spell that pronunciation of the throat clearing type sound) so Sha-yah is interesting to me.
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_u]Yael[/name_u] is a mouthful, for sure, but it’s pretty.
Thank you for all the detailed feedback! I really appreciate it! I’m actually quite fond of [name_f]Shoshannah[/name_f]. Hubby has also thrown Liori at me tonight. And he says [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] is back in the game. He says he doesn’t like [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] and that [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] is just meh.
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] [name_f]Shoshannah[/name_f] sounds rather nice.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’m not a huge fan of [name_f]Miriam[/name_f]. I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] Galit, but it is my BFF’s name so it would be a bit odd. Kinneret is one we hadn’t considered. I’m going to suggest that to my hubby. Thank you! ”
Thank you for the lovely suggestions! My hubby actually also suggested [name_f]Liora[/name_f] tonight and I quite like it. I’ve heard [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] pronounced Sha-ya, k[name_m]HY[/name_m]-ya, and I’ve even heard some people pronounce it Chai-eye-uh. You’re right though, in [name_m]Israel[/name_m], it would most likely be pronounced K-[name_m]HY[/name_m]-ah. I actually like many of your suggestions. I’m going to pitch these later to my husband. Thanks again! ”
I’m actually quite fond of [name_f]Shoshannah[/name_f]. Hubby has also thrown Liori at me tonight. And he says [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] is back in the game. He says he doesn’t like [name_f]Shayna[/name_f] and that [name_f]Chaya[/name_f] is just meh.
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