Our DS 1 is named [name]Asa[/name] [name]Miles[/name] -
We don’t know if we are having a boy or a girl - but our current #1 boys name is…
[name]Zev[/name] [name]Marshall[/name]
Ze’ev (means wolf in hebrew) we would pronounce it with the apostrophe like Za-ev - but spell it [name]ZEV[/name]
[name]Marshall[/name] is my mother’s father’s name…
whaddya think?
Thanks!
[name]Love[/name] it! [name]Zev[/name] is great and a perfect brother for [name]Asa[/name]
Sounds just right for you!
Exactly! Sounds like a really perfect fit.
Really cool!
Only criticism is that I don’t think you can get away with pronouncing it “za-ev” when the spelling of [name]Zev[/name] pretty clearly indicates it’s only one syllable. If the Hebrew language matches your heritage, I’d say stick with the original spelling of Ze’ev. But if not, my vote is for [name]Zev[/name], pronounced [name]Zev[/name] (as opposed to “za-ev”).
[name]True[/name]. Once he’s in school, everyone will most likely end up calling him [name]Zev[/name] if it’s spelled this way. Something to think about.
Thanks for your responses - glad you like it!
What do you think about having an apostrophe in a name?
Ze’ev
vs
[name]Zev[/name]
I just worry about him having to deal with this apostrophe - is it too annoying?
It depends on how important the authenticity is to you.
It’s already a rather ethnic name and adding the apostrophe enhances that. I think the advantage of [name]Zev[/name] is that it’s super easy to spell and pronounce. Using the apostrophe you’d be removing that ease.
It seems to be almost the reverse of the old argument about full and nicknames. [name]Do[/name] you use a full name if you plan to call them by the nickname all the time? So in this case, do you use the nickname if you plan to call him by the full name most of the time?
I would personally choose [name]Zev[/name], but I can’t speak for you as to how important the full name/meaning/language/culture/etc. is to you as reflected in the name.
I like [name]Zev[/name]! ([name]Marissa[/name] [name]Jaret[/name] Winoker has a son with the name. I automatically thought of her. That’s not bad, though.) As per the spelling, I just like the straight up [name]Zev[/name]. Apostrophe’s don’t make much sense to me in names, and it reads 1 syllable, short and sweet.
My brother’s Hebrew name is Ze’ev. He’s always liked it. His English middle name is [name]Wolf[/name]. He’s always liked that too. His first name in English is very common and innocuous and he’s been not fond of it at various times as a child/teen and I don’t know that he even likes it that much now.
I think in English I would: 1) Spell it [name]Zev[/name] 2) [name]Say[/name] it Ze’ev myself. 3) Not sweat it or get torqued about people saying it with 1 even though I wouldn’t.
People [name]WILL[/name] say it one if they read it, just like [name]Joel[/name] and half the time with [name]Noam[/name]. But it doesn’t sound terrible one, it just sounds in the [name]Zeke[/name]/[name]Zeb[/name] family. I think if you’ll cool with that its okay. And I think that would be easier than the apostrophe. You could go around correcting everyone but you’ll still hear one often.
Great responses again!
Thanks -
We are keeping the sex of this baby a surprise - but I am due 12/8 so it is soon!
If it’s a girl I think we will be going with [name]Hattie[/name] [name]Ruth[/name] … so ready to have a baby 
I love it! It goes perfectly with your son [name]Asa[/name]'s name
Aww A and Z names… haha I really think [name]Zev[/name] and [name]Asa[/name] sound great together! No apostrophe, just say it the way you like. =]
[name]Asa[/name] and [name]Zev[/name] are both on my list! I love them. If you want to encourage the za-ev pronunciation, have you considered spelling it Zaev? Or do you think that’s too cree8tive?
I just read somewhere that punctuation marks tend to be omitted when dealing with US authorities, which is definitely something to take into consideration. Ze’ev being reduced to Zeev would certainly yield pronunciation problems (it looks as if it was pronounced “zeeve”). So spelling it [name]Zev[/name] is probably the safest way to ensure it is pronounced correctly.
Anyway, I like the name and a sibset of [name]Asa[/name] (a long-time favorite of mine) and [name]Zev[/name] would be absolutely awesome!
I must admit I pronounced it with one syllable before reading the whole post. But I actually really love both pronunciations so I don’t think you can go wrong with [name]Zev[/name]. And I agree with pp that as long as correcting people and hearing it said incorrectly doesn’t bother you then go for it! And [name]Asa[/name] and [name]Zev[/name] are wonderful together too!
I think its perfect with [name]Asa[/name] I wouldn’t personally use the apostrophe
I like it a lot, [name]Zev[/name] [name]Marshall[/name]. Sounds great. But as has been mentioned, it really seems like it should be pronounced zev not ze’ev. I have a friend whose name is [name]Lev[/name], I’ve always like his name. [name]Zev[/name] I similarly like.
I think [name]Zev[/name] sounds better than Ze’ev, though it wouldn’t align nearly as well with it’s Hebrew origins in this way.
I think it’s a great name, but if I wanted it pronounced Zay-ev, I’d either spell it Zaev or Ze’ev. More for him, than for you; I can’t imagine how tired he’ll get of correcting people during his lifetime, otherwise. Everybody is going to pronounce [name]Zev[/name] phonetically.