Looking for more suggestions on unusual Hebrew girl names! Ideally things that are not too common in either orthodox communities or in the mainstream US.
I LOVE the sound of [name_f]Sylvia[/name_f], [name_f]Celandine[/name_f], [name_f]Selena[/name_f], etc. If you know any Hebrew names that sound similar, I would love to hear them!
Some names we currently like:
[name_f]Meira[/name_f] (meh-ee-ra, not meera or myra)
[name_f]Devorah[/name_f]
[name_f]Yonina[/name_f]
[name_f]Sivan[/name_f]
Sivana
[name_f]Carmela[/name_f]
[name_f]Ayala[/name_f]
[name_f]Seraphine[/name_f]
[name_f]Zemira[/name_f]
[name_f]Levana[/name_f]
[name_f]Kinneret[/name_f]
[name_f]Aviva[/name_f] (yes I know it’s popular but I can’t help it, I like the letter V so much…)
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I’m not really sure what’s popular since I don’t belong to an orthodox community myself (I consider myself a Jewish humanist!) but here are some of my favorite Hebrew girls names:
Ashira
Eliora
Leora
Odelia
Ophira
Salomea
Ziva
edit: i forgot a few!
Neorah
Ahava
Arava
Ayelet
Casiphia
Kelilah
Shoshana
Tova
Zehava
Zipporah
Zohar / Zohara
I love Aviva!
Adding on to the previous poster:
Adina
Shira
Tzipporah
Elisheva
Tamar/Tamara
Rotem
Batsheva
Eliana
Elana
Margalit
Marganit
Herut
Amaria (not sure if this is a Hebrew name but a very orthodox family’s daughter is named this)
Some names I’ve heard at my Jewish school and Jewish summer camp!
I love…
[name_f]Beulah[/name_f]
[name_f]Adah[/name_f]
(^ my personal favorites!)
[name_f]Zadie[/name_f]
[name_f]Zahava[/name_f]
[name_f]Tirzah[/name_f]
[name_f]Doveva[/name_f]
Hosana
[name_f]Ofra[/name_f]
[name_f]Selah[/name_f]
[name_f]Raphaela[/name_f]
[name_u]Shiloh[/name_u]
and [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f]!
There’s an Orthodox Jewish creator (anyone else love [name_f]Miriam[/name_f]? Lol!) on TikTok whose youngest daughter is [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f] nn Dassy
which I just adore.
[name_f]Cherith[/name_f]
[name_f]Azaria[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilach[/name_f]
[name_f]Shira[/name_f]
[name_f]Shani[/name_f]
[name_f]Atarah[/name_f]
[name_u]Raz[/name_u]
[name_f]Shifra[/name_f]
[name_f]Noya[/name_f]
[name_f]Raziela[/name_f]
[name_f]Ziva[/name_f]
[name_f]Hadara[/name_f]
[name_f]Carmina[/name_f]
[name_f]Jora[/name_f]
I love [name_f]Aviva[/name_f] too! Other favorites from your list are: [name_f]Kinneret[/name_f], [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f], and [name_f]Ayala[/name_f].
Other thoughts (with apologies regarding my ignorance related to popularity):
[name_f]Orly[/name_f]
[name_f]Liora[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliora[/name_f]
[name_f]Peninah[/name_f]
[name_f]Shoshannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Selah[/name_f]
[name_f]Ardith[/name_f]
[name_u]Ezri[/name_u]
[name_u]Elisha[/name_u]
[name_f]Athalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Marnie[/name_f]
[name_f]Ayla[/name_f]
[name_f]Aviva[/name_f]
[name_f]Cherith[/name_f]
[name_f]Amalia[/name_f]
[name_f]Briella[/name_f]
[name_f]Channa[/name_f]
[name_f]Davina[/name_f]
[name_f]Keturah[/name_f]
[name_f]Elula[/name_f]
Zyllah
[name_u]Jubilee[/name_u]
[name_f]Leora[/name_f]
[name_f]Rivka[/name_f]
[name_u]Neriah[/name_u]
[name_f]Salome[/name_f]
[name_f]Keziah[/name_f]
[name_f]Adina[/name_f]
[name_f]Doveva[/name_f]
[name_f]Zipporah[/name_f]
[name_f]Talia[/name_f]
[name_f]Sapphira[/name_f]
[name_f]Tova[/name_f]
I love those, especially [name_f]Zemira[/name_f] and [name_f]Kinneret[/name_f]! I think [name_f]Aviva[/name_f] is popular because it’s just so pretty! Popularity definetly varies by community (Devorah is very popular where I am.) But here are some suggestions:
Sivana and [name_f]Zemira[/name_f] are similar to [name_f]Sylvia[/name_f], [name_f]Celandine[/name_f], and [name_f]Selena[/name_f], as well as [name_f]Sapira[/name_f], [name_f]Sarina[/name_f], Sigalit.
[name_f]Yakira[/name_f]
Liana/Liona
[name_f]Ariana[/name_f]
[name_f]Shifra[/name_f]
[name_f]Sharona[/name_f]
[name_f]Ziva[/name_f]
[name_f]Odelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Margalit[/name_f]
[name_f]Meital[/name_f] (this one might be a little more popular?)
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps!
Honorable mention to Chavatzelet because it’s so pretty but very long!
[name_f]Edit[/name_f]: I second previous poster’s suggestion of [name_f]Doveva[/name_f]! Has elements of both [name_f]Devorah[/name_f] and [name_f]Aviva[/name_f]!
[name_f]Devorah[/name_f] isn’t so unusual in my community but it’s definitely not popular, it’s more of a “one girl in school” kind of name.
I love [name_f]Doveva[/name_f]! But I have heard it isn’t a “real” name for a girl, that only [name_m]Dovev[/name_m] is real. So I am not sure.
I love love love Sivana, but I would only use that if a baby was born in [name_f]Sivan[/name_f], which doesn’t seem likely for our first 
[name_f]Zemira[/name_f] I really like but I think I slightly prefer [name_f]Meira[/name_f], and I don’t think I would use both for siblings, they have such similar nicknames.
[name_f]Sarina[/name_f] I love but my mother’s name is [name_f]Sarah[/name_f], so can’t use that!
Thank you for your suggestions, these are really what I was looking for
if you have any other thoughts please post!
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[name_f]My[/name_f] favorite Hebrew names are [name_f]Ayla[/name_f], [name_u]Tali[/name_u], [name_f]Odelia[/name_f], [name_f]Nechama[/name_f] (she makes my heart
), [name_f]Maya[/name_f], etc. I’m not sure any of them are TRULY rare, but they are sweet I think!
Other options:
Hadassa/Hadas
[name_u]Maayan[/name_u]
[name_u]Gefen[/name_u]
[name_f]Shira[/name_f]
[name_f]Shoshana[/name_f]
[name_f]Tahal[/name_f]
[name_u]Yuval[/name_u]
[name_f]Esther[/name_f]
Chana/Chava (very slowly working on a novel with a [name_f]Chava[/name_f] nn Havi in it… I think I like how [name_f]Chava[/name_f] sounds more than it looks, though, and [name_f]Chana[/name_f] and [name_f]Chava[/name_f] might be hard to wear in an [name_f]English[/name_f] speaking country! Same with Nechama?)
[name_f]Talia[/name_f]
[name_f]Romi[/name_f]
[name_f]Rivka[/name_f]
[name_f]Tehila[/name_f] (always worry this is too close to tequila, but I love Tehila’s meaning!)
Aviora
Adaya/Adara/Adira
[name_f]Leni[/name_f]
[name_f]Ophira[/name_f]
Eliora/Liora
[name_f]Tzivia[/name_f] (unsure of spelling; I think it’s a feminine form of [name_m]Tzvi[/name_m]. Recently (a couple years ago) read a novel with siblings named [name_m]Ram[/name_m] and [name_f]Tzivia[/name_f] from Israel; it seems like the perfect combo of [name_f]Tzipporah[/name_f] and [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] to me!)
[name_f]Ayelet[/name_f]
[name_f]Liel[/name_f]
[name_f]Aliza[/name_f]
[name_f]Amira[/name_f]
[name_f]Dalia[/name_f]
Eliana/Eliane
[name_f]Ilana[/name_f]
[name_f]Lilach[/name_f]
[name_f]Keren[/name_f]
[name_f]Kelila[/name_f]
Kezia(h)
[name_f]Odele[/name_f]
[name_u]Simcha[/name_u] (although I prefer this for a boy)
[name_u]Lior[/name_u] (I feel like I should prefer this for a boy, but I love it for a girl!)
Tirzah/Tirtza
Tzufit (I love this name and its meaning, but I am afraid Americans would just hear “two feet” le sigh)
[name_f]Yasmin[/name_f]
[name_f]Yemima[/name_f]
[name_f]Amalya[/name_f]
[name_f]Ariela[/name_f]
[name_f]Aviela[/name_f]
[name_f]Avira[/name_f]
[name_f]Dafna[/name_f]
Elienai
Emuna
[name_f]Elinor[/name_f]
Gavriel(l)a
Kefira (although this maybe doesn’t have the best meaning)
Madelaine/Madelayne (the second is a user-submitted name on behindthename… not sure how Hebrew it is but I do love the [name_f]Magdalene[/name_f] family, and I think [name_f]Madelaine[/name_f] is super pretty and almost feels medieval European… but I don’t know if that means it doesn’t fit your criteria haha.)
[name_f]Natanya[/name_f]
Renana
[name_f]Revaya[/name_f]
[name_f]Rimona[/name_f] (love fruit names, and I love that this means pomegranate! I think it works because of [name_f]Ramona[/name_f], too!)
[name_f]Shimona[/name_f] (although I prefer the more European Simona)
Tzahala
[name_f]Tzipora[/name_f]
And does [name_f]Zisel[/name_f] count? It’s Yiddish, but I find it absolutely fascinating! Sorry if I went overboard; I can’t claim the culture but Hebrew names are some of my favorites! Obviously some are more used than others, but I’m much more familiar with the popularity in [name_u]Israel[/name_u] than in Jewish communities in the US or [name_u]England[/name_u], for example. I love your [name_f]Devorah[/name_f] (although I prefer the [name_f]Dvora[/name_f] spelling), [name_f]Ayala[/name_f] (although I prefer the more dated Ayelet… I know of several Latino families with the surname [name_f]Ayala[/name_f], so it’s harder for me to see it as a first name… I do like just [name_f]Aya[/name_f] and [name_f]Ayelet[/name_f] though!), [name_f]Zemira[/name_f], and [name_f]Aviva[/name_f] (yes, she sure is lovely!). Good luck!
[name_f]Atarah[/name_f]
Elora/Eliora
[name_f]Kelila[/name_f]
[name_f]Nava[/name_f]
[name_u]Noa[/name_u]
[name_f]Ziva[/name_f]