Hebrew Names

Esti is most commonly a short form of Esther and Estelle, both making the big move from old lady name to cool young name. It's also a popular short form of the Basque names Estitxu and Estibalitz, or a name in its own right, meaning "sweet honey". In French Canada, it's an untranslatable swear word.
 
Chrissy Teigen and John Legend welcomed daughter Esti Maxine in 2023, creating a subtle celestial sister set with Luna. Luna's name soared after they chose it in 2016, and while Esti hasn't quite become a rising star, it was given to 33 girls in a recent year: almost double the number it was chosen for prior to the celeb couple using it.
 
Esti may be more popular than it seems because it's short for many longer names and also can be spelled different ways, including Estie and Estee, as in cosmetics brand creator Estee Lauder. The Esty spelling was featured in the Netflix mini-series Unorthodox, while this form features in Naomi Alderman's novel, Disobedience and its subsequent movie adaptation.

Esti

Hillel the Great was a famous Talmudic scholar, the spiritual and ethical leader of his generation, and his name is greatly honored by parents in Israel and, to some extent, here. 

Hillel

A variation of the Old Testament Bithiah, Batya is a Hebrew variant of the name. Derived from bat meaning "daughter" and yah meaning "Yahweh", Batya (or Bithiah) is the name of one of Pharaoh's daughters, often depicted as the one to take Moses out of the Nile. 
With Katya catching on, and Bithiah gaining (just a little) more attentionm this sound-related name could too. Alternative Hebrew and Jewish forms of the name include Batyah and Bitya, while Basya and Baisa are diminutives. Bashe, Pessel, and Pesche are Yiddish short forms.

Batya

Joachim is an undiscovered biblical name with potential, although most modern parents would probably prefer the more lively Spanish version, Joaquin. Like many Old Testament names, it was primarily in use in the seventeenth century, and then became rare. In the Bible Joachim is a king of Judah; according to the Gospel of James, Saint Joachim was the husband of Saint Anne and the father of the Virgin Mary.
 br/>Currently well-used in France, the name Joachim is known in countries and languages around the world and pronounced somewhat differently in each. While American might be most familiar with the Spanish version of the name, Joaquin via actor Joaquin Phoenix, that pronunciation wah-keen is not similar to any of the pronunciations of Joachim, which all have three syllables often with the emphasis on the second.

Joachim

Dinah is a charming, underused Old Testament name with a rich literary and musical resume. In the Old Testament, Dinah was the beautiful daughter of Jacob and Leah and while some conflate her with the Biblical Adinah, they are in fact different figures.
 Meaning "God will judge", Dinah is the heroine of the best-selling Anita Diamant novel The Red Tent, and is also a central character in the George Eliot novel Adam Bede, where she acts as a moral center. In the classic film The Philadelphia Story, Dinah is the heroine's sassy kid sister while it also appears in Alice in Wonderland as the name of Alice's kitten. 
 One important thing to note is that "Aunt Dinah" has been used as a racial stereotype, from the character of the cook in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. It may also sound too reminiscent of the American diner in some accents. 
 The name Dinah was adopted by two great singers: Dinah Washington (born Ruth) and Dinah Shore (born Frances).

Dinah

Romi and Romy are used interchangeably, though they have different roots. Both are on the rise especially for girls, given to more than 800 baby girls in the US last year and about 50 baby boys. 

Romi and Romy can also make short forms of any Rom-starting boys' name such as Roman or Romeo or even of a name like Jeremy.

Romi

This name of the final service on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is sometimes given symbolically to girls born on that day. 

Neila

An energetic name with an embroidered feel. 

Danya

Ella may well be used as an unusual spelling variation of the familiar Ella, though it is also a Biblical name. Derived from the Hebrew word for the terebinth tree (and occasionally equated with the oak tree in some translations), Elah appears in the Bible as a masculine name, and a place name (where David battled Goliath), the latter fact helping it to appeal as a neutral option.
 
As a variation of Ella, it would be pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, while as a Hebrew name, it would be pronounced as eh-LAH, with the latter syllable being more distinctive.

Elah

In the Bible, daughter of King Saul and wife of King David. 

Michal

The popularity of Maya clarifies the pronunciation of Raya, which makes that the better spelling of this name.

Raia

This is a Hebrew word name, created from the word zahav, meaning gold. 

Zahava

An appealing name almost unknown in our culture but with roots in several others; worldlier than cousins Celia and Delia. 

Zelia

Adel might be considered a spelling variation of Adele, derived from the Germanic element adal meaning "noble", with the final '-e' removed to make it more concise and less girly. Alternatively, it could be an anglicization of the Hungarian form of Adela, usually spelled as Adél.
 
It also has its roots in Hebrew, combining ad</e> meaning "eternity" with el signifying God, to give the name a very spiritual meaning. 
 
Adel is also used as a masculine name, deriving from Arabic to mean "just and honest" and from the same Germanic element mentioned above, and is used as a standalone name, or as a short form of Adelbert/o.

Adel

A feminine form of Adriel, a Biblical name that has soared up the US charts in the 2020s . A possible successor to Adrienne and Danielle or an alternative to Arielle and Adeline, Adrielle was give to 35 girls in a recent year, while alternative forms Adriella, Adriel, Adriela, Adrielly, and Adriely were chosen for around 80 girls collectively. 

Adrielle

Biblical name from the New Testament. The Book of Philemon mentions Apphia as a Christian woman in Colossae.

Apphia

Anglicized as Judah, this name of a biblical patriarch is given symbolically to boys born on Chanukah; a form of it was spotlighted by violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin. 

Yehudah

Little-used name borne by several biblical figures including a king. It would make an unexpected way to get the nickname Eli - or Kim.

Eliakim

A bright sounding name with a serious and spiritual meaning, Ezelio is a form of Eselias, itself the Greek variation of Hebrew Atsalyahu. It ranked in the US data for the first time in 2024, when it was given to 53 boys.
 
Some sources suggest Ezelio comes from Ezell, contracted from of Ezekiel.

Ezelio

Like its better known cousin Jedidiah, Jebediah is one of those four-syllable Old Testament names that is being shorn of its long white-bearded image, with the help of its modern-sounding Jeb nickname.

 Pop culture references: The Australian alternate rock band Jebediah, and the founder of the Simpson's hometown, Jebediah Springfield.
 Jeb Bush, by the way, was not born Jebediah: J.E.B. are his initials, as in John Ellis Bush.

Jebediah

Hebrew names used widely in the modern world include Noah, Isabella, Elizabeth, Sarah, Asher, Elijah, Jacob, Leah, James, John, Michael, Mary, and Eva. 

 include Ariel, Delilah, Eliana, Eva, Maya, and Naomi. For boys, 

 include Asher, Elijah, Jacob, Levi, and Noah. In Israel, popular names include Tamar, Shira, Uri, and Noam.

 are some of the best-known as well as the most interesting Hebrew baby names today.

 often have Hebrew origins. Recommended choices include Delilah, Dinah, Keziah, Esther, and Susannah.

 include such appealing Hebrew boy names as Amos, Asher, Eli, Ezra, and Moses.

Hebrew is spoken in modern Israel, so it's both an ancient and a living language. Names popular in modern Israel include many Hebrew names but some modern Israeli names as well. 

If you’re searching for Hebrew names for your baby or simply want to survey all the options with roots in ancient languages and cultures, here is the full range of Hebrew name choices in our database, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

Hebrew names including Hebrew boy names and Hebrew girl names for jewish babies with meaning and popularity (Page 25)