I have a few phone calls to make today in which the scenario requires me to ask about services for a Jewish loved one. I have to have a name for the loved one that is an "appropriate ethnic first and last." I have no trouble coming up with names in general (I have a great website for that), but ones that sound "ethnic" are tough, especially because I am not Jewish.

Anyone out there have any good suggestions? I could use a few first and last names of either gender.

Thanks!

Shoppers' View, right? If you're not Jewish, you're not supposed to do these. The associate could easily start asking about traditions that you've never heard of, and your credibility is smashed.

Well, for last names, things like Rosenbaum and Goldstein come to mind. For male first names, think Old Testament - Aaron, Abraham, Benjamin, Jacob, etc.

As far as female first names, I'm not really sure. Hope this helps!

Deborah, Hannah,Sarah, Rachel, Israel, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Asher, Aronowitz, Klausner, Klein, Schwartz and Siegel

I agree with pinchers on this one - seems risky to do this if you have no knowledge at all of Jewish customs.

The instructions say that I shouldn't pretend to be Jewish if I'm not, only that my loved one is Jewish. I've done a few and it's worked out ok, but I've run out of ideas on names. I can't keep calling about "Aaron Cohen" all the time

I appreciate the ideas!!

(And, I should mention, there's no way to know if the assignment is a Jewish one or not until after it is already assigned. It's a total crapshoot )

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2015 02:12PM by meghan9262.

There are websites that specialize Hebrew names as well. Take a look at those, and pick something less stereotypical and modern, especially if you are supposed part of a mixed family.

Try Zev, Jonah, Ezra, Ari, Eli...and spell Josef with an "F" at the end if you are using that one and spelling it out for them!

As far as not being Jewish, there are plenty of mixed families where I live. You could have married into the family and not be aware of many traditions.

Keep in mind that not all Jewish people have names that sound "Jewish". I have a railroad historian friend who's name is Seth Bramson. Bramson doesn't sound Jewish. Ditto another friend who's last name is Wrinn. Also, many have legally changed their names; think Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

When questioned about some jewish-related things ehen doing one of these shops I just cut loose at them in Yiddish and no more questions asked.

@Cettie wrote:

When questioned about some jewish-related things ehen doing one of these shops I just cut loose at them in Yiddish and no more questions asked.

Considering that we can't all cut loose in Yiddish, you might consider being the goy (non-Jewish) wife a non-practicing Jew so you aren't familiar with the traditional customs.

My Yiddish is limited to Kir Mir Im Tuchas...which I don't think many funeral directors would appreciate.

You just made me laugh so hard tea came out of my nose

@pinchers81 wrote:

Shoppers' View, right? If you're not Jewish, you're not supposed to do these. The associate could easily start asking about traditions that you've never heard of, and your credibility is smashed.

Are you sure that's the exact specification? There are lots of non-religious Jews in the world who might run into a similar problem, and there are occasionally non-Jews who know more about Jewish traditions, history, culture, names, or even languages than many Jews do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2015 06:32PM by OceanGirl.

Yes, my ex- was non-religious Jew. His first name was also not Jewish as he was born in Europe during the war and was required to have the name of a Catholic saint in order to get a birth certificate. The last name had already been changed to a homophonic German name so that they would respond automatically if called by their new German name or by their old Polish name.

@GMooneyhan MBSC wrote:

Keep in mind that not all Jewish people have names that sound "Jewish". I have a railroad historian friend who's name is Seth Bramson. Bramson doesn't sound Jewish. Ditto another friend who's last name is Wrinn. Also, many have legally changed their names; think Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

Yup...and a lot of non-Jews actually have Jewish names. Some of them are even quite common, but people don't realize it because they have been used for so long in other circles.

@GMooneyhan MBSC wrote:

My Yiddish is limited to Kir Mir Im Tuchas...which I don't think many funeral directors would appreciate.

My personal favorite is "schmegege".

@GMooneyhan MBSC wrote:

Keep in mind that not all Jewish people have names that sound "Jewish". I have a railroad historian friend who's name is Seth Bramson. Bramson doesn't sound Jewish. Ditto another friend who's last name is Wrinn. Also, many have legally changed their names; think Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

Truth is stranger than fiction.

All good points to my earlier objection. I did a few of the non-Jewish phone calls a long time ago but never tried a Jewish one. I didn't think I could pull it off. Let's see, in high school I had Jewish friends whose last names were Porath and Bloomberg.

I'm jewish and my last name is f. Ha Ha. But I would not use a typically hebrew or biblical name that is not too common in this country as if you do then it is likely they might expect you to be more jewish than you "are". If you use a name that "could be" jewish not so much. If I meet someone named Mordechai for instance I would assume (but might be wrong) that they were brought up in a religious family. When my son was born I asked the rabii where I work (a hospital that has chaplains for several faiths) for suggestions using the letter I in my father's memory as jewish tradition names after some one who has died. He suggested Irving, Isreal, Isaac and such...none of which I wanted to name my son as a non practicing jew. You would be very on the money with David, Robert, Daniel, Steven...all names commonly used for jewish boys or for girls Rachel, Beth, Carol or pretty much anything these days. Even back 60-70 years ago these names were heavily used.
Last names that are common and easy to pronounce...Cohen, Levine, Solomon, something ending in stein or witz.and sometimes man..my favorite if you want to have some fun...Lipschitz and Fuchs if you pronounce it incorrectly.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2015 11:18PM by sandyf.

I would steer away from Cohen because if I recall correctly there are special rites/rituals for those in the line with that name. It seems to me it was the rabbinical line or some such.

I was raised Jewish. Ginsburg (or most names ending in burg), names ending in bloom, stein, or witz. Those are all good bets. Judith is a good woman first name, as is Rachel. I have never met a Jewish woman named Carol. Allen and Michael and David are good men names. My father used to tell a tale of two brothers with the last name of Yanklewitz coming into this country, and the border agents told them it would be best to change their names. As a big joke, they gave one the name of Goldstein and one, Silverstein.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2015 12:59AM by Crickettt.

There's a big, ol' list of Jewish, Hebrew, and Yiddish names on behindthename.com. You can filter it by gender, if you like. That option would be on the right.

Jewish: [www.behindthename.com]
Hebrew: [www.behindthename.com]
Yiddish: [www.behindthename.com]

Wikipedia has a lot of Jewish family names which you can search by first letter:
Jewish last names: [en.wikipedia.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2015 01:36AM by OceanGirl.

Actually there is a tribe called the Cohen's but I have known several people whose last names were Cohen and none of them belonged to that tribe. My daughters ex boyfriend is a Cohen and his name is not Cohen. He is a regular member of our american society, his family is not ultra religious although his grandmother is. There are some different rituals but none of them would affect choosing a place to spend your last years for him or his parents. I really don't know much about the Cohen's other than what I learned from him.

@GMooneyhan MBSC wrote:

Keep in mind that not all Jewish people have names that sound "Jewish". I have a railroad historian friend who's name is Seth Bramson. Bramson doesn't sound Jewish. Ditto another friend who's last name is Wrinn. Also, many have legally changed their names; think Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

Bramson doesn't sound Jewish, but Seth certainly is a Jewish name.

A friend of mine is Jewish and her name is Babette. Does not sound Jewish but she sure is! Her married name is not like a Jewish name because she married a Catholic man. So, her last name ends in man. I don't want to mention her real name here.

I'm an observant reform Jew. My first name is Irish and a type of flower. I also have a secondary Hebrew name of Rivkah, which means Rebecca. For male/female first names if you stay Old Testament you're probably going to be spot on. Aaron, Moses, Abraham, Isaac or Sarah, Rebecca, Rachael, etc. My last name doesn't 'look' Jewish, but it was changed on Ellis Island from the Polish. Last names that end in witz such as Horowitz or burg such as Marburg will do you just fine.

@Crickettt wrote:

I was raised Jewish. Ginsburg (or most names ending in burg), names ending in bloom, stein, or witz. Those are all good bets. Judith is a good woman first name, as is Rachel. I have never met a Jewish woman named Carol. Allen and Michael and David are good men names. My father used to tell a tale of two brothers with the last name of Yanklewitz coming into this country, and the border agents told them it would be best to change their names. As a big joke, they gave one the name of Goldstein and one, Silverstein.

my first cousin and an observant conservative jew = Carol

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful suggestions! The next time one of my phone shops pops up as a Jewish-religion call, I will surely be prepared!!

@meghan9262 wrote:

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful suggestions! The next time one of my phone shops pops up as a Jewish-religion call, I will surely be prepared!!

oy vey !

Jebadiah died on his rumspringa

I agree that it is best to avoid the last name of Cohen. While there are exceptions (there are exceptions to everything), someone with the last name of Cohen (or Kahn, Kagan, Kohn, Cowen, Corwin, or many variations) is likely to be a member of the priestly tribe, and if they are observant, may observe the prohibition against visiting a cemetery, or even entering a room where there is a dead body, but there are some exceptions for relatives. So, skip the last name Cohen. It will just be simpler. And you might as well skip the last name of Levi (or Levy or variants thereof) which signifies someone descended from the same Levi tribe (a Levite), but not from Aaron himself, from whom Cohanim are descended. So, to simplify, all Cohen are descended from the Levi tribe, but not all members of the Levi tribe are Cohanim.

One tradition that remains remains common among Jews is to have a simple casket. You can easily add a level of authenticity by adding (when appropriate) that the decedent had always talked about wanting a simple casket. The simplest will not have any metal hardware at all, but that is only common these days among the very observant. But ornate caskets are unusual, and I have never attended a Jewish funeral which was open casket (so ornate interiors are not likely to be offered). It is not unusual for the ceremony to be at the graveside. Jewish funerals also take place quickly. The next day is common. Not on Saturdays. Not on Friday afternoons. And since September is coming, avoid the time period beginning a few days before Rosh Hashonah (September 13 - 15 in 2015) and ending with Yom Kippur (September 22-23 in 2015). Yes, people die then also, but it will just be simpler.

A very large number of Old Testament names are now in favor by Christians, particularly Evangelicals. And definitely among the Amish, Mennonites, and other Anabaptist groups.