Conference taveng::bagels

Keshet, meaning "Rainbow."

    I don't know what it is in Hebrew. Can anyone help?
    
    Bruce

    re:.2
    Hebrew names are not necessarily translations of English names;
    theoretically, an English name is a nickname while the Hebrew name
    is what counts!
    
    re:.0
    Mine is Efraim, which sounds pretty close to Fred anyway.  (It works
    better in Spanish, where Efra�n is a fairly common name.)

    My Hebrew name is Yaacov. I was named for my Grandmother, from the
    Yiddush derivative. My middle name is Yehudah, and the translation
    of my last name is Zohav.
    
    Now you know all the Hebrew I know.
    
    Regards, 
    Yaacov Yehudah Zohav

    My Hebrew name is Aryeh (meaning Lion) which has nothing at all
    to do with my English name.
    
    Roger
    

    re:.3
>    Hebrew names are not necessarily translations of English names;
>    theoretically, an English name is a nickname while the Hebrew name
>    is what counts!
    
Is the Hebrew name your legal name then?  Just curious.

/Mike

    Re: .2
    
    The only Bruce that I know has a Hebrew name of Baruch. Of course
    this need not be your Hebrew name. 
    
    Let us know if you are able to verify the name that was given to
    you.
    
    Cb.

    My middle name is Bruce and it is Baruch in Hebrew.


		Mordechai ben Moshe

    Re. .2
    
    pleased to meet you Bruce, my name is Bruce as well.
    
    But my Hebrew name isn't Baruch (although that's a majority of
    Bruce's).  My name is Bezalel ( after Bezalel Ben Uri Ben Hur the
    designer and builder of the Mishcan [ holy tabernacle] ).
    
    I and all first born males in my extended family are all Bezalel
    after my Grandpa (us sephardim do things real different).
    
    Another possibility is Ben-Zion (the child of Zion [Israel]) I've
    seen thatt as well.  I would suggest asking an older family member,
    one who might recall an older relative with a similar name.
    
    Re. .6
    
    Mike, in many regards according to things of Jewish Legality, your
    hebrew name is your only one.  For example, on a ketubah when one
    gets married,  If someone says a Mi'She Berach (blessing at a
    predetermined point in the sabbath service for an ill individual)
    for you and does not know your Father's Hebrew name, the blessing
    becomes  XYZ Ben Abraham (seeing as how we are all Abie's kindeles).
    Also when selling your leaven before Passover, all Hebrew names.
    
    There is also an underlying tradition that when one is named after
    a particular person of historical merit, you can actually hope to
    become somewhat like that person in mind or deeds.  It might sound
    childish and superstitious but think about it * and if it sound
    interesting let's expound* If there is no basis for spiritual or
    (dare I say it) mystical strength from names - Why does the TANACH
    (Bible,Prophets,Writings) make such a big deal about lineages,names
    and especially the changing of one's name (ie. Jacob -> Israel,
    Sarai -> Sarah, Hosea -> Joshuah).
    
    Kosher food for thought
    
    Bezalel Nissim Ben David (Bruce) Ha-Cohen

    I was named in Shul in Yiddish.  My Yiddish Hebrew name is Faivel
    Yussel, where Faivel is spelled Fay-Yud-Yud-Vuv-Vuv-Eyen-Lamed!
    
    In Hebrew, Faivel becomes Shragai, and of course Yussel is Yosef.
    
    Since I belong to a Reform shul (egalitarian) my Hebrew name is:
    Shragai Yosef ben Avraham Moshe v'Chaya Elke.
    
    A mouthfull, even ignoring the terrible transliterations.
    
    			Paul
    

re: Note 156.6

>Is the Hebrew name your legal name then?  Just curious.

	As .9 points out, to a Jew, one's Hebrew name is the one that's
    legal, in matters of Jewish law, practice, etc.  My legal name in
    the civil world, per Massachusetts law, is Fred Richard Goldstein,
    but as I am both a Jew and an American, I have two names.
    
    As the Hebrew National commercial mentions, sometimes you answer
    to a higher authority!
           Efraim Ben-Asher Menachem
             a.k.a.    fred

This is fun!

My Hebrew --and only-- name is Reuven. I never liked it, so did
not object too strenously when I was nicknamed 'Ronnie' during
my Air Force stint.

That was many, many moons ago. Somehow, 'Ronnie' stuck. However,
when I moved to this country, it was deemed inapropriate - or maybe
too forward. By now, most everyone calls me Ron.

Except my wife. She still calls me Ronnie (except when she's mad.
Than, it's Reuven).

-- Ron

Re all who answered my question

Thanks.  My main question concerned double usage of Jewish and non Jewish
names.  Is it a common practice among Jews outside of Israel to use
non Jewish names as their legal (in the secular sense) names?

Also, is a shul the body of people attending a particular synagogue?

/Mike

Re .0:  >  My Hebrew name is Mordechai...

"Mordechai", even if mentioned in "Megilat Esther" (in the bible), is
originally a Persian name, after the Persian god "Mordoch". However,
it is a fairly common Israeli name today (usually goes with the Israeli
nick name "Motti").

There are other popular Israeli names with such background. For example
the girl name "Anat".

Nitsan Duvdevani
  ^        ^
  |        |
 Bud     Cherry

    Shul IS Synagogue in Yiddish.

    Thanx Bud, er Cherry.

    Thank you all for the many replies! I am a non-practicing agnostic
    Jew, interested in my heritage but skeptical of all religions. I
    have found this Notes file to be informative, interesting, and fun!
    
    Back to names: I doubt if I actually received a Hewbrew name, and
    there is nobody left in my family to ask. So I will adopt some, based
    on the fascinating answers I read here. 
    
    Baruch Bazalel Ben Zion
    
    aka Bruce Charles Sloane
    
    [I do know the "Charles" comes from my grandfather, and "Sloane"
    originally was "Solomon."]

    I always thought my hebrew name was Hinda Ruchel.  THen when I was
    in Israel and and Israeli asked me my name and I told him, he sneared
    and said, "that's a Yiddish name."  He ended up calling me Hinda,
    anyway. 
    
    My question, if that's my Yiddish name, what does it translate to
    in Hebrew?
    
    ****andrea rochelle mason****

    
    Andrea,
    
    As for the Hinda (or Hindy as my cousin is), I'm not sure (but will
    continue to think Ruchel is the European for Rachel who was one
    of the Matriarchs (Jacob's Wife).  Actually as I think Hindy 
    might have a close link to Channa (or Hannah) the root of that word
    is from Chain (pronounced w/soft ch ch-ay-n) which means a sort
    of a quiet beauty which gives one pleasure (I'm blushing). 
    The phrase in hebrew 'Ma-tzati Chayn Be- eiynai' means it found
    pleasure in my eye (used often in the Bible).  It also has a deeper
    meaning as a divine attribute 'Chayn, Chesed, Rachamim' or
    'Internal beauty, ultimate charity, unbounded mercy'.
    
    Hope I didn't ramble but as I've stated before I hold a high regard
    for the hebrew language (although the guys at TAV02 would probably
    double over in pain at my conjugation) and in the roots and essence
    of the words.
    
    P.S. for Barch Bezalel Ben-Zion:
    
    Baruch -> Blessing
    Bezalel -> In the Shadow of Hashem
    Ben-Zion -> The son of Zion
    
    Bezalel from the Bible was chosen to build the mishcan because
    "Bezalel knew how to combine the letters through which heaven and
    earth were created."
    Talmud
    
    Bruce Cohen            
    

                All through  Hebrew  school,  I  was  called Z'av 
                (Hebrew for wolf).  My father tells me my name is 
                actually  Velvel  Label (sp)  after  my  maternal 
                grandfather,  William  Lewis.  Is  this  Yiddish?  
                Paternal  grandparents  were  from what was  then 
                Austria  (to  become Rumania after WWI, and  then 
                Russia after WWII).  Town of Sterszinitz (sp)  in 
                the county  of  Chernovitz.  Incidently, our last 
                name was Rauchweiger  (sp  -  again),  apparently 
                translated to "furrier".  We must have had one in 
                the family.  
                
                So anyway, what's my name?
                
                Warren Rothberg

    
    You have the same 3 that I have.
    
    I was named for my Mother's Grandfather Velvel.  My hebrew name
    is also Z'av (Zev) and they chose Warren from the W in Wolff. I'm
    not happy with Warren but have never changed due to a kinda curse
    from the person who I was named for.  He said never name anyone
    Velvel since they would always be called Valludy.  Although there
    have been many attempts to nickname me none have ever stuck. 

    	My Hebrew name is Avrom which I changed to Avrohom when I found
    out that in Hebrew school why god added the H.
    
    	When I was in Israel and was asked what my American name was
    I would say Ani Ani which is a play on the words that God said to
    Moses when Moses asked, Who shall I say gave me the commandments,
    and God said, I am I am or Ani Ani in hebrew.
    
    	BTW did God speek to Moses in Egyptian or Hebrew?

    
    Arnie,
    
    Actually Hashem didn't say 'I am I am' , it was (in hebrew)
    'Eheyeh asher Eheyeh' which has been translated to be 'I am that
    which I am' but which should really be translated as 'That which
     there is (what created all that there is) and will be'.  
    Both I feel convey the message of totality and oneness and a be
    all and end all to the cosmos.  Also, it was in response to 'Who
    shall I tell sent me when Pharoh asks whay the Israelites should
    be freed?'
    And.. I would bet my paycheck that Moses understood what Hashem
    said on a much deeper level than Egyptian or Hebrew.  He was communing
    with the devine on a level much higher than we can really even concieve
    of.  In essence, if Moshe spoke Yiddish (you mean he didn't ?????)
    he would have understood.
    
    Bruce
    P.S. My interpertation is not my own rather that of a biblical scholar
    and ancient linguist from Yeshiva U.
    
    BC
    

    re a couple...
    
    I think Hinda means hen in Yiddish; I will check in a dictionary
    and report back.  I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with the
    hebrew 'Chen'.   Ruchel is nothing more than the Yiddish pronunciation
    of Hebrew Rachel (pronounced differently from the English
    pronunciation).   
    
    About Israelis sneering at Yiddish names...  you have stumbled across
    a fascinating aspect of Israeli mass culture called 'belittling
    the exile'.  The reasons behind this are rooted in the history of
    the Zionist movement.  The end result is that many Israelis see
    themselves as new creations of a new age with little connection
    to the past 2 millenia of Jewish history, and as being superior
    in many ways to all Jewish communities between Masada and Deganya
    Aleph (the first kibbutz).  The cultural products of the exile,
    including Yiddish theater, language, music, literature, medieval 
    rabbinics, hassidism, the fruits of the Jewish community in 
    medieval Spain, 'Jewish cooking', folkways of the shtetl and the
    ghetto, are all reminiscent of painful degradation with which
    the modern Israeli wishes to have absolutely no identification.
    BUT this is all grist for another topic.... the point is that 
    things like Yiddish names are considered degrading, odd, old-fashioned,
    uneducated, old-world.  The adjective that would be used to describe
    them in Hebrew is 'galuti', which literally means, 'exilic', and
    that says it all right there.
    
    But actually, Yiddish names can be perfectly valid and legitimate
    names, for use in things like; ketubot (wedding contracts), aliyot
    (being called to the Torah), yizkor (memorial service), brit, ....
    For that matter, the only arbiter of what your 'real' name is, is
    what your parents called you at your brit (or naming, for girls).
    If they told the mohel to say, 'veyikare sh'mo b'yisrael Christopher
    ben Shrage Velvel....' then your name is Christopher, not Chaim,
    or Chaikl, or anything else.   
    If you weren't named in one of those two ways, then your name is
    whatever you are known by in the Jewish community.
    It is true that there is a strong PREFERENCE for giving babies Jewish 
    (meaning Hebrew or Yiddish) names, in order to preserve cultural 
    cohesiveness and identity.  
    
    There is a Midrash that 4 things kept the children of Israel from
    assimilating totally into the dominant Egyptian culture when they
    were slaves in Egypt (remember, they didn't have the Torah then
    yet).... one of the 4 is that they didn't change their names.
    
    					Kathy 
    

    re:  Velvel, a few back
    
    One of my sons is named Menachem Zev. The Zev is Hebrew for Wolf.
    However, his Yiddish name would be Velvel, also meaning Wolf.
    
    I am not sure about the name Label, but, my other son is named Meir
    Labe. The Labe translated to Yiddish would be Laben, which is also
    the name we gave him in English. Laban means life or living.
    
    Another Yiddish derivative is of the Name Sarah. In Yiddish it is
    sometimes called Roy-zel or Ray-zel. Roisel is also translated to
    Rose, which is a very common name.
    
    Names are really quite facinating, especially when translated between
    languages.
    
    Jack

    re the previous note.
    
    we gave my sone the name of Steven in english. It was the closest
    english name we found that sounded like Zev.

re: .0

	Dovid Layzer ben Dan'el haKohen

re: a few back

	"Schul" does NOT mean "synagogue" in Yiddish.
	It means "school".  The two got to be synonomous
	in Europe, so we use "schul" today for
	(Hebrew) "beit midrash".

/don feinberg

    shul

	Rhymes with "full".  From the Greek schola, via
	the German Schule.  The Hebrew word for House of
	Prayer is bet-haknesset, a house of assembly.
	Similarly, the Greek word synagogue means "assembly"
	, "congregation."

    Synagogue.

    The shul was the center, the 'courthouse square',
    the forum of Jewish Communal life.  Day and Night
    men sat, read, parayed, studied, discoursed, debated
    in the synagogues - many of which never closed their
    doors.  Some Jews spent more time in shul than at
    work.

    The synagogue seems to date from 586 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar
    drove the Jews into exile.  IN Babylonia they sought
    to replace the Great Temple of Jerusalem, whch had been destroyed.
    (legend has it that some Jews preserved some stones from the
    Temple, carried them into captivity, and used them in building
    a synagogue in the small town of Nehardea.
	The synagogue is never mentioned in the Torah, it
    is often referred to in the New Testament.  The early Catholics
    calle dthe Jewish place of worship schola Judaeorum.
	G-d Himself proceeds from synagogue to synagogue, says
    the Talmud, "and from Bet Midrash (House of STUDY) to
    Bet Midrash...[to] give His blessings to Israel."
	In time it became a solemn obligation for Jews to
    build a shul as soon as a community contained 10 males
    (a minyan).  
	Phil, who was a rabbi and a Platonist, said it was
    the schola that made all Jews philosophers.

------------------------------------------

    A visitor to a shul in a tiny village, whose inhabitants believed
their tzaddik (rabbi) possessed miraculous powers, asked, "What miracle
did your rabbi perform recently ?"
    "Well, ther are miracles and miracles.  WOuld you think it a miracle
if G-d did exactly what our rabbi asked ?"
    "I certainly would!"
    "Well, here we think it a miracle that our rabbi does what G-d
    asks HIM !"


    Copied without permission from the book:

	"The Joys of Yiddish" by Leo Rosten.

    re .-1
    
    "Phil, who was a rabbi and a Platonist..."
    
    Phil?  Phil Silvers? Phil Roth?  Maybe you mean Philo, a
    Jewish Alexandrian philosopher, lived in the 2nd century c.e.,
    wrote alot of apologetic works showing how monotheism and Judaism
    are consistent with Greek philosophy....I'd have to check on this
    part but I don't think Philo was much of a Platonist...
    
    Anyway, I have never heard Philo seriously described as a "rabbi".
    
    Kathy
    
    
    I've never heard Philo described as a rabbi, by the way

    Sorry, PHilO, not Phil.

    Das what da book sez.

    	In "Hebrew" I am Schneiur David ben Tzvi Hirsch.  In English,
    I am David Samuel.  My parents switched the order in English to
    spare complications since I have 4 cousins all named after the same
    grandfather; they are Sam, Sam, Stan, and Steve.  Thanks, Mom! 
    Thanks, Dad!
    
    	Anyway, I put "Hebrew" in quotes because clearly it is a mishmosh
    of Hebrew and Yiddish.  Tzvi and Hirsch mean the same thing (deer,
    or some similar animal) in two different languages.  And it took
    a lot of explaining in Hebrew School that I was NOT David Shmuel but
    Schneiur David.
    
        When our son was born, we saved some grief by naming him Ari Tzvi, in
    Hebrew and English.  My father's English name was Harry, and the sound
    is similar.  Ari's name is all Hebrew (well, except the "ben Schneiur"
    part!).  Now, if he'll ever forget us for sticking him with Tzvi as an
    "English" middle name, we'll be all set.  He'll be Bar Mitzvah before
    he can pronounce it without spitting.
    
    	Good thing he was a boy.  Two years later we still don't know
    what we would have named a girl.

    			David

    Re: 0 - Tsvi Hersch ben Zev ha Levi
    
    Re: 30 - I am named for my grandfather who was also named Tsvi Hersch,
    the same as your father.  My name in English is Harris (close enough to
    Harold).  I don't know why 'Hersch' appears in the Hebrew name.  My
    first name in Yiddish is Herschel, but I was called Hersch (or Heshie)
    quite often by my father, etc. while growing up.  In synagogue I did
    not use 'Hersch' in my Hebrew name, but it appears on various religious
    documents of mine.  Anyone else have any insight as to why Hersch is
    mentioned with my Hebrew name? 
    
        Harris.

                <<< ZEPPO::USER5:[NOTES$LIBRARY]BAGELS.NOTE;2 >>>
                      -< Thou shalt not commit adultery >-
================================================================================
Note 156.32                        Oh, boy !                            32 of 32
TAV02::ALLIN1V2 "Le'Chaim"                           17 lines  14-JUL-1986 01:09
                               -< Deer Deer.... >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Re: .31
    
    There are many common combinations of Jewish names. One of these
    is a Hebrew name and its Yiddish counterpart. 
    
    In your case both Zvi and Hirsch mean a deer (the animal), thus
    the combination of Zvi Hirsch. In fact this type of combination
    is very common with regard to animals names. The same applies to:
    
    Aryeh Leib 		(Lion)
    Dov Bear		(Bear)
    Zev Volf		(Wolf)
    
    
    Cb.
    
    
    
    

    Re .10
    
    My first name is also Faivel. Are you sure of the Yiddish
    spelling? I've never seen it spelled with a double yud and vuv.
    I've known that the Hebrew translation of Faivel is Shragai ever
    since entering Hebrew school but prefer not to use the name. I was
    named Faivel at my bris and that's my name. Besides Shragai
    doesn't reflect my true heritage. 

    Re .11   8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) (lots of smilies)
    
    Where did you ever get a ridiculous middle name like Richard.
    
    		Faivel Reuven ben Eliukim
    
    		aka Frederick Richard Liss

    I am sure of the spelling of Faivel.  That's the way my grandmother
    says its spelled, and she is the last family member alive who know
    the person I'm named for.  We had to check a few years ago to make
    sure it was right for the ketubah.  I had known about the doubled
    letters - it was the ayen that surprised me.
    
    			Paul
    

    re:  .32
    
    Thanks CB,
    	My son's name is Tzvi Hersh. I also never knew why the Yiddish
    was combined with the Hebrew.  Adam Harris in English.
    	I am Chaih Hinda. I was always (lovingly ?)called a vilde chaih 
    when I was growing up.

    Mn name in Hebrew is Reuven Avrahom and in English it's Russell
    Alan. The last name is Grace and we were originally brought mhere
    from Lithuania and settled in Worcester, Mass. i'm trying to find
    out where my last name came into Grace.

    
    I was given a yiddish name  Avvrum Muttle which is Abraham Michael.
    Close since my english name is Michael Alan.  As I understand it,
    you always have to put Abraham first.?
    
    Mike K.

    re .-1.
    I hadn't heard before that you had to put Avraham first, but that
    would explain my father-in-law's name.  In English it is Milton
    Abraham, but his Hebrew name is Avraham Moshe.  Does anyonw know
    the official reason?

    The English and Hebrew names really have nothing to do with each
    other. We reversed the names of one of my sons simply because we
    liked it better. I have heard many English names which were not
    even close to their Hebrew names.
    
    As far as putting Avraham first, I am not sure. Usually you are
    named for someone, and this determines the order of the names. Perhaps
    this has just been carried on, and Avraham came first in the names.
    My father also has Avraham first. Very interesting.

    My Hebrew name is Leah (Layah) Sara (Sura).  I'm not sure of the
    correct way to pronounce it.  Also, I don't know if it corrisponds
    in meaning to my English name Lauren Steffi.
    
    LS

    There is no ONE correct way to pronounce  it.  There's an English
    pronunciation (Lee-uh Sarah), a Yiddish pronunciation (varies slightly
    depending on whether you use Litvak or Galizianer Yiddish
    pronunciation, something like Laya Soh-reh, or Lie-yuh Suh-reh), a Hebrew
    pronunciation (in Ashkenazi Hebrew, Lay-uh Saw-raw, in Sephardic
    Hebrew Lay-uh Sah-rah).  It corresponds to your English name in
    that the initials are the same.  I seriously doubt that the meanings
    of the names are in the least bit related, unless accidentally so.
    
    So you see, you have some choice (but not much) in deciding how to pronounce
    it.  If you go to Israel AND you choose to be known by your Hebrew
    name there, it will be pronounced in a Sephardic Hebrew accent.
    If you choose to go by your Hebrew name in America, it will undoubtedly
    be pronounced in American.  Ultimately, I think it gets pronounced
    the way the dominant culture chooses.  But you get to pick the name,
    so for instance, if you went to Israel and wanted to be called "Lauren
    Steffi", that's what people would call you, only they'd pronounce
    it in an Israeli accent.

    I'll trow mine on the pile. My hebrew name is Asher Zelig in english
    its  Jeffrey Zelig.
    
        Named aftyer my mothers grandfather Jacob Zelig

My Hebrew name is Chanah Shmuael ben Berel.

    My Hebrew name is Avraham-Eliezer (COHEN-BATIKOV) but I'm using
    only my nick name - Avi, and as family name - COHEN, but we kept
    the "BATIKOV" name in our registration because my grandfather came
    from RUSSIA and left his family behind and we still believe that
    one day we will find relatives coming from Russia.
    Happy CHANUKA,
    Avi

Try Yehoshuah (sp?) from Alex. Don't know what Joshua has to do with
Alex, but I do know that I was named after my grandfather Alexander,
whose Hebrew name had been Yehoshuah.   Maybe people traditionally 
throw up their hands when they encounter a biblical name like Alexander :-)

Alex

           
    re .45
    
    I don't claim to know what is traditional or acceptable or
    required, but when it came to naming my children I was told by
    both my rabbi (Conservative) and my parents (who grew up in a
    *very* traditional community in pre-War Radom, Poland) that there
    is a lot of room to move in the choice of names. 
    
    For example, my son, Joshua, is named for my father's father,
    Yosef.  Naturally, people assume that since his English name
    is Joshua, his Hebrew name must be Yehoshuah.  But it's Yosef.
    
    My daughter's name is Shayna.  We wanted to name her for my
    mother's sister, Nechamah, but couldn't find an English name we
    liked that was close.  We wanted her English name to be Shayna.
    The rabbi suggested Nechamah Shayna as her Hebrew name, and so it
    is.  My parents thought that was just fine and dandy.
    
    The bottom line seemed to be that you decide who the child
    will be named for and use that Hebrew name as the child's Hebrew
    name.  Try to pick an English name that is close, but if there
    is none that you like, pick one you like.

    Comments on this method?
    
    Sid

    I was born in Germany after WWII and named "Avraham" after
    my paternal grandfather.  When my family immigrated and my parents
    became naturalized citizens I went in front of a judge to also gain
    citizenship.  When he asked me my name, I told him "Avraham".  He
    said I needed an "American" name.  I became "Allen".
    
    A number of years later I began to become more committed to Judaism.
    I became "Avraham" again.  You see... I found out that it WAS and
    "American" name!
    
    My children?  Their names are:
    	
    			Yaakov Aharon
    			Shoshana Devora
    			Tamar Toba Tzippora
    			Ysroel Yosef
    			Adina Rachel
    	all fine "American" names.
    
    ---Av
    
    

	Does the name Shoshanna have an English translation?

re .-1	"Does the name Shoshanna have an English translation?"

Yes. Rose, or Lilly.  It's a big argument as to which one is right.
You're safe with either.

	Although 'Susan' has nothing to do with 'Shoshanna'
lots of people are named Susan in English and Shoshana in Hebrew, probably
based on the fact that the two names sound a bit alike.

	What does Minda translate to and what does it mean?

    Susan has everything to do with Shoshana, it is the English
    derivative of the Greek Suzanna, which derivation is the Hebrew
    Shoshana.  I ought to know this because Shoshana is my daughter's
    name, we checked it out pretty thoroughly before she was born.
    
    David 

RE .51 - Susan and Shoshana - 
 
You are absolutely right; Susan is from the Greek for Shoshana - this
occured to me about 5 minutes after i wrote my reply, but then i couldn\t
get access to bagels all day. 

Anyway, it's a pretty name, that's for sure.

re .50
I think Minda is Yiddish, but I don't know what it means.

    My English name is Susan (which the dictionary says has references
    to Latin & Greek for lily and rose)  But my Hebrew name is Shifra.
    For a whole year of Sunday school my teacher called me Shoshana
    until I finally got my mom to write down my correct Hebrew name
    for the teacher.  It is very common for the two names to be paired.
    

    When my eldest daughter was born, we wanted to name her after my
    wife's paternal grandmother.  Her name was Rose and no one could
    remember whether she was a Rachel or a Rivkah or a Rizel, etc.
    
    We decided on Shoshana.
    
    ---Av

Many English names are really Hebrew names and have a meaning in Hebrew
(and NOT in English). For example:

 * "Jacob" = "Yaakov" (from the Hebrew verb "Akav" = "to follow")
 * "Jonathan" = "Yehonatan" or "Yonatan" (in Hebrew: "God gave")

and there are many more.

In EXACT Hebrew a "Rose" is a "Vered". The name "Shoshana" is used for:
[1] Another common name for rose-type flowers.
[2] "Shoshan" is a name of ANOTHER flower (don't know the English name).

Nitsan  ( = "bud" in Hebrew.  I should know about this ;-)

.55

There are more,

Michael - Michael (pronounce all the vowels) - "Who is like god"
Gabriel - Gavriel "God is my strength"
John - Jochanan ?

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For those of us who are "Jews by choice" there is an interesting
problem.  Picking your own Hebrew name.  (You get Abraham and Sarah
for parents).

Teutonic names like Richard (powerful/strong/wealthy) just don't
translate very well.  So I ended up with "Gavriel ben Avraham Avinu
v'Sarah Imeinu" as a translation.

L'hit,
Gavriel

re .55 continued

Let's not to forget:

David		- D'vid
Abraham 	- Avraham
Joseph  	- Yosef
Seth    	- Shet
Rueben		- Rueven
Benjamin	- Binyamin
Daniel		- Daniel

Sarah		- Sarah
Rebeccah	- Rivkah
Ann, Hannah	- Channah
Elizabeth	- Alisabet
Lisa, Alisa	- Alisa
Mary, Marie, Miriam - Miriam
Estelle, Esther	- Esther