Jewish girl names: 120+ Hebrew, Yiddish and Sephardic names with meanings

In Israel, Avigail (the Hebrew form of Abigail) led Jewish girls born in 2024 in Central Bureau of Statistics figures, followed by Ayala and Sarah. In the Population and Immigration Authority's list for the Hebrew year 5786, Avigail was first again, ahead of Libi and Tamar.

Traditional Jewish women's names include Hebrew names like Chaya, Tova and Bracha, Yiddish names like Shayna, Gittel and Bluma, and Sephardic names like Mazal, Sultana and Vida. Many women carried both a Hebrew name and a Yiddish or Ladino one.

Ashkenazi families usually honor a relative who has died, while many Sephardic families name a daughter after a living grandmother. A girl often receives her Hebrew name at a synagogue blessing soon after birth.

They are on our biblical names list, with Sarah, Rachel and Hannah. A separate section there explains the names whose meanings scholars debate, like Miriam, Esther and Leah.

Chana is Hannah, Devorah is Deborah, Avigail is Abigail, Elisheva is Elizabeth and Rivka is Rebecca. Israeli families use the Hebrew forms, and our biblical names list gives the English forms with meanings.

It depends on the tradition. Ashkenazi Jews traditionally avoid it and name only after relatives who have died, while Sephardic Jews often name children after living grandparents. It is custom, not Jewish law, so families choose.

As her Hebrew name, then bat, daughter of, then her parents' Hebrew names: for example, Leah bat David v'Sarah. This form is used for religious purposes, such as prayers and blessings in synagogue.