Gemara names

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  • #617055
    flatbusher
    Participant

    There are numerous names throughout the gemara that are not in use today. Where did they go? Was it not the custom of the time to name children after deceased relatives? And if not, when did that become the minhag and such a strong one?

    #1132487
    ubiquitin
    Participant

    flatbusher

    Hillel’s son is Shimon whose son is Gamliel (Hazaken) whose son is Shimon wose son is Gamliel whose son is Shimon whose son was Yehuda (Hanasi)

    I’m not sure if they were deceased when the kids were named

    #1132488
    apushatayid
    Participant

    Perhaps they were names unique to those countries so while we wont find any children named poppa (except in the coffee room) or zevid we have plenty of “hebrew” names found in shas, such Yackov, Yosef, Nachman, elozor etc throughout the generations

    #1132489
    longarekel
    Member

    many names came from the spoken language, so they no longer apply.

    agav that should apply to many Yiddish-european names as well.

    #1132490
    flatbusher
    Participant

    longarekel: I don’t understand your comment. What does the spoken language have to do with names applying? If our custom is to name after deceased relatives one would think that there would be at least a few Ashi, Zevid, Tarfon, etc. etc. And on top of that we have the gemara but no one seems to use those names anyway.

    #1132491
    theprof1
    Participant

    Its possible that the generations that followed did not like those names. Maybe Rav Tarfon’s children weren’t thrilled with that name. Yet there are thousands of Akivas around now. And many Alexanders. Does anybody know a Shaltiel? I do, my friends son. How about Saryahu? I had a friend with that name. Times change and names with them.

    #1132492
    writersoul
    Participant

    It’s been a long time…

    And a lot of them were stam Aramaic names, just like we use Yiddish names now. And who knows what will be with those in a few hundred years…

    #1132493
    Luna Lovegood
    Participant

    Bruria is a name that’s still in use

    #1132494
    rwndk1
    Member

    I don’t understand what is so surprising. Look at how many people (especially in Eretz Yisrael – even Hareidim) who shy away from Yiddish names. The grandmother was Gittel, the little girl named after her is Tova, some keep the Yiddish name as a middle name and add a more “acceptable” name as the first name. Why then would you wonder about the Aramaic names?

    #1132495

    I’m just curious – at what point exactly did the Jews start changing their names after leaving mitzrayim in that exact z’chus?

    #1132496
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Was it not the custom of the time to name children after deceased relatives?

    I would not make the assumption that this present day custom was in wide practice back then without further evidence.

    The Wolf

    #1132497
    Participant

    I would not make the assumption that this present day custom was in wide practice back then without further evidence.

    There are a number of families in the Mishnah where the same name is repeated skipping a generation or two. I can’t recall any instance of interaction between two people in the same family with the same name.

    #1132498
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    There are a number of families in the Mishnah where the same name is repeated skipping a generation or two. I can’t recall any instance of interaction between two people in the same family with the same name.

    Yes, there are – but that does not mean that the practice was (a) widespread or (b) practiced in a country hundreds of miles away and a few centuries later.

    The Wolf

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