Ely, Ezra, Reuben - old testament names but not Jewish

33 replies

RTchoke · 15/09/2012 07:06

I love Ely (fullhane Elias), Ezra and Reuben but not only are we not Jewish - our surname is very Welsh.

What do people think of using these names for non-Jewish kids? And are there others I might like but have not thought of?

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defineme · 15/09/2012 09:21

There are a lot of old testament names about and certainly not all used by Jewish people. Isaac is one I hear lots at the moment. Go with what you like. My kids have an old testament name, a spanish name and a diminuitive(sp?). We aren't Jewish or Spanish and knew we were using an abbreviation, but we liked those names the most!
I did have one Jewish friend say ds1's name made him think of an old Jewish bloke and the passport control in Spain were very excited by dd's name, but that just made me laugh.

LineRunner · 15/09/2012 09:13

Eli is usually pronounced E - Lie in the west. In Israel however I always heard it pronouned 'Ellie' (for a male).

Ely ( a place-name) is pronounced E - Lee

Anyway it doesn't matter about being Jewish or not. There is a rich tradition in this country of using biblical names, most of which are lovely. There are a few that might sound a bit 'out there', but Eli, Ezra and Reuben are good.

seeker · 15/09/2012 09:06

Ely would be Ellie, surely?

Original poster

RTchoke · 15/09/2012 09:00

Seeker - I think it's Eli but DH reckons Ely makes the pronoucistion easier! Glad you agree with me.

OP posts:

NellyJob · 15/09/2012 08:55

the old testament is the book of both religions...

seeker · 15/09/2012 08:53

Isn't it usually Eli?

People might think you're Jewish, but does that matter?

boyfallingoutofthesky · 15/09/2012 08:50

Ezra is my choice for (mythical) next ds, and we are not Jewish. My ds has an old testament, Jewish though more mainstream name (and would have been Ezra were it not for my partner thinking it was too weird). I think Ezra is fine and Reuben is quite popular, as is Elijah (prefer this to Eli). Would probably avoid something like Reuven if was not Jewish, or more obviously Jewish names like Israel, Yitzhak etc (only because I would not feel I had any cultural claim to these names, whereas most old testament names are also part of christian tradition).

nooka · 15/09/2012 07:13

We were planning on using Ezra and are not Jewish (or Welsh for that matter :)) I just think it's a great name. Old Testament names aren't just used by Jewish families, although I'd be wary about some of the more obscure one. I don't know about Elias but Reuben has been relatively popular for a while.

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