Hephzibah

I remember the name from the book Carrie's War. I thought it was a lovely exotic name then (I was about 10 I think). Does it go with your surname?

To me Hephzibah is the kibbutz down the road from DH's! It's a nice name but would be a bit of a mouthful for most English-speaking people though. It's not even a common name in Israel (well I've certainly never met one).

My Grandma was called Effie and I love it.

go for it if you like it.

My Great Grandma was called Hephzibah Michellemoth.....and Im pleased I wasnt named after her!!!

Effie is lovely.

Anna888's comment about Old Testament names only being used in the UK may have been interesting, but it's not true. These names are very popular in northern Europe. Not to mention large parts of the African continent! No doubt a religious/?Protestant thing in Africa, but not in Scandinavia, where most people are fairly lukewarm about these things. They're just names. In Sweden, there is an advantage in having a name in the calendar, as some families still do nameday presents/cakes, but then they keep revising the calendar to fit more names in!
(reminds me, I still owe my son for his last two name days)

And of course quite a few names are both OT and saints names: Joseph for instance, and David (if you're Welsh).

Only read the OP, but here's my two-pen'th-worth:

I like Martha!

Thank you am visiting tomorrow, so hope I like it

Good luck with the move!

(still in ch, aiming for mid august in Milan).

thinking of our street -
Jonas, Lucas. Luca, Noah, Benjamin, Alessandro, Simeon, 2 x Leah, Melvin, Levin, Patrick, Muriel, Balz (Balthazar), Jannik, 2 x Samuel, Robin, Beatrix, Anna, Aron & Dominic.

Oh yes, Leah/Léa is very typically Jewish here in France.

Would Hepzibah have a middle name too?

(hijack: Ernest are you in Italy now then or still in Switzerland?)

I once toyed with Hebe for a girls name

as far as I know, all protestant. is leah jewish name? Also v. popular here.

I think Ernest there's a kind of fashion these days though for Jewish names here, so you meet small children with some of those names. I've noticed a lot that people have said oh such-and-such is Jewish. And I've thought err? why do you say that? And they'd answer, oh his name is SIMON. I never really understood why they thought that way (when I first arrived) till someone explained that some names are considered Jewish, ie not just traditional biblical names but specifically Jewish.

One dm told me she was on holiday in Austria and was sitting at the breakfast table with her dds. She said something to them using their names - Hannah and Leah and two older women sitting nearby looked a bit disturbed and said, but those are Jewish names! Actually the funny thing is she IS Jewish. Still to the old women it was obviously a strange choice.

Until I came to Germany I have to say that I never spent a second thinking about whether names were or were not Jewish.

ernest - is that Protestants or Catholics using the OT names in Switzerland?

I dunno, In switzerland, Simon, Simeon, Benjamin, Noah, Levin not at all unuasual, nor are Balthazar, Gabriel, Salome. Def not just a UK thing, but the more unusual ones, like Moses (which no doubt rising in po due to ceratin sleb) Melchisadech, Melchior etc seemed in UK to be more of the stronghold of eg 7th Day Adventists, or at least this was the case in SW London about 10 years ago.

Not too keen on Hepzibah but having repeatedly read it throughout 5 pages of this thread, it is growing on me.

I agree with Anna that use of OT names in families of Christian background is pretty much an Anglo-Saxon thing. Here in Germany if you have a name common in the UK like Simon, David, Benjamin, Rebecca, Sarah, Hannah people will assume that you must be Jewish. Not to mention Aaron, Leah or something less common.

And each new teacher who read her name on the register would probably do a little roll of the eyes. Would that bother you?

no
poncey

back to Hepzibah... I think you'd have to be a brave parent. If I came across a little girl with this name I'd assume her mother's favourite book was Silas Marner.

Mind you, names that make you draw breath do grow on you once you get to know the person. But it would mean her name would always be an issue. Whenever she met someone and told them her name, there would always be a small pause before they reacted.

seeing it as Hepzibah...hm...makes it a tad worse...what with Hep A and B and stuff...would ahve to be very careful the name isn't shortened to Hep...

I think it's spelled Hepzibah.

hm...bit hard to pronounce....

and indeed 1dilemma, in our little suburb right here the OT names are big at the moment - standing in our local park listening to all the names, its like an Old Testament roll call at the pearly gates!! noah, elijah, isaiah, isaac,caleb, jonah etc etc. not that i am moaning as thats where we chose our ds name from too!

(Relieved to hear the bithday table has gone what a hideous hideous idea) Aren't lots of Old Testament names popular with Christians in Africa and sections of the American population to name a few?

Yes, all finished thank goodness. Still feel like a bit of a detested parent because of it all, by the head anyway, but at least it's gone.