Rufus or Reuven?

[sticklebrickstickle]

I really love both Rufus and Reuven, really no idea which I prefer. I love the nickname Roo or think Rufi is cute for a baby/toddler too but the nicknames seem to work with either name.

Reuven is I think fairly uncommon in the UK whilst Rufus is certainly more known which makes me think Rufus. But then maybe that means people are more likely to have negative connotations around Rufus?

Really I can't decide between the two! Which would you go for?

Rufus, if only because everyone would assume you had misspelt the far more familiar Reuben.

what she said

Reuven - you could spell it Ruven if you were worried that people would confuse it with Reuben . I don't think they would - and even if they did its no big deal , you can just put them right and they'll be intrigued . It's a nice , unusual name .
There's nothing wrong with Rufus either so either way you go it'll be a good choice IMO.

I agree that Reuven sounds and looks like you meant Reuben but got it a bit wrong, so I'd go with Rufus.
(Though I don't actually like Rufus much, and do love Reuben!)

Yes, I was a bit worried about Rueven being too similar to Rueben. I do like Rueben as well but is the name of a family member so not keen to use it, plus it doesn't work with nn Rufi which I do really like.

Good idea to consider Ruven as alternative spelling. I like that it's unusual but could be annoying for DS if he had to keep correcting it, so maybe Rufus then?

Ps Don't be put off by the mass hysteria which will inevitably follow now that you have suggested an unusual name . People wont be able to get their heads round it . It seems to be 'conventional - names- are- us ' around here where people find it helpful to say 'neither' , which really helps us with our decisions in our either / or questions ofcourse . Grr . Good luck

We know a rufus, shortened to Rofi - love the name but also like Reuben.

Where's Reuven from? Not saying you've made it up. I just haven't heard of it before.

Rufus might be safer choice, if simply to avoid "No, not Reuben, it's Reuven!" every time you have to mention it.

reuset: according to the Jewish virtual library Reuven and Reuben is the same person in the Bible

I like Reuven

Reuset - Reuven is the Hebrew, and Reuben is the English version of it. A lot of the v's in the bible are turned into b's in English - eg Bavel = Babylon, Hevel = Abel.

Rufus is the nicer name and besides that everyone will mishear Reuven as Reuben.

Love love love Rufus :)

Isn't reuven pronounced like reuben though? I mean obviously its a transliteration from the hebrew alphabet but I think the v is meant to stand for bet, not vet or vav (can't type hebrew letters on my phone).

ps, love rufus, it means 'red haired', any chance that will be true? I have red hair but as dd turned out dark like dh, I went with Isaac Henry Rufus for ds.

OP you have spelt it Reuven and Rueven in separate posts. The first is unusual but once you see it as the Jewish spelling of Reuben it's quite nice. The second looks like a made up name, so if you go for it you might want to make sure that it is spelt Reu and not Rue.

oh, I just looked it up (on wikipedia though) and there is no dagesh so looks like is pronounced reuven. Will it go with your surname? I think you'll need a traditional sounding jewish surname (insofar as there is such a thing) to pull it off.

Rufi is cute but out loud sounds like roofie - slang for a date rape drug. A bit grim sorry but thought it's better you know if you didn't already. Probably not an issue as a youngster but maybe when him and his mates are older he'd get teased or whatever.

I feel Reuven will be mistaken for Reuben. Even my autocorrect changes it to Reuben!

How about Rufin?

It's pronounced ra' uveyn (ra-oo-vain/rowv-vain), kind of 2.5 syllables, I think?