Hephzibah

[Chunkamatic]

We have just been discussing girls names... even though we're convinced we are having a boy!

Think we have decided on Martha Edith, but we both really love the name Hephzibah... it's a hebrew name that means something like 'my delight is in her'. It would be shortened to Effie or Eppie, but we're not sure we're brave enough.

Your thoughts please.....

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.

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

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.

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

I once toyed with Hebe for a girls name

Would Hepzibah have a middle name too?

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

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

(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.

Good luck with the move!

Thank you am visiting tomorrow, so hope I like it

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

I like Martha!

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).

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.

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).

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?