RABBIS LIST NAMES NOT TO GIVE YOUR CHILD

Rabbis list names that should not be given to children

A group of Israeli rabbis has compiled a list of names they say should be off-limits to Jewish children - including Ariel and Omri, the given names of Israel's prime minister and his eldest son.

 

Uttering the name Ariel is problematic because it could beckon an angel namesake instead, drawing down his wrath, they caution.  Omri - the name of an evil biblical king - should be taboo because of the highly negative connotation.

 

And naming children after dismantled Gaza settlements, like Katif, is another bad idea, they say, because of the controversy involved, they say. Jewish settlers, predominantly religious ones, unsuccessfully opposed the withdrawal.

 

The rabbis' list, presented on an Internet site (www.moriya.org.il), also offers preferred names. Rabbis said they compiled the list in response to a flood of requests from parents concerned they may accidentally give their children names that could shame them for life.

 

What other names raise rabbinical ire? All those that sound non-Jewish - like Donna, Barr and Shirly. So do typically male names given to girls - like Roni and Danielle. Names that include the suffix or prefix "el," which means God in Hebrew. ...

 

Israel's Interior Ministry has barred the names God, Hitler and Bin Laden from being registered in its population files, said Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Census Bureau.