Question: My wife and I are about to have
our first child (a son) and we like the name "Shane". We
know it's an Irish name, but one of the websites we came
across says it is also a Jewish name meaning "gift from
G-d". I wonder if you could confirm that for us and give
us any other thoughts you might have on the name. For example,
would we still need to come up with a separate Hebrew name?
Many thanks!
(answer from Chana)
Dear Brett, Thanks for your e-mail. Shane
is not a Jewish name (I have been amazed by all of the inaccuracies
I have found on those Hebrew name lists on the internet!),
but it is sort of similar to a bunch of Jewish names.
There is a Yiddish girl's name "Shayna"-
which means beautiful or nice. And the name Shai (rhymes with
pie) is a very popular Israeli boy's name meaning "gift."
The name Shaia (rhymes with the last two syllables of papaya)
means gift from G-d. Shai or Shaia are two of my all-time
favorite names for boys.
Since Shane is not a Jewish name (even though
it is similar to the names I mentioned above) you would have
to choose a Jewish name (maybe Shai or Shaya) for the circumcision.
It is wonderful that you have decided to
look for a Jewish name. Jewish tradition teaches that the
essence of a person is expressed in his/her name, and that
parents are granted prophecy when they are naming a child
so that the name reflects the person that child will become.
Jewish tradition also teaches that when the Israelites were
in Egypt, we were at the 49th (next to the lowest) level of
moral and cultural depravity, and our Jewish names were one
of the things that kept us Jewish enough that G-d led us out
of slavery, gave us the Torah, and the land of Israel.
I wish your wife a very easy birth, and that
you will have a healthy, beautiful baby- no matter what you
name him (I would be interested to know what you do decide
to name him in the end, so keep me posted- if you remember.)
All the best and b'shaah tova, Chana Weisberg
