A Hebrew name is the name by which your soul is called. It is used at the Torah, in prayer for healing, on the marriage document, and in memory. Long after a person is gone, it is the name said aloud by generations who never met them.

Why a Jewish name matters

In Jewish thought, a name is bound up with a person’s essence. When we pray for someone’s recovery, we say their Hebrew name; when a child is called to the Torah at bar or bat mitzvah, it is the Hebrew name that is read. The name places a person inside the story of the Jewish people — the name of a father and mother, and behind them, a whole chain.

How names are given

Boys are named at their brit milah, the circumcision on the eighth day. Girls are named at the first opportunity the family is called to the Torah after birth. A convert takes a new Hebrew name, traditionally the child of Abraham and Sarah. Even if you were not given a name as a child, you can choose one as an adult.

How to choose one

The most common custom is to name a child after a beloved relative who has passed — not to replace them, but to carry their memory into the future. In some communities a name is given for a living relative; the Ashkenazi tradition generally avoids this, while the Sephardic tradition honors living relatives as well. There is no single rule that binds everyone; there is a conversation to have with family and rabbi.

Others choose a name for its meaning, or a Hebrew equivalent of an English name. Both are entirely acceptable.

Using the name

In ritual, we say the full name: Ploni ben Ploni — “so-and-so, child of so-and-so.” The Hebrew name is not a formality. It is how the community knows you, and how heaven is asked to know you too.