Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Tradition [Paperback]

Anita Diamant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

A complete resource for parents-to-be searching for a perfect name for their baby. The Bible provides some of today s most popular names. But, as Bible Baby Names shows, there are many names beyond Adam and Eve! The book offers nearly 1,000 boys and girls names from the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible, each with a:

Translation from the original language
Citation of where the name appears in the Bible
Description of its meaning

For all who want their child s name to be special, spiritual, and full of meaning, Bible Baby Names offers a treasure-trove of choices. A great shower gift!

A Son!
Adin
Beautiful, pleasant, gentle. (Hebrew) An Israelite leader whose sons return from the exile in Babylonia. (Ezra 2:15)
Timothy
Who honors God. (Greek) A disciple and companion of Paul. (I and II Timothy)

A Daughter! Atara
Crown. (Hebrew) One of the wives of Jerahmeel, mother of Onam. (1 Chronicles 2:26)
Martha
From the Aramaic meaning mistress or sorrowful. Jesus visited Martha in her home. (Luke 10:38-42)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Bible Baby Names defines, pronounces, and provides references to the Bible for approximately 630 biblical names (with an emphasis on the Old Testament). The author indicates that this dictionary is not comprehensive (there are approximately 3,300 names in both Testaments), nor is it definitive or scholarly. Rather, she characterizes her book as inclusive of biblical names that "conform to current American tastes and trends." Thus, names like Jezebel, Judas, and Amalek are excluded because they are associated with evil. However, Lilith, a demon, is included, because it is a "pretty name" and because the stories about Lilith (as Adam's first wife) are intriguing. Many of the names appearing here are not found in the New Century Cyclopedia of Names, and Diamant provides definitions and references to the Bible that are not provided in the Century Cyclopedia or in Kolatch's Name Dictionary.

Divided into sections for boys' and girls' names, Bible Baby Names is prefaced with an essay on names. Although this slender book is more appropriate for public libraries and personal collections, Diamant will provide some depth to already existing personal-name dictionary collections in academic libraries, especially in terms of her emphasis on appropriate names and her inclusion of biblical references.

About the Author

Anita Diamant, author of The New Jewish Wedding and other books, has been published in Parenting, Parents, Hadassah, and Redbook. Diamant is also a prize-winning journalist and an essayist whose columns have appeared in the Boston Globe Magazine and Parenting.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879045621
• ISBN-13: 978-1879045620
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,459,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > Jewish Life

More About the Author

In my first novel, The Red Tent, I re-imagined the culture of biblical women as close, sustaining, and strong, but I am not the least bit nostalgic for that world without antibiotics, or birth control, or the printed page. Women were restricted and vulnerable in body, mind, and spirit, a condition that persists wherever women are not permitted to read.

When I was a child, the public library on Osborne Terrace in Newark, New Jersey, was one of the first places I was allowed to walk to all by myself. I went every week, and I can still draw a map of the children's room, up a flight of stairs,where the Louisa May Alcott books were arranged to the left as you entered.
Nonfiction, near the middle of the room, was loaded with biographies. I read several about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, Marie Curie, Amelia Earhart, and Helen Keller, with whom I share a birthday.

But by the time I was 11, the children's library was starting to feel confining,so I snuck downstairs to the adult stacks for a copy of The Good Earth. (I had overheard a grown-up conversation about the book and it sounded interesting.)The librarian at the desk glanced at the title and said I wasn't old enough for the novel and furthermore my card only entitled me to take out children's books.

I defended my choice. I said my parents had given me permission, which was only half a fib since my mother and father had never denied me any book. Eventually,the librarian relented and I walked home, triumphant. I had access to the BIG LIBRARY. My world would never be the same.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a real option to name your baby, September 19, 2000

By 

A. Carvallo "maugdc" (Campbell, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Tradition (Paperback)

The book is very brief, the names covered do not include very much biblical background investigation, and frankly most of the names are very complicated. However, it is a nice option for entertainment, or if you like to study Bible related issues. I do not reccomended for ideas on how to name your baby.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended Unique Baby Name Book, January 30, 2008

By 

Proverbs22:6 "WeLoveParenthood" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Tradition (Paperback)

This a great Bible name book. Contrary to one review's statement: it does list Zachary (under Zechariah) and Elizabeth (under Elisheva). Zachary and Elizabeth are the English spellings of Zechariah and Elisheva. It is a very unique, concise book with names you don't find in most other books. When we named our daughter Eliana (el-ee-AH-nuh) which means "God has answered me" it was from this wonderful little baby name book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Name that baby!, October 23, 2005

By 

Phillip E. Saleh "blessings abound" (Birmingham, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Tradition (Paperback)

My wife and I bought this book because we wanted to find a whole range of Jewish names from which to select one for our new baby expected in April 2006, and also because my wife in particular is a big fan of Anita Diamant. This is a good, if fairly brief, listing of Jewish names, including pronunciation and meanings, the latter of which we believe to be very important. We enjoyed reading through the lists and trying out some unfamiliar names and sounds for the first time.