Mamas, Don't Let Your Sons Grow Up to Be Evil Biblical Kings

Published on November 4, 2005

After receiving numerous inquiries from Jewish parents fearful of misnaming their children, a group of Israeli rabbis has compiled a list of bad names that shouldn’t be given to Jewish children, including the first names of both the prime minister, Ariel Sharon — whose first name could call down the wrath of its angelic namesake […]

After receiving numerous inquiries from Jewish parents fearful of misnaming their children, a group of Israeli rabbis has compiled a list of bad names that shouldn’t be given to Jewish children, including the first names of both the prime minister, Ariel Sharon — whose first name could call down the wrath of its angelic namesake — and his son, Omri — whose name is derived from an evil biblical king. Other names the rabbis nixed included the goyish (Shirley, Donna); the Gaza-ish (naming children after the abandoned settlements, such as Katif); the gender-free (Roni or Danielle); and anything that ends in “el” (Hebrew for God). As for children already named though, no changes should be made except in severe cases, such as a child named Omri, where the negative connotatations of the name are too strong to be ignored.

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