Yiddish Name Generator
Yiddish given names, double names and surnames
Yiddish given names such as Mendel, Hershel, Velvel, Gittel, Sheine and Reizel, with double names like Chaim Yankel and full names like Freide Goldfarb. About half the list is first names alone, for characters, family trees and baby-name research.
About Yiddish names
Yiddish was the everyday language of Ashkenazi Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, and its names come from several sources. Many are Yiddish forms of Hebrew names: Moishe for Moshe, Shloime for Shlomo, Rivke for Rivka, Sore for Sarah. Others are Germanic in origin, such as Hersh (deer), Ber (bear), Volf, Gittel, Golde and Frume, and a smaller group is Slavic, such as Zlate, Charne and Dobre.
A man often had a Hebrew name for religious use and a Yiddish everyday name that went with it. That is why Tzvi Hersh, Dov Ber, Arye Leib and Zev Volf appear as double names: each half names the same animal in a different language. Affection shows in the endings -el, -ke and -ele, as in Yossel, Chaike and Rivkele.
About half of this list is given names alone. The rest is double names, full names with Ashkenazi surnames (Yankel Rabinowitz, Freide Goldfarb) and a short, marked set of the forms families took in America, such as Morris for Moishe and Bessie for Basye. Spellings follow one system, with ch for the guttural sound and a final -e on women's names. You will meet the same names elsewhere as Bluma, Golda, Shayna, Raizel, Moyshe or Yankl.
How to choose Yiddish names
- Pick by setting. Mendel, Hershel, Gittel and Reizel fit a shtetl or a Lower East Side story around 1900, and many of these names are still given in Yiddish-speaking communities today.
- Use a diminutive for closeness. A boy named Yoisef is Yossel at home and Yossele to his grandmother, and a Chaye becomes Chaike or Chayele.
- For a formal or pious character, choose a double name. Menachem Mendel, Yitzchok Aizik and Chaye Sore are said in full and treated as one name.
- If the story moves to America, give the character both forms. The list marks pairs such as Hersh and Harry or Sheine and Jennie, which a family might use side by side for years.
- Naming a baby after a relative? Ask the family how the name was said and spelled, since one name can appear as Reizel, Raizel or Rayzl in different records.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Yiddish name and a Hebrew name?
Hebrew names come from the Bible and later Hebrew tradition. Yiddish names include Yiddish pronunciations of those names, such as Moishe, Yankev and Rochel, together with names from Germanic and Slavic roots that have no Hebrew source, such as Hersh, Gittel and Zlate. Traditionally a person could carry both, a Hebrew name for the synagogue and a Yiddish one for daily life.
What are some Yiddish girl names?
The list includes Gittel, Sheine, Reizel, Blume, Frume, Golde, Hinde, Feige, Perel, Malke and Zelde, plus affectionate forms such as Rivkele, Chayele and Goldele. Several have plain meanings in Yiddish: Blume is flower, Sheine is beautiful, Perel is pearl and Golde is gold.
Why do some names have an English name beside them?
Immigrant families in America often took an English name that started with the same sound or felt close to the Yiddish one. Entries such as Morris (for Moishe), Sadie (for Sore) and Gussie (for Gittel) show the form the family took in America. The pairings were customs, not rules, so one Hersh became Harry and another became Herman.
How are Yiddish names spelled in English?
Yiddish is written in Hebrew letters, so every English spelling is a transliteration and several systems are in use. This list keeps to one: ch for the guttural sound, ei and oi for the diphthongs, and a final -e on women's names. Elsewhere you may find Sheine written as Shayna or Sheyne, and Reizel as Raizel or Rayzl.
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All 500 Yiddish names
A: 16 names
- Abe (for Avrom)
- Aizik
- Aizik Blumenfeld
- Alte
- Alter
- Alter Garber
- Annie (for Chane)
- Anshel
- Anshel Winokur
- Aron
- Arye Leib
- Avremel
- Avrom
- Avrom Leib Kaplan
- Avrom Lichtenstein
- Avrom Yitzchok
B: 36 names
- Barney (for Berel)
- Basye
- Basye Rivke
- Basye Schuster
- Becky (for Rivke)
- Beile
- Beile Blumenfeld
- Beile Rochel
- Beilke
- Beinish
- Bentzye
- Ber
- Ber Melnik
- Berel
- Berel Schuster
- Berish
- Berke
- Bessie (for Basye)
- Binyomin
- Binyomin Volf
- Blume
- Blume Reizel
- Blume Wasserman
- Blumele
- Boruch
- Boruch Heller
- Boruch Mordche
- Breindel
- Breindel Sandler
- Breine
- Breine Gittel
- Broche
- Bune
- Bune Garber
- Bunem
- Bunem Ettinger
C: 33 names
- Chaike
- Chaikel
- Chaim
- Chaim Ber
- Chaim Eidelman
- Chaim Hersh
- Chaim Volf Rosenberg
- Chaim Yankel
- Chane
- Chane Feige Katz
- Chane Leye
- Chane Perel
- Chane Pollack
- Chane Rochel
- Chanele
- Charne
- Charne Melnik
- Charne Reizel
- Chasye
- Chatzkel
- Chatzkel Lefkowitz
- Chave
- Chave Leye
- Chavele
- Chaye
- Chaye Feige
- Chaye Kravitz
- Chaye Mushke
- Chaye Rochel
- Chaye Sore
- Chayele
- Chiene
- Chone
D: 20 names
- Dine
- Dobe
- Dobke
- Dobre
- Dobre Reznik
- Dora (for Dvoire)
- Dov Ber
- Dovid
- Dovid Ber Goldberg
- Dovid Leib
- Dovid Mandelbaum
- Dovid Tevel
- Dovidel
- Dreizel
- Dudel
- Dvoire
- Dvoire Kessler
- Dvoire Leye
- Dvoirele
- Dvoshe
E: 19 names
- Efroim
- Efroim Fishel
- Eidel
- Eidel Kushner
- Elke
- Elke Eidelman
- Elye
- Elye Chaim
- Elye Marshak
- Ester
- Ester Beile Schwartz
- Ester Lefkowitz
- Ester Malke
- Ester Rochel
- Esterke
- Etel
- Etel Birnbaum
- Etke
- Ette
F: 24 names
- Falk
- Fannie (for Feige)
- Feige
- Feige Reizel
- Feige Tischler
- Feigel
- Feigele
- Feivel
- Feivel Garfinkel
- Feivish
- Fishel
- Fishel Steinmetz
- Fishke
- Fradel
- Fradel Shenker
- Freide
- Freide Goldfarb
- Freide Malke
- Freidel
- Froim
- Frume
- Frume Hinde
- Frume Zuckerman
- Frumet
G: 24 names
- Gedalye
- Gele
- Gershon
- Getzel
- Getzel Shenker
- Gimpel
- Gimpel Nadel
- Gitele
- Gittel
- Gittel Reizel
- Gittel Rosenzweig
- Glike
- Glikel
- Glikel Steinmetz
- Gnendel
- Gnendel Nadel
- Gnesye
- Golde
- Golde Berkowitz
- Golde Mirel
- Goldele
- Goldie (for Golde)
- Grune
- Gussie (for Gittel)
H: 23 names
- Hadas
- Harry (for Hersh)
- Hene
- Hene Rochel
- Henech
- Henye
- Henye Winokur
- Hersh
- Hersh Botwinik
- Hershel
- Hershel Zuckerman
- Hershele
- Heshel
- Heshel Wallach
- Hillel
- Hinde
- Hinde Feingold
- Hinde Reizel
- Hindel
- Hode
- Hodel
- Hodel Gerber
- Hyman (for Chaim)
I: 9 names
- Ida (for Chaye)
- Isidore (for Yisroel)
- Isser
- Itche
- Itche Kushner
- Ite
- Itke
- Itzik
- Itzik Sandler
J: 2 names
- Jack (for Yankel)
- Jennie (for Sheine)
K: 11 names
- Kalmen
- Kalmen Gerber
- Kasriel
- Keile
- Keile Zimmerman
- Kive
- Koppel
- Koppel Birnbaum
- Kreindel
- Kreindel Krupnik
- Kreine
L: 25 names
- Leib
- Leib Kessler
- Leibel
- Leibel Kravitz
- Leibele
- Leibke
- Leibush
- Leizer
- Leizer Krupnik
- Lemel
- Lena (for Leye)
- Levi Yitzchok
- Leye
- Leye Dvoire Weiss
- Leye Kantor
- Leyele
- Libe
- Libe Glazer
- Libe Rochel
- Libke
- Lifshe
- Lipe
- Lipe Zimmerman
- Lipman
- Louis (for Leib)
M: 47 names
- Malke
- Malke Botwinik
- Malke Perel Klein
- Malke Reizel
- Malkele
- Mashe
- Max (for Mendel)
- Mechel
- Mechel Brill
- Meilech
- Meilech Landau
- Meir
- Meir Simche
- Meite
- Menachem Mendel
- Mendel
- Mendel Kirschenbaum
- Meshulem
- Meshulem Zushe
- Michel
- Michle
- Michle Landau
- Mindel
- Mindel Farber
- Mindele
- Mirel
- Mirel Tannenbaum
- Mirele
- Miryem
- Miryem Dvoire
- Miryem Halpern
- Moishe
- Moishe Aron
- Moishe Feingold
- Moishe Hersh Friedman
- Moishe Leib
- Moishele
- Moishke
- Monish
- Mordche
- Morris (for Moishe)
- Motke
- Motke Farber
- Mottel
- Mottel Glazer
- Mottele
- Mushke
N: 13 names
- Nachmen
- Naftole
- Naftole Hertz
- Nechome
- Nechome Brodsky
- Nechome Dine
- Nisen
- Nochem
- Nochem Ber
- Nochem Tannenbaum
- Noson
- Noson Brodsky
- Noson Note
O: 3 names
- Osher
- Osher Anshel
- Osher Pinsky
P: 15 names
- Peisach
- Perel
- Perel Pinsky
- Perele
- Peretz
- Peretz Kaminsky
- Peshe
- Peshe Kaminsky
- Pesye
- Pesye Leye
- Pesye Slutsky
- Pinchos
- Pinchos Leib
- Pinye
- Pinye Slutsky
R: 25 names
- Rachmiel
- Rashe
- Rashe Warshawsky
- Rashke
- Reichel
- Reichel Wallach
- Reize
- Reizel
- Reizel Kirschner
- Reizele
- Rikel
- Rivke
- Rivke Leye
- Rivke Lichtenstein
- Rivke Reizel Shapiro
- Rivkele
- Rochel
- Rochel Dvoire
- Rochel Leye
- Rochel Morgenstern
- Rochele
- Rode
- Rose (for Reizel)
- Ruven
- Ruven Pollack
S: 63 names
- Sadie (for Sore)
- Sender
- Sender Warshawsky
- Shabse
- Shachne
- Shaye
- Shaye Lilienthal
- Sheindel
- Sheindele
- Sheine
- Sheine Gittel
- Sheine Perlmutter
- Sheine Reizel
- Shepsel
- Sheve
- Shifre
- Shifre Lilienthal
- Shimen
- Shimen Reznik
- Shloime
- Shloime Wasserman
- Shloime Zalmen
- Shloimele
- Shloimke
- Shmelke
- Shmerel
- Shmerel Nussbaum
- Shmuel
- Shmuel Kantor
- Shmuel Shmelke
- Shmuel Yoisef Levin
S, continued
- Shmuel Zanvel
- Shmulik
- Shneur Zalmen
- Sholem
- Sholem Ber
- Shoshe
- Shprintze
- Shprintze Nussbaum
- Shraga Feivel
- Shterne
- Shterne Charlap
- Shterne Sore
- Simche
- Simche Bunem
- Simche Halpern
- Sirke
- Slove
- Slove Marshak
- Sol (for Shloime)
- Sore
- Sore Feige
- Sore Gittel Horowitz
- Sore Leye
- Sore Mandelbaum
- Sore Rivke
- Sorele
- Sorke
- Sosye
- Sosye Itzkowitz
- Srul
- Srul Itzkowitz
- Srulik
T: 25 names
- Tanchum
- Teme
- Teme Milner
- Tevel
- Tevel Milner
- Tevele
- Tevye
- Tillie (for Toibe)
- Todres
- Todres Margolis
- Toibe
- Toibe Margolis
- Toibe Rochel
- Toibele
- Treine
- Treine Heller
- Tzeitel
- Tzipe
- Tzipe Applebaum
- Tzipe Feige
- Tzirel
- Tzirel Frenkel
- Tzivye
- Tzivye Brill
- Tzvi Hersh
U: 1 name
- Udel
V: 7 names
- Velvel
- Velvel Portnoy
- Vichne
- Vichne Ettinger
- Vitke
- Volf
- Volf Tischler
W: 1 name
- William (for Velvel)
Y: 35 names
- Yachne
- Yachne Goldblatt
- Yankel
- Yankel Rabinowitz
- Yankele
- Yankev
- Yankev Dovid Epstein
- Yankev Koppel
- Yankev Morgenstern
- Yankev Yoisef
- Yechiel
- Yechiel Michel
- Yehude Leib
- Yente
- Yente Rappaport
- Yentel
- Yidel
- Yides
- Yisocher Ber
- Yisroel
- Yisroel Futterman
- Yisroel Isser
- Yitzchok
- Yitzchok Aizik
- Yitzchok Rosenzweig
- Yoche
- Yoine
- Yoisef
- Yoisef Chaim
- Yoske
- Yossel
- Yossel Applebaum
- Yossele
- Yudel
- Yudel Frenkel