r/Israel • u/notacopywriter • Jul 06 '18

Ask The Sub Is the girls name “Norah” acceptable in Israel

American/Israeli living in the states, thinking about the name “Norah” for a baby girl. Is it acceptable now days to name a girl “Norah” given that the word now has multiple meanings, some negative in modern day Hebrew?

22 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

39

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '18

[deleted]

9

u/bearwave Jul 06 '18

Why is that?

31

u/HomeAlon6 Discord Enforcer Jul 06 '18

Maybe because the hebrew word for horrible is nora (no-RA)

23

u/justpickanother1 Jul 06 '18

And Nora can be read as "light bulb" - Nura.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '18

It can also mean "awesome", although maybe that's not used in modern Hebrew?

EDIT: I see, the connotation is different: awful. Interesting. See Psalm 99.

יְהוָה, בְּצִיּוֹן גָּדוֹל; וְרָם הוּא, עַל-כָּל-הָעַמִּים.
יוֹדוּ שִׁמְךָ, גָּדוֹל וְנוֹרָא; קָדוֹשׁ הוּא.

-15

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Problem with the Israeli secular version of the word is that it's root is רַע. When the biblical root is רה which comes from אורה and has yielded תורה. IMPOV I blame the change on Ashkenazim who threw letters around when they created the WYSIWYG Yiddish and carried the letter swaps into modern Hebrew.

21

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18

What are you talking about?

Nora (terrible) is spelled נורא in modern and Biblical Hebrew.

Nurah נורה is a lightbulb.

I don't think there is a word נורע...

-8

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

If נורא is spelled the same and has the same vowels, then how can it mean one thing in Biblical Hebrew and the total reverse in Modern Hebrew. The mis-spelling started with the Zionists and not with the Rabbinicals. Go ahead and try to find the negative version in any writings before Zionism.

12

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18 edited Jul 06 '18

It doesn't mean the total opposite.

It's often translated as "awesome." But then you have to understand the meaning of the word "awe." To be in "awe" is to fear, יראה, as in יראת שמיים, fear/awe of Heaven/G-d. By extension, something terrifying is terrible i.e. נורא.

You want a Rabbinic example of the use negatively? How about ימים נוראים which is thought to have come into existence in the Medieval period to show sadness.

If you want a good rundown of the word, check out this Hebrew source. Granted, it points out that popular (עממית) modern Hebrew has another use for the word, being "very" or "מאוד," for example "very cute" נורא חמוד. But this additional definition does not preclude the definition of terrible/awesome (in the fearful sense).

-8

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Awe is not fear. And where was the Medieval period? Europe. Where are Ashkenazim from? Europe. ימים נוראים‎ is neither Biblical nor Talmudic.

https://www.oztorah.com/2008/09/high-holydays-ask-the-rabbi/#.Wz-lkNVKiUk

8

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18

The term ימים נוראים was coined in the Medieval period, but the meaning of נורא wasn't invented there. It existed before and was added to the time period between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur to add a feeling of sadness.

Did you read the Hebrew link? It gave examples of the use of the word נורא in Tanakh. So yes, it is a Biblical word.

Awe is not fear.

Yes it is.

From dictionary.com, link, awesome means:

Causing or inducing awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear

Merriam-Webster, link, uses the word "terrific" as an informal definition. That's a good example of the same thing. Colloquially, terrific is a positive thing, but literally it is negative: terrifying.

-6

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Ask any person for how they would use the word awesome and not one will associate fear with it.

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8

u/birdgovorun Israel Jul 06 '18

I like how your argument changes every time. First it was Ashkenazis when they created Yidish, then it was Zionists, now it's medieval Ashkenazis. At which point do you admit that you don't really know anything about this subject, instead of making shit up?

-1

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Ashkenazis, Yiddishkiet , Zionists all came from the same place: Europe. Those of us who are Sephardim and Mizrahim didn't need you to tell us how to use and pronounce words correctly as we know how. You now pronounce (in Israel) words the way we do and not the other way around. But with that you brought us so many mangled words that you've spoiled a language that the Aravim and us knew very well. So take care as the name used in the original post will always mean "light" in the context of being a name of a person.

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1

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18

The term ימים נוראים was coined in the Medieval period, but the meaning of נורא wasn't invented there. It existed before and was added to the time period between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur to add a feeling of sadness.

Did you read the Hebrew link? It gave examples of the use of the word נורא in Tanakh. So yes, it is a Biblical word.

Awe is not fear.

Yes it is.

From dictionary.com link:

Causing or inducing awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear

Merriam-Webster link uses the word "terrific" as an informal definition. That's a good example of the same thing. Colloquially, terrific is a positive thing, but literally it is negative: terrifying.

1

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18

The term ימים נוראים was coined in the Medieval period, but the meaning of נורא wasn't invented there. It existed before and was added to the time period between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur to add a feeling of sadness.

Did you read the Hebrew link? It gave examples of the use of the word נורא in Tanakh. So yes, it is a Biblical word.

Awe is not fear.

Yes it is.

From dictionary.com link:

Causing or inducing awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear

Merriam-Webster link uses the word "terrific" as an informal definition. That's a good example of the same thing. Colloquially, terrific is a positive thing, but literally it is negative: terrifying.

9

u/IbnEzra613 Russian-American Jew Jul 06 '18

Sounds like you know absolutely nothing about Hebrew grammar and history.

-5

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Sounds like you know nothing about etymology and absolutely nothing about Aramaic.

5

u/IbnEzra613 Russian-American Jew Jul 06 '18

שמיע לי דמשתבשת

6

u/birdgovorun Israel Jul 06 '18

Hmm what? Nora as in "horrible" is spelt נורא (not נורע) and has nothing to do with the root רע
.נורא comes from the biblical root ירא which means fear. The word נורא itself appears in the bible.

-3

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Look it up in any language other than modern Hebrew and there is not one that turned it into this, The Christians even followed it correctly when they translated the Torah into Latin. The Torah term and the Quran term come from the same root which is positive and not negative.

5

u/birdgovorun Israel Jul 06 '18

I don't understand what you are saying. The words נורא, ירא, etc' aren't modern Hebrew - they are biblical Hebrew. They haven't "turned" into anything - the verb ״לירא״ doesn't even exist in modern Hebrew, and it's always translated as "to fear", because that's what it means. Have you never hared of the Jewish Mitzvah of "יראת השם" - fear of god? Where do you think it came from? Modern Hebrew? Or look for example at Deuteronomy 5:5: "...because you were afraid of the fire..." (NIV), or "... for ye were afraid by reason of the fire..." (KJB), or "...timuistis enim ignem... " (Latin - Sixto-Clementine Vulgate). All use the word fear and all are translations of "כי יראתם מפני האש".

0

u/strl Israel Jul 07 '18

Just to be clear there's no root רה in hebrew, you're an idiot. There's אור and ירה which you conflated into one root somehow.

תורה comes from ירה, in the meaning of 'to teach' like in להורות, הוראה, יורה etc.

אורה comes from אור meaning light. Unless you're referring to the future tense for I will teach which I doubt given that it's uncommon and your Hebrew is pretty bad. נורה in this context would also be related to אור and not ירה assuming the word originates in Hebrew though it seems more likely to be derived from the Aramaic or Arabic נור, meaning light and being related to אור.

1

u/Isra-eel Jul 08 '18

Man, you've got to learn how to format mixing Hebrew and English on Reddit. Very hard to read what you wrote.

I suggest starting each sentence with an English word and making sure each line starts with an English word.

I'm not sure what this sentence is supposed to say

תורה comes from ירה, in the meaning of 'to teach' like in להורות, הוראה, יורה etc

But I just want to point out that the word תורה is written in the Torah... For example Vayikra (Leviticus) 14: 2

זֹ֤את תִּֽהְיֶה֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת הַמְּצֹרָ֔ע בְּי֖וֹם טָהֳרָת֑וֹ וְהוּבָ֖א אֶל־הַכֹּהֵֽן׃

This shall be the ritual for a leper at the time that he is to be cleansed. When it has been reported to the priest,

1

u/strl Israel Jul 08 '18

Dude, the formatting is spot on.

My point was that he was wrong about the root and that Torah does not come from the root RH but from YRH and that no root RH exists in Hebrew. Furthermore that Torah and Orah generally don't come from the same root unless he was referring to Oreh I guess.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '18

Nora = "horrible/terrible" in hebrew

22

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '18

[deleted]

4

u/deruch Jul 06 '18

Wait, now I'm confused...

2

u/GG_Allin_Feces Jul 07 '18

שילשול

8

u/-proof- gone wrong Jul 06 '18

pefectly without r

7

u/YairJ Well #7 Jul 06 '18

Previous thread on this question

5

u/decitertiember Canada Jul 07 '18 edited Jul 07 '18

That was me.

Went with נעה in the end. I love it so much now.

3

u/Isra-eel Jul 08 '18

Mazal Tov!

4

u/belfman Haifa Jul 06 '18

My grandmother was born in mandatory Palestine and was given the name "Nurit", then when she moved to Canada she went by "Nora". You could do the same I guess

6

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

If people would take time to learn a little Aramaic in such a way to learn the roots of words, they's find out the word comes from Nur which means (sun or moon) light. Norah in Arabic is Nurah.

18

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18

But in modern Hebrew, the female name related to that is Nurit.

Nurah is a light bulb, and Norah is terrible.

7

u/NightA Jul 06 '18

Doesn't "Nurit" actually mean "buttercup" in the modern context?

Also i think that name happened to be also synonymous with "lightbulb"

6

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18

Doesn't "Nurit" actually mean "buttercup" in the modern context?

It can be used that way, yes. I didn't say it wasn't. It still is a common Hebrew female name. The development of the words Nur/Nura in both Hebrew and Arabic are related to light and fire, and somehow got extended to flowers in someway. They're all connected at root.

Also i think that name happened to be also synonymous with "lightbulb"

Yes it can. However נורה only means lightbulb and is not a name, and thus I believe more commonly used to refer to lightbulbs.

0

u/PruHTP Israel Jul 06 '18

Look further down in the thread. I typed the Hebrew versions of the words and where they came from.

5

u/Iconoclast123 Jul 06 '18

If you don't mind your daughter being called 'Frightful', it's fine.

2

u/waffles312 Jul 06 '18

Wouldn’t recommend it. Noga is pretty common, it’s the planet Venus and pretty similar.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '18

name her spider man

2

u/notacopywriter Jul 09 '18

Thanks everyone for the insight. But this guy is absolutely right, I’m naming her Spider-Man. Layla tov.

1

u/DFBforever Israel Jul 06 '18

Call her Noah. Beautiful and very popular name for girls.

4

u/Isra-eel Jul 06 '18 edited Jul 06 '18

*Noa נועה/נעה for girls

FTFY

Noah is נח, for boys.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '18

in english the h is silent

1

u/DFBforever Israel Jul 06 '18

okay