The Names of the Georgian Jews

Abstract

 Historical documents, literary works and recorded materials provide direct evidence that until the 1970s the Jews were mostly given biblical names and, in particular, the ones found in the Torah. It should be noted that one of the manifestations of the identity of Georgian Jews was their names. In some cases, both non-Jews and Jews were given biblical names in Georgia. In such cases, Georgians preferred the Greek forms, while Jews would use the Hebrew variant for self-identification purposes. Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews also lived in Georgia. They had different names. From the 1970s, in order to avoid being ridiculed, most of the Jews chose common Georgian names for their new-born babies. Despite the fact that some Jews changed their names for various reasons, almost none of them was less Jewish.After repatriation to Israel, the Georgian Jews choose different kinds of names for their infants. The names can be divided into categories according to their origin (biblical and modern Hebrew, Yiddish and other languages) and popularity in the Jewish (Israeli) community.