Let’s get this out of the way: Would we recommend naming your baby after Taylor Swift? You do you, but probably not?
That being said, these Jewish baby names are meaningful and beautiful in their own right — they just happen to have a connection to Taylor Swift, who, at the time of publication, just released her latest album “The Life of a Showgirl.” (She will probably be at work on another era whenever you happen to read this.)
Read on for 18 Jewish baby names related to the life and music of Taylor Swift.
Girls’ names:
Shira: Let’s start with an obvious one. Shira is Hebrew for song, singing or poetry.
Rebekah: Rebekah is central to the Bible and “The Last Great American Dynasty,” track three of Swift’s album “Folklore.” The song tells the true story of Rebekah Harkness, socialite (and previous owner of Swift’s Rhode Island home) who was the center of quite a bit of lashon hora (gossip) in her day. The Rebekah who inspired the song isn’t Jewish, but Rebecca/Rebekah is, of course, one of the biblical matriarchs — making the name a reliable classic (though it has trended slightly downward since its peak in the 1970s). Socialite Rebekah may be known for partying and dying a dog key lime green, but biblical Rebecca is remembered for her warmth and generosity. You can’t go wrong!
Elisheva: This Hebrew name means “God is my oath.” Swift’s latest album “The Life of a Showgirl” features a song called “Elizabeth Taylor” — named for, of course, the iconic Jewish actress, whose Hebrew name was Elisheva.
Betty: The song “Betty,” from Swift’s album “Folklore,” is one of three Swift songs that tell the story of a fictional teenage love triangle. You may not think of Betty as a Jewish name, but it originated as a nickname to Elizabeth, which is an anglicized version of the Hebrew Elisheva.
Arava: A Hebrew name meaning “willow.” Swift’s song “Willow” — which includes the sweet line “life was a willow and it bent right to your wind” — is from her album “Evermore.”
Lilith: Lilith is a feminist icon of Jewish folklore, and the name means “night owl,” so if you name your baby after this Jewish demon, you might also be naming her with two Swift albums in mind: “Folklore” and “Midnights.”
Delilah: The origin of the name Delilah is unknown, but it may derive from the Hebrew for “delicate” — a song from Swift’s album “Reputation.” But beyond that, when I asked my braintrust — aka the Kveller readers — which Biblical love story lent itself best to a Taylor Swift breakup song, the winning answer was clearly Samson and Delilah’s.
Margalit: This Hebrew name means “pearl,” and is also the full name of Jewish actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. The Swift connection? Maggie Gyllenhaal is allegedly mentioned in the song “All Too Well,” which is allegedly about Swift’s relationship with Maggie’s brother Jake Gyllenhaal.
Este: Short for “Esther” — as in Queen Esther of the Purim story or maybe your Jewish grandmother — Este is also the name of Swift’s friend and collaborator Este Haim, who is name-checked in Swift and Haim’s song “No Body No Crime.”
Hinda: Hinda is Yiddish for “deer,” an animal praised in Judaism for their — wait for it — swiftness.
Aya: In Hebrew, this name can mean bird, buzzard or to fly swiftly.
Shani: Hebrew for “crimson,” and used biblically to describe a red thread. Thread… used by tailors… OK, maybe it’s time to move on to boys’ names.
Boys’ names:
Boaz: This name means “swiftness” in Hebrew.
Herschel/Hersh: Another Yiddish word for deer, which — as we’ve covered — are swift.
Kleid: In Yiddish and German, “Kleid/Kleyd” was the word for tailor — which is, of course, the origin of the name Taylor. Eventually, Kleid became an Ashkenazi last name and, sometimes, a first name. (By the way, other Jewish names that originated from words for tailor include Kravitz and Schneider, just FYI.)
Ronen: In modern Hebrew, Ronen means “joyful song,” which is the obvious musical connection. To take it further, “Ronan” is the name of a Swift song — albeit, a very sad one — written specifically for a charity event in honor of a little boy named Ronan who died from neuroblastoma.
Shem: In Biblical Hebrew, Shem means “reputation” — which is also the name of Swift’s sixth album.
Nachshon: Speaking of the “Reputation” album, in that era of her career Swift embraced snake imagery to “reclaim the narrative” after she was called a snake by Kim Kardashian. Nachshon means “snake” in Hebrew.
