Hillel

הִלֵּל

• Gender: Male
• Origin: Biblical / Rabbinic Hebrew
• Meaning: praise

• Hillel is one of the most revered names in Jewish intellectual history. The sage Hillel the Elder, who lived around the first century BCE, was famous for his patience, his humility, and his teaching that the entire Torah could be summed up as "do not do unto others what is hateful to you." Naming a child Hillel is essentially placing a bet on kindness, wisdom, and the life of the mind.

  Hillel Slovak, the Israeli-born founding guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who received his first guitar as a bar mitzvah gift, is the subject of the 2026 Netflix documentary "Our Brother, Hillel." Few names offer this combination: instantly recognizable in Jewish circles yet almost never heard in secular ones, giving it both community cred and genuine distinction. Its association with the golden rule makes it a name that sets a beautiful standard without feeling preachy. The kind of name a child grows into and then never outgrows.

• Potential Sibling Name:
  Bracha
  ,
  Atara
  ,
  Noam
  ,
  Natan
• Theme: blessing