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Name Meanings

This page is solely for fun, and extra reading into the names is likely not necessary, but it can be an enjoyable venture. 

Tevye: the Yiddish form of the Hebrew name "Tuvya". Meaning: God is Good.

Golde: Yiddish name meaning "God is Good".

Tzeitel: Yiddish diminutive of the name Soro/Sarah, meaning princess.

Hodel: Diminutive of the Yiddish version of Hadassah, meaning myrtle tree, which was Queen Esther's Hebrew name.


Chava: the Hebrew form of Eve, derived from either the Hebrew meaning "to breathe" or "Life". Author Yuval Noah Harari has also championed the similarity of Chava to the Aramaic word for serpent. 
 

Shprintze: the Yiddish form of Esperanza, meaning Hope. 

Bielke: Varient of Beylke, the diminutive of Beyle, meaning White. 

Perchik: this is actually probably a Surname, as -ik is a Slavic surname suffix.


Motl (Motel): This is one of the diminutive of Mordechai, who was the Uncle/Cousin/Relative of Queen Esther. Grandma Tzeitel actually mentions this ("Named after my dear uncle Mordechai").
 

Yente: Variant of the Yiddish name Yentl, coming from the italian word Gentile, meaning noble. In Yiddish-English, a Yente/Yenta is someone who is a nosy busybody. 

Lazar: From the Hebrew Eleazar, meaning "God has Helped". 

Sasha: the diminutive of Aleksandr, meaning defender of man.

Fyedka: a very strange diminutive choice (read about it here) from Fyodor, the Russian form of Theodore, meaning "God's gift".
 

Frumah-Sarah: See Tzeitel for the definition of Sarah, but Frumah means "Pious Woman". Basically, she's called "Pious-Sarah".

© 2020 by Aleda Brokaw. This site was created for a class project.
 

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