! Names of Jewish Men, 6th to 11th Centuries Jewish Names > 6th-11th Centuries

Names of Jewish Men, 6th to 11th Centuries

by jstamp@netvision.net.il

This article lists the full names of about 120 Jewish men who lived from the 6th to 11th centuries. Most of them lived in Iraq, which was the location of the great Torah academies of the period.

The majority of the men named here were the leading scholars of their day, and were descended from earlier scholars. Naming customs in such families may have been different from those employed by the general public. In particular, a large number of Aramaic names figure here, though Arabic replaced Aramaic as the vernacular language among Jews after Iraq was conquered by Arabs in the 7th century. The proportion of Arabic names would likely have been higher among the general Jewish population.

For each name, the number of occurrences has been indicated. The first number refers to the number of instances in which the name is the given name of the person referenced, while the number after the plus sign, where present, refers to occurrences in the context of bynames of relationship. (The number of such occurrences is a less precise guide to a name's frequency, since the same man may be mentioned on his own and as his son's father.)

Full Names, with dates

Given Names:

Abba 1+1
Abbaye 0+1
Acha 1+1
Achai 3+1
Achunai 1
Aharon 2+1
Ammi 0+1
Amram 1
Amunah 0+1
Ashi 0+1
Avomai 1+1
Avraham 3+3
Azariah 1
Baboi 0+1
Bibai 1
Boaz 0+1
Bustenai 2
Chana 1 		Chanan 1
Chananel 1
Chanina 5+3
Chaninai 1
Chanoch 1+1
Chaim 0+1
Chisdai 1+1
Chiyya 1+2
Chofni 0+2
Chushiel 1+1
David 1+1
Dimi 0+1
Dodai 1+1
Dudai 1
Dosa 1
Eina 1
Elchanan 0+2
Eldad 1 		Ghayyat 0+1
Giat 0+1
Giza 1
Hai 3
Hana 1
Hilai 3+1
Huna 1+3
Ivomai 1
Kafnai 0+1
Kahana 1
Kalonymos 1
Kiyomi 2+1
Kohen Tzedek 2
Machir 1
Malcha 2
Mar 1
Mari 3+2
Matityahu 1 		Meir 0+1
Menachem 1
Menashe 1
Mesharsheya 2+2
Mevasser 1
Mishael 0+1
Mordechai 0+1
Moshe 2+1
Nachman 0+2
Nachshon 1+1
Natan 1
Natroi 1
Natronai 2+2
Nechemiah 0+1
Nehilai 1
Nissim 1+1
Paltoi 1
Papa 0+1 		Pirkoi 1
Rava 2+1
Ravai 1
Ravi 0+1
Ravya 1
Rivai 0+1
Saadiah 1+1
Sama 1
Sar Shalom 1
Shalom 1
Shanoi 1
Shemaryah 1
Sherira 1+2
Sheshna 1+1
Shila 0+1
Shimon 1
Shinoi 1
Shlomo 2 		Shmuel 4+2
Simona 1
Sorgo 1
Tachlifa 0+1
Tzadok 1+1
Tzemach 3
Yaakov 4+3
Yachya 1
Yehudah 2+2
Yehudai 1+1
Yeshayah 1
Yisrael 1
Yitzchak 5+3
Yom Tov 1
Yosef 7+5
Yoshiah 1
Yosi 1
Zakkai 0+1

Source
Fendel, Rabbi Zechariah, Legacy of Sinai (New York: Hashkafah Publications, 1992).
The author's sources includes two Hebrew accounts, the 10th-century Iggeret Rabbenu Sherira Gaon and the 12th-century Sefer haKabbalah by Rabbi Avraham ben David ibn Daud haLevi.
Note: The author used "Ashkenazic" pronunciation when transliterating names. However, most of these individuals would have pronounced their names in the "Sefardic" manner. Accordingly, I have altered Fendel's spellings in a few cases, from Nasan to Natan, from Mattisyahu to Matityahu, and from Ghayyas or Gias to Ghayyat or Giat.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at jstamp@netvision.net.il.