On Kveller’s Instagram, we post a popular weekly feature called “Name This Baby,” where our followers respond to an anonymous request for help choosing a Jewish name for their baby. After a few years of sifting through the anonymous requests, a pattern has emerged: Many parents want a visibly Jewish name that’s both unique and easy to pronounce. With that in mind, combined with traffic to the Kveller baby name bank and a thorough deep dive into TikTok baby name trend predictions, here’s a list of unique Jewish baby names we could see spiking this year.
Boys
Gideon
A new baby naming trend seems to surface nearly every day on TikTok. Our latest favorite? “Hot nerd’ names.” One of TikTok’s favorite baby naming experts Colleen Slagle offered up Gideon, a Hebrew name meaning “mighty warrior,” as a hot nerd suggestion for “The Today Show.” Gideon, she says, is the type of guy who will confidently invite you to the D&D party he hosts every Friday night.
Brody
Adam Brody, Adrien Brody — need we say more? Brody is starting to be synonymous with “Nice Jewish Boy” energy, which is a name quality we see requested often on Instagram. Though the first name of Brody is generally believed to originate from the Irish word for muddy ditch (a lovely sentiment!), it’s also a common Ashkenazi Jewish surname and the name of a village in Eastern Europe that was largely Jewish before the Holocaust.
Stanley
Stanley is one of those names that doesn’t have a Hebrew or Jewish origin, but was adopted by so many Jewish immigrants around the turn of the century that it’s now firmly a Jewish grandpa name — meaning it could soon be a Jewish baby name for those following the Ashkenazi tradition of naming after lost loved ones. When we heard about the new baby naming trend dubbed “my best friend’s dad,” we asked our audience what their Jewish best friend’s dad’s name was, and Stanley came out on top by a landslide. Add to that the popularity of the Stanley water bottle, making the name sound less out-of-nowhere, and I think we’ll be seeing a lot of Stanleys in the near future. (Personally, I’d go with Nalgene.)
Amos
Popular baby name site Nameberry predicts lesser-known biblical names will start popping up this year. Might we offer up Amos, one of the 12 minor prophets of Israel, and often called “the social justice prophet?”
Jesse
Speaking of lesser-known biblical names, Jesse is the English variation of Yishai, who was the father of King David and means “God exists.” Jesse is often offered as a suggestion on our Instagram. To me, Jesse feels like the name of a bad boy in a 1980s teen movie, but there’s also associations with Jesse James and Jesse Eisenberg. As Nameberry describes it, Jesse is “King David’s father turned 1980s cowboy.”
Girls
Nessa
Nessa means “miracle” in Hebrew, is familiar without being too popular, and was recently spotlighted in pop culture as the name of Elphaba’s sister in “Wicked.” (Quick, name your baby Nessa before “Wicked” part 2 comes out and Nessarose enters her villain era!)
Zelda
In Yiddish, Zelda means “happy,” and although I currently know three toddlers named Zelda, it’s only ranked as the 705th most popular baby name for girls. Nameberry lists Zelda on its “baby names everyone thinks are cool” list. (It’s me, I’m everyone.)
Shalom
With peace at the forefront of everyone’s mind and a fascination with all things ‘90s, the name Shalom — the Hebrew word for peace (as well as hello and goodbye) and the name of ‘90s supermodel Shalom Harlow — feels ripe for a jump in popularity.
Orli
Take a look around: The vibes are not good, y’all. But a new baby is a light during dark times, and parents are taking that literally by giving their babies names related to light. “Ori” is a popular boy’s name in Israel that’s gaining popularity as a gender neutral option (Gal Gadot gave her daughter the name in 2024), but Orli feels more trendy and rolls off the tongue more easily in English.
Ayala
Ayala means “doe” (as in deer) and is currently the second most popular name in Israel. “Name This Baby” sees a lot of requests for modern Israeli names, and this one is cute, feminine, easy to say and unique here in the States.
Palomba
Palomba, the Ladino word for dove, is a reference to much-needed peace and calm, and similar to a “cool girl” baby name that’s currently spiking (and one of my favorite drink orders), Paloma.
Gender neutral
Evan
This name, historically leaning male but increasingly seen as a gender neutral option, received a lot of love in the Kveller baby name bank this year. Though most Evans are probably named with the Welsh meaning of “God is gracious” in mind, Evan is also the Hebrew word for stone.
Shai
We predicted this name would trend in 2023, and it comes up as a suggestion week after week in “Name This Baby.” This Hebrew name is short, sweet and easy for English speakers to pronounce (just tell them to pronounce it like “shy”). It means “gift” and is the name of Jewish actor Josh Peck’s baby boy.
