As we all know by now, Natalie Portman and fiance Benjamin Millepied chose the name Aleph for their son. Aleph represents the space marker in the Hebrew alphabet or aleph bet, that takes on the breathy position of a glottal stop or pronunciation of the vowel adjacent to it in the word.
Jewish mysticism associates Aleph with air, a oneness with God, and infinity. In the sacred text Sefer Yetzirah, “Aleph is King over Breath, Formed Air in the universe, Temperate in the Year, and the Chest in the soul.” In Rabbinic Hebrew, the Bible begins with Bet, the second letter of the alphabet. To reward Aleph for “his” humility, he is given the task of starting The Ten Commandments.
In addition to the first letter of the alphabet, it also represents the number one. Both Natalie Portman’s father Avner and her grandfather Arthur‘s names begin with the aleph, and it perhaps honors both men without explicitly naming her son after a living relative (her father is living while her grandfather has passed). After reading more about Aleph, I’ve come to really respect the choice and expect my research only scratches the surface of this spiritual name. Natalie Portman is a Harvard graduate would not take a decision like this lightly, so while at first it may have seemed like a wacky celeb name, it’s actually one chosen from careful deliberation.
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The week also brought us news of another much anticipated babe, the child of David and Victoria Beckham. They shocked us all when they chose zeitgeist sweetheart Harper as their daughter’s first name, but stuck to their convention of choosing the unconventional with they put Seven in the middle.
Despite being the fourth child, Seven is David Beckham’s lucky number. 7 was his Jersey when he played for English team Manchester United and the national team. Harper Seven was also born in the 7th hour on the 7th day (Sunday) in the 7th month and weighed 7 something pounds. It looks like it’s her lucky number too.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Seven used as a name. Erykah Badu dubbed her son Seven way back in 1997, and as readers so astutely pointed out in the comments, Seven was George Costanza’s unborn child until a couple overheard him and “stole” the name. My generation will recall Six on Blossom, and Novogratz child and fifth son Five made is reality TV debut last year on Nine By Design.
I went to high school with a boy called “Cuatro” because he was the fourth in line to bear the name. Trey and Trip are also variations on this theme which sometimes wind up on the birth certificate. I’m partial to Sixtine (sic) and Octavian myself. In some languages Nina is the number nine and Una number one.
Do you think letters and numbers are the next wave in baby names? It’s just an extension of the word name trend, and has the capacity to dip into religious and cultural symbolism of the power of symbols, scientific and mathematical harmonies, and the history of language. I can see Brooklyn parents really digging this. Gone are the days when being “just a number” is construed as a bad thing.
Are there any letters or numbers you particularly would like to see on a child?
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I like the sound of Zed (z) and Tav (hebrew for 400 and the letter ת).
My grandfather gave himself the middle name J when he was a young man- just the letter no full name.
crazy. My father had the middle name J, as well, with no word attached. He was given it by his mother, though.
The number trend reminds me of the early roman tradition of naming your children in the order they were born. Octavia, Quintus, Sextus, etc.
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
“Laura Rose July 12, 2011 at 4:12 pm
The number trend reminds me of the early roman tradition of naming your children in the order they were born. Octavia, Quintus, Sextus, etc.”
I’m not a huge fan of number and letter names but I really do like Oona, it sounds very pretty and is not so unusual that people wouldn’t recognise it. I also think Octavia is quite pretty too.
On a related note in the film Stardust there was a sibling set that all had number names; of the top of my head I can remember Una, Primus, Septimus and Quintus but there were a few more.
LOVE that movie! The brothers were Primus, Secundus, Teritus, Quartus, Quintus, and Sextus, and the sister was Una.
One of my favorite names ever is Quintana. It means “fifth” in Spanish. Joan Didion named her daughter Quintana Roo (now deceased).
i believe quintana roo is also joan’s favorite state in mexico, so it counts for a place name too! i have to admit i was never fond of the name – it always seemed a bit hippy-dippy to me, especially when contrasted with her mother’s serious, scholarly name.
Also Pi, from Life of Pi (although it wasn’t his given name)….
Oh, and wasn’t Harper born the 10th, rather than the 7th? Still, she has plenty of sevens left in the mix to make things meaningful….
Corrected, thanks! The third element was that she weighed 7+ pounds.
i have a friend whose given name is J, just J. in fact, that is how he introduces himself, “J just J”. he never has liked it.
My grandfather was in the Army with a man named R B, just R B. His dog tags read R only B only, so everyone called him Ronly Bonly.
http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.asp
not sure why you are making fun of my account :/
ooooooh snap!
i clicked on the snopes link ’cause i was confused—i hadn’t thought anyone was making fun of anything. then, surprisingly, i read a story that i had heard from my grandfather! he used to tell people that he had been standing in a registration line—for college? for something military? i don’t remember—behind a girl named urine (yur-een), whose naming story was that her parents were non-english speakers who’d seen the name in a medical journal and thought it was pretty. urine had a sister named chlamydia.
lo and behold, my grandfather’s story is on snopes.
i’m willing to bet that katybug didn’t know that her grandfather’s story was on snopes, either. seems to me that our grandparents, when repeating one another’s stories, didn’t count on the internet.
I love it, I must say.
We sort of did number names, thought it’s not entirely why we chose them–both our girls’ names have various other (and more important) meanings. My daughters names mean nine and eight, respectively. It’s really magical for us because we only discovered our second daughter’s name to mean “eight” *after* naming her. Early on, we wanted an 8-ish name but gave up on it. Her name never came up when searching for number 8 names, but a link to number 8 comes up when searching her name. It was a pretty joyous (and nerdy) discovery. Now I feel like *number* (hehe) three has to have a 7-ish name somewhere in there, but it won’t be “seven”.
I don’t know if it’s the next wave, but I bet it at least makes a noticeable splash! For me, there’s such a deep beauty to numbers, if for no other reason than it’s as close as we get to any objective “truth”. I’ve always loved them, almost like they’re personalities, but I guess I can thank Sesame Street for that!
** I also wanted to add that I see a pretty distinct difference in the two mentioned celebrity names, though. Natalie’s seems a little less obvious, more esoteric. I would have loved to see a less direct “seven” name for the Beckhams. I think Septima with a very odd word-name middle would have been great for this family. It might ring a bit formal next to the boys’ names, but I’m sure this group could help them come up with a fitting and unusual nickname!
I definitely prefer Aleph to Seven, especially here in America. Aleph seems like it *should* be a name, even it wasn’t already, and it’s just such a beautiful sound. I think it does “count” in naming a child after a deceased relative to use only the first letter of relative’s name? and what a clever way to do that, especially if she wanted to also honor her father! I’m really quite fond of this choice. I would eat a rotten egg to hear her dish on why she chose it!
Delta Burke and Catherine Zeta-Jones both have lovely Greek letter names. According to Wikipedia, Zeta was Catherine’s grandmother’s first name, even though it’s hyphenated with her last name. I think if it’s done well, it’s beautiful! I’ve always thought Trey and Trip were adorable nicknames for “the third,” though I don’t think I’ve known anyone to actually have that on their birth certificates. All the ones I’ve known have been named after their fathers and grandfathers, so their birth certificates bear the family name.
Great examples ABC!
re Catherine Zeta-Jones, she was actually born Catherine Zeta Jones, with Zeta being her middle name, but when she moved to the US, the American press hypenated her middle and last name, and in the end she has just accepted the mistake and gone with it.
I like the name Quincy for a boy, and when I looked up the meaning, found that it is traditionally given to the 5th child in a family.
I forgot to add Octavia, which I totally love, and which was traditionally given to 8th-born children.
The ‘thing that gets me’ with Aleph is that I wonder what you’d call a second son or even a daughter after calling the first one “A” or “1″ or “King over Breath”? You couldn’t really called them “B” or “2″ – they’d need something equally awe-inspiring. I presume they took that into consideration though.
I probably wouldn’t use a number myself, but I seem to be warming to the idea of numbers being used, the more I think about it – as long as the number is actually spelled out, rather than it being “Harper 7″ – which is more username / e mail address then ‘name’. It’s funny how Seven went from being a sitcom joke to actually being a name these days.
I can only think Omega (last letter of Greek alphabet) for Aleph’s sister, or Tav (last letter in Hebrew alphabet) for a little brother. But then you’d have to be done.
I agree with British American – Aleph is a TOUGH act to follow. As for Seven, I do like the idea of Septime instead … but I’m still enjoying Seven. There are plenty of number names I’d cheerfully use – Octavia has been on my lists since I was young, and Tressa is a new favorite. But not Seven just by itself, not for my non-Beckham workaday life.
I really like “Aleph” for Natalie Portman. I think it’s different and meaningful without being cheesy or made up or wacko. I’m underimpressed with the Beckham’s choice of Harper. I like the name but I just feel like it’s too trendy and popular for them. Seven is a cool middle name, I’m glad it wasn’t given as her first name. Wasn’t she born on Sunday, the first day of the week?
On the seventh day God rested… I think it’s a matter of perspective.
That’s why I had “seventh day” in my post! Thank you.
I did some looking around and I guess there are different perspectives. I really had no idea!! How ignorant of me. I’ve grown up learning that Sunday was the first day of the week.
I like the idea of Pi. If symbols were an option I’m positive my husband would push for “π”! He’s a math genius.
My great grandmother was named Una. She scared the crap out of me when I was little, so I don’t appreciate this name as much as so many others seem to do (I feel like I *should* though because it’s a family name)!
“She scared the crap out of me when I was little” —that made me laugh!
I always liked the name Rune and I think some of the Greek letters could make interesting names, especially when you consider the symbolism the letters represent.
Alpha – beginning
Omega – completion
Theta – sun (it also means death so maybe it’s not so usable.)
Chi – Christ
(Maybe the Beckhams’ should of named their daughter Harper Zayin, after the 7th Hebrew letter? Now that would of been interesting!)
I thought this was somewhat illuminating about the Israeli perspective on the name: http://www.thejewishweek.com/features/new_york_minute/alef_bet_baby_names
They spell it Alef here.
I’m a fan of Hebrew names. Do you know if there is a list anywhere of modern Israeli names?
Chinese people are paying attention to Harper Seven too. This story talks about H7, lucky numbers and weird trends in Chinese baby names. Did you know Resist America” was once a popular woman’s name?
http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/665987/Whats-in-a-name.aspx
This post brought to mind a book I had as a child–I spent the past few days searching for it and finally posted a picture of it–the family named their children Firsterix, Secondus, Thirdly, Fourthem, Fifthmore, etc…ending with the lone girl little “Eightah”. It always fascinated me as a child. I like the number name trend.
http://www.sillyeaglebooks.com/2011/07/harper-seven-beckhams-baby-names.html
I grew up with a Beta (in her case, short for Elisabete). Greek letters are fun -Alpha, Zeta, Delta, Omega, Rho, Sigma, Theta… all sound like names.
Looks like I’m arriving late to this conversation but I thought I’d add this. My sister had a friend in college who went by this nickname IV “Ivy” because the was the 4th. No idea what his real name was but I always thought that was quite interesting. So instead of Five, which I do like, someone could call their fifth child V. Or their 10th (10th?!) child X.
My husband and I named our fourteenth baby Apollo XIV….Apollos was disciple in the New Testament (all of our boy’s have Bible names) and the XIV was to honor his place in our family as well as being a nifty play on words (think Apollo space missions).
Welcome Renee! Glad you found us, through the Blogger Kids post no doubt! Apollo XIV is so interesting! I love the reasons behind it.
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