Hebrew Neutral

Deep in the Bible, past Habbakuk, Isaachar, and Uriah, there are names that are equally as appealing for boys and girls, sometimes even used by both in the Bible. You guessed it! Hebrew neutral names are these names. Can you picture Nehemiah on girl? Well, good, that's because it has never once been used for a girl. I'm not talking about those names. I'm talking names that have had some usage on either side of the spectrum. So, with further ado, here are the Hebrew Neutrals:

Abijah - considered the truest unisex name in the Bible, it is given to numerous males in the bible, one of them the fourth king of Judah, as well as a few females. It was popularly used in the colonial era, where Moses, Eliphalet, and Micajah roamed the streets. Abijah has two usable nicknamse – Abe and Bige. For a girl, this might be a fun way to get to Abby. Masculine or feminine, this name is not popular but is easily accessible. Rhyming with Elijah, the name is pronounced uh-BY-yah. It means "God is my father" in Hebrew. 

Asa - I wouldn't normally put this name on this list because it has almost exclusively been a boys' name, but notice how I put "almost". Justin Bartha named his daughter Asa earlier this year. Shockingly sweet, Asa could make for a wonderful girls' name, though be warned. Many hold strong opinions whether or not this is an acceptable practice to give girls seemingly femininized boys' names. As for boys, this name is in the same field as Ezra. It is there for those experimental parents and for those who want to honor an ancestor named Asa. Keeping this name still mainstream and viable for boys is child actor Asa Butterfield who has been in numerous popular kids' TV shows and films. 

Elisha - following the trend of Noah and Joshua, Elisha is on the rise – and for good reasons. Despite the name's pronunciation problems (is it pronounced like Elijah or closer to an Alicia?), the name sounds oddly like Russian diminutive along the lines of Sasha, Masha, and Dasha. Elisha is a follower of Elijah. At it's highest, Elisha was #255 in 1883 for boys and #373 in 1980 for girls. Elisha has the popular yet quirky nickname Eli.

Hadar - popular name in Israel with almost equal usage for both boys and girls. The name means "ornament" or "glory" or "respect" in Hebrew. It is also a city near Tel Aviv. It has many variants that stem from it, including Hadaram, Hadarezer, Hadriel (which sounds similar to also unisex name Ariel), Hadur, and Heder.

Ira - with the zippy -ah/-a ending that is usually only found in Hebrew names for boys, Ira has only masculine use in the Bible, but for the past century has almost been used for girls. It means "watched one" in Hebrew. In Slavic countries, the name Ira is traditionally used as a nickname for Irina. The last time Ira was on the charts for girls was in 1947 at #971. She runs along the lines of Ada, Ava, and Ida: short but sassy. As a boys name, the name was popular in the early half the century but when on slow decline until 1992, when he fell off the charts. Famous bearers of the name include Ira Gershwin, an American lyrist and brother/partner to George Gershwin, who noted for writing some of the most popular jazz standards. Another namesake is Ira Allen, brother of Ethan Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys.

Jude - not technically a unisex name, but all the same, it has had a large amount of usage on both sides. Jude is a popular, surfer-dudish name many see has a masculine but soft Biblical choice for their son, as opposed to his variants Judah and Judas. Jude is one of those few names for boys that has never left the SSA Top 1000 since its beginning in 1880 and is currently popular in the US, England, and Scotland. As a girls' name, it is a diminutive of '50s chic Judith and new alternative to the retro diminutive Judy. As its own name, it has never reached into the top 1000

Paz - appealing Hebrew name, meaning "peace", has a Spanish vibe to it. As a girls' name, it originated as a title for Mary – Our Lady of Peace. For girls, other variants and similar-sounding names include Pazia, Paziah (meaning "the gold of Jehovah"), Pazit, and Pazya. The one male variant is Pazel, but Paz is seen as sleeker and more attractive than the longer former for boys. The Latin word for peace is Pax, as in Pax Romana. A famous namesake is Paz de la Huerta, an actress. A longer, unrelated form to Paz could be Topaz, an unused gem name used by Dodie Smith in her novel I Capture the Castle.

Shalom – along with Paz, Shalom means "peace". The city of Jerusalem stem from this root, meaning "abode of peace" or "city of peace". Salem is also a variant of Shalom, infamous here in the States for their witch-trials, but was rejuvenated with the humorous cat Salem in the 1990s sitcom "Sabrina the Teenage Witch". Shalom Aleichem is one of the famous people bearing name. He was the author of the stories that inspired the musicl Fiddler on the Roof. The name famous woman to bear the name was Shalom Harlow. The name is common greeting in Israel. Other male variants of the name include Absalom, meaning "father of peace", and Shlomo, meaning "his peace" (with the quirky nickname Mo). Female variants include seductive Salome (pronounced Sah-lowm in America, Sahl-low-mah in France) and Shulamit and its diminutive Shula, which is often used on its own is Israel. 


Honourable mentions: Emmet, which has never been used for girls and used exclusively for boys, but his cousin Emmett has had some usage for girls as a masculine variation to the classic Emma. Also, Noa (without the "h") is a girls name in her own right. Her name means "motion" in Hebrew, and she is extremely popular in Israel as well as Spain (#16) and the Netherlands (#15). Micah is also a unisex name, only given to a male in a Bible. Phonetically similar to German Meike, a variation of Mary, Micah can be an update to Michaela or Michael. It is short and sweet, equally usable for both guys and gals. Both uses have tremendous amount of usage in the past decade, rising every year. As of 2013, Micah is #107 for boys and #878 for girls. 

What names sparkle your interest? What names would you hate to see on a girl or on a boy?

Picture: Nery, Ismael. Andrógino. N.d. Coleção Luis Fernando Nazarian, São Paulo, Brazil. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 26 Aug. 2014. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ismael_Nery_-_Andrógino.jpg>.