[ANON POST] Hebrew Unisex Name

Jan 27, 2014 13:07

Setting: Alternate universe, speculative fiction/surreal fantasy. The story is taking place in modern times ( Read more... )

~languages: hebrew, ~names

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antongarou January 27 2014, 21:36:42 UTC
Israeli here

1. At modern times the name is unisex leaning to female - a male named Shani is not uncommon among the name bearers, but my first reaction if given nothing other then the name would be to lean toward identifying the person as female. I am not familiar with older practices.

2. Definitely not red hair. "Shani" is a very distinct red: think a pure red rose. a birthmark might be that color, but not hair.

3. I wouldn't have connected them at all, but this might be different between subcultures(I come from a non-practicing Ashkenazi family)

4. Yes, the color was very strongly connected with various religious garb that the Kohanim(priests) wore in the Temple as well as other textiles used in the Temple. This connection is less strong among nonreligious people today since a lot of us do not know the details of that garb.

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lovechilde January 28 2014, 20:41:21 UTC
Seconded. Shani hasn't been a unisex name for very long, and while I do know a few guys named Shani, they get mistaken for girls online a lot. And they all spell it Shany, btw.

The red string talisman is very recognizable, but not the first thing most Hebrew speaking people think of in connection with the name Shani, in my experience. It does have the religious connotation, but for secular people it's not a very strong association.

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antongarou January 29 2014, 04:51:52 UTC
Thank you for your reply! Would you say the spelling is significant enough to warrant changing?

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lovechilde January 29 2014, 05:54:42 UTC
No, it's a preference thing. They're pretty interchangable.

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