Hebrew Girl Names: 147 Names With Meanings (Modern Israeli and Biblical)

Hebrew girl names such as Shira (“singing”), Maya, Noa, Ayelet, Lior (“my light”) and Tamar (“date palm”) come from modern Hebrew words and from the Bible, and this list gives the Hebrew spelling and a checked meaning for 147 names.

Hebrew girl names come in two broad styles. Modern Israeli names are often everyday Hebrew words, such as Vered (“rose”), Tikva (“hope”) and Maayan (“spring of water”), while classic names such as Chana, Rivka and Tamar have been used since biblical times.

We grouped the names by theme: modern Israeli names, flowers and trees, water and land, light and sky, virtues, beautiful and precious names, short unisex names, names with a word for God, and biblical names in their Hebrew forms. Then come notes on Jewish naming customs, spelling and pronunciation.

Hebrew Girl Names at a Glance

Every gender, usage label, Hebrew spelling and meaning on this page was checked against the name’s own entry on Behind the Name in November 2026. When an entry only says a name is a form of another name, we looked up that name too and give its meaning. Where the reference says a meaning is only possible, we say so.

Encyclopaedia Britannica describes Hebrew as a language that was revived as a spoken language in the 19th and 20th centuries and is the official language of Israel. Behind the Name, our reference for every entry here, describes its Hebrew names simply as names used by Hebrew speakers. That gives Hebrew girl names two big sources. Some are ancient names carried for thousands of years, such as Chana (Hannah), Rivka (Rebecca) and Tamar. Many others are modern Hebrew words used as names: Shira means “singing”, Vered means “rose”, Maayan means “spring of water” and Tikva means “hope”.

Because our biblical girl names guide already covers the women of the Bible in depth, this page leads with modern Hebrew names and word names, then gives a shorter section on biblical names in their Hebrew forms. Each table shows the Hebrew spelling exactly as the entry prints it.

A few building blocks show up again and again, so they are worth learning before you browse:

• Li: “for me” or “to me”. It starts Lior (“my light”), Liel (“my God”), Liraz (“my secret”) and Linoy (“my beauty”).
• El and yah: two words that refer to God. El ends Shirel (“song of God”) and Batel (“daughter of God”); yah ends Talia (“dew from God”).
• Or: “light”, the root of Or, Ora, Orli, Lior and Liora.
• Halal: a root meaning “to praise, to shine”, behind Tahel, Tehila, Hila and Hallel.
• Feminine endings: Hebrew often makes a feminine name from a masculine one with an ending such as -a or -it. Behind the Name calls Ziva a feminine form of Ziv, Meira a feminine form of Meir and Ronit a strictly feminine form of Ron.

Modern Israeli Girl Names

These names are Hebrew words or short phrases more than borrowed biblical names, and many of them are feminine in their entries. Several are built with li, “for me”: Lihi is “she is mine” and Libi is “my heart”. If you want a name that sounds like modern Israel rather than an old family Bible, start here.

Notice how many of these share a theme. Linoy, Noy and Adi are about beauty and ornament; Tali and Meital are about dew; Shira and Gili are about song and joy. Noa is a good example of a name that crosses borders: its entry lists Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Dutch usage, and it is the modern Hebrew form of Noah, a daughter of Zelophehad in the Bible (not the same name as Noah of the ark, which is written differently in Hebrew).

We do not give Israeli popularity ranks on this page, because we only report rankings we can check against an official source. For U.S. numbers, the Social Security Administration (SSA) publishes the national list each year.

Hebrew Flower, Tree and Plant Names

Flowers and trees are one of the richest groups of Hebrew girl names. Several of them are the everyday Hebrew words for the plant, so Vered is simply “rose” and Shaked is “almond”.

Shoshana has a long history behind it. Per its entry, it is the modern Hebrew form of Susanna, which comes from the Hebrew word shoshan, “lily” (in modern Hebrew also “rose”). Hadas, “myrtle tree”, is also the root of Hadassah, the Hebrew name of Queen Esther, which you will find in the biblical section below. Rotem is named for a desert shrub, and Nitzan, “flower bud”, is listed as masculine and feminine.

If botanical names are your style, our flower names and nature names lists gather more ideas from many languages.

Water, Land and Animal Names

This group draws on the landscape of Israel and on gentle animals. Kineret, Arbel, Karmel and Yarden are all place names: a lake, two mountains and a river. Ayala, Ayelet and Ofri are about deer and fawns.

Ayelet has one of the loveliest entries in the reference. It comes from the phrase ayelet hashachar, literally “gazelle of dawn”, a name of the morning star. Kineret takes its name from the lake usually called the Sea of Galilee in English, and the entry says that name comes from kinnor, “harp”, because of the lake’s shape.

Hebrew Names That Mean Light, Dawn and Sky

Light is a favorite theme in Hebrew names, and the word or (“light”) gives a whole family of choices. The table also gathers names for dawn, the moon, the rainbow, dew and the seasons.

A few details from the entries: Ziv was also the ancient name of the second month of the Jewish calendar, and Sivan is the name of a month of the Hebrew calendar that falls in late spring. Levana is the Hebrew form of the biblical name Lebanah, a poetic word for “moon” that comes from lavan, “white”. Keren can mean “horn” or “ray of light”, and Keshet means “rainbow”.

Light names are popular in many languages. Our names that mean light list gathers more from many languages, using the same checked approach.

Virtue Names: Love, Joy, Hope and Praise

Many Hebrew girl names are simply the Hebrew word for a quality you might wish for your daughter. Ahava means “love”, Tikva means “hope” and Nechama means “comfort, consolation”.

Song and joy come up again and again: Shir is “song”, Rina is “joy, singing”, Ronit is a feminine form of Ron (“song, joy”) and Gila is a feminine form of Gil (“joy, happiness”). Hallel, “praise”, is also the name of a Jewish prayer made up of several psalms, per its entry, so it has a clear religious connection. Simcha and Chesed are listed for both girls and boys.

Beautiful and Precious Hebrew Names

If you are looking for a Hebrew name that means beautiful, Yafa and Nava are the most direct choices. The rest of this table covers precious things: a queen, a crown, pearls, a sapphire, amber and gold.

Both Margalit and Pnina mean “pearl”: Margalit comes ultimately from Greek, while Pnina is the Hebrew word. Kelila has two senses in its entry, “crown, wreath, garland” or “complete, perfect”. Linoy and Noy, in the modern table, also mean beauty, and Shifra, in the biblical table, means “beautiful”. For more names on this theme from other languages, see our names that mean beautiful list.

Short and Unisex Hebrew Names

Modern Hebrew has many short names, and a large share of them are used for both girls and boys. Behind the Name lists every name in this table as both masculine and feminine, in the order shown.

Plenty of the short names in earlier tables are unisex too: Or, Tal, Gal, Ziv, Noy, Adi, Gili, Paz and Amit. If you want a name that is clearly feminine in Hebrew, look for the entries marked feminine only, such as Shir, Tali, Ora, Ziva and Liora, or for a feminine form like Aviva (from Aviv). More quick picks are in our short girl names list.

Names With a Word for God: Eliana, Talia and Ariel

Many Hebrew names include el or yah, two words that refer to God. Some are old biblical names in a modern Hebrew form, and others are newer creations. Each meaning below is printed as the entry gives it.

Eliana, “my God has answered”, is one of the few names on this page with a current U.S. ranking we can cite: it was No. 10 for girls born in 2025, according to the SSA. Ariel is the most widely traveled name in this table: its entry lists Hebrew, English, French, Spanish and Polish usage. Neria and Uria are modern Hebrew forms of biblical names borne by men in the Old Testament, and their entries note that they are also used as feminine names today. Avia, the modern Hebrew form of Abijah, is listed for both genders; the biblical Abijah entry names both male and female characters.

Biblical Hebrew Girl Names in Their Hebrew Forms

This section is deliberately shorter, because our biblical girl names guide covers the women of the Bible in depth. Here we give the Hebrew forms that many Jewish and Israeli families use, such as Chana for Hannah and Rivka for Rebecca. When the entry only says “Hebrew form of”, we looked up the source name and give its meaning.

A few names in this table come with hard stories in the Bible, so it is worth reading the full entry before you choose. Yael, for example, is the Hebrew form of Jael, who in the Old Testament kills Sisera, the captain of the Canaanite army, and Batsheva’s story involves King David arranging the death of her first husband. Shifra’s entry tells a different kind of story: she is one of the midwives who disobeys the Pharaoh’s order to kill Hebrew baby boys.

If you love a biblical name but want one that is easy in English as well, these names share the same spelling, or close to it, in both languages:

Brothers? Our Hebrew boy names list uses the same checked approach, and biblical boy names covers the men of the Bible.

Jewish Naming Traditions, Spelling and Pronunciation

Hebrew names and Jewish names overlap but are not the same thing. Many Jewish families use Hebrew names, many families who are not Jewish choose Hebrew names they love, and Jewish families also use names from other languages. Customs vary from family to family and community to community, so treat these notes as background, not rules.

• Naming after a relative: My Jewish Learning explains that among Ashkenazi Jews the custom is to name a child after someone, usually a family member, who has recently died, while Sephardic Jews usually name children after a grandparent, either living or dead.
• Two names: the same source notes that Jewish parents frequently give a child both a Hebrew name and a secular name for use in everyday life.
• When a girl is named: Chabad.org states that a girl’s name is traditionally given at the Torah reading, while a boy’s name is given at his circumcision.

Spelling in English is the next question. Hebrew is written in its own alphabet, and transliterations vary, so the same name can be spelled several ways in English. Behind the Name itself lists Devorah as an alternate transcription of Devora, Aliyah as an alternate transcription of Aliya, and Ayla as an alternate transcription of Ela. The “ch” in Chana, Chava and Simcha stands for a throaty sound, which the entries write as χ. Pick one spelling, and keep it the same on every form.

On paperwork, U.S. records do not always carry accents or special characters, and they will not print Hebrew letters, so decide early how you will write your daughter’s name in English. Many families also keep the Hebrew spelling for a naming ceremony or family records. Say the name out loud with your surname, and check the initials.

Pairing ideas within this list, not rules: Shira Ahava, Noa Tikva, Maya Liora, Tamar Eliana, Ayelet Shir and Talia Vered. If you are weighing names from neighboring traditions, our Arabic girl names and Greek girl names lists use the same checked approach.

Related Betteroo Guides

• Hebrew Boy Names
• Biblical Girl Names
• Names That Mean Light
• Names That Mean Beautiful
• Flower Names
• Arabic Girl Names

The Bottom Line

Hebrew girl names run from modern Israeli word names like Shira, Maya and Tahel to flower names like Vered and Shoshana, light names like Lior and Zohar, virtue names like Tikva and Ahava, and biblical names in their Hebrew forms, like Chana, Rivka and Tamar. Shortlist a few, read the full meaning in each entry, choose one English spelling, and say each name out loud with your surname.

Once the name is chosen, sleep is the next project, and a calm, predictable bedtime routine is a gentle place to start.

Frequently Asked Questions