Names by country
Israeli names for characters
Popular Israeli first names by birth decade, common and regional surnames, pronunciation, and the naming rules writers trip over.
How Israeli names work
Modern Hebrew names stress the last syllable more often than English does (David is dah-VEED). Unisex names (Adi, Ofir, Sharon, Roni) are common. In Hebrew script names run right to left, but in English text the order is first name then surname as usual.
Middle names. Most Israelis have one given name and no middle name.
First names by birth decade
Names drift in and out of fashion. Pick from the decade your character was born, not the year your story is set.
Born before 1950
Girls
- Sara sah-RAH
- Rachel rah-KHEL
- Miriam meer-YAHM
- Esther es-TER
- Rivka reev-KAH
- Hana khah-NAH
- Leah leh-AH
- Shoshana shoh-shah-NAH
Boys
- Moshe moh-SHEH
- Avraham av-rah-HAHM
- Yosef yoh-SEF
- Yaakov yah-ah-KOV
- David dah-VEED
- Yitzhak yits-KHAHK
- Shmuel shmoo-EL
- Haim KHA-yim
Born 1950–64
Girls
- Rachel
- Sara
- Esther
- Miriam
- Ilana ee-lah-NAH
- Ruth ROOT
- Aliza ah-lee-ZAH
- Yael yah-EL
Boys
- Moshe
- Yosef
- David
- Avraham
- Yaakov
- Shlomo
- Haim
- Amos ah-MOS
Born 1965–79
Girls
- Michal mee-KHAHL
- Yael
- Orly OR-lee
- Sigal see-GAHL
- Limor lee-MOR
- Anat ah-NAHT
- Galit gah-LEET
- Keren KEH-ren
Boys
- David
- Yosef
- Moshe
- Avi
- Eyal eh-YAHL
- Ofer OH-fer
- Ronen roh-NEN
- Gil GHEEL
Born 1980–94
Girls
- Noa NOH-ah
- Michal
- Shira shee-RAH
- Yael
- Maayan mah-ah-YAHN
- Hila HEE-lah
- Moran moh-RAHN
- Sapir sah-PEER
Boys
- David
- Yosef
- Daniel
- Itai ee-TIE
- Omer OH-mer
- Tomer TOH-mer
- Eran eh-RAHN
- Lior lee-OR
Born 1995–2009
Girls
- Noa
- Shira
- Tamar
- Maya MAH-yah
- Yael
- Talia TAHL-yah
- Adi
- Hila
Boys
- Noam noh-AHM
- Itai
- Omer
- Daniel
- Yonatan yoh-nah-TAHN
- Ariel ah-ree-EL
- Idan ee-DAHN
- Eitan ay-TAHN
Born 2010 onward
Girls
- Tamar
- Avigail ah-vee-GAIL
- Noa
- Maya
- Sara
- Yael
- Ayala ah-yah-LAH
- Shira
Boys
- David
- Ariel
- Lavi LAH-vee
- Yosef
- Noam
- Eitan
- Raphael rah-fah-EL
- Uri
Common Israeli surnames
- Cohen koh-HEN
- Levi leh-VEE
- Mizrahi meez-RAH-khee
- Peretz PEH-rets
- Biton bee-TON
- Dahan dah-HAHN
- Avraham
- Friedman
- Malka mahl-KAH
- Azoulay ah-zoo-LYE
- Katz KAHTS
- Yosef
- David
- Amar ah-MAR
- Ohana oh-hah-NAH
- Gabay gah-BYE
- Ben-David
- Shapira shah-PEE-rah
- Golan goh-LAHN
- Shalev shah-LEV
- Harel hah-REL
- Tal TAHL
- Oren OH-ren
- Peled peh-LED
Regional names
Where a character comes from inside Israel changes their surname, and sometimes their first name.
Ashkenazi families (European roots)
Many Ashkenazi families Hebraized their European surnames after 1948 (Grün became Golan or Dagan), so a Hebrew surname often hides a Yiddish or German one.
Surnames: Friedman, Katz, Rosenberg, Goldberg, Shapira, Weiss, Kaplan, Segal, Klein, Schwartz
Mizrahi and Sephardi families (Middle East, North Africa)
Moroccan, Iraqi, Yemeni and Persian family names. Sephardi custom names children after living grandparents; Ashkenazi custom only after the dead.
Surnames: Mizrahi, Peretz, Biton, Dahan, Azoulay, Ohana, Amar, Gabay, Abergel, Elbaz
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox: Bnei Brak, Jerusalem)
Haredi names use Yiddish-inflected Ashkenazi pronunciation (Chaim, Dovid) rather than modern Israeli Hebrew.
Surnames: Friedman, Weiss, Rosenberg, Goldberg, Katz, Klein, Schwartz, Rabinowitz, Twersky, Halberstam
Girls: Chaya, Rivka, Esther, Sara, Chana, Leah, Miriam, Devorah
Boys: Yisrael, Moshe, Chaim, Yaakov, Menachem Mendel, Shmuel, Avraham, Yitzchak
Arab citizens of Israel (Galilee, Nazareth, Triangle)
About a fifth of Israel's citizens are Arab, Muslim, Christian or Druze. Christian families often use names like Elias, George and Bishara.
Surnames: Haddad, Khoury, Mansour, Nassar, Masarwa, Jabareen, Kanaan, Hamdan, Asadi, Shehadeh
Girls: Fatima, Aisha, Mariam, Amal, Rania, Lina, Nour, Hiba
Boys: Mohammad, Ahmad, Mahmoud, Ali, Yousef, Omar, Khaled, Hassan
Questions
What are common Israeli surnames?
Some of the most common Israeli surnames are Cohen, Levi, Mizrahi, Peretz, Biton, Dahan. Regional surnames differ, so check the regional lists before choosing one for a character from a particular area.
How do Israeli names work?
Modern Hebrew names stress the last syllable more often than English does (David is dah-VEED). Unisex names (Adi, Ofir, Sharon, Roni) are common. In Hebrew script names run right to left, but in English text the order is first name then surname as usual. Most Israelis have one given name and no middle name.
Build a Israeli character in one tap
InkBorn gives them a name from the right decade, a face card, a background, a personality and even their social media handles.