Mayim Bialik Talks to Name Candy: Our Naming Process Starts With the Initials
Mayim Bialik won our hearts as the title character of TV's Blossom in the 1990s. Now you can catch her on the Emmy-nominated CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
NameCandy.com caught up with Mayim over e-mail as she was getting ready for the Bellies to Babies Benefit this weekend in support of the Atlanta Birth Center. Read on to find out the stories behind her children's names, what she calls her kids at home (Floopy?), her take on Natalie Portman's baby name, and what the name Blossom means to her.
NC: What are your children's names, and how did you choose them?
Mayim Bialik:
1. English Name: Miles Roosevelt. Hebrew Name: Meir Rosh.
2. English name: Fredrick Heschel. Hebrew Name: Ephraim Hirsch.
In my family, we choose English names with the same first letter as the first Hebrew letter. My husband converted to Judaism before we got married, and his family does not have these kinds of traditions necessarily set in stone (lol that's his last name).
Our first son is Meir Rosh, named for my father's father of blessed memory. His Hebrew name was Meir (pronounced like Oscar Meyer hot dogs), with no middle name. His English name was Michael, which is the same as my husband's name. Jews don't tend to do "juniors,” so we chose another M name. My husband and I love Miles Davis. I wanted to name him Morrie in English but my husband vetoed that.
We chose a middle name in English first: Roosevelt, since my grandpa had no middle name. My husband's middle name is Franklin so he liked honoring his family by also doing a political "FDR" name. For the Hebrew middle name, we chose Rosh since our son was born right after Rosh Hashanah, and Rosh is a name of one of the sons of Benjamin in the Torah. Coincidentally, my father's Hebrew name is Benjamin, so this was a nod to that too!
NC: And your other son, Fred?
Our second son is named for my mother's father, Ephraim Hirsch, of blessed memory. His English name they gave him at Ellis Island was Frank, and since my husband’s middle name is Franklin, that felt like another "junior" issue, so we picked my favorite name ever: Frederick. We wanted to stay with the "F" sound. The name Ephraim actually starts with a silent letter (Aleph-Natalie Portmans’s son’s name), but Ellis Island decided to hear the "F" sound as how to name my grandpa so we stuck with that.
His middle name, Hirsch (which means deer in Yiddish) became Heschel in English, for Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the civil rights rabbi who marched on Selma with MLK, Jr and was someone my husband and I studied in college. This was a nod to our journey of learning as college students with the rabbi who married us who taught us about Rabbi Heschel.
All Hebrew documents like bar mitzvah certificates and marriage contracts use Hebrew names. And any time our boys are called to the Torah for an honor in temple, it will be by their Hebrew names.For me, the Hebrew name holds the aspect of the person's soul and you are honoring your ancestor and wishing the traits on your child with that name. Even negative traits; I wish my child can overcome them and bring honor to the name. Even if you don't "like" the letter you got!
NC: Which name goes on the birth certificate?
Mayim Bialik: The birth certificate is a civil document, so it is the English name. HOWEVER we do not name for eight days. So for eight days, the baby hovers in a land of no-nameness, which is very sweet and very precious.
We waited 8 days until their Jewish naming and bris to announce the names to anyone. We even did not tell the name to the county! So we had to go downtown after we named our boys to name them officially. For Miles, at the hospital he was "Baby Boy Bialik" until we changed it downtown. I know some people tell the hospital and don't tell the family but we truly wanted the mystical aspect of eight days of no earthly name, just a little soul waiting to receive a name.
NC: What do you especially love about each name you chose?
Mayim Bialik: I think of my grandfathers every time I hear their names. I really do. I wish for them to be all that those men were and more, and to honor the name by bringing out aspects of their souls that they maybe couldn't in their lifetime. Even when I think of their English names, it's tied up in the Hebrew.
In English, people love the name Fred so much, and I do too. I love that people get such a kick out of a small plump toddler named Fred! And Miles is a bit popular in some circles, but the fact that people think of Miles Davis makes the name soooo cool!
NC: Were there any tough choices, or names it was hard to part with?
Mayim Bialik: I really liked Morrie. I like old man and old lady names. If we had had a girl, we would have chosen Sadie (for my grandmother). I love retro names!
NC: What's your take on nicknames? Do your kids go by nicknames?
Mayim Bialik: We use a lot of nicknames. Miles used to call himself "My-o" before he could pronounce his "L"s, so we call him that. And my husband called him Peanut in a Pouch, since he was always in a sling as a baby. Miles was born on 10/10 at 10pm and my father called him "Ten Ten" for the 8 days before we named him. We liked that a lot. I call him "Boo" now, and Fred is Fritz, Freddie, Floopy, and Fanoonoo. It's ridiculous, I know. There are Hebrew and Yiddish terms of endearment that also get thrown around sometimes. It's a nickname party in our house.
NC: Since you mentioned her, what’s your take on Natalie Portman’s name, Aleph? Is this a modern Jewish naming strategy, to honor ancestors using a contemporary version or an initial?
Mayim Bialik: Yes, it is more common to name a 'modern' version, or as I said in my family, with the same initial. As for Aleph... it's a letter, it's not a name, so I think it’s a very quirky choice. Aleph is the first letter of the alphabet and it is a very powerful mystical letter. It is silent. (Maybe she hopes for a quiet baby!?) It is a beautiful letter that actually represents G-d's name in its origins. It's a powerful word, but again, it's not a name! Just like Mayim is not a name!
NC: Let’s talk about your name. What does it mean? Do you like it?
Mayim Bialik: My name is not even a name; it's a plural male noun ("water" in Hebrew). In Hebrew, words are gendered, like in Spanish, or Italian for example. So water is male, and it only occurs (as water does) in large amounts, i./e. in plural form! My name rhymes with chaim. I was named for my great grandmother Maryam (that's like Miriam), and it was her nickname since her grandkids had trouble pronouncing her name. They shortened it to 2 syllables "ma" and "yam"..." which sounds like Mayim! It does mean water, but my family spoke Yiddish, not Hebrew. My parents were the ones to be creative and funky and name me her nickname which of course they knew means water!
I love my name. I love the mystical aspects of my name. It symbolizes the number 40 (40 years in the desert, 40 days on the mountain, all old testament stuff!), and I love my "element." It is very interesting, people's reactions to it, and I like that it identifies me as Jewish, because I am proud of my religion and heritage and I love that my name reflects that!
NC: We've read that your character Blossom was named for Blossom Dearie. How did you feel about the name Blossom at the time? How do you feel about the name Blossom now? What about the name of Blossom's friend, Six?
Mayim Bialik: I loved that Blossom was named for a jazz singer, but that the name was light and positive and evoked growth (blooming!). I so strongly associate it with "me" though, so now I don't really think I like it so much! Six is a really cool name and that joke which [Blossom writer] Don Reo wrote about it ("My father said that's how many beers it took" is the joke describing her name!) makes it even funnier.
If you're in Atlanta, you can see Mayim this weekend at the Bellies to Babies fundraising event; click here to order tickets. You can also read Mayim's entertaining blog at kveller.com. Her book, Beyond the Sling, comes out from Simon and Schuster in March 2012.
If you grew up watching Blossom, did you love the names on the show? Does your family have any special traditions in terms of naming or namesakes?
--L.R.
Comments
I love that tradition. My daughter was named for both my grandmothers. I don't think people put enough thought into names these days - they don't look at what it means or where it came from... They pick something "pretty" or make something up. There's no history or family honor in that. Their choice, of course, but it should be a much more sacred act than most Americans make it.
Also, I love that Miyam is so grounded in her faith. Kudos to her!
What a great interview! Our three-year-old son is named for five people, but his first name, Zev, has the most interesting story. He is named for my grandmother and a good friend, both of blessed memory. Zev means "wolf" in Hebrew. My grandmother's last name in Poland, where she was born in 1911, was Steinwolf. When she and her family came to the US in 1920, it got changed to Stone, so to honor her memory we put the "wolf" back. The other person's Hebrew name was Binyomin (Benjamin). In the Bible, it says, "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf", so Zev works to honor his memory too! I have always loved learning about origins and meanings of names. It was excruciating choosing a name for our son, but the other day, he started singing, "I love my name" over and over again. So I finally know we made the perfect choice for him!
I love how her names reflect both her family heritage and her cultural/social beliefs, but without being over the top on either count.
I believe that names should mean something to you, as well as names that stand the test of time. We named our children for relatives, such as my grandmother and my favourite aunt, as well as significant people in our lives. Our son bears my husband's name as one of his middle names and our youngest daughter has my name as one of hers. We picked names that we'll treasure their whole lives!
Great Article! I find Mayim Bialik very interesting, & I can relate to her in some ways. I understand where she's coming from, even though I'm a very different kind of mom than she is. & I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
My daughter is named after the morning. I love nature (& names of nature). It also so happens to be my husband's great-Aunt's name. & of greek origin, which my husband & I both find interesting.
Her middle name, Kay, is the same as my middle name, as well as my mother's. I hope she & future generations continue to pass it on.
I so envy people whose parents put such thought and love into choosing their names. My mother named me after a murder victim she saw on the news. As I'm looking into converting to judaism I think I might be placing a lot of importance on choosing a hebrew name because my 'real' name is such an unpleasant story.
What a great article!!
I love the thoughtfulness that Mayim had in the naming of her children. The names we choose for our children will be with them forever, so we should choose wisely.
This is a lovely interview. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Also - I'm in Atlanta so I'll check out the great work Mayim is doing.
Again - thank you!
I am so glad to see this article! The rules of Jewish naming are tricky and I love seeing how a celebrity navigated through them! As a Jew I've always kept family names in my head when considering any baby names I might one day use. I like the first letter idea because then I can use Elinor for my great-grandmother Eunice!
I'd never heard of Rosh as a name before! I always just thought of it as "Hebrew for head."
Brilliant interview. Love Mayim Bialik. She's awesome [in both the naming sense and on "The Big Bang Theory"].
The stories behind her sons names are lovely and her insight's regarding other names are both interesting and thoughtful. She has great taste.
I'd love if you can arrange some more of these type of interviews. Not just with celebrities (though that would be great), but with bloggers, too. These women, for example, have great taste and I'd love to hear their naming insights: http://www.soulemama.com/ and http://www.designmom.com/ and http://1diamond1ruby1pearl.blogspot.com/
I love this article! My parents aren't religiously Jewish, so there wasn't really any kind of ceremony or Jewish naming (afaik!), but I was named for my great grandmother anyway. Her name was Feige (in Yiddish), which got turned into Faye.
It's hard sometimes to explain to people why I was named what I was named, because as Mayim explains it's impossible to think of one name without the other. Whenever I think of names I think of family members. My father's side, German Catholics, also have a tendency to name after each other.
I think it's especially hard to explain why having a biological child becomes so important. (I'm in a same-sex relationship and so adoption or fostering has always been an option, and we favor older kids who are rarely adopted; plus both of us have health issues that could get in the way of having kids). Logically I know that it's probably not going to happen, but growing up with my family heritage not only such a part of my life but within me, it's hard to divorce myself from the idea of "passing it along".
Naming your baby is something that you'll have to live with the rest of your life, and so will the baby. So, keep in mind these hints when picking a name for your new bundle of joy.
Beware, fetal names stick! Jellybean and Ladybug are cute names, no doubt. Remember what you name your fetus will come out of your mouth postpartum!
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I wanted to name him Morrie in English but my husband vetoed that.
The same as my husband's name.
His middle name, Hirsch (which means deer in Yiddish) became Heschel in English.
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The "F" sound as how to name my grandpa so we stuck with that.
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