The Name Tzvi

[RC Klein]

When did the personal name Tzvi (צבי) come into use? What is the earliest attestation of this name?
Do scholars agree that the name originally refers to the animal "deer" which is why in Yiddish it tends to be paired with Hersch? Is it possible that the meaning of the name Tzvi may be "cherished/desirable" like the word צבי means in some places in the Bible?

Thanks.

Kol Tuv,

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

Author of: God versus Gods: Judaism in the Age of Idolatry (NEW!) & Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew

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[Alexandre Beider]

In my book "A Dictionary of the Ashkenazic given names" (2001), I provide the following earliest known doubtless attestations: 1547 Prague + 1589 Hungary (both in Hebrew sources).

I also mention the two earlier references, both from Germania Judaica 3 and both rather doubtful:

(1) Zwi [German transcription from Hebrew] 1368 Württemberg (GJ 3:1504). That book tells about Jacob ben Judah Zwi. It is unclear whether Zwi was the second part of the double given name of his father or just a nickname 

(2) Zwi [German transcription from Hebrew] 1477 Styria (GJ 3:464). That book tells about Zwi/Hirschl. It is unclear whether the original manuscript tells about Hirschl or about Zwi. Perhaps, Zwi does not appear in the manuscript and results from the knowledge by the author of the article about the fact that Hirschl normally (actually, only during the last four centuries) corresponds to Zwi.

At any case, the given name became commonly used by Ashkenazic Jews since the 17th century only. During the same century other semantically related "animal" male given names became common: Zev (earliest reference in the 16th century), Dov (earliest references in the 17th century), Arye (a few medieval references are known, and even a biblical one, but it was during the 17th century that it became widespread; in some sense, we can speak about a restoration of a forgotten name). 

There is no doubt that all four names became popular as Hebrew translations (calques) of the most common Yiddish names of that time: Hirsh/Herts, Volf, Ber, and Le(y)b, respectively (all known since the Middle Ages). Tsvi, Zev, and Dov were originally purely Ashkenazic given names.

Hope this helps,

Alexander Beider

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[Aaron Demsky]

Reuven’s question regarding the choice of Zvi,  ) from the Yiddish Hirsch   ) indeed might be due to the additional Hebrew meaning of zvi as “cherished/desirable". This would explain why the feminine אילה  in the biblical phrase in Jacob’s blessing GEn 49:21, i.e. the source of this name,  was not simply changed to the masculine איל “stag” also a hirsch.

 

There  is also the double name David Zvi which I think was created in Germany in the 19^th century, e.g. David Zvi Hoffmann. Here too, it seems to me that there is biblical inspiration, since we find  this combination repeated in the Song of Songs 2:9 דומה דודי לצבי, also 2:17; 8:14.

 

The  earliest example of the association of Yehudah (Judah) and Gur Aryeh, based on Gen 49:9, seems to be the alternate patronyms of the Tanna (Mishnaic scholar) Issi ben Yehudah//Issi ben Gur Aryeh (Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim 113b; Yoma 52b). See my book,  These are the Names vol 1 (Ramat-Gan,1997), p11.

 

 

Professor Aaron Demsky (retired)
History of Ancient Israel
Director, Project for the Study of Jewish Names
Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry
Bar-Ilan University  Ramat-Gan, Israel 52900
Cell - (972)-50-650-7373
Email - aaron....@biu.ac.il
Site: https://sites.google.com/site/demskyaaron/

 

From: 'Alexandre Beider' via Jewish Names <jewish...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 8, 2019 9:03 PM
To: jewish...@googlegroups.com; RC Klein <yesh...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Jewish Names] The Name Tzvi

 

In my book "A Dictionary of the Ashkenazic given names" (2001), I provide the following earliest known doubtless attestations: 1547 Prague + 1589 Hungary (both in Hebrew sources).

I also mention the two earlier references, both from Germania Judaica 3 and both rather doubtful:

(1) Zwi [German transcription from Hebrew] 1368 Württemberg (GJ 3:1504). That book tells about Jacob ben Judah Zwi. It is unclear whether Zwi was the second part of the double given name of his father or just a nickname 

(2) Zwi [German transcription from Hebrew] 1477 Styria (GJ 3:464). That book tells about Zwi/Hirschl. It is unclear whether the original manuscript tells about Hirschl or about Zwi. Perhaps, Zwi does not appear in the manuscript and results from the knowledge by the author of the article about the fact that Hirschl normally (actually, only during the last four centuries) corresponds to Zwi.

 

At any case, the given name became commonly used by Ashkenazic Jews since the 17th century only. During the same century other semantically related "animal" male given names became common: Zev (earliest reference in the 16th century), Dov (earliest references in the 17th century), Arye (a few medieval references are known, and even a biblical one, but it was during the 17th century that it became widespread; in some sense, we can speak about a restoration of a forgotten name). 

 

There is no doubt that all four names became popular as Hebrew translations (calques) of the most common Yiddish names of that time: Hirsh/Herts, Volf, Ber, and Le(y)b, respectively (all known since the Middle Ages). Tsvi, Zev, and Dov were originally purely Ashkenazic given names.

 

Hope this helps,

Alexander Beider

 

Le dimanche 8 décembre 2019 à 19:35:26 UTC+1, RC Klein <yesh...@gmail.com> a écrit :

 

 

When did the personal name Tzvi (צבי) come into use? What is the earliest attestation of this name?
Do scholars agree that the name originally refers to the animal "deer" which is why in Yiddish it tends to be paired with Hersch? Is it possible that the meaning of the name Tzvi may be "cherished/desirable" like the word צבי means in some places in the Bible?

Thanks.

Kol Tuv,

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

Author of: God versus Gods: Judaism in the Age of Idolatry (NEW!) & Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew

ORCiD | LinkedIN | Google Scholar | Amazon

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[Mitka Golub]

The name צבי appears in a First Temple papyrus from Wadi Murabba‘at in Judah (Aḥituv, S. 2008. Echoes from the Past. Jerusalem. pp. 213-215). The name probably refers to the animal צבי. For other examples of animal names during this period such as, כלב and שעל, check our site http://onomasticon.net/. It includes a comprehensive collection of Hebrew personal names and their various characteristics from the Iron Age II southern Levant.

Best wishes,

Mitka

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/jewish-names/AM0PR08MB4083AB228B83004CD14EB2CED3590%40AM0PR08MB4083.eurprd08.prod.outlook.com.

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Mitka R. Golub, Ph.D.

Research Fellow
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

onomasticon.net   

https://huji.academia.edu/MitkaGolub

Mobile: +972-54-4987451
Tel: +972-2-6798580

[Aaron Demsky]

See also the feminine form צביה the queen mother of Yehoash king of Judah (2Kings 12:2// 2 Chronicles 24:1).

 

Professor Aaron Demsky (retired)
History of Ancient Israel
Director, Project for the Study of Jewish Names
Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry
Bar-Ilan University  Ramat-Gan, Israel 52900
Cell - (972)-50-650-7373
Email - aaron....@biu.ac.il
Site: https://sites.google.com/site/demskyaaron/

 

[shlomit landman]

The name Yehuda Asad (Arab. - Arie) appears in the Cairo Geniza - from 10th cent. or so, the name Zeav is Biblical.

best, Shlomit Landman 

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[RC Klein]

I forgot to thank everyone who responded to my initial inquiry. Thanks to all of you! Much appreciated. Each response was helpful in its own way.

Kol Tuv,

Reuven Chaim Klein

Beitar Illit, Israel

Author of: God versus Gods: Judaism in the Age of Idolatry (NEW!) & Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew

ORCiD | LinkedIN | Google Scholar | Amazon