Hi Everyone!

This week I launched a new Facebook application called:
My Hebrew Name

The application lets you lookup your Hebrew name and
display it (in Hebrew with nikud and an English transliteration)
on your Facebook profile.

The direct address of the application is:
http://apps.facebook.com/myhebrewname/

If you do not have a free Facebook account yet, you can lookup,
view and print your name via the My Hebrew Name website at:
http://www.my-hebrew-name.com/

Feedback is welcome!

Have a good day,
Jacob

Congrats on the launch. I'll definitely have to check it out.

It's dumb. The premise of the program is that specific English names correspond to Hebrew ones. While in the case of a Sarah or Rachel this may work, it does not in the case of Sidney (should be Ben-Tzion), Steven (the program shot in the dark, coughed up some names, none of which was the correct answer, Zeev), or Diana (Margolit). I also know a David whose name is really Mordechai. These are specific people I knew or know, and the program got them wrong. There are no rules for how Hebrew-English names work, and I don't see a point in pretending.

All in all, I think you wasted your time.
For the record, I didn't use the Facebook version.

Jacob - Cool application. I just added my name and sent it to a few of my friends as well.

Gabbe - If you haven't checked it out, here is how it worked for me. Rachel is actually only my middle name, and my first name is 100% unrelated to my Hebrew name, so I know exactly what you are referring to, and did not personally rely on the application to locate my Hebrew name.

When I clicked on the application it did default on my English name (from my Facebook account) and listed possible Hebrew names for it (which were all totally ridiculous, since I have a very non-Jewish first name). So...all I needed to do to find my real Hebrew name was type in the English spelling for my Hebrew name (which in my case did take a few attempts to get right, since I have never written it in English before), and then my Hebrew name did pop up on the screen. The application was actually very easy to figure out.

I think that perhaps you don't realize that the application is not just about looking up your Hebrew name from your English name, but rather displaying your Hebrew name on your Facebook profile.

I launched 48 hours ago and close to 800 people installed it already.
The image displayed on the profile is the Hebrew name (in Hebrew with vowels) and
an English transliteration of the Hebrew name.
The English name is used just as a search mechanism and is not displayed on
the profile.
Yes, people that have the same English and Hebrew names show a direct relationship in
the names.
Other names are just suggestions for searching based on usages / requests over the past
years.
The Facebook application connects and uses the same database (and search) as the
non-Facebook website.
If you do not use Facebook then you probably have not seen the way members are making their profiles unique. This is just a nice simple program to put on the profile.
Something like puting a sign with your Hebrew name on your dorm room.
Have a good night,
Jacob

Thanks!

6:15 am here in Israel
Off to get some sleep.

Jacob

A suggestion. Maybe have it also pick up hebrew names that start with the same letter or sound as the English name. (Or Even the same sound as the second sylable in the English name.)

Don't worry about harsh posters here - by the way - some people are just that way and don't have a nice word to say about anything. It's a really cool app and I hope it will encourage people to learn more about thier Jewishness. As always - keep up the GREAT work!!!

I wonder what it would come up with for Kalashnikover....

Hebrew Name = kalanit
Gender = Female




22

That's it, I'm going back to bed

Well, you did pretty much left yourself wide open for that one.

Jacob - I gave it some more thought, and the one possible suggestion I have for your application is to perhaps add a component where the user can click on the Hebrew name and learn about it's origin. I actually clicked on the link labeled About My Hebrew Name, expecting to see the origin of my name, and instead was linked to the page describing the application itself. I am just suggesting that since the application's name is My Hebrew Name, one can interpret About My Hebrew Name in two ways, so at a minimum, you might want to change the name of the link where you describe your application, so it is less confusing.

In my case, I was just curious what About My Hebrew Name would have to say regarding my name, although I already know what my Hebrew name means in English. I think this would be a helpful part of the application for those users without sufficient knowledge to know the origin of their name or for those individuals without a Hebrew name who are looking to find an appropriate one. I'm sure this would be a lot of work though, so this is just an idea to toss out for future consideration, depending on how far you'd like to go with this application.

Once again, great job on the application!

I'm sorry if some of us are honest.

i'm with gabbe. i don't have an english name, but i just tried all my siblings' (which were chosen deliberately for their correspondence) and my parents', grandparents', and some cousins' (which all have roughly corresponding first letters), and only one (leonardo -> arye[h]) was even close.

ETA: meanwhile, an english transliteration of my hebrew name turns up the right name with the wrong nikud; so much for the "it's all about displaying your name on your facebook profile" defense.

one can be honest without pooping on someone's parade

He wanted feedback!

Fair enough, but mine was correct, so I had no way of knowing that others weren't.

I gave several examples in my post.

This is AMAZING, just for kicks I put in "Toby" and out came "Kunta Kinte".......

I'm installing this for sure now!!!

If you find any spelling or Nikud mistakes or you can not find a name,
Please email me and I will fix it.
Send to: jrichman@jr.co.il
Subject: My Hebrew Name

Shabbat Shalom,
Jacob

really, that doesn't address the more fundamental problem. i use a different nikud for my (non-biblical, unusual) name; others might use the one your application turned up. if you correct it to my liking, the next person who does use the nikud you already have will complain. you can't have both, because the transliteration is the same either way.

Says who?


9

What's the big deal. Just have two entries for it appear. Version 1 and version 2. You could have even 10 versions of the same name if you want.

But I think the point is people that know about what nikud to use on their name really don't need to be using this program.

The people whose names they are.

If it doesn't work for your name, don't use the app. I like it.

A know a steve who's hebrew name is akiva, and a different steve who's hebrew name is gimpel. Theres no set steve, or any other hebrew name matchup.



9

I know a steve that is shmuel.

I have a solution to that:
When I get a request for a different or non-standard nikud change
I create another image with a name xxxx1 or xxxx2
All choices will show up when searching.
Please let me know by Facebook email if you have such a request.
Shavua Tov (23:40 in Israel)
Jacob

Exactly.


9