Natalie Portman has named her firstborn child after a letter.
Natalie Portman and her fiance Benjamin Millepied welcomed a baby boy last month and have finally revealed the name of the baby to be Aleph.
Aleph, also spelled “Alef” and pronounced “All-Eff,” is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Much like how “alpha” is the first letter in the Greek alphabet. In Judaic Kabbalah, its esoteric meaning in the theological treaty Sefer-ha-Bahir, relates to the origin of the universe, the “primordial one that contains all numbers.”
Why the fuss? People name girls ‘Beth‘ all the time, and no one says anything. And if we’re talking about Roman letters, ‘Bea’ or ‘Jay’. In fact, a letter is a great idea for a baby name.
So for the more adventurous parents, here are some characters from the world’s writing systems that might make good baby names, along with their likely consequences.
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Character: Zel Writing system: Ottoman Turkish alphabet Sounds like: [z] Expect the child to be: Extroverted Future Career: Real estate agent, or MLM scammer |
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Character: Fita Writing system: Early Cyrillic Language that uses it: Russian Sounds like: [f] Expect the child to be: Colicky Future Career: Yoga instructor |
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Character: Kaunan Writing system: Runic alphabet Language that uses it: Norse Sounds like: [k] Expect the child to be: Needing a search and rescue team at least once Future Career: Artist, cheesemaker, or bikey |
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Character: Delt Writing system: Phonecian Sounds like: [d] Expect the child to be: Albino Future Career: Personal trainer, or assassin |
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Character: Yat Writing system: Glagolitic alphabet Languages that use it: Slavic Sounds like: [æ] as in ‘cat’ Expect the child to be: A little slow Future Career: Colour consultant, or unsuccessful real estate agent |
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Character: Lo Ling Writing system: Thai Sounds like: [l] (initial), [n] (final) Expect the child to be: Mysterious Future Career: Personal assistant to evil genius, or successful call girl |
15 July 2011 at 3:04 am
Back in my radical college days, I seriously thought I might name my first child Theta. Instead went for Persephone.
And if you use any of these letters, your child can just write the symbol, a la Prince-who-used-to-be-Prince-and-is-Prince-once-again.
15 July 2011 at 6:33 am
'Theta' has a nice ring to it.
Hey, how about 'ē' (e macron)?
As in: E. Macron Jones.
12 November 2011 at 6:23 am
I seriously thought I might name my first child Theta. Instead went for Persephone.
Nice site you have here! Keep up the excellent work!
Tamil Baby Names