Two names: what the Torah says about changing a name

Many of us have two names. One is in the passport; the other is the name given at birth, or the one we dropped when we moved countries. Sometimes the second name is nearly forgotten and surfaces only at a synagogue or a graveside. The Torah takes a change of name very seriously: it never changes one for nothing.

Avram and Avraham

“Your name shall no longer be Avram; your name shall be Avraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:5). One letter is added — heh. Avram, אברם, is 243. Avraham, אברהם, is 248. The Talmud notes that 248 is the sages' count of the limbs of the human body: with the new letter, Avraham became master of all of himself (Nedarim 32b).

Sarai and Sarah

With Sarah it went the other way: a yod left her name and a heh came in. שרי is 510, שרה is 505. The midrash says the yod taken from Sarah was not lost — it later went to a disciple of Moses. More on that below.

Yaakov and Yisrael

After the night-long struggle Yaakov is told: “Your name shall no longer be Yaakov, but Yisrael” (Genesis 32:29). יעקב is 182, ישראל is 541. Here the whole name changes, and for years afterwards the Torah calls him now one, now the other. The old name is not erased. It stays beside the new one.

Hoshea and Yehoshua

Before sending the scouts into Canaan, “Moses called Hoshea son of Nun Yehoshua” (Numbers 13:16). הושע is 381, יהושע is 391: exactly one letter was added, yod, 10. According to the midrash, the same yod that left Sarah's name.

And yours?

If you have two names, you can set them side by side like these. Each has its own number and its own place in the Torah, and the difference between them is a number and a word too. We will not tell you which name is “stronger” or what lies ahead — such a description would fit anyone. But reading your two places in the Torah side by side is worth it. People often tell us it is the first thing they send to their parents.