According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the name Ovadia has become trendy in the Middle Eastern country.
Only 36 baby boys in Israel were named Ovadia in 2012. “However, following the death of spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in 2013, 117 babies were given this name and in 2014, 209 newborns were named after the rabbi.”
Influential cleric Ovadia Yosef, who founded the ultra-Orthodox Shas party in the mid-1980s, died in October of 2013 at the age of 93.
The baby name Ovadia — the Hebrew form of Obadiah — also saw a modest increase in usage in the United States during the same time frame:
- 2015: 9 baby boys named Ovadia
- 2014: 15 baby boys named Ovadia (6 born in NY)
- 2013: 11 baby boys named Ovadia (9 born in NY)
- 2012: unlisted
- 2011: 5 baby boys named Ovadia (all born in NY)
Despite its trendiness, Ovadia wasn’t popular enough to rank among the top Jewish boy names in Israel in 2014:
| Top boy names among Jews | Top boy names among Muslims |
| Noam Ori/Uri David Yosef Eitan Itay Ariel Daniel Yonatan Moshe | Muhammad Yousef Omar Abed Adam Ali Ibrahim Mahmoud Amir Haled |
And here are Israel’s top girl names:
| Top girl names among Jews | Top girl names among Muslims |
| Noa Tamar Shira Maya Yael Adele Talia Avigail Ayala Sara | Miryam Jana Lian Malak Aline Lyn Nur |
Of the 176,427 babies born in Israel in 2014, 136,000 (77.1%) were born into Jewish families and 40,427 (22.9%) were born into Arabic families.
Sources:
- Gravé-Lazi, Lidar. “Mohammed most popular baby name in Israel.” Jerusalem Post 28 Dec. 2015.
- Chernofsky, Erica. “Obituary: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.” BBC News 7 Oct. 2013.
- Israel in Figures 2015 – Central Bureau of Statistics [PDF]
- Ovadia – Behind the Name
- SSA
Image: Adapted from Nomination of the New Chief Rabbis by Dan Hadani collection/National Library of Israel/The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection under CC BY 4.0.
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[Latest update: Nov. 2024]