The Jewish names Yentl and Avigdor both debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1984:
| Girls named Yentl | Boys named Avigdor | |
| 1986 | 11 | . |
| 1985 | 13 | 6 |
| 1984 | 12* | 5* |
| 1983 | . | . |
| 1982 | . | . |
Why?
Because both were featured in the 1983 musical film Yentl, which starred Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin as students (Yentl and Avigdor) at a Jewish religious school in Poland in the early 1900s. Only males could attend the school, so Yentl had to dress and live as a young man, “Anshel,” in order to receive an education.
The film was based on a 1975 play which was, in turn, based on the short story “Yentl the Yeshiva Boy” (1963) by Isaac Bashevis Singer.
What do these names mean?
Yentl is a diminutive of Yente, which comes from the Yentille, the Yiddish version of the French name Gentille, meaning “noble, aristocratic.”
Avigdor is a Hebrew name derived from the expression avi Gedor, meaning “Gedor’s father.” The name Gedor means “wall.” (Avigdor was one of the by-names of Moses in the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism.)
And Anshel, the name Yentl used while disguised as a male, is the Yiddish form of Anselm, a Germanic name made up of elements meaning “god” and “helmet, protection.”
What are your thoughts on these names?
Sources: Yentl (film) – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, The Name Avigdor | BH Open Databases,
Avigdor also had a really big jump in the data from 2000-2002. I wonder why that is.
@Aya: Maybe because Avigdor Liebermann’s political career in Israel gained traction than.
@Aya – Good question! The SSA’s state-by-state data reveals that most of the baby Avigdors of that time period were born in New York and New Jersey:
Given the locations, it’s very plausible that most of these babies were born into Orthodox Jewish families/communities.
So I think elbowin’s guess of Avigdor Lieberman is a very good one. I haven’t looked into it much yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he were the answer/influence here.