Wondering why your grandfather Leib changed his name to Louis?
or Aunt Blima was known as Rose? My grandmother began life as
Chaya Feiga, adopted Birdie and then Bertie as a young
schoolgirl and was later known as Bertha. In Yiddish, Feiga
means a bird, thus the connection to Birdie, Bertie and the more
sophisticated -- for the times -- Bertha, is obvious. In the
large Persian community in Los Angeles -- so large that the city
is called Irangeles or Tehrangeles -- Feridoun, Faramarz, Farid,
Farajollah, Farhad, Farshid and other first names beginning with
"F" are, in many cases, now simply Fred! The New York Times had
an interesting article, "As American as Vartan," about name
changes among immigrants. For a good look at how Jewish given
names have changed as families immigrated to many countries, go
to JewishGen's Given Name Database, compiled by Dr. Jerry
Esterson.