Given Name Distribution in Israel
Slide 88 of 94
Slide 88

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Here's another set of given name distribution statistics -- from the 1991 Tel-Aviv telphone book -- over 100 years later and 1,000 miles away from our previous examples.

These statistics are based on a study by Edwin D. Lawson (Names, Vol. 39, No. 2, June 1991). He concluded that Biblical names accounted for 70% of the males, 40% of the females. There was much more variety in the female names, including newly-created Hebrew names: names of pleasant qualities, ideals, flowers. For males, new Hebrew names such as Yair, Gideon, Yoram, Yigal, Eitan appear in the list only after the 50th position.

Hebrew names account for 95% of the males, 90% of the females. Others used Western names.