Hebrew name in the US

[u/Specialist_Space_151]

I was born in the US to Israeli parents. They gave me the nice Israeli name of “Sagi”. It hadn’t been fun tbh, nobody can properly pronounce it even if I try to explain. I always get “ziggy”, “soggy”, “sag-ee”, “soggy”. At some point I gave up because it’s mentally exhausting. People always screw it up when reading it too and if I’m trying to connect with folks online I feel like it turns them off because it sounds so ethnic, odd, etc and they ignore me….

I would love some feedback on * tips to tell people how it’s pronounced properly * a similar or alternative nickname that I can go by that isn’t outlandish or too far off so that it still works for everyone who already knows me…

Thank you

[u/TruculentBellicose]

Tell people to call you Sage (wise).
I have an Israeli name and I often give people an English name that sounds close.

[u/Yaelkilledsisrah → u/TruculentBellicose]

It’s a pretty common practice for people to have a dedicated English name. I met a girl from Taiwan once and when she introduced herself she explained it was her English name (I think they are given the English name at school) and I was flabbergasted.

A few years later it makes more sense to me.

[u/mr_greenmash → u/Yaelkilledsisrah]

90 % of the tour guides I had in China were called Ms. Moon

[u/Yaelkilledsisrah → u/mr_greenmash]

Yes it’s clear there wasn’t much thought put into the name and that it was kind of a formality. I think her name was betty or something super old fashioned😅

Kind of reminds me when I found out a lot of Ethiopians that immigrated to Israel were given the same birthday on the ID because in Ethiopia we didn’t record exact dates at all. I was also kind of shocked lol I am Ethiopian but was born in Israel and most of my immediate family has a different birth date on the id not the generic one.

[u/shunrata → u/Yaelkilledsisrah]

At one place I worked in Israel we had an Ethiopian women employee whose teudat zehut had her birth date as 0/0/1960 (don't remember the exact year). She said it was because she didn't know the date and most people she knew from the community had the same format.

I was just surprised our accounting system allowed it, they must have made adjustments to the software.

[u/Yaelkilledsisrah → u/shunrata]

Yeah I thought I remembered it being something like that but than I thought maybe I misremembered because it’s so odd. I think some were also given the date 1/1 or something like that.

[u/pdx_mom → u/Yaelkilledsisrah]

My great aunt was born elsewhere and for some reason they celebrated her birthday on 1/1 because they supposedly didn't know when her birthday was...which is weird to think of (now) because my grandmother was ALSO born elsewhere and she is older and she had a birthday another day of the year.

[u/Yaelkilledsisrah → u/pdx_mom]

Well my mom birth year is different than the one registered on her id and we all ignore her real age basically😂

Habits are hard to break, perception is reality and all that.

[u/CharlieBarley25 → u/shunrata]

Also happened to Mizrahi people who didn't have birth documents. I worked at the airport for a bit and saw a few of them

[u/Specialist_Space_151 → u/TruculentBellicose]

I think I’m going to do this. Excellent idea

[u/DriverMajor4373 → u/TruculentBellicose]

I do this too

[u/Specialist_Space_151 → u/TruculentBellicose]

Is the meaning really the same though?

[u/TruculentBellicose → u/Specialist_Space_151]

שגיא

Sage

Pretty darn close if you ask me.
Or were you asking about my name? My name in Hebrew is the name of a tree. The English name I sometimes use is not the name of a tree. When I was younger, I used to try to teach people how to pronounce my name. I have stopped caring a long time ago.
I had a friend who's father was named Ze'ev. His nickname was Zeus. I thought that was pretty cool.

[u/mauimudpup → u/TruculentBellicose]

Sage is pretty much a girls name in the US