Tonight I was thinking about Elf's comment to the effect that if I want men at singles' Shabbatons to remember my name, I need one more memorable than "Sarah." Elf's suggestion of Izevel didn't quite hit me right, even without the Biblical denotations, but Atalia sounds pretty, though Alitalia is better. So I'm taking readers' suggestions for new names. Hey, if Esther can change her name to Madonna, I can change mine to whatever I darn well please.

To be eligible to be my new name, a name must be
a) unexpected, especially to Israelis
b) feminine

I thought about the name I gave myself in Sophomore-year German class, Christina (not because of any religious crisis did I choose that name; I just think it looks and sounds pretty) but decided to go for broke and possibly opt for Christiana (pronounced Kris-tee-ah-nah)instead. (see above about Esther/Madonna.) One of my classmates had chosen Brunhilda, which is certainly unusual, but not very feminine in my opinion.

Then there's a name I truly love, Kinneret. It's not as common as one might think; how many of you have actually met someone named Kinneret? But, admittedly, it's not necessarily memorable enough. Maybe I just like it because I like bodies of water? How about calling myself Yam Suf, or Yam Hatichon? Or Pacifica?

We could go for coastal locations. Netanya is pretty, both as a name and a place, but is probably as common as Kinneret. Rhode Island has a nice ring to it. As does Cape Ann (but it would be Anne with an "e" . . . or I could name myself Cordelia?). I love San Francisco, and Francesca is a beautiful name.

But then I remembered my friend Jennifer once telling me that for some reason, Israelis find her name to be really sexy. Americans are like "oh, hi Jennifer." But Israelis are like " . . . . Jeh-nee-fair! What's UP, Jeh-nee-fair?" It's the Israeli version of Heather.

So far I've narrowed it down to:
Alitalia
Francesca
Jenni-fair

But I won't make any final decisions until you, my faithful readers, have had a chance to weigh in on this matter - a vital one for my future.