In Hebrew bible, people's names had meanings. They were often coined by combining two or more words, often shortened. Thus 'Israel' is a combination of 'Isra' and 'el'. 'Isra' means 'to wrestle' and 'el' means 'God'. This 'El' does appear in several names. We have 'Elohim', Eli, Elshadai etc. Take note of 'Eli Eli lama sabackthani' as said by Jesus. So 'Eli' here means 'my God'. From this, we understand that Eli-Jah means 'Jah is my God'. Here, 'Jah', or better 'Yah' is a short form of 'Yahweh', which appears severaly in hebrew language like in 'halelu-yah' etc. So we can, for instance, see several 'el' in Hebrew names such as in Dani-el, Samu-el, Jezeb-el, Emanu-el etc. So we note that Hebrew names had meanings, often associated it God, 'el' or 'yah' as in 'Yah-shua', the correct name of 'Jesus'.
Names that are coined also appears other cultures e.g.in Arabic names. 'Abd', for instance, means 'servant' in Arabic. So the name 'Abd-alla' means 'servant of Allah' etc. We also see such in African languages. The name 'Kipchoge', (that marathon runner), for instance is coined from 'kip' which means 'attribute' and 'choge' which means 'store'. The guy was born inside a store, lol!
I am yet to know the meanings of European names. What does the name 'Newton' means. I can see 'New' and 'ton' or 'Newt' and 'on'. Also, I can relate 'Ronaldo' with 'Ronaldino' by comparing 'Neutron' with 'Neutrino'. Since 'neutrino' means 'little neutron' in 'Italic', 'Spanish' or whatever, one can see that 'Ronaldino' must mean 'little Ronaldo'. But the meaning of Ronaldo itself remains mysterious to me! Similarly one can see Riemann and note 'Rie' and 'mann'. Since 'mann' appears in several names such as 'Hermann', 'Boltzmann' etc, we might think 'mann' is a version of 'man', but I am not sure. In the name 'Feynman', we see 'man' now appearing properly. But what does the word 'Feyn' means? Female names are even more mysterious. What does Jane, Janet, Susan, Jennifer etc means? Sometimes two names are combined, e.g. 'Rose-mary'. What is the meaning of such? Why should someone call herself such?
Finally there are also what appears to be strange coincidences e.g. The curious scientist: 'Currie' looking closely like 'Curious' or a guy called 'Wilhelm Killings' developing what is called 'lie algebra' lol! (A killer and a lier?). Then there is this 'Einstein' which can be the initials for Energy-In-Space-Time-Energy-In-Space-Time and several other 'coincidences'!
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It’s a name with German roots, sometimes this can be taken literally.
What a nice meaning for 'Feynman'.☺ Some people believe that names matter. You grow to be the person your name says, lol! So, for instance, no one calls herself 'Jezebel' lol! In the case of Feynman, I think this is true. So it is good to know what these European names means.
This name is probably more common among Jewish families from Europe.
In my family people were named after their (grand)parents. There is a mix of biblical names and Germanic/pagan names. Since the 1960s parents in Western countries choose the names they like. Religious people pick biblical nanes or the name of a (grand)parent.
https://www.behindthename.com