Hi,

There have been extensive discussions/threads about the name *Mechla*
in the group. In addition to any replies to your question, I would
suggest you search the discussion group archives.

[MOD. NOTE: access to the Discussion Group Archives -
http://data.jewishgen.org/wconnect/wc.dll?jg~jgsys~archpop ]

I remember it well, as my mother's name was Mechle, named for her
grandmother. One rabbi opined that it was not Michal (the Biblical
name) but rather a feminine version of the Yiddish male name *Mechel*,
i.e., Michael.

Glenda

Glenda Rubin
SF Bay Area
Researching: JANOFSKY, STRYZEWSKI, GREENBERG, KROCHAK, WERNICK from
Lipovets, Ilintsy, Starokonstantinov, Krasilov, Pliskov

Dear fellow genners,

Has anyone ever encountered the given name 'Mechla' in Yiddish ?

My GGM, born in 1874/84 in Warsaw, was called Mechla in Yiddish and
Michalina in Polish.

What could be the meaning of her name ?
Is it related to the Biblical name 'Michal' (one of King David's wives)?

On another document, she is mentioned as 'Mache'.
But I suppose it's a mistake.

I'm curious to read your input on this.

Geraldine Trom
Antwerp, Belgium

Tsiporah Trom wrote: Has anyone ever encountered the given name 'Mechla' in
Yiddish ? My GGM, born in 1874/84 in Warsaw, was called Mechla in Yiddishand
Michalina in Polish.

The name Mechla is a variant of Machla; a name which appears in the Torah
(Bamidbar/Numbers 26:33) as one of the five daughters of Zelophehad of the
tribe of Manasseh. My paternal grandmother Machla Dawidowicz, >from Widawa,
south Central Poland, had the name as her formal/religious first name.

Martin Davis
London (UK)

On Monday, January 29, 2018, Tsiporah Trom gtrom@... wrote:

Has anyone ever encountered the given name 'Mechla' in Yiddish ?

My GGM, born in 1874/84 in Warsaw, was called Mechla in Yiddish and
Michalina in Polish.

What could be the meaning of her name ?
Is it related to the Biblical name 'Michal' (one of King David's wives)?

On another document, she is mentioned as 'Mache'.
But I suppose it's a mistake.

Machla, a Biblical name, was one of the five daughters of Zelopachad. The
daughters raised their case at the entrance into the Promised Land, asking
Moses to inherit their father, since there were no no male heirs.

Valentin Lupu
Israel

Thank you everyone for all your answers in trying to help me understand this
given name !

Most of you are pointing at 'Machla', one of Zelophehad's daughters,
mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 36:11).

I must say that, in my specific case, this answer does not fit.

I have in my possession a copy of the original ketouba (religious marriage
contract) of my great grandparents
and the spelling does not conform to the Biblical name, i.e.
'mem'-'het'-'lamed'-'hey'.

My 'Mechla' is spelled: 'mem'-'ayin'-'khof'-'lamed'-'alef'.

And I know for a fact that correct spelling of names is of paramount
importance in a ketouba,
so there is no doubt on that matter; this specific 'Mechla' is a Yiddish
given name.

Now, I have to thank Glenda Rubin for directing me to her original post in
the discussion archives.
Which in short goes as follows: an eastern European born Rabbi explained
that 'Mechla' is the female variation
of the Yiddish male given name 'Mechel'(which corresponds to the Hebrew name
'Michael').

This conclusion brings me to talk about my grandmother's given name, because
it follows the exact same pattern.

My grandmother was called 'Masha', after her much beloved oldest brother
'Moshe' who passed away
at the too young age of 19 (two years before she was born).

So I am inclined to conclude that those two Yiddish female given name:
'Mechla' and 'Masha',
both come >from a male version of Biblical origin: 'Michael' and 'Moshe'.

Of course, in other cases than mine, the given name may have been spelled
like the Biblical 'Machla'.
Everyone is free to draw their own conclusion according to their specific
case.

It was great solving this with you !

Keep up the spirit,

Geraldine Tsiporah Trom
Antwerp, Belgium