How do you pronounce my name and what does it mean?

Yael יעל

Pronunciation: Two syllables, the second is emphasized.

Ya – as in yacht (not as in yard).

el – as in the letter L.

Yael’s Story: The book of Judges describes a war between the ancient Hebrews and Jabin, the king of Canaan. After many years of oppression the Hebrews decided to fight the larger and stronger Canaanite army led by Sisra, and managed to defeat them. Sisra fled and sought refuge. Yael, who was the wife of one of Sisra’s allies, persuaded him to rest in her tent. Many a tale had been woven to describe what exactly happened between the two of them in her tent. The bible only states that when Yael had noticed Sisra fell asleep, she stabbed him in the head with a tent pin. Ouch!!!!

Thus, the almighty Sisra was defeated by a woman. Yael was declared a heroine and to this day many girls in Israel are named after her. (Judges Chapter 4)

Other meaning: Gazelle.

Algom אלגום

Pronunciation: Two syllables

Al – the A is pronounced as the u in under

gom – like the o in shore only a bit shorter.

Meaning: A tree that grows in Lebenon.

When my father emigrated from Hungary to Israel his name was Tomas Gombos. At the time it was customary to change the foreign sounding names to Hebrew ones. He thus became Daniel Algom. Why Algom? I guess he just likes the way it sounded.

Kfir כפיר

Pronunciation: like clear.

Meaning: A young lion.

My father-in-law’s original last name was Fürth, which is extremely hard to pronounce for Israelis. He and his brothers decided to collectively change their names to Kfir (which is equally hard to pronounce for Americans).