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I am trying to ascertain if the name "Rami" is a Jewish one.

If rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud are named Rami then that would be a good indication.

There are at least 3 Ramis found in the gemarah:

  1. Rami Bar Hamma (Brachos 44a, among many others)
  2. Rami Bar Papa (Yoma 77b, Bava Basra 100b, and also in the Hadran for finishing a tractate of Talmud)
  3. Rami Bar Avin (Shabbos 20b)

Is this Rami the full name of these Amoraim or is it a shorthand for something else?

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Ani Yodea
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  • +1, interesting question...it might also be a good idea to list the places where you saw those names, to aid researchers. – MTL Apr 01 '15 at 16:50
  • Wikipedia seems to think it's an abbreviation for Rav Ami: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rami_bar_Hama – Ani Yodea Apr 01 '15 at 16:51
  • The fact that an Amora had a certain name does not mean it is 'Jewish'. Reb Moshe Feinstein maintains that Papa is certainly not a Jewish name. – user6591 Apr 02 '15 at 16:02
  • @user6591, if a Jew is supposed to have a "Jewish" name, how can an Amora - who is Jewish - not have a Jewish name? – Ani Yodea Apr 02 '15 at 16:03
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    @Ani that was the point of his tshuva. The mitzvah of naming after ones elders overrides the need to use a Jewish name. So somewhere in Rav Papa's family tree someone improperly named their kid papa, a nonjewish name, but Rav Papa's father still named him hat out of respect to his father or grandfather, whoever it was. This is how so many nontraditional names were introduced into jewish culture during times of gaonim and in Europe. – user6591 Apr 02 '15 at 16:08
  • As per my earlier comment, I edited your question to include some instances of that name in gemara. Good luck with this question! :) – MTL Apr 03 '15 at 20:44

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