While name diversity in Israel’s capital, Samaria, was lower than in the kingdom’s periphery—suggesting a broadly distributed elite—Jerusalem showed higher diversity than rural Judah, possibly due to an influx of refugees.

Other communities whose names were given to babies in the past year were Nir, Oz and Erez.

The research showed that adults’ faces can be matched to their names more accurately than chance, whereas this effect is not observed in children’s faces.

Join Rabbi Ari Enkin for a fascinating look into Jewish naming customs and why they are so meaningful.