The name Yasha
My name is Yasha Enola Hankel
My grandfather is just curious why parents have chosen the name Yasha for their son or daughter. Your name is Yasha (or Jascha)? He would appreciate it very much to hear from you why your parents have chosen this name. Or you know someone with the name? Why not e-mail him?
Last update: Dec 24, 2009
Yasha Enola Hankel from Leiden - Netherlands: ask my father. Marco: we were looking for a name with two a's, because our first daughter was named Tara. No discrimination! In a magazine we saw a column titled "Yasha" from the Dutch author Arnon Grunberg.
Yasha Manuel Harari from Washington - USA: Jascha Heifetz (as he spells Yasha) is the reason I have this surname. My mother knew him and wanted me to have his name. I also played the violin when I was younger. http://harari.org
Yasha Addes : My grandmother had a brother named Yasha, who was killed during World War II, so my parents named me after him.
Yasha Shammah from Italy: I guess my parents wanted me to bear a name as close as possible to my grandfather's (yes, I'm a guy). His name was Syahou. I believe it came from "Yoshiahou", one of the Bible's minor characters. Probably my parents thought "Yasha" was close enough but somewhat "lighter", if you know what I mean.
Jascha Polet uit de USA (oorspronkelijk Haarlem - Nederland): mijn ouders hadden goede vrienden in Tsjecho-Slowakije en waren zo blootgesteld aan Oost-Europese namen. Ze hebben me uiteindelijk officieel Jarmila genoemd en als roepnaam (en die is blijven hangen) Jascha.
Yasha Luybman from Israel: Have you heard of the biblical name Iakov ? Well, Yasha is the short name for it, and it is used in Russia. Just like for the full name Alexander we have the short name Sasha.
Yasha Rris : Yasha isn't my real name, it's my nick name that my father gave to me that might as well be my real name now. The full name, Miyasha, is Japanese in origin. I'm quite fond of my nickname, and I like the quirks in which it could be translated too. My dad nick named me Miyasha because of my personality quirks, the name being split into two parts, Mi and Yasha, Mi meaning "body" or "self" and Yasha meaning "spirit" "demon" or "supernatural". While it is a pretty name, I find it hard to explain sometimes.
Yasha Chatab from Houston (USA), now back in Indonesia: Orangtua saya menamai saya Yasha karena alasan yang cukup simple. Kawan ibu saya di jaman perguruan tinggi ada yang bernama Sasha, dan ibu saya selalu menyukai nama tersebut. That's it.
My parents (orangtua saya) named me Yasha for a simple reason (alasan). A friend of my mother's, while she was in college (perguruan tinggi), was named Sasha, and my mother (ibu saya) had always liked that/his name.
Several years ago I found out that one of the hunters from Peter and the Wolf is named Yasha, and lately people have asked about me being named after Jascha Heifetz.
It's also considered a sissy name, because the names ending with "-SHA" are dominated by female, and when too many girls are named Natasha, Tasha, etc., people have started to be creative and make up names that end with "-SHA" for girls. People have always asked me all my life,"That sounds like a girl's name" and I've always had to say, "Well, in Russia, where it originates, it's a common name for guys". I looked up the name myself at one point, when I had no car and was stuck at a local library in Louisville, Kentucky, finding out that it's the Russian name for Jacob.
Yasha has an interesting website.
Yasha Lange uit Nederland: Mijn ouders vonden het een mooie naam; er zijn geen historische banden met Rusland (Yasha is in feite een Russische koosnaam voor Yakov, zoals Sasha dat is voor Alexander. Of, in het engels, Bob voor Robert, Bill voor William, etc). Misschien was de violist Yasha Haifetz een inspiratiebron voor mijn ouders. Iets anders: Arnon Grunberg's tweede naam is Yasha, vandaar de titel van zijn column in de VPRO-gids.
Yasha X: My parents gave this name because both of my grandfather's names (father's father and mother's father) were Yasha. They both died before I was born. I was chosen to carry their names.
Hi, my name is Yasha. It's actually Al-Yasha and my Dad picked it out of the Koran, where Al-Yasha is a not terribly important prophet (son of Elijah) mentioned maybe twice. In Muslim countries people usually hear my English pronounciation as Ali Asha and ask why I have a man's name and then a woman's name. I know that one of Malcolm X's daughters is also named Ilyassah (different spelling) as are a fair number of kids born to African American muslims in the sixties.
Yasha Hartberg from Texas (USA): I was blessed with the name because it was the 60s and my parents were hippies who wanted an exotic name for their child. Apparently, my mother heard the name when she was growing up. She spent part of her childhood in California near a neigborhood of Russian immigrants. As you know, Yasha is a fairly common Russian name.
For the most part, I've enjoyed my name. It has always allowed me to stand out from the crowd and to search for my own identity. It has had it's drawbacks, however. In particular, it has opened me up to some antisemmitism. (Ironically, my father and grandfather are both Methodist ministers.)
However, part of my mother's wish when she gave me my name was to instill in me a sense of international community. Certainly, being subjected to antisemmitism has made me more sensitive to the struggles of the Jewish people in particular and minority groups as a whole. My mother's plan worked!
My name is Yasha Arnan Barjona. I reside in America. My name was given to me for spiritual reasons. The name is a powerful banner that one can walk through life under. It derives from the attributes of the God I and my family serve. I feel blessed to have such a name!
My name is Yasha Moritz Jakobovits. I just saw your web page about my name and I am a bit amazed as to how many ppl have the same name as I do. My Father is Hungarian and my mother Cuban so Im not sure where it comes from. From what I understood growing up, Yasha was a loose tranzlation of "Yeshua" the messianic jewish christ. Moritz is translated to Moses. I am not sure where Jakobovits comes from. I have never meet another Yasha in my life but I find the things that were logged about my name to be true about my personality to a tee.
Myri Hertoghs: Yasha-Yaïr Smits was called Yasha because of Yasha Heifetz. Yasha is nine years old but plays the piano and drums no violin yet. His full Jewish name is Jesaja like the prophet. In Antwerp Belgium there are a number of Yasha's as it is a common name for Jewish boys!
Hi, my name is Yasha as well! I am a girl orginally from India...living in the States. (Yogi Prasad)
Padma Rajaoui: My son is named Yasha, the phonetic spelling of Jascha, which we got out of a baby naming book. We thought it was a beautiful and different name, and we were aware of Jascha Heifitz also. One day we sat on the beach, along with a thousand other people and we managed to sit right next to a family who also had a boy named Yasha! That was pretty funny, especially since we'd never met anyone with this name before. And until I saw your site, I never knew it was a name used very much. Thanks for the site!
My name is Jascha. I am a flutist(male) in Chile, is a beautiful name.
Jouw naam Yasha is volgens mij van turkse afkomst en betekent in het Turks "leef". Het heeft dus een hele mooie betekenis. Maar ik heb de reacties gelezen en het heeft zo te zien wel meerdere betekenissen. En ik ken trouwens niemand die zo heet omdat het eigenlijk geen naam is maar gewoon een woord, maar als naam is ie wel mooi hoor ;-).
My name is Jascha Czajkowski, (pronounced Yasha) I am a female from Texas. My mother played the violin and named me after Jascha Heifetz. As a child I despised my name, while now I adore it.
Hello, my name is Sasha (Yasha) Stoepker. I was goofing off online ( in stead of doing my homework) looking for the meaning of my unique name, when i came across your site. I was surprised at the many people who share my name, (or a form) and i wish to share that I was named after a character off a soap opera at the time who was killed. Finding this as a stupid reason myself my friends dubbered me "Yasha" as in Inuyasha, or "dog demon" after my impulsive and rash nature, and my obediant nature.
Jasja Tukker (Netherlands): My parents were looking for a name and bought a namebook, and there it was: Jasja. They espacially looked for JA to start with, because theire names are JAnny and JAn, so they where looking for a match. I don´t know what my name means or where it is coming from, but i like it very much.
Irving Engelson (USA): I came across your question on the web regarding the name of Yasha. The name Yasha (or Jasha), like in the case of the world famous violinist Yasha Haifetz, is a Russian version of the name Jacob. Yasha Heifetz' Hebrew name (he was Jewish) was Yaacov or Yaakov or Jacob, which was changed to Yasha in Russian. It is therefore normally a man's name not a girl's. Unless there is a different derivation for a girl that I don't know. But I am sure of the name of Yasha in the case of Haifetz.
Marieke Laauwen: De site over de naam Yasha staat al 3 jaar in mijn bookmarks verstopt maar eindelijk is onze Yasha geboren. We kwamen in mijn 1e zwangerschap deze naam tegen in expeditie robinson. Een van de deelneemsters heette zo. We vonden het een beetje te exotisch maar het bleef wel hangen. Als vproleden wenden we toen door de column van Arnon Grunberg erg aan de naam en tegen de tijd dat de baby kwam waren we er weg van. Ondertussen ook deze site gevonden. Uiteindelijk werd er een prachtig ventje geboren (Stijn) maar afgelopen 7 januari kregen we dan toch een meisje Yasha Anne. We vinden het nog steeds een prachtige naam en krijgen er ook veel enthousiaste reacties op.
25 Annemarie Furey from Vermont (USA): I just found you in a Google search. I have a friend named Jascha, and I always thought the name to be beautiful. I am also fond of the names Josh, Joshua, Jacob, so it was easy to choose this for my daughter. Additionally, her last name is of Russian origin, so it was fitting.
Jola: The name Yasha I use in the net. I love this name because of its nice meaning, and - of course - because of Jascha Heifetz, a great violinist.
C.W. Torkay: A dream showed me a woman living in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. I was told it was me in another lifetime. When I asked what my name was then, I was told it was Yasha. I had never heard of it before, and no one else has been able to tell me about it. I was a female in the dream...and am now. In the dream I was also told that as Yasha I was a Spanish Jewess.
Laura Perkins: My son's name is Yasha and I chose the name because years before, a friend of my father's named his son Jascha and I loved the sound of it. When it was time for me to chose a name for my child, I did not want to use the spelling J-a-s-c-h-a because I was living in Luxembourg and the pronunciation would generally have been Djascha instead of Iascha. I'm not sure where this other spelling (Y-a-s-h-a) comes from and would be interested in knowing it's origins. Does anyone have any idea?
Yasha Jenkins: I was looking through some web pages for my name Yasha and came across this web address. My mother was Japanese, father American and they named me Yasha Lin. My mom told him the name Yasha was an old tale about a demon that used to protect her young. I don't know the entire story, that's why I have been looking stuff up on the internet. I just finished scrolling down to see so many others named Yasha. Very interesting. I'm female and I would like to know who would know the full story behind the Japanese version.
Yasha Lim (not identical to Yasha Lin above): My dad says its hebrew for saviour. Research: Moshia'. Deliverer. One who "makes wide" or "makes sufficient." One who gives freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one's way. Often understood in a "this-worldly" manner of political deliverance, the word is also used to ultimately portray Adonai's deliverance and salvation of the Israel of God. Derived from the Hebrew verb Yasha'. Note that the Name for Jesus - Yeshua - is derived from this same root.
Hi my name is Jascha G. and I'm from Germany. All I know about the name 'Jascha' is that it's a russian name. The english form is 'Jacob' and the German one is 'Jakob'. There is a second russian form of the name 'Jascha' which is 'Jaschenka' and sort of like a 'cuter' form of 'Jascha'.
Hello my name is Jasja, in 1972 my uncle died,his name was Sjaak. My mother want too switch the letters, jaska, into Jasja.
My name is Jascha, i'm from germany and female. and your the first girl i know, which has the name ,too. I meet many boys with the name but no girls. I like it ;) many years i hated the name, but now i'm thankful for it. My mother told me, why she chose the name, but i forgot it.
Ich hab meine mutter wieder gefragt wieso sie mich so nannte: Sie dachte sie bekommt einen jungen und wollte den dann jascha nennen, sie bekam aber ein mädchen, meine schwester. dann war ich auf dem weg und sie dachte wieder es wird ein junge. als sie dann wusste dass ich ein mädchen war, und nicht davon ausgegangen ist noch ein kind zu bekommen, hat sie mich dann jascha genannt. da sie 2 jahre später wieder schwanger war und dann einen jungen bekam hat sie ihn einfach Joshua genannt, weil der name so ähnlich klingt.
Hätte nicht gedacht nochmal in meinem leben von einem mädchen zu hören das jascha heißt, wie gesagt. bin immer noch voll erstaunt :)
Sarah Luth from the USA: I am of Russian origin. We are naming our son, Joshua Nicholas for my grandfather and my father. In Russian Joshua's nickname is Yasha, as Nicholas is Kolya or Nicholai. My uncle Alexander was called Sascha. Though our family hails from Belurus it may be more of a country name as opposed to the citified Russian.
Yasha Vogt: I was just thinking it would be nice to find out what my name means and maybe where it came from. My parents had two reasons for my name. One was back in the 70's. There was a gameshow called Beat the Clock. One of the guests on the show was named Yasha. Second reason: my father has two cousins from over seas and their names were Vesha and Yasha, liked Yasha. That is my little story.
Hello, my name is Yasha Petsch, I am a 34 yr old woman. I was told by my mother that I was named after a character in a book about an indian princess named Yasha. I have yet to see the book, nor can she tell me the name of it so who knows?? Research that i have done on the name says that it is a male Russian name I haven't really found very many females with the name.
Yasha Deleeuw (Belgium) is 8. We (his parents) gave him this name from a play of the french author Yasmina Reza "Yasha ou le pique nique de Lulu Kreuz". In the play, Yasha is a musician like another Yasha ... Heifetz. Simone Ufner, the late grand mother of Yasha thought Heifetz was family. We learnt it after her birth.
Jacob(Yasha)Michelson: Yasha is a nick name, used mainly in Russia for the name Jacob or Yakov. Like Maria -Masha, Nataie -Natasha or Sasha -Aleksander or Michael-Misha.
Found your website about the name Yasha. My name is Yasha Steigrad, my parents named me Yasha after a Russian violinist. I was born in Antwerp Belgium. I live for the moment in Beijing.
My name is Yasha Heffes. I was named after Jascha Heifetz. I believe that my ancestors’ name was originally Heifetz when living in Vienna in the mid 1850’s.
my name is jascha, in the german spelling - i was born and brought up in german-speaking countries. my mom liked the name because the eastern (russian-jewish, to be precise) origin of the name, as i have polish and jewish forebears. .
as others have pointed out, jascha/yasha is, in it's european form, a russian diminutive of the hebrew name yacov (german: jakob, engl.: jacob or james, spanish: jaime, arabic: yakub) - but i hadn't heard of it as a short or diminituve form of yehoshua or joshua (indeed the hebrew root for jesus). however, in the US, where i live now, i am frequently called "josh" - or worse: Jas-ca - by strangers because americans, alas, have a hard time pronouncing non-english spelled names. it irritates me of course, and i now sometimes spell it yasha for that reason.
as for the biblical origin of yacov and some etymology: yacov is the son of yitzhak (isaac) and rivka (rebecca), the twin brother of esau, and the grandson of abraham. see breishit/genesis starting at 25:26 for the whole story. the name yacov has at its root the hebrew word "???", i.e., heel, because yacov held onto his brother esau's heel as they were born. yacov is the father of 12 sons, after whom the 12 tribes of israel are named. along with yitzhak and abraham, yacov is one of the three hebrew patriarchs.
in russia, where diminutives are very common, the name yacov is not only turned into yasha but sometimes into yashenka (a loving form, as another person pointed out) or yashka (a bit derogative, i have been told: "what has that yashka done again?!"). some childhood friends used to call me yashica - a joking reference to a japanese camera brand.
i wasn't surprised to learn that there is a similar sounding japanese name. there are other jewish names that also exist in japanese: e.g., naomi. but i doubt that there is a cultural affinity. in japanese, yasha (??) apparently stands for a certain type of nature-spirit that is a caretaker of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots, and the name has a buddhist origin (wikipedia!). and apparantly there are similar names in other cultures.
in turkish, there is the name yasar (pronounced yashar), which i have been told can mean "wolf" or 'life". a famous turkish writer is named yasar kemal. i don't know whether yasar in turn has any relation to the arab-muslim name yasser / yaser (which i am told means "ease"). in any case, neither seems to have any relation to jascha/yasha beyond the phonetic resemblance.
the most famous person to bear the name jascha, as others have pointed out, is the russian-jewish violinist jascha heifetz (1901-1987). in addition, there is the ukranian-american conductor jascha horenstein (1898-1973), and an african-american (child) actor named jascha washington (*1989).
the name seems most common in russia and israel, for obvious reasons. in western europe it's been quite popular in germany and switzerland for some time - as you can tell by the number of people who have written in from germany. although in person i have met only one other jascha in my life.
unlike sasha, i have never heard the name yasha or jascha for a girl until now, although in the 70s, when i was a kid and when the name was highly unusual in western europe, i was sometimes taken for a girl because of it - much to my chagrin - and of course also teased on occasion by other children. but like most people who report similar experiences, i now i wear the name with pride: it sounds good - and gives me the illusion of a relative uniqueness... :-)
my name is yasha nanda. i am an indian..my mother found the name very unique and hence she named me. most of the times i njoy having a unique name but it has goit some drawbacka also as ppl always end up wid the mispronounciations and the letter y gives me the last seat in the vivas and exames. but i still love my name and enjoy its unique status.
My name is Yasha Tiwari. And my mom has given this name to me because she thinks that her daughter will spread fame…… In all over the world. Right now this dream has not full filled yet…… But think of doing that……
44 Yasha Siddiqi - USA. I, like many other people, was named after Jascha Heifetz, the violinist. My grandfather, Howard Van Sickle, was president of the American String Teachers Association. He was a violist, my aunt and uncle were also violists and my mother is a cellist. So I was born into the stringed instrument family and started playing the violin when I was three and switched to the cello when i was eleven. Great to see others that share my name. (There is another Yasha Siddiqi on this page : number 47.)
Hello, my name is Joana Alaniz and i have a daughter named Yasha Estrella Alaniz. I chose that name for my daughter, because i read a book in Mexico City and thats where I found that name Yasha. Its an Aztec name - CROWN OF FLOWERS. Im sorry i have a little bad writen because i only write spanish. bye bye!!
Ian Smith: Just came across your website. We have a son named Yasha William Tsaddiq. We chose the name Yasha after I read his name in our New King James Spirit Filled Life Bible which has sections called "word wealth". It said Yasha in Hebrew means to rescue and to save. Now I didn't know I was chosing my son's name at that time but my wife who was 3 months pregnant (we knew it was going to be a little boy from a scan) said "That's his name". Now I resisted but after a few months we happened to go into a childrens wear shop. My wife picked up a t shirt with a cartoon picture of a man in a fishermans sowester with RESCUER across it and said to me this will be great for the little one. I said do you realise what that says! I explained and then said OK Lord I give in. However I was determined he would have a usual British name of William (after his grandad) just in case he didn't like his name. William means strong protector Tsaddiq means: just, righteous. So he has a pretty strong name Rescuer and saver, strong protector and just and righteous one.
Lubna Asrar Siddiqi : I am from Pakistan and I named my son Yasha after one of my aunt's friend Yasha'u'llah which means the Will of God in Arabic. I cut it short to Yasha which means will/ desire and he is exactly that. Yasha is also found in the Quran and the Baha'i writings, and is used for males whereas Tasha is for females. It's interesting that there is another Yasha Siddiqi on your webpage. (number 44.)
Albina: I am from Russia, and Yasha/Yascha is a name for a child/close one whose name is Yakov. It is definitely a slavic derivative; though going female would only make it more popular. Say, name Nikita is considered female in the USA and Europe after a certain movie; mistake! Nikita was always a boy name and for few centuries to it. It was a mistake, unless intentionally applied.
49 My granddaughters name is YaSha and my son said it was a name from a show or cartoon. I researched it a bit and found out a yasha is a statue that represents a protector of buddisium. Hope this helps some.
On a commercial webpage (http://www.kabalarians.com/male/jascha.htm) I found a story from an "expert". You believe him?
"Your name of Jascha gives you the desire to understand and help others with their problems but, at the same time, you can become too involved in their problems and, as a result, worry too much. This name creates a pleasant, easy-going, yet responsible nature. It gives you a natural ability to express affection to those close to you, without feelings of embarrassment. You tend to avoid issues, however, and put off until tomorrow the things which should be done today. Accordingly, you would find difficulty in achieving success in positions requiring aggressiveness and drive. Also, you prefer to avoid strenuous work of a manual nature. Your natural inclination is to pursue a line of work where you have contact with people, where you carry some responsibility, and where you are engaged in mental rather than physical activity. You are diplomatic in your handling of people and always give others the benefit of the doubt. You appreciate good music and art. The health weaknesses created by this name affect the fluid functions."
Yasha is a multifunctional name:
I saw a beautiful picture of a white-rayed prawn-goby. The scientific name of this goby was described just last year. It is " Stonogobiops yasha". The meaning of " yasha" in Japanese is a kind of specter. So, "Yasha" is just like a Dracula in Japan! The name of this goby was a parody of " Dracula partner-goby",whose scientific name was " Stonogobiops Dracula".
Rachel Stout told me this: I have been pondering names for my future children, and have become quite enamored of Yasha. I discovered it in my Strong's Concordance while studying. Not only is Yasha a lovely sounding name, it also has a beautiful meaning:
Strong's #03467. yasha`, yaw-shah':
a primitive root; properly, to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to be safe; causatively, to free or succor:--X at all, avenging, defend, deliver(-er), help, preserve, rescue, be safe, bring (having) salvation, save(-iour), get victory.
This word is also a root of the names of various people of biblical fame, such as Joshua, Hosea, and Isaiah.
