2025-11-05 –, AI
Names hold stories. And not just any stories, but stories of communities. They can represent a shared history, folklore, or even values. But in any case, they showcase the representation people have of their society and their inner self.
With that in mind, I took the CBS’s files on birth names and used Python to derive meaning, comparing OpenAI with several common naming sites, and came up with a single definition. Having one meaning for each name, I clustered the names to groups, trying to answer:
• What themes we can find in Israeli names?
• How these themes changed throughout the years (and how this represents changes in the Israeli society)?
• Are there differences in themes between the more and the lesser common names?
In this talk I will try to answer these questions and reflect on the changes we’ve gone through between Sarah and Moshe, to Tamar and David.
Names are more than labels - they are reflections of our personality, and our background. Where we came from, our culture, heritage, and social values. In that case, names have meanings. Not only the actual meaning of a word, but also the meaning our parents wanted to give us.
In this talk, I explore the stories Israeli birth names tell about the society that chooses them. Using publicly available datasets from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), and analysis of these names’ meanings (using Python for OpenAI calls, and compare it with scraping from common name sites for validity) I group names by themes.
I then use Python to analyze trends in these themes and investigate how these themes have changed thorough the years – which themes arose, which ones disappeared, how have changes happened in different population groups, and so one.
I then look at the more unique names, those not a lot of people share. I try to see whether these names come from different sources, and whether they show the same trends as the more common names.
The talk will blend data analysis with cultural reflection, providing insight into how naming trends reflects changes in identity, religion, politics, and globalization. Attendees will gain a unique perspective on Israeli cultural change, viewed through the lens of something deeply personal and universally shared: our names.
This session is suited for those interested in data storytelling, digital humanities, Israeli society, or simply the subtle ways culture expresses itself in everyday choices.
No previous knowledge expected
Data analyst, researcher and economist.
Sci-Fi geek, beer lover, and have a personal intrest in unique names.