Octuplets Get Biblical Names

Solomon is Surname and Angel is Middle Name of All Eight

Mar 11, 2009 Rosemary E. Bachelor

Octo-mom Nadya Suleman has given her eight children names of Biblical significance and Hebrew origin, hoping it will ground them in faith.

"She's a very religious person, and she loves the sound of Biblical names, and hopes that will give her kids a good solid foundation in the faith," Mike Furtney, spokesman for Ms. Suleman, told Airan Scruby, Whittier Daily News writer.

All eight children share the middle name “Angel” because that’s how their mom views them, Furtney said when interviewed for Scruby's Feb. 10, 2009 story.

All sperm for the octuplets, born Jan. 26, 2009, and their six older siblings (all under age 8) is said to be from Nadya’s close friend, David Solomon, listed on one of her older children’s birth certificate as born in Israel.

The octuplets' names, gender and birth weight in birth order are:

• Noah Angel Solomon - male; 2 lbs 8 oz
• Maliyah Angel Solomon - female; 2 lbs 2 oz
• Isaiah Angel Solomon - male; 3 lbs 1 oz
• Nariyah Angel Solomon - female; 2 lbs 3 oz
• Makai Angel Solomon - male; 1 lbs 12 oz
• Josiah Angel Solomon - male; 2 lbs 9 oz
• Jeremiah Angel Solomon - male; 1 lb 13 oz
• Jonah Angel Solomon - male; 2 lbs 7 oz

Octuplets with Biblical names of Hebrew origin are Noah (meaning “peaceful” or “wanderer”), Isaiah (meaning “God helps”), Josiah, (meaning “Jehovah helps”), Jeremiah (meaning “the Lord exalts”) and Jonah (meaning “dove”). They are common Jewish names.

The oldest girl is Maliyah. Spelled “Malia” – as is President Obama’s daughter – it is a Hawaiian name which means “perhaps” or “probably”. Her sister is Nariyah, perhaps a variant spelling of the name Neriyah, which is derived from the Hebrew word Nera, meaning “candle”.

Makai was the smallest baby at birth. His name, also of Hebrew derivation, is a form of the name Michael. It means “who resembles God”.

These are the names of the older children:

• 7-year-old Elijah Makai Solomon (boy)
• 6-year-old Amerah Yasmeen Solomon (girl)
• 5-year-old Joshua Jacob Solomon (boy)
• 3-year-old Aiden Solomon (boy)
• 2-year-old Calyssa Arielle Solomon (girl, twin)
• 2-year-old Caleb Kai Solomon (boy, twin)

Elijah and Joshua have Biblical names of Hebrew origin. Caleb is also of Hebrew origin and means “dog” in the sense that the Biblical Caleb was greatly devoted to God. Aiden is a version of the Gaelic Aidan, meaning “fire”.

Amerah is a variant of the Hebrew Amira. Of its many meanings, “princess” is the favored one of parents who name their girls Amerah. Yasmeen, meaning jasmine, comes from the Arabic and old Persian word Yasmin.

Calyssa, meaning both “cup” and “beautiful”, has such precursors as Calista in Latin and Greek contexts. Arielle is a variant of the Hebrew Ariel, meaning “lion of God”.

All 14 children have the same Jewish-Iraqi-Lithuanian ancestry. Mom, Natalie Denise Suleman – also known as Nadya Suleman and Natalie Doud – was the only child of Iraqi dad Edward Suleman and Lithuanian Angela Doud, who had a 1974 Las Vegas wedding and divorced in 1999.

SOURCES:

Scruby, Airan, “Octuplets mom chooses names,” Whittier Daily News, Feb. 10, 2009

Hedley, Caroline, and Sherwell, Philip, “All I wanted was children,” Telegraph.co.uk, Feb. 8, 2009

“Octuplets' Family Filed For Bankruptcy,” CBS News, Jan. 30, 2009;

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