Tag #124103 - Interview #98839 (Aron Nissim Alkalai)

We had a grandson in 1978. Then we were not allowed to give him a Jewish name. We wanted to name him Aron, but that name was not included in the name lists. Those were lists with names, which could be found in every municipality and from which you could choose a name. Yet, the parents of my daughter-in-law managed to receive permission for our son to carry my name. [There is no official regulation on names but at the same time until 1989 there was a name list with all names allowed in every maternity hospital. The list included typical Bulgarian names. Permission had to be obtained from the citizen's department at the municipalities for the more unusual names.] I remember that when I graduated the third grade in the vocational school they had put Bulgarian endings to my name in my Bulgarian certificate – Aron Nissimov Alkalaev. After the Law for Protection of the Nation was passed my name was changed to Aron Nissim Alkalai in order to emphasize my Jewish origin. I was not bothered by that. Now there are Jews who adopted Bulgarian endings for their names voluntarily.