This text was produced as a part of the New York Jewish Week’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teenagers round New York Metropolis to report on points that have an effect on their lives.
On her Uber app, Sivan’s title is Alexandra. Noa tells folks her title is Nina. Michal goes by Micky in automobile companies and when ordering espresso.
As of late, some New Yorkers with Jewish-sounding names are offering pretend names after they work together with strangers. They are saying the motivation is to really feel safer round city, given the spike in antisemitism in New York Metropolis and elsewhere after Oct. 7. Most want they didn’t have to cover an necessary a part of themselves, however they accomplish that to guard themselves bodily and emotionally.
Sivan, 19, who attended personal highschool in Manhattan, determined to start out utilizing a non-Hebrew title proper after Oct 7. She made the choice after listening to a narrative from her buddy, Ellie, who mentioned she was requested by an Uber driver if she was Jewish. When Ellie, to be secure, reflexively lied and mentioned, the motive force allegedly responded: “Good, as a result of if you happen to had been I’d have killed you.”
“I used to be scared,” mentioned Sivan, who began utilizing her center title when calling a automobile service. “It was the primary time in my life I used to be actually scared to be Jewish. I had all the time realized concerning the Holocaust, however I by no means thought it could be me.”
“It makes me unhappy that we stay in a world the place you may’t use your title since you’re frightened of being killed,” Sivan added. (Whereas actual first names are used on this article, the interviewees requested that any private figuring out data, together with their final names, not be revealed, highlighting simply how unsafe some Jewish teenagers in New York Metropolis really feel.)
This yr alone, the Anti-Defamation League reported over 1,000 antisemitic incidents in New York Metropolis – the best depend of antisemitic incidents in any U.S. metropolis for the reason that group started recording these cases in 1979. Particularly, the report confirmed a spike in antisemitism and harsh anti-Israel rhetoric focusing on those that are visibly Jewish.
Antisemitism is hardly an issue unique to New York Metropolis. Greater than half of Jewish People report experiencing some type of antisemitism final yr (2024-2025). The ADL experiences that antisemitic incidents within the USA hit a brand new excessive in 2024 — greater than 25 antisemitic incidents a day.
Just lately, the Slovakian-Canadian mannequin Miriam Mottova was kicked out of an Uber in Toronto after the motive force assumed Mottova was Jewish primarily based on a cellphone name she was having within the automobile. In keeping with Mottova, the motive force mentioned she “doesn’t drive Jewish folks.” Since going public together with her story, Mottova claims that “scores of individuals” have reached out to her with related tales about Uber.
Final yr, Lindsay Friedmann, the New Orleans-based director of the ADL’s South Central Area, “acquired experiences of Uber drivers canceling rides after studying their passengers had been Jewish or refusing to drive to Jewish places,” in accordance with The Media Line. A lot of these masking their Jewish identities had been college students at Tulane College.
Friedmann, too, shortened her title on her Uber profile, utilizing solely her final preliminary. In keeping with the publication, a experience with “a driver displaying a Palestinian flag confirmed her resolution.”
Whereas neither Uber nor Lyft has a cellphone quantity riders can name in the event that they expertise harassment, riders can file complaints on the automobile companies’ apps. In keeping with an Uber spokesperson, “our specialised groups fastidiously overview experiences of this nature and take acceptable motion, which incorporates eradicating people from the platform.”
In New York, regardless of laws meant to guard New York Metropolis residents from “prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, and discrimination, bias-related violence or harassment,” many Jewish teenagers dwelling in New York Metropolis really feel unsafe. In keeping with an ADL report from October, the antisemitic tendencies in 2025 “present proof of a sustained sample of harassment, intimidation and violence that threatens Jewish New Yorkers’ sense of security and belonging.”
A Washington Put up ballot performed in early September discovered that about 42% of Jewish People reported avoiding publicly sporting, carrying or displaying something that may establish them as Jewish within the earlier yr, a notable rise from related questions in earlier years.
The problem is a household matter for 14-year-old Rowan, an eighth grader who lives in Yorkville, and his mother, Michal. Michal just lately heard a narrative about an Uber driver who requested a buddy’s teenager if he was Jewish; when the son lied and mentioned “no” to keep away from any confrontation, the motive force revealed he would have kicked the buddy out if he was.
Rowan doesn’t really feel a necessity to cover his title as a result of it’s not a typical Jewish-sounding title. His mother nonetheless advises him to stay vigilant for his security and to not invite issues by revealing his Jewish id.
Fairly than conceal her Jewish id, Rebecca mentioned she’ll use the Hebrew model of her title when ordering espresso to be able to make an announcement towards antisemitism. (Courtesy)
“If anybody asks if he’s Jewish, he ought to say no,” Michal mentioned she instructed her son, who makes use of Ubers regularly with associates. “I’d fairly [he] be secure than have satisfaction, or do no matter [he] thinks is the correct factor.” As for her personal security, Michal makes use of the title Micky in automobile companies and in espresso retailers.
Michal has additionally urged Rowan to not show his Star of David on sidewalks and subways for concern of violence. Rowan partly agrees together with his mother. “I perceive why my mother requested me to cover my Magen David necklace. It’s not proper to need to repress your id, but additionally you don’t wish to put your self at risk,” he says.
The choice to cover her actual title was not a straightforward one for Sivan, who was named, partly, after her great-uncle Sonny. Usually, her title — Hebrew for “season” and the ninth month on the Jewish calendar — serves as a dialog starter. “I could make quick connections with folks after they be taught my title,” she mentioned. “It’s clearly a really Jewish-sounding title.”
In the meantime, Sivan’s sister, Noa, 24, makes use of the title Nina when she takes a automobile service in New York Metropolis. “Once I would go into an Uber and they’d see a woman with my title and no ‘H,’ it was form of apparent it was a really Israeli title,” she mentioned.
Households anglicizing their Jewish-sounding names will not be a brand new phenomenon, in fact. For a whole lot of years Jews in New York Metropolis have modified their names to keep away from prejudice. By 1932, practically 65% of name-changes in New York Metropolis had been requested by Jewish households, a lot of whom had been hoping to offer alternatives for his or her youngsters and forestall harassment, particularly in faculties, in accordance with Kirsten Lise Fermaglich in her 2018 guide, “A Rosenberg by Any Different Identify.”
Notably, generations of Jews believed — and a few nonetheless consider — that their names had been altered on Ellis Island as a clerical error or “straightforward shorthand.” Students have proven that Ellis Island clerks didn’t have the flexibility to vary final names, main some authors — together with the novelist and essayist Dara Horn — to argue that Jews perpetuated this fable to masks the disgrace of getting obscured their Jewish id.
However not all folks really feel the necessity to undertake non-Jewish sounding pseudonyms. Rebecca, 20, who was dwelling on the Higher East Aspect when Oct. 7 broke out, mentioned that since then she typically takes the alternative strategy: She intentionally makes use of her Hebrew title in public. “If I am going right into a Starbucks and listen to one thing antisemitic, I’d say my title is Rivka,” mentioned Rebecca. (Instantly following Oct. 7, Starbucks Staff United – which incorporates staff in lots of New York Metropolis places – took to social media to rejoice Hamas, voice solidarity with Palestine and condemn Israel. Starbucks shortly disavowed the union’s statements.)
One other teen boy, who requested to stay nameless for concern his talking out would affect his future, mentioned that even after being thrown out of an Uber together with his dad on the Higher East Aspect on Yom Kippur this fall as a result of the motive force found they had been Jewish, he refuses to “closet” his Jewish id and that tie to his household and cultural historical past.
“I take advantage of my title as a result of within the Jewish faith it acknowledges the individuality of every individual,” he mentioned. “It makes you, you.”
Being named after his great-grandfather, he feels a deep connection to his personal title. He added: “He may not be with us in physique, however he can stay on in spirit — and thru my title.”
