The parshah begins by identifying Yaakov and his twelve sons by name, indicating that they had all eventually come down to Egypt (Shemot 1:1-5). The Ba’al HaTurim (to pasuk 1, s.v. ve’eileh) points out that the opening letters of the second through fifth words there (shemot bnai yisrael haba’im) spell out the word “shivyah,” meaning “captivity,” indicating that even when in captivity in Egypt, the Jewish people did not change their names, but rather maintained the same kind of identifiable names which they had when they first came to Egypt. Moreover, he suggests that prior to his death, Yosef had actually commanded the family not to take on other names; the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 32:5) teaches that the fact that the Jewish people did not abandon their Jewish names in favor of other names was actually one of the things which led to their ultimately being redeemed from Egypt.

Later in the Torah, Hashem indicates that He has separated the Jewish people from the other nations of the world (Vayikra 20:26); based on this and other pesukim, the Rambam (Hilchot Avodat Kochavim 11:1) writes that the Jewish people must distinguish themselves from the other nations in terms of their behavior, their physical appearance and their dress, and may not emulate their practices. The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 178:1) rules accordingly; the Rama, though, adds there that there are certain things which the non-Jews do that Jews may do as well because they are done for a good reason and have no foreign religious or otherwise inappropriate overtones to them. Although using non-Jewish names is not listed in those sources among the practices to be avoided, it stands to reason that imitating non-Jews by using their names and not exclusively Jewish ones would be improper. Indeed, Rabbeinu Tam, as cited in Tosafot to Gittin (34b, s.v. vehu), states that it would be highly inappropriate to mention a non-Jewish name in a Jewish religious document such as a get. The Rosh in Gittin (4:7), however, notes that there are certain non-Jewish names which are very closely related to Jewish names (presumably referring to names that are basically transliterated, such as Abraham in English for Avraham, Isaac for Yitzchak, etc.) and that it is common for Jews to be called by those names.

The Maharam Schick, in a famous teshuvah (Yoreh De’ah No. 169), writes emphatically that it is completely inappropriate for Jews to give their children non-Jewish names, indicating that it absolutely constitutes a violation of the Torah’s commandment that Jews may not emulate the practices of the non-Jews in any fashion, as referred to above. Moreover, he adds, using non-Jewish names in any form represents a rejection of the long-standing tradition among Jews of distinguishing themselves from others by means specifically of their names, a practice which saved them in Egypt. Indeed, it is reported that when the government decreed that all residents of the area where he lived must adopt a “last” name, the Maharam Schick selected the last name “Schick” because its spelling in Hebrew, shin, yud, kuf, can be understood as an acronym for the words sheim yisrael kodesh, “the Jewish name is holy” (see Sefer Otzar HaBrit, Volume 1, Chapter 6, Note 1). The Darkei Teshuvah (Yoreh De’ah 178:14) cites the Maharam Schick’s strong criticism of those who utilize non-Jewish names approvingly, agreeing that they are in violation of a commandment from the Torah. The Rogatchover Gaon (Shu”t Tzofnat Pa’aneiach Warsaw edition, No. 275) appears to agree that using a completely non-Jewish name is forbidden, but he adds that a name which is essentially a foreign language translation of a Jewish name is not a problem.

It is noteworthy that the Gemara in Gittin (11b) acknowledges that most Jews living outside Eretz Yisrael have names resembling those of non-Jews; the Maharashdam, in one of his teshuvot (Yoreh De’ah No. 199), understands that this was true even of many Jews living in Eretz Yisrael. He deals in that teshuvah with an interesting question regarding Jews from Portugal who had escaped the Spanish Inquisition by acting as non-Jews (Marranos) and had taken on non-Jewish names. He was asked about whether these people, after having returned to the Jewish community and begun to use their Jewish names again, could maintain the use of the other names for various business and legal purposes. While stating that it is certainly proper to avoid various kinds of practices associated with non-Jews, there is no actual prohibition against using non-Jewish names; he concludes, citing this Gemara in Gittin and the commentaries there, that those who take the stringent position about using non-Jewish names do so in order to help assure that Jews will always be distinguishable from their non-Jewish neighbors, but he asserts that in terms of official documents and the like there is nothing wrong with using those names. In a possibly related remark, the Maharatz Chayes, commenting on Tosafot to Gittin 11a (s.v. Batti), notes that people who converted to Judaism did not necessarily give up their non-Jewish names; see, however, the comments of the Ramban to Bamidbar (10:29, s.v. vayomer) and of the Meshech Chochmah to Shemot (18:12) regarding Yitro, and of the Chizkuni to Bereishit (17:5, s.v. velo) regarding Avraham Avinu.  

Rav Moshe Feinstein discusses this matter in several teshuvot. In one (Shu”t Igrot Moshe, Even HaEzer 3:35), he notes (writing in 1966) that the overwhelming majority of even observant Jews, including Rabbonim, in America use English names and these names are accepted among the Jewish people, adding that these names are generally given to people before their Jewish names, as the English name is usually given in the hospital, while the Jewish name is given at the Brit for a boy and when the father next gets called the Torah for a girl. He does state that in light of the fact that Chazal praise the Jews in Egypt for not abandoning their Jewish names and teach that this helped lead to the redemption, it is certainly improper to employ non-Jewish names, but there is clearly no requirement to use only Jewish names, just as there is no requirement to speak exclusively in Hebrew even though Chazal say that maintaining their Jewish language also helped bring about the redemption of our ancestors.

In another teshuvah (ibid. Even HaEzer 4:102), Rav Feinstein adds that although the non-Jewish name is indeed usually given before the Jewish name, people who are committed to Torah values consider their Jewish name to be their primary name and the other name to be secondary. Elsewhere (ibid. Orach Chaim 4:66), he suggests that the use of non-Jewish names became more acceptable for Jews as the duration of our exile continued to lengthen; he points out that we thus find many names of Amoraim in the Gemara which are not Hebrew but Aramaic (Rav Pappa, Rav Zevid, Mar Zutra, and others) and so too many Geonim and even some Rishonim have names from other cultures. He explains there that perhaps this is because the idea of preserving exclusively Jewish names was indeed very important when the Jews were in Egypt and did not have mitzvot to maintain their distinct identity; after the giving of the Torah, however, this became less significant. The Meshech Chochmah (to Shemot 12:22, s.v. ve’atem) makes a similar comment.

Nonetheless, it would seem that even according to those who allow the use of non-Jewish names, it is certainly proper for one to try and use his or her Jewish name, as this does help enable one to maintain a Jewish identity. At the same time, it appears that even according to those who are stringent about using non-Jewish names at all, there is more room for leniency if the name is common among Jews as well, as opposed to a name which is exclusively associated with and used by non-Jews (see Get Pashut, Even HaEzer 129:23). In conclusion, it should be noted that one should be careful in general in selecting a name for one’s child, because a name can sometimes have an impact on an individual’s very life, as indicated by the Gemara in Berachot (7b) and in Yoma (83b), and by the Midrash Tanchuma to Parashat Ha’azinu (No. 7), among other places.