Rebbe,
The gemara asks about a weasel's knowing that there will be more food tomorrow:"V'chi chulda n'via? - is the weasel a prophetess that it should know what's coming tomorrow? Of course, there was a Chulda Hanevia, which I'm sure the gemara was alluding to.
That got me to thinking about our having Jewish names named after various animals.
(a) Why would Chulda's parents have given her that name at birth? Weasel? (rat, marten, mole....are we sure it means weasel?)
(b) Why are we named after certain animals such as Ari, Aryeh, Dov, Tzvi and Z'eev and girls named Zviya, Ayala, Yael, Rachel, etc but never shual, nachash, chamor etc. Are those first animals considered more noble?
B'kavod,
Sam Kosofsky
(a) The Gemara (Megilah 14b) indeed criticizes Chuldah and Devorah based on their "unbecoming" names. We are told there, "Arrogance (or 'authority' - Rashi) is unbefitting for women; there were two arrogant women (who were granted authority) and their names were disgusting - bee (Devorah) and weasel (Chuldah)"
The lesson of this Gemara seems to be that Chuldah and Devorah were punished for showing arrogance. But how can their names be their punishment? Weren't they born with those names?
One possibility it that these were indeed not their born names, answering your question. Another possibility, raised by the Maharsha, is that the Gemara means to say that even though they had such disgusting names, which should have taught them humility, nevertheless they showed arrogance once they reached positions of authority. This approach also answers your question. The parents of these Nevi'os, suspecting the outstanding talents of their children, may have given them these names to prevent them from becoming arrogant. (See Ta'anis top of 7b, "Had they been ugly, they would have learned even more!".
(b) Regarding animal names, nearly all of the animal names in common usage originated as secondary names which dubbed onto names of Shevatim based on associations that we find in the Torah.
From the list you compiled:
- Ari and Aryeh come from Yehudah Leib or Yehudah Aryeh Leib
- Tzvi was Naftali Hertz or Naftali Tzvi Hertz. (The Torah calls Naftali an "Ayalah", not a Tzvi, but it seems that the name 'Tzvi,' which is a similar animal, had a more masculine ring. See what I wrote below regarding Ayalah.)
- Ze'ev was Binyomin Zev or Binyomin Zev Volf
- Dov was Yissachar Dov or Yisachar Dov Ber. (Apparently it was preferred to compare him to a bear, rather than to the animal that the Torah compares him to. The bear was chosen because the Torah often brings it together with the lion.
(I don't know of any animal associated today with Dan, who is also compared to an animal in the Torah, but Dan was a name that was not commonly used.)
Specifically these animals were chosen because of the traits they exemplify, as you suspected.
With regard to women's names, it seems that the same criteria were used. The names Tzviya and Ayala are Hebraizations of the Yiddish "Hinda", which is a translation of Ayalah, the animal which Naftali is compared to. Apparently it became a women's name because the grace of an Ayalah is more easily associated with women.
Best wishes,
Mordecai Kornfeld