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My Name

When I was born, I was named William Andrew Strimling after deceased relatives from both my mom and dad's families, as is tradition for Ashkenazi Jews. Eight days later, I was given the Hebrew name שמעון זאב, which also honors family that came before me.

For most of my life, I didn't feel comfortable with my last name ”Strimling.” It was tricky to say and spell, it didn't reflect my Jewish background, and it felt overall discordant.

When I moved to Israel, this discomfort deepened. Both my first and last names were uncommon and included sounds unfamiliar in Hebrew. I learned there about a tradition where Olim (new immigrants) would ”hebraize” their names to better fit into Israeli society.

I was inspired by this practice, and decided to adapt my name too.

My Hebrew name, שמעון זאב, is pronounced as Shimon Ze'ev. I thought about using it directly, but ”Shimon” (שמעון) was considered old-fashioned in Israel, and I wanted to keep some of my ”Anglo” identity.

So, I settled on a compromise: the English version of my Hebrew name — Shimon became Simon, and Ze'ev translates to Wolf. And, because most people knew me as William or Will, I decided to keep William as my first name and use Simon/שמעון as a middle name when it made sense.

So, all together, we get William Simon Wolf — a name that better represents my identity and heritage, without losing my roots.