Did You Know That Ivanka Trump’s Real Name Isn’t Ivanka?

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By Aiden Pink October 10, 2017

Ivanka Trump angered many earlier this year when she was named as an official advisor to her father, the president. But many may not know that “Ivanka” is not her name at all.

The First Daughter’s legal name is Ivana Marie Trump. She was named after her mother, Ivana. “Ivanka” is a nickname, much like “Bobby” is a nickname for “Robert.”

Here are some more fun facts about names in Trump’s family:

• Trump’s Hebrew name is “Yael.” In the Book of Judges, a woman named Yael came upon the enemy king Sisera, who had fled from battle with the Isralites. She fed and sheltered him until he fell asleep. Then she killed him by using a mallet to drive a tent peg into his skull.

• Trump’s great-grandmother, who founded the company that is now the Trump Organization, was named Elisabeth Christ.

• The names that Trump and her husband Jared Kushner picked for their children share striking similarities with members of the Kennedy political dynasty. Her oldest daughter, Arabella, shares the name of President John and Jacqueline Kennedy’s firstborn daughter, who was stillborn. Trump’s second child, Joseph, shares the name of the Kennedy family patriarch—and his middle name is Frederick, giving him the initials JFK. The name of the youngest child, Theodore or “Theo,” is reminiscent of former Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy.

Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink

Aiden Pink is the Deputy News Editor for the Forward. Contact him at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

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