Question

My name is Adina. I have always been proud of having a Hebrew name, and I love its meaning (“delicate”). But someone asked me who the original Adina was. I had no idea what to answer. Is it a biblical name? I don’t remember hearing of an Adina in the Torah. So where is my name actually from?

Answer

You may be surprised to learn the origins of your name. The first Adina was none other than the wife of Laban the Aramean. That is Laban the famous fraudster, sorcerer and crafty crook, about whom we read in the Haggadah on Pesach: “Laban wanted to destroy everything.”

Laban was not known for his good moral values. And yet this man of no good was the father of Rachel and Leah, the righteous matriarchs of the Jewish people. How did such a shady character have such wonderful children? This was most likely due entirely to his delicate wife, Adina.

All we know about her is her name. And that’s all we need to know. Adina the delicate one. Don’t be fooled by her soft and gentle nature. With her subtlety and quiet strength, she had the power to counter her husband’s negative character and bring up children who enlightened the world.

So that’s where your name comes from. The delicate woman who singlehandedly instilled her children with good character, and thereby shaped the Jewish future forever. She did it without her husband’s support. Imagine what a like-minded couple can do.

Source:

Sefer HaYashar, quoted in Seder HaDorot, Year 2164. See also ibid., Year 2217, where it mentions another Adina, wife of Levi, daughter of Yovav ben Yoktan. This second Adina, unlike the first, joined the Jewish people, which is probably how the name became popular. We can only imagine how Leah felt when her son Levi married a woman with the same name as her mother.