Likely related to Naphtali, a Hebrew biblical name meaning my struggle or wrestling.
Naftula is a Yiddish diminutive and intimate form of Naphtali, one of the twelve sons of Jacob in the Hebrew Bible and the eponymous ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Hebrew name Naphtali (נַפְתָּלִי) derives from the root "pathal," meaning to twist, wrestle, or struggle — echoing the passage in Genesis 30:8 where Rachel declares, "I have wrestled mightily with my sister and I have prevailed." It is a name born from contest and perseverance, carrying that wrestling spirit as a birthright.
In the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of Eastern Europe — the shtetlekh of Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Romania — Naphtali was commonly softened into Naftul or Naftula for everyday use. This Yiddish diminutive suffix "-a" or "-l" was applied lovingly to make formal biblical names feel warm and intimate. The name Naftula thus has the quality of a hearthside name, used by parents and grandmothers rather than in formal registers.
Rabbinical figures and community elders bore it quietly across the centuries of the Pale of Settlement. Following the devastation of the Holocaust and the great waves of Jewish immigration to America, Israel, and Argentina, names like Naftula became rare outside of strictly Orthodox communities, where they are maintained as honorifics for deceased ancestors. Today, Naftula is an uncommon, deeply evocative name — a living artifact of Yiddish civilization that carries enormous genealogical and emotional weight for families who choose to preserve it.