Hebrew name meaning 'beautiful' or 'fair'; a biblical midwife in Exodus.
Shifra (שִׁפְרָה in Hebrew) is an ancient Semitic name whose roots carry one of the most luminous meanings in the naming tradition: 'beautiful,' 'pleasant,' or 'good.' The name appears in texts dating back to the Bronze Age; an Egyptian papyrus from roughly 1730 BCE lists a Semitic slave name that scholars have identified as a cognate. But Shifra's defining moment in Western cultural memory comes from the Book of Exodus, where she is named as one of only two people in the entire birth narrative of Moses to be identified by name — the Hebrew midwife who, together with her colleague Puah, defied Pharaoh's genocidal decree to kill all Hebrew male newborns.
The moral audacity of Shifra's act — civil disobedience at the cost of her own life, driven by conscience — has made her a touchstone in Jewish ethical and feminist scholarship. The Talmud celebrates her and Puah as among the most righteous people in Egypt, and some rabbinic sources identify Shifra with Yocheved, Moses's own mother, adding further weight to her story. In a text dominated by the grand gestures of patriarchs and prophets, the courage of two midwives at the beginning of Exodus is quietly foundational: without Shifra, there is no Moses, no Exodus, no Sinai.
As a given name, Shifra has been used continuously in Jewish communities across the diaspora, particularly in Ashkenazi families where the tradition of honoring biblical women remained strong. In Israel it is a recognizable if not common name, carrying its biblical gravity lightly. In the English-speaking world it remains rare and distinctive, often chosen by parents who know the Exodus story well and want to give their daughter a name that means both 'beautiful' and 'brave.' Few names carry that combination so quietly or so completely.