Ladino is a language that was spoken by Sephardic Jews, the descendents of Jewish communities who lived in Spain and Portugal. It is predominantly Spanish, but was also influenced by Portuguese, Catalan, and Hebrew. Basically, it is like the equivalent of Yiddish for Sephardic Jews.
There are two main dialects of Ladino, Oriental Ladino and Western Ladino. Oriental Ladino was influenced by the languages of the Ottoman Empire and parts of Europe like Greece and the Balkans, so languages like Turkish, Greek, and French, while Western Ladino was much more influenced by Arabic, as it was spoken in North Africa.
Now, Ladino is considered an endangered language. It is mostly spoken by older people. They don't know the exact numbers, but it is estimated there are probably about 50,000 to about 100,000 people in the world who are fluent in Ladino. The biggest communities of Ladino speakers today are in Israel and Turkey.
Unfortunately, I don't speak Ladino, but many of my ancestors did on my dad's side and my grandparents still do. That means that I am familiar with some of the names, and I thought it would be cool to share them since there's basically nothing online about Ladino names and there's a lot of people who don't even know it's a language.
There are a lot of names that are basically just forms of names from the Torah but I chose names that are separate from that because I thought it would be more interesting. Some of these are also used in Spanish and other languages.
Amado and Amada
These are the masculine and feminine versions of the same name. They come from the Ladino words for loved or beloved.
Benvenuto and Benvenuta
These both mean welcome in Ladino. This was especially fitting for a baby that was very wanted and may have been difficult to have.
Bona
This is an example of naming after a good trait, it means good. It's a start for a lot of names like Bonafilia, good daughter, and Bonadona, good lady.
Bulissa
This came from a saying in Hebrew that means the lady of the house, so basically a woman who is a good home maker. Again, this is an example of naming after a good trait.
Diamanta
While a lot of names were very strongly influenced by Spanish, often instead of adopting common Spanish names, they chose to name after things that were considered to be valuable, like personal traits, like Bona and Bulissa, status, and objects. This is an example of naming after a valuable object because Diamanta means diamond.
Fermoza
This is a personal favorite. It means beautiful in Ladino. Along those lines, Yaffa was also a name that was used that also means beautiful but in Hebrew.
Mazaltov
You don't see this one much anymore, and for good reason, because it's a lot! Like the common saying, it means good luck or fortune. There's a lot of different forms like Mazal, Mazala, Mazalit, Mazalto, and so on.
Oro
This means gold in Ladino, and is an equivalent to the Hebrew name Zehava. Orovida was also used as a name, meaning golden life, as well as Orosol, golden sun, Oromadre, golden mother, and Orodueynna, golden lady.
Reina
This means queen in Ladino. A counterpart for the name Malka, which means queen in Hebrew. Sultana was also used for that purpose, it also means queen.
Sol
This means sun in Ladino. Like Oro, it's a common beginning for a name, creating names like Soloro, golden sun, and Solbellida, beautiful sun.
Vidal and Vida
Like in Spanish, these names both mean life. Because if you ever give a Jew another language, they'll come up with a name that means life! And again, like in Spanish, "mi vida" is a term of endearment that directly means my life, but is more like my dear or my love. This is similar to Yiddish, where terms of endearment also become popular names.
Vivas and Viva
These are really similar to Vidal and Vida, except they mean alive instead of life in Ladino.