Nechama is the
Hebrew word meaning
solace or
comfort. In Hebrew its spelled
Nun Chet Mem Hey (N-Kh-M-H), and its
shoresh, or three letter
root, is
Nun Chet Mem (N-Kh-M). Its
gematria, or
numerological value, is 103.
As the word is a
feminine noun, its also a not uncommon Hebrew
name, whose closest male equivalents are
Nachum, comforter, and
Nechemya, comforted by God. It should be noted that while Nachum and Nechemya were both
Biblical prophets, there was no
Old Testament character named Nechama.
Though Nechama is most properly pronounced with a short U sound- NeCHUHma- as a name it has often been
Yiddishized to NeCHUma (long U) and
Anglicized to NeCHAAma (long A). The "Ch" is pronounced
gutturally, as in "Bach" or "Achtung", not as in "Archer" or "Chord".