What is the real name of the Jews?

Answer 1

What is a "real name"? Jews have used (and still use) many names: The biblical names Benai Ysrael (Children of Israel) and Am Ysrael (People of Israel) are still used. Since the time the Book of Esther was written, Yehudim (Judaites) has been used to refer to all Jews. Yehudim is the word from which the English word Jew evolved (also Juif in French, Jude in German, Iudaeus in Latin, to name a few). Ivrim (Hebrews) was used in early Biblical times, when Yehudim still generally referred to members of the tribe of Judah, and it was used when the word Jew was considered insulting. 100 years ago, in English, the word Jew was considered almost as bad as the "n word" so it was avoided in polite society. Today, the word Jew has been largely rehabilitated, although you can still find it being used as an insult. Today, when Jews hear someone use awkward substitutes for the word Jew, they may suspect that person of harboring prejudices against Jews.