In English, if you want to know someone’s name, you’d ask them “what’s your name?” But if you ask an Israeli מה השם שלך (ending in ך-ָ or ךָׁ-, depending on whether they’re female or male) – literally, “what’s your name?” – it’s a dead giveaway that you aren’t a native speaker.
Rather, ask them איך קוראים לך – where לך is either לָך or לךָ, depending on if the person you’ve met is female or male. This literally means, “what do they call you?”
In context:
אני עמי, איך קוראים לך?
I’m Ami, what’s your name? (spoken to a female)
I could also introduce myself saying קוראים לי עמי – literally, “they call me Ami.”
But don’t use איך קוראים לך in every context. In more formal situations – meeting a potential client, for example – you’d use מה שמך (ending in -ֵך or ךָׁ-, depending on whether they’re female or male), literally, “what is your name?” Even though מה השם שלך literally means the same thing, people just don’t use it.
