Question:
What are the Halachos relevant to naming a child?
Answer:
Generally speaking, Ashkenazim do not name their children after living people for fear of shortening the other person’s life (Sefer HaChassidim 460) or to avoid violating a living parent’s honor by calling the child the same name as the parent in his parents presence.
Some say that if there is no reason to pick a particular name, even Ashkenazim are advised to choose the name of one of the Neviim or a recognized Tzaddik of our times, even if he’s still alive. Others allow naming after a living person if it will give the namesake tremendous satisfaction and raise his low spirits – Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv named his third child, a daughter, after their childless neighbor as an act of kindness to uplift her gloomy spirits.
Sephardim in general have the custom to name children after living relatives, starting with the father’s parents and then the mother’s, unless there are additional factors such as a loss of the mother’s parent, in which case the paternal grandfather’s Mechilah would be needed.
Even by Sephardim this Minhag is not ubiquitous. In Morocco and Iraq, specifically, they would not name after the living, while in Algeria and Tunis, they would. Some say that if the living relative gives permission, it is nevertheless ok in any location.
In the case of a mixed marriage, where the mother of the baby’s family does allow it, but the father’s does not, the baby may be named for its mother’s living family members.
If the child is the product of a broken marriage, some recommend not naming the baby for members of either family to avoid aggravation from the opposite side – Chashukei Chemed Gittin 26b.
Ultimately, every family should follow its custom.Although it is unclear when the practice of giving a child two names began, as we don’t find anybody in Tanach, Shas, or even Rishonim (except for one exception) with two names, it certainly has become commonplace to do so.
Adding or modifying a name avoids issues of naming after living relatives or people whom one should not name after, such as a Rasha or someone who died young/tragically, according to those who are concerned. However, according to some, a double name is one composite name and not two partial ones, so it does not bear any connection to the two parts it represents. Therefore, one would not be in fulfillment of honoring anybody by using two names. Many authorities disagree, though,but some say that using two names for two people would nevertheless not be as potent as purely naming after one person. Indeed, this may be parallel to a similar discussion in Hilchos Gittin regarding the same issue of whether one name is two names or one composite one[17], some think it is an independent issue.
If parents wanted to name their child after a certain tzadik and later they find out that the tzadik had a middle name they can add it to the name of their child at that later stage. Shemos Baaretz p. 89 quotes Rav Shach about someone who named their child Meir after Rav Meir Shapiro and really his name was Yehuda Meir and so they added the name Yehuda later on.
It is the minhag Yisrael to name even after angels such as Refael, Michael, Gavriel, Azriel or Uriel.
Although Rabbi Yehuda Hachosid advised that people should not call their children by the names Yehuda and Shmuel the practice of the world is to use those names and assume that Rabbi Yehuda Hachasid only meant this stricture for his descendants. |
