Naming a baby

Posted: Fri, Oct 16 2009, 10:03 am Post subject: naming a baby

I always wonder why people get so emotional about naming thier child after a loved one. from a religious standpoint, is there anything to it. does it mean good things for he baby or the deceased. also in general whats behind naming after a loved one or tzadik. where is tit brought down?

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 07 2007 Posts: 10429

Platinum Member Joined: Aug 29 2007 Posts: 12057

as someone who waited for almost 22 years to have a son to carry the name of my father, I will readily admit that I don't understand this question.

Posted: Fri, Oct 16 2009, 3:13 pm Post subject: re: naming a baby

I guess I didnt phrase my question correctly. ithink where I went wrong was bringing emotion into my question. people get emotional bout all sorts of things. my question was more intellectual.
im sure there must be some valid reason for this tradition. I just wonder what its source is.
I know its important that we stick to jewish names (she lo shinu lishonam...)
I cant think of any biblical figure who was named for someone else.
this custom must have been started more recently and I wonder how or why.
louche, do u have a source for those answers or are they just "known facts?"
I cant really understand how "in a sense you're bringing the deceased back to life."

chaylizi, my question was not meant to offend or be controversial. im just interested in the history of this custom.

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 12 2009 Posts: 13155

Solo, just so you know, I'm interested in the answer to your question too. On one level, I get where the intense reactions above are coming from (though I didn't have to wait as long for a namesake for my mother) but they weren't my first.

Posted: Sat, Oct 17 2009, 1:59 pm Post subject: re: naming a baby

I think the first time is in the Talmud, a child named after his father's (alive) rav.
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Diamond Member Joined: Jan 19 2006 Posts: 4427

Naming a child for someone is an Aliya for the neshama. Every mitzva the namesake does, raises the loved ione in gan eden just a bit higher.

It connects with the reason for saying Kaddish for the deceased. Every kaddish said helps the neshama rise. We say kaddish for only eleven months, as it is said that the longest a jewish soul is in gehennim is 11 months. By 11 months we know that the soul has acended to gan eden, we no longer need kaddish. But every mitzvah done in a persons memory speed the neshama's aliya to gan eden.

It is considered a huge aliyat neshama for a person to have a namesake within the first year.

With all that said, sefardim, choose to bestow the honor of naming children after their loved ones while they are still living. This is actually a beautiful minhag, where a person gets to see his children following in his footsteps in his lifetime.

Our family has a minhag to slap the namesake after the name is called out, why? because when a child gets your name, they take a piece of you. Therefore your neshama needs a slap, to make sure that you are in the right mindset to continue growing.

This concept also ties in with the ashkenaz minhag of naming for the dead. Naming after someone gives a bit of the namesakes self to the child who will carry on the name. It is part of the reason why people choose to after people who were good and had good midos. And why naming after people with undesirable attributes is looked down on.