Naming after someone

amother

Sun, Dec 08 2024, 5:22 pm

I am curious to hear who you would consider a “bal mazel”
We are thinking of namining our baby after a relative and my husband wanted to know if I thought this person was a “bal mazel”

What would you say?

amother

Garnet

Sun, Dec 08 2024, 5:29 pm

I think this might mean different things to different people. I would want to name for someone who had good middos, lived a long and happy life and someone I had a connection to.
I personally have never seen the point of naming for great great uncle so and so, who no one even knew, but because they were a family member, we should name for them. I would rather name after a gadol who I knew was someone to look upto and want my child to emulate, if there were no other family names.
My parents were always particular about naming for specific people. There was one great grandfather who almost all his children went OTD, another grandmother who had a really hard life and died young after a long and protracted battle with illness. And they were particular that we shouldn't name for them.
If you're unsure, asking a rav is always a good idea. He doesn't have to make your mind up, but he can provide clarity to help you make your decision.

Ruchel

Sun, Dec 08 2024, 5:34 pm

We decided to name after someone

Not named after (unless very close)
Direct line (not uncles sorry 🙏)
Not more than a number of generations
And to accept translations, one name out of two and naming for several people.

I've never heard of Baal mazel.

Some don't add a name for parent and for kiddush Hashem.

Cv if twice the name had bad story that's something to ask a gadol.

amother

Birch

Sun, Dec 08 2024, 6:20 pm

I also never heard of the baal mazal thing. Just not to name after someone who had exceptionally bad mazal, specifically died young. Don't think this applies to someone murdered in the Shoah or died in battle. Otherwise, who's to say what a baal mazal is? You may think he wasn't because he was poor, e.g., whereas he may have been a poster child for being sameach bechelko.