Significance of names/naming ceremony
Names are important in all cultures. We sometimes pick a name to keep alive the memory of someone who has passed on. We sometimes pick a name because we like the trait it represents. Sometimes we just like the sound of the name.
Adam
Benjamin
Daniel
Jonathan
Joshua
Joseph
Nathan
Solomon
Zeke
In the Bible, names are of major significance. The Book of Genesis tells us that the giving of names was the first function that God assigned mankind to do independently. We read in Genesis 2:20 that Adam was asked to name all “the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and every living thing”. In the story of Moses we also see an example of the significance of names for the ancient Israelites. When Moses sees a bush on fire that is not consumed and is asked by God to speak to the Israelites and Pharaoh, Moses says to God:
“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘the God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ then what shall I tell them?”. (Exodus 3:13).
Even name changes are of great significance: Abram and Sarai have their names changed to Abraham and Sarah as they enter into the Covenant with God (Genesis 17:4-6); Jacob’s name is changed to Israel after his night of wrestling with an angel (Genesis 32:28).
The giving of a name to a child is likewise an event of great significance. It provides him or her with what will be a permanent, lifelong identifier; it is the label by which he or she will be known to the world. Thus the selection of a name deserves all the time and effort that parents put into it.
In contemporary American life, a Jewish child typically receives both an English name and a Hebrew name. In some cases the two are the same–David, Benjamin, and Jacob for boys and Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel for girls. When an American Jewish child is given a non-Biblical name as a first name, then he or she is also given an additional Hebrew name. The Hebrew name will be used in any formal Jewish event such as at the time of bar or bat mitzvah. In the past girls’ Hebrew names were considered less important because women were not called to read from the Torah. With the advent of the Reform and Conservative movements in the U.S. that of course has changed.
Why delay the announcement of the Hebrew name until the bris?
Traditionally, a boy’s Hebrew name is not announced until the brit milah ceremony. Why is this? Two reasons are most commonly given:
- Since the names of Abram and Sarai were not changed to Abraham and Sarah until Abraham had undergone his circumcision and “entered into the Covenant with God”, we continue to follow that same practice of not assigning a “permanent” name to a male child until he, too, has entered the Covenant by having his brit milah ceremony.
- In ancient days the rabbis argued that a thing cannot be named until it is completed. That same tradition held that the newborn male was not considered to have attained “completion” or “perfection” until he had undergone his ritual circumcision. Thus it was not until after a male newborn had undergone his brit milah ceremony that it was felt appropriate to give him his Hebrew name.
Traditions in name selection
Of all the different reasons for picking a particular Hebrew name, the most common is to remember a beloved family member who is no longer living. This is done by giving a child the Hebrew name of that person or selecting a name using the deceased relative’s first initial. In this way the names of either male or female antecedents can be kept alive. There is a biblical precedent for this: “The memory of the righteous is for a blessing” (Proverbs 10:7).
Among more religious Jews two other traditions apply:
- Picking an accepted biblical name
- Picking a name correlating to an individual mentioned in the Torah or haftarah portion read the week of the baby’s birth. For instance, the name Noah might be picked for a baby born when the weekly reading is about the flood and the arc or the name Moses chosen if the birth occurred during Passover.
Superstitions abound when it comes to naming practices:
- Ashkenazi Jews traditionally will not name a baby after a living grandparent. This is so that the Angel of Death does not accidentally get confused and take the wrong person (the baby instead of the elder) when the latter’s time comes. Conversely, in Sephardic communities, it is common for newborn males to be given the name of their living paternal grandfather.
- Jews are reluctant to name their child after someone who has died either from illness or accident at a young age or before their time.
- In Ashkenazi families it is generally considered that the mother has the right and honor of selecting the name for her first child, the privilege of naming subsequent children alternating between the parents. Supposedly this custom evolved because of the practice for a young couple to be supported by the wife’s father while the husband continued his Torah studies. Others feel that this tradition came about as “payback” for all that the mother went through during the pregnancy, labor, and delivery of this first child.
Zvi—Hebrew
Hershal–Yiddish
(Both mean “deer”)
Because Yiddish was the day-to-day language of Eastern European Jews for many centuries, the custom has persisted in some families of giving their children Yiddish names in addition to Hebrew names. The reason for this was that in those European communities Hebrew was considered to be a sacred language to be used only when praying to God and not as an everyday medium for lay usage; the same applied to a child’s common name.
How to choose names for your newborn son, both English and Hebrew
For some mothers, it may be the case that they have had a name in mind since playing with dolls as a child. For other mothers and fathers there may be somebody in their family, their community, or even from world history that has made such an impression on them they would like to bestow that person’s name on their newborn. For many parents-to-be it is just a matter of sorting through the pages of baby-naming books or web sites.
Things to think about when choosing a name:
- Pick a name that sounds good now and will also sound appropriate in the Board Room in 40 years. Over flowery, hip, or trendy names may not stand the test of time.
- Pick first and middle names that sound good with the baby’s last name. Consider how many syllables each part of the name has.
- Consider how the name can be distorted in the schoolyard to sound embarrassing, obscene, or ridiculous.
- No matter what you try to establish as your baby’s name, the world will assign different nicknames to him or her. Consider what nicknames—benign or not—your child’s schoolmates could devise based on the proper name you have selected.
- If you are considering a very popular name, think whether your child will be pleased to see two or three other hands go up each time his or her name is called in school.
- Several things can happen to the names of politicians, movie stars, and athletes currently in the news. They can become the name of every other kid on the street, their names can be besmirched over time by that individual’s activities, or the memories of the individuals upon whom the names are selected can fade with the passage of time. Consider this if picking a celebrity name.
Sources for Hebrew names
- Several books of Jewish names are available in bookstores or online
Alfred J. Kolatch: The Comprehensive Dictionary of English & Hebrew First Names
Smadar Shir Sidi: The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names
Atina Amrah: Best Hebrew Names for Babies: Popular Hebrew Baby Boys and Girls Names with Meanings
Benjamin Rabbi Blech and Elaine Blech: Your Name Is Your Blessing: Hebrew Names and Their Mystical Meanings
Julien Coallier: Hebrew Baby Names: Listed Alphabetically
Shaul Ben Danyie: Biblical Names: The Prophetic Implications of Baby Boy Names - There are also multiple websites of Jewish names:
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3825225/jewish/Popular-Jewish-Hebrew-Boy-Names.htm
https://babynames.net/all/hebrew
https://reformjudaism.org/babyname-search
http://www.jewfaq.org/jnames.htm
https://www.familyeducation.com/baby-names/browse-origin/first-name/hebrew
http://hebrewname.org/ - Your rabbi or other clergy at your synagogue can help you make an appropriate name selection. Even if you are not affiliated with a synagogue or temple, call one in your area anyway. They will usually be happy to help—and may see in your growing family possible new members.
- Family members and friends will be all too eager to make multiple suggestions
- Depending on your degree of traditionalism, you may wish to choose a name prominent in the Torah or haftarah portion that was read in the week the baby was born.
- Some names are generally avoided in Judaism because of strong negative associations: Adolph, Jezebel, Titus, Haman
Despite all the research and effort you put into selecting a name for your baby, perhaps the best strategy is to have several preferred choices in mind and then when the baby is born, just look at the baby! Often at that moment one of the names on your list will seem to click. Then mentally look ahead and see how that name would work for a toddler, an eight-year-old, an adolescent, a college student, a young adult, and finally as a fully mature adult with professional and family responsibilities.
