Where do Jewish minhagim or guidelines on names come from?

amother

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 6:13 pm

I would actually really love to learn more about this.

I often see in this forum that people refer to sefarim with minhagim or rules about naming babies, or rabbis that have knowledge about what names or naming traditions are ok.

Where does this information come from? What are the sefarim that have it? Where do the rabbis get their information?

I am genuinely curious, as I have never come across anything, and have never asked a rabbi a naming question (not something people usually do in our community, as it isn't generally a halachic type of shaila).

Information is welcome Smile

amother

Maple

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 6:32 pm

amother OP wrote:

I go back to the source - the Torah. In there we see that our forefathers chose meaningful names that was an apt fit to place and time.

Those guidelines are good enough for me.

amother

Cherry

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 6:50 pm

amother Maple wrote:

I go back to the source - the Torah. In there we see that our forefathers chose meaningful names that was an apt fit to place and time.

Those guidelines are good enough for me.

You can name your babies whatever you want but we're not the Avos and Imahos. It's nice you read in the Torah about what our forefathers did but you're missing an important part. They also had nevuah and spoke directly with Hashem. We're not them and we can't compare ourselves to them. The Torah gave us mitzvos to follow but when it tells us about our forefathers some of that is for us to emulate and some of it is not. We figure out what's what by learning Torah shebeal peh. If you want to know specifically about baby naming a good sefarim store will have sales help that can steer you in the right direction.

amother

Maple

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 6:59 pm

amother Cherry wrote:

They spoke directly with Hashem?

They named their children based on what was going on with their lives. Hashem didn't whisper any names to them. Yitzchok is from the root word 'laugh' because Sarah laughed when she heard she was going to have a child. All the shvatim were named in the same fashion as well.

amother

Burlywood

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 7:08 pm

amother Maple wrote:

Some yes. Yeshayahu was explicitly instructed by Hashem what to name his children. Regarding Yitzchak, yes, the Torah says it was because Sarah laughed, but it ALSO says in the nevua in which Avraham was commanded to have a bris that he will have a son named Yitzchak, so it was kind of both.

amother

Cherry

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 7:17 pm

amother Maple wrote:

So what you're saying is you think that you choosing a name is the same as Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah who had nevuah doing the same. You might feel that way. I would respectfully disagree. It's good to recognize our own strengths but doesn't do us any good to inflate our egos too far.

amother

Maple

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 8:10 pm

amother Cherry wrote:

The Torah was given to us to learn from it. The Torah is our guide in life. The stories related to us are for us to learn and extrapolate how we should live our lives. The Torah wasn't given to us just so it can describe the exaltedness of our Avos and Imahos. It wasn't given to just us to show us how great they were. It was given to us so we can learn from their actions.

Copying their actions does not mean that we feel that we are equal to them. If we copy Sara's action about hachnasos orchim, does that mean we're doing it to inflate our egos? Every word in the Torah carries meaning and guidance. Hashem took the time (actually multiple times!) to spell out how our forefathers named their children. That has guidance for it. That means something for us. What we can learn from it is that they took the time to compose a meaningful name for their children, that expressed something to them. They either gave thanks through the name, or gave other meaning for it.

That is what is a beautiful concept, and that is the ultimate guidance.

amother

Currant

Thu, Dec 08 2022, 8:45 pm

I think this is a very good topic and it always interested me as well!
I think, a good idea would be to have this discussion based on your background and community..

I remember people in Israel naming their babies after the name of the war ongoing at that time etc
Some families name based on the weekly parsha, or season, or just a name they like etc
Sefardi name after a living relative
Chassidim name after a deceased grandparent or after a Rebbe

It could become very controversial.
OP, what did you have in mind? In general to hear from all stripes?

I'm specifically curious to know when did naming after a person start? In my family we name randomly .. My husband's family does usually name after a relative. So I'd love to hear a source for it or when it started.