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Is there a Jewish tradition of naming your child using the first letter of the name of a recently deceased relative?

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2 Answers 2

My understanding is that there's a tradition (particularly in Ashkenazic families) to give a child the [Hebrew/Jewish] name of a deceased relative. This carries on the memory of the relative and also, through some metaphysical mechanism, causes the good deeds of the child to enhance the standing of the relative.

This is a custom, but not a binding precept of Jewish law, so there's a great deal of flexibility available. When the relative's name is not suitable for whatever reason, some people like to fulfill something like this custom by giving the child a name that is somehow related to the relative's name or to the relative. Using the same initial first letter is one version of this, and I've also seen people using a synonym of the name or a name that describes the relative's character.

Personal example:
I would have named my daughter after my grandmother, except that my grandmother's Hebrew name is the same as my mother's middle name, and Ashkenazim like me generally don't name after living relatives. So, my daughter got a name that my wife and I both like that sounds similar to my grandmother's name and is a partial anagram thereof.

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Another instance where people might want to name after a deceased relative, but modify the name somewhat (or add a middle name), is if the relative had a particularly tragic life ("bad mazal"). What's called a "tragic life" is a different topic. –  Shalom Dec 24 '09 at 14:32
Our rabbi told us, when we were naming our firstborn, that the main function of having a child named for a relative is to honor the living family members. If no one will feel comforted or honored by the naming, it seems like (at least according to this view) there isn't much point. –  sq33G Feb 27 '12 at 7:29




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Do you have a citation for where/when Rabbi Bleich said this? –  msh210 Aug 23 '12 at 19:18
@msh210 Added via editing –  Ze'ev Felsen Aug 23 '12 at 19:33
Many thanks, Ze'ev Felsen. –  msh210 Aug 23 '12 at 20:34

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