Parents think about what name to give their child long before his birth. Sometimes there is a desire to honor the memory of a deceased person and name the baby in his honor. This article will offer an answer to the question of whether it is possible to name children after deceased relatives.
Tradition or error?
Turning to historical facts, we can come to the conclusion that many peoples traditionally named newborns in honor of departed relatives. Thus, the names that grandparents bore were passed on to their grandchildren. This custom still exists in Italy. It was the custom of the Russian tsars to name their children after representatives of past generations of relatives. It was a common statement that if a son inherited his father's or grandfather's name, he would also inherit his power. For the family, this will be a symbol of unity and strength.
But is it really possible to name children after deceased relatives? Indeed, according to the Russian Orthodox tradition, the priest used to give the name to the babies when he performed the baptism ceremony over them. This was customary to do until forty days from birth. When choosing a name, Father used information from the Orthodox Church calendar, which lists the name days of all saints. It was believed that the saint whose angel day is celebrated on the child’s birthday will be his reliable protector and guardian throughout his life. Therefore, it is not advisable to ignore this tradition. In addition, it is believed that along with the name of a deceased relative, a child can repeat his fate. You can never know for sure whether it will be successful.
About prohibitions
First of all, I would like to say that today the concern about choosing a name for their own child lies solely with the parents. There are no prohibitions in domestic legislation. And therefore, the relatives of the newborn can even choose names that are unusual for others to hear. Moreover, today parents are trying to choose the most rare and unusual name for their child, thereby wishing an interesting and extraordinary destiny for their child. But if the legislation does not contain any prohibitions in this regard, the church has its own opinion on this matter.
What do people say
People's opinions regarding whether it is possible to name children after deceased relatives are ambiguous. It’s great if the grandparents, after whom they want to name the heirs, had a happy, cloudless life. Then the child will inherit happiness. But people have noticed that if, for example, a son is named after a living father, then they seem to become rivals, having one guardian angel between them. Therefore, one of the people must die. After all, the patron saint does not have enough strength for two.
About the meaning of the name: a little history
It is also very important for parents to know the meaning of the Russian name they want to name their baby. After all, as was already said above, only by doing this can you prescribe the path for your child. I would like to say a few words about how our ancestors chose names for their babies. Ancient Slavic history will be very interesting and entertaining. At that time there were a lot of names and you could choose a name for your baby according to any criteria.
- Children were often named simply in the order of their birth in one family: Pervusha, Vtorak and Tretyak.
- At that time, it was possible to name children by the names of gods and goddesses - Lada, Yarilo.
- If they wanted a certain fate for a child, they named him in a special way: Brave will definitely be a protector, and Lyubava will be a beauty.
- Well, the most relevant at that time were double names that could fully characterize a person (Bogdan - given by God, Velimudr - a great and wise man).
Today, some names of the Old Church Slavonic world have been preserved. And, by the way, they are still very popular. However, such principles for choosing a name in the modern world, unfortunately, have been lost.
Psychologists' opinion
Experts in the field of psychology also provide advice on whether it is possible to name children after deceased relatives. According to statistics, they are mostly approached by people who have become heirs to the name of a deceased relative. This picture is observed in four out of five cases. After all, when a person’s name is chosen, children are involuntarily expected to be similar to him, burdening him with expectations and hopes. Consequently, a program is laid to repeat someone else's life. This forces the child to adapt to the expectations of his family, rather than go his own way. Consequently, when asked whether a child can be named after a deceased relative, psychologists give a negative answer.
Folk superstitions
People say that you cannot name a boy after his father, since the child will inevitably repeat the fate of his parent. If the father was often plagued by troubles, illnesses, and financial difficulties in life, it is believed that the son will face similar problems.
The question arises, why not then name the baby in honor of the parent in case of a happy fate for the latter. But older people say: if two male representatives from the same family are named the same, then there will be one guardian angel who protects against failure. If an unfavorable situation arises for both men, the guardian will first of all help the older one, as a result of which the child may suffer.
People also say that two close people with the same name share the same energy field.
As a result, both people weaken and lose the ability to withstand external negative influences at the proper level. Since the energy field of a small child is not sufficiently formed, the baby will not be able to resist the evil eye and slander, and will often get sick.
Someone else's life
So, if you choose a relative’s name for a child, you can unwittingly force the heir to live his life, not yours. But parents do not want bad things for their children, so if they give a name in honor of their relatives, they analyze their character and fate.
It is strictly not recommended to give the names of family members who tragically passed away at a young age, so that the same does not happen to children. This is why children should not be named after deceased relatives. It is known from history that when a child died in large families and the parents named the next newborn in his honor, this often ended in the death of the second baby. The explanation for this lies in the fact that the untimely deceased did not have time to waste his life energy; it can negatively affect the course of the heir’s fate.
Among men, the tradition of naming a son after his father threatens the early death of one of them. Among women - misunderstanding between bearers of the same name.
Despite the fact that there is no clear formula for the question of whether a child can be named after a deceased relative. It’s better not to take risks and choose a name from the huge variety that exists today. It is possible for the name to be similar in sound. But exactly copying the names of relatives is not even original.
Prohibition 1. Divine names
Considering 3 names that cannot be given to children, first of all I would like to say that it is not recommended to call babies with divine names. And this applies not only to the Muslim religion, where this is strictly prohibited, but also to Orthodox church canons. So, the priest will never baptize a baby whose name is Jesus or God. This is considered the highest blasphemy. After all, it is unlikely that a child will be able to repeat the fate of the great teacher and prophet Jesus Christ. In addition, no one knows who this baby will become in the future. In childhood, this could be a little mischief maker, and in older age, a criminal element in general.
The opinion of the priests
Is it possible to name a child after a deceased grandfather? Many Christians turn to priests with this question. And they receive the answer that there is no reason to refuse this. After all, the Christian religion does not contain the concept of fate. It is believed that a person is free to act in life as he sees fit, without forgetting the advice of the Bible. The further course of life and its duration depend on his actions.
The Holy Fathers answer many such questions by saying that people are captivated by superstitions, which are considered a great sin. With such behavior a person approaches evil spirits.
In Orthodoxy there is also no concept that a name can influence a child’s life. For the same reason that each person follows his own path. Figuratively speaking, there are hundreds of doors in front of him, and the future situation will depend on which one he opens.
Let's give an example from an interview. Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko answers:
“The name of a child cannot in any way influence his future, make him happy or unhappy: in Christianity there is no concept of “fate” in the meaning of “predestination.” The Lord gave man free will, and therefore we have to make choices every day, every minute. What choice we make depends on our spiritual structure, and the consequences of this choice are the “fate” for a person. That is why you must make every effort to raise your child as a Christian.”
Rational explanation
In any case, the baby will inherit many of the parent’s character traits and a tendency to specific diseases. But it’s inconvenient when there are two people in a family with the same names. You call one, and another answers. Don't come up with nicknames to differentiate. In addition, consonant names often hurt the ears.
Psychologists believe that a child from an early age will not feel individuality.
Situations in which the name of an older relative appears are constantly discussed in the house. The son, having heard enough, looks up to his father in showing character and making decisions.
This leads to the dissolution of the child's unique character traits into the father's personality. In addition, there is a high probability that the baby will be offended by his parents because they did not assign him an individual name.
Experts believe that namesakes compete with each other on a subconscious level. In the future, father and son will constantly compete: who has more income, a better car, a more profitable business. And this interferes with healthy family relationships.
Let's sum it up
At the dawn of human life, a baby is faced with the choice of a name. Today it is customary to attach great importance to this, since it is believed that the name predetermines the character and destiny of a person.
The tradition of naming babies after deceased family members has been known for a long time. For many peoples it is still alive today. But is it really safe? Will the namesake repeat the fate of a departed relative?
People do not have a clear answer to this question. Psychologists consider this choice undesirable. Because the heir is expected to copy the character and behavior of the deceased loved one who is so missed.
Interesting opinion of the priests. They claim that Orthodox Christians do not have the concept of “fate.” A person is not born with a written script for his life; he predetermines its further course with his thoughts and actions. Therefore, neither the name, nor the date of birth, nor the horoscopes are worthy of attention. The duration of the trip depends on the choice of road.
Parents themselves must decide which opinion to listen to. Life is so multifaceted that there are no clear formulas for right or wrong decisions. The main thing is that children are healthy and happy and delight their loving parents!
Forbidden names: what children should not be named in Russia
Before the revolution, names for babies in Russia were given simply: they looked into the calendar and chose the name of the saint on whose feast day the Sacrament of Baptism , or they chose the name of the saint whose feast day was closest. Nicodemus and Domna, Tikhon and Agrippina were not translated from generation to generation in Rus'. But the rise to power of the atheists allowed parents to show their own imagination. And so it began!
Instead of Pelageya, barefoot Dazdraperms ran through the streets of cities and villages of the USSR, instead of Romanovs - Remas or Reimiras, instead of Vladimirs - Vladlenas, Vidlenas and Vilenas, in place of Tikhonovs - Trosilens (Trotsky, Zinoviev, Lenin).
The imagination of parents in the later USSR did not dry out: babies were called Atheists and Radiums, Avtodors and Swarms (Roy - revolution, October, international), Dzerzhinalds and Isotherms, Istalins, Leninids and Marxins, Takles (tactics of Lenin and Stalin) and even Turbines.
Some go to the forest, some for firewood...
Since the official ideology in Russia disappeared in the 1990s, and there was a lot of freedom, parents exercised their right and came up with even more strange names for their children. Among them are the Master and the Queen, Luca Happiness, Somerset Ocean and Dolphin, Mercury and Ichthyander, Viagra (this name is registered by the registry office of the city of Korolev) and Privatization, Crimea and Russia, Medmiya (in honor of Dmitry Medvedev) and Vlapunal (Vladimir Putin is our leader) .
Author Olga Ignatova in the article “Unusual names that Russians give to children” indicated that in Moscow and in the region the names Radostina, Angel, Wind, Volya, Yaroslav-Lyutobor, Buddha-Alexander and even Keith appeared.
- In 2012, in Perm, Satanists Natalya and Konstantin Menshikov gave their firstborn the name Lucifer .
- But Muscovites Vyacheslav Voronin and Marina Frolova surpassed everyone: in 2002, the couple decided to name their son BOCH rVF 260602 (Biological Object Man of the Voronin-Frolov family, born June 26, 2002). The registry office staff in Chertanovo did not appreciate the creative impulse of the parents and refused to record the exotic name.
The parents decided to insist on their own, refused to register the baby under a different name and issued a passport for the child at the World Government of World Citizens, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington. The passport allowed the parents to issue a medical insurance policy for the baby. However, later the couple had to back down and register the child as Boch Frolov so that he could receive a passport as a Russian citizen.
No more numbers!
On May 1, 2020, Vladimir Putin approved a law according to which it is prohibited to register some names.
- The changes affected Article No. 18 of the Federal Law “On Acts of Civil Status”. Paragraph 2 contains a direct prohibition on registering the name of a newborn if it consists of numbers and alphanumeric characters or numerals. It is prohibited to write down children's names consisting of symbols or their various combinations that do not represent letters other than a hyphen. Names containing swear words, as well as indications of various titles, positions and ranks, were banned.
But even after this, the parents of Russia were left with a huge field for imagination: Lucifers, Tutankhamuns, Bochis, Vlapunals and Lettuce Salads remained “in law”.
We're not the only ones
To be fair, it should be said that Russian parents are not alone in this regard - the tendency to give children strange names has spread throughout the world along with atheism. In France, the girl was named Bambi - in honor of the favorite brand of cookies of one of the parents, in the USA the boy was named Yahoo, and in New Zealand the child was named Real Superman - a real Superman.
- A US citizen who worked as a typesetter in Philadelphia had a very strange name. In its full form it took up three whole lines, but in its short form it looked like this: Hubert Blaine Wolfschlegelsteinhausenbergedorf Sr. or, even shorter, Wolf+585 Sr., and the number 585 meant the number of letters in the surname. It is curious that Hubert refused to communicate with officials unless his full name was indicated in appeals to him or in letters. It consisted of 25 names, each of which began with a new letter of the alphabet: Adolph Blaine Charles David... and so on. Several books have been written on the subject of this name in the United States, and the source is GenealogicalRecords. LongestName believes that Hubert's last name consisted of real, but distorted German words, which together made up a completely meaningful text.
But the record holder for the longest name was an Indian with the surname Brahmatra . His name consists of 1,478 letters, which is a list of geographical place names, names of diplomats and scientists. They say it takes at least 10 minutes to read it completely.
What will be next?
It is difficult to predict what will happen to the names next. Inna Erokhina , director of the registry office in distant Krasnoyarsk, complains in one of her interviews that ordinary names are not popular. There are fewer and fewer Russian children with the names Tatyana and Olga in Russia, and the names Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov are not found at all, and this is an alarming symptom. The director complains that the popularity of names is determined by TV series and movie stars. In general, there is now a boom in Anastasy, Kristin, and Elon in Russia. Some give their children double names: Anna-Maria, Angelina-Victoria, Maria-Sofia. Christmastide names are also in demand: Rodion, Prokhor, Gleb, Danila, Luka, Innocent, Savely, Demid, Anfisa, Vasilisa, Ulyana, Avdotya and Anisya. Modern parents love the name Dobrynya, but at the same time the baby’s middle name must be Nikitich. But many come up with names themselves - Arsentiy, Belitrissa, Darina, Lina and so on. Of the exotic names in Siberia, Angara, Yenisei and Solntse are found, and in Moscow, according to the head of the Moscow Civil Registry Office, Irina Muravyova, the most amazing names are male names: Kantogor-Egor, Arkhip-Ural, Kasper Beloved and girlish ones: Cherry, India, Oceana, Angel Maria and Alyosha-Kaprina.
Here are some more interesting publications in connection with the topic raised:
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- Napoleons, Parusovs, Frigates, Pelemets: the choice of surnames for orphans had different influences
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