# Naming someone after someone who's not dead? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164 "2006-01-15T23:51:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/1 "2006-01-15T23:51:14Z")
We have a friend, Mark, whose sister has named her son after him. The baby’s middle name is Mark. My wife, and Mark’s wife, think this is completely inappropriate. They claim you may only name someone after someone who is dead, unless they are in a direct line of descent. So it would be okay to name the kid after his dad or grand-dad even though they’re still alive, but to name the kid after his uncle as they have done, according to our wives, is inappropriate and wrong. Meanwhile, I’ve never heard of such a thing. Who’s heard what as regards such a convention? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/2 "2006-01-15T23:54:27Z")
You can name your kid after whomever you want. If the the person after whom you’ve named the kid gets offended, tough. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/3 "2006-01-15T23:57:50Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > You can name your kid after whomever you want. If the the person after whom you’ve named the kid gets offended, tough. So… that’s the accepted convention? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/4 "2006-01-15T23:57:57Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > You can name your kid after whomever you want. If the the person after whom you’ve named the kid gets offended, tough. I agree! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/5 "2006-01-15T23:59:05Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > My wife, and Mark’s wife, think this is completely inappropriate. They claim you may only name someone after someone who is dead, unless they are in a direct line of descent. So it would be okay to name the kid after his dad or grand-dad even though they’re still alive, but to name the kid after his uncle as they have done, according to our wives, is inappropriate and wrong. > -FrL- Are they part of some long lost tribe or order with sacred traditions maybe? Other than that, I call BS. I have never even heard of that before and I know tons of people that were named for living relatives including people in both mine and my wife’s family (both boys and girls). Incidentally, my mother named my little brother Mark in honor of her brother exactly like in your story. My uncle was pleased just as he should be. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/6 "2006-01-16T00:00:51Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Are they part of some long lost tribe or order with sacred traditions maybe? Could be. Jews consider it a grave insult to name a child after somebody still living. ---
**Author:** ![BlakeTyner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@BlakeTyner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlakeTyner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/7 "2006-01-16T00:03:37Z")
I have to call BS as well. My cousin was named David Roger after my father (Roger) because it was thought that my dad wouldn’t ever have a boy. This was before I came along, obviously, but my dad was honored. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/8 "2006-01-16T00:06:53Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > So… that’s the accepted convention? > > -FrL- Unless there’s some sort of religious aspect, I know of no convention except there’s something about naming a boy numerically (the second, third, etc), but I don’t recall exactly what it is. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/9 "2006-01-16T00:07:07Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > So… that’s the accepted convention? > > -FrL- I know not of this “convention” you speak of. I think the ladies need to settle down. You don’t mention whether Mark himself has a problem with it… if he doesn’t (and perhaps even if he does), then who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/10 "2006-01-16T00:07:18Z")
According to Miss Manners, not only can you name your child after a brother or an uncle or a grandfather, but that kid can even be styled “Mike junior” or whatever. So in theory you could have Mike, his nephew, Mike junior, and then the first Mike and his disgruntled wife name their own son Mike, thus creating a second Mike junior. I highly recommend reading Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior for all questions of this nature. Miss Manners knows everything. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/11 "2006-01-16T00:07:52Z")
My brother’s friend named his baby after my brother, who speaks Chinese, and went with the wife to her prenatal visits to translate for her. It’s considered an honor to have a child named after you (at least in the circles I run in) and it’s also an honor for the kid to be named after a loved one. I’ve never heard that it’s bad form to name a baby after a living person. Particularly if it’s a middle name. WTF?? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/12 "2006-01-16T00:09:15Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I’ve never heard that it’s bad form to name a baby after a living person. Particularly if it’s a middle name. WTF?? Just say you’ve named the baby after _another_ Mark. Problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/13 "2006-01-16T00:11:45Z")
My second son’s middle name is my brother’s first name. I don’t think there’s any rule preventing that. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/14 "2006-01-16T00:12:11Z")
I’ve only heard it was forbidden in Judaism. Otherwise, who hasn’t known a child who was named after a friend or relative, even one still living? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/15 "2006-01-16T00:16:29Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Could be. Jews consider it a grave insult to name a child after somebody still living. Actually now that I think about it, it may only be Ashkenazi Jews who have that custom. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/16 "2006-01-16T00:17:17Z")
It’s certainly accepted over here. My brother and me are both named after our uncles. We’re not any religion, though. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/17 "2006-01-16T00:21:09Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > You don’t mention whether Mark himself has a problem with it… if he doesn’t (and perhaps even if he does), then who cares? Fully, completely agreed. Why else would it be ‘inappropriate’ or ‘wrong’? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/18 "2006-01-16T00:23:06Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Actually now that I think about it, it may only be Ashkenazi Jews who have that custom. The [Judaism FAQ site](http://www.jewfaq.org/birth.htm#Name) says that Ashkenazi Jews refrain from naming their children after living relatives. However Sephardic Jews do. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/19 "2006-01-16T00:41:37Z")
OK, so we now need **Frylock** to verify the denominational/cultural identity of the complaining people. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164/20 "2006-01-16T00:44:40Z")
Actually, the Jewish prohibition on naming children after living relatives is only among Ashkanazi jews, those whose ancestors are from Central and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, Sephardic jews, those whose ancestors are from Spain, the Middle East and North Africa, consider it an honor to name a child after a living relative. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-someone-after-someone-whos-not-dead/340164.md?page=2)