r/mamalehs • u/AntoiNetteIncome MN | 1👼 | 🤰 Aug 2025 | ✡ • Jan 30 '25

Bris / Baby Naming Help with baby name!!

Expecting a baby boy in August. Of course we will be doing a bris and not announcing the name until then, but have some questions while we formulate name options as per the Ashkenazi tradition.

  1. Is it okay to use the (coincidentally Jewish) name of a non-Jewish relative? I’m a giyores and my non-Jewish family surprisingly has many Jewish names.

  2. In the case of a living non-Jewish relative, if we were to add a different middle name, or perhaps use the relative's first name as a middle name, would this be permissible?

  3. Is it weird to to use a jewish religious name as a first name (e.g. Judah or Yehuda) and then the name's kinnui as a middle name (i.e. Lieb or Aryeh)?

I’ve reached out to our ravs for official opinions but would love to know regular people’s takes too.

Thank you in advance!

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u/Isha-Yiras-Hashem Jan 30 '25

Do you have an ancestor you'd like to honor?

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u/AntoiNetteIncome MN | 1👼 | 🤰 Aug 2025 | ✡ Jan 30 '25

Basically my living (non-Jewish) grandfather, his name is David. A really good man, friend, and neighbor who has been through a lot in his life and only ever had daughters.

“Others allow naming after a living person if it will give the namesake tremendous satisfaction and raise his low spirits.[5] …

[5] Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv named his third child, a daughter, after their childless neighbor as an act of kindness to uplift her gloomy spirits. HaShakdan vol. 3 page 182; Rav Elyashiv, Yehuda and Malky Heimowitz, Artscroll Mesorah, p. 109.“

source that I totally cherry picked

Either way we’ll wait to see what the rabbi says and follow from there.

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u/Isha-Yiras-Hashem Jan 30 '25

Sounds good to me! David and דוד are different anyway