I’m a Jew-by-choice. Can we plan to name our baby after a living relative who is not Jewish?

Answered by

Rabbi Mark Washofsky, Ph.D.

In Ashkenazic practice (Jews of Eastern European origin), the custom is to name a child after a relative who has died, while Sephardim (Jews of Spanish and Middle Eastern origin) tend to name their children after living relatives. Reform practice allows either option. Jews-by-choice certainly may name their children after their parents, since Jewish tradition recognizes that all people, including people who have gone through conversion owe honor and respect to their parents.

Source: Rabbi Mark Washofsky, Ph.D., Jewish Living; A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice (URJ Press, 2010).

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Rabbi Mark Washofsky, Ph.D.

Rabbi Mark Washofsky, Ph.D., is the Solomon B. Freehof Professor of Jewish Law and Practice at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH. He specializes in the literature of the Talmud and Jewish law and chaired the Responsa Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 1996-2017. His books include Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice (URJ Press, revised 2010) and Reform Responsa for the Twenty-First Century (CCAR, 2010).

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I’m a Jew-by-choice. Can we plan to name our baby after a living relative who is not Jewish?

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