Re: OT: Anthroponymics

On Oct 19, 2005, at 1:16 PM, tomhchappell wrote:
> BTW I understand that *here* Jewish families are not allowed to name
> their children after living relatives.
> (I propose such a limitation in my conlang, if I ever get it off the
> ground.)
Only some Jewish cultures (mostly Ashkenazic) have this custom, and
it's just a strong custom/superstition, not a rule enshrined in
religious law or anything like that.  Other Jewish cultures specificly
name after living relatives.

> A Jewish father I spoke with said, in addition, they /must/ name
> their children after a /deceased/ relative -- but simply using the
> same first letter can count as "named after".
> (This requirement seems a little too much for me.)
Never heard of that.  It's definitely very common, and some families
and cultural groups have very strong customs about the order in which
ancestors' names are given to children, but its not a legal obligation
of any kind, as far as i've ever heard.


-Stephen (Steg)
  "the main purpose of the pyramid is to say
   'my unique pyramid is sky high and made of white marble.
    i do not share it with anyone'."
      ~ andrew nowicki