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Is there any objection, halachic or otherwise, to calling a baby girl by the name the parents plan on giving it before the mi sheberach prayer is recited at the torah reading following the birth? What is the basis for any such objection?

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When I named my first daughter we asked my father-in-law to suggest the name. He told me as I was at the aliya for the mi shebeirach to name her. There are several reasons.

  1. There is a superstition that it can cause an ayin hara.

  2. It can cause disputes in the family.

  3. Since the naming occurs only when declared at the bris (for a boy) or aliya (for a girl), the parents can change their minds at any moment. Announcing the name before hand can then cause problems when a different name is given.

Many couples will not call a baby by any name until after the official naming for these (and possibly other) reasons.

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  • I don't think there is a time when the naming "occurs". see judaism.stackexchange.com/a/5743/759
    – Double AA
    May 12, 2014 at 20:52
  • @DoubleAA you mean you don't think there's a time when the naming occurs. The "occurs" part is correct: something occurs then, even if it's only the possibly-to-be-proven-incorrect statement "v'yikare sh'mah...".
    – msh210
    May 12, 2014 at 20:58
  • @msh210 But there is no time where a naming occurs. Not then. Not later. Namings exists and are processes which don't have fixed points of occurrence (barring Sorities logic). Whatever occurs then, and whatever is occurring now, is not a naming.
    – Double AA
    May 12, 2014 at 21:01
  • @DoubleAA Yes. See for example Beit Yoseif (EH 129) on which names to use for gittin when a person uses multiple names. A man's name may be more halachically concretized when he is called up to the Torah, though: וכתוב עוד בקונדריסים (סי' י סעי' ד) אהאי עובדא דשמה רבקה ונשתנה לחנה וכו' ודין זה בנשים לבד אבל באנשים אינו כן ששמם מובהק על פי הס"ת או על פי חותמו בכתבו ובשטרותיו אלא יכתוב השם שהוא עולה בו לקרוא בתורה וחותם בו כתביו ושטרותיו עכ"ל
    – Fred
    May 12, 2014 at 23:32

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