When Should Baby Girls Be Named?

by Rabbi Professor David Golinkin

The question posed in the title of this article would seem to be a simple one, but, as we shall see, the answer is far from simple. Due to historical gaps, it is difficult to sketch a clear picture of the development of this custom. Therefore we shall discuss five periods in the history of when boys and girls are named: the biblical period, the first to eighth centuries, shavua habat , the Hollekreisch custom in Germany and a wide variety of customs from the sixteenth-twentieth centuries.

I) The Biblical Period

It seems that in the Biblical period, boys and girls were named at birth. A typical description is found in Genesis 4:1: "Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying: 'I have gained a male child with the help of the Lord'".

Similarly, in Genesis Chapter 30, seven of Jacob's children are named. In each case it says: And she conceived and bore Jacob a son and she said…Therefore she named him X. After six sons, the Torah says (Genesis 30:21): "Last, she gave birth to a daughter, and she named her Dinah".

These and other verses give a clear impression that children – both boys and girls - were named at birth.

Indeed, a few verses explicitly mention boys who were named at birth:
"But as she [=Rachel] breathed her last – for she was dying – she named him Ben-oni, but his father called him Binyamin" (Genesis 35:18).

As Tamar was giving birth to twins,

one of them put out his hand, and the midwife tied a crimson thread on that hand to signify: This one came out first. But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother, and she said : "What a breach you have made for yourself!" So he was named Peretz . Afterwards, his brother came out, on whose hand was the crimson thread; he was named Zerah (Genesis 38:27-30).

Finally, Isaac was clearly named by Abraham (Genesis 21:3-4) before his brit, as opposed to the custom today.

II) The First – Eighth Centuries

Amazingly enough, there is no explicit source in the Mishnah or both Talmuds which teaches us when boys or girls were named.

The New Testament Book of Luke, which was written in Israel in the first century, says that both Zekhariah (1:59) and Jesus (2:21) were named at their brit ceremonies . The Church Father Clement of Alexandria (d. ca. 220) says that Moses was originally named Yehoyakim at his brit. Finally, an eighth-century midrash, Pirkey D'rabi Eliezer (Chapter 48), says that Moshe was called Yekutiel at his brit.

Why was the naming of boys moved from birth to the circumcision ceremony? Theodor Gaster suggests that the Jews at that time were afraid of demons attacking the baby before the brit , just as Christians only give a name at Baptism and just as other peoples hide the name for a while after birth. Therefore, they moved the naming of boys to the brit ceremony.

And what about girls? There is no explicit source from the Talmudic period. Samuel Krauss, writing in 1911, assumed that girls still received their names at birth as in the biblical period. This is an "argument from silence" but, for the time being, this is all we have.

III) Shavua Habat

The term Shavua Haben "the week of the son" appears as the name of a birth celebration in nine places in rabbinic literature (e.g. Sanhedrin 32b). Rashi (ibid.) and others assumed that it means the brit milah, but this is surprising since the brit occurs on the eighth day and not on the seventh.

This interpretation is also contradicted by a source quoted by Nahmanides (Spain and Israel, 1194-1270) about which event takes precedence over another: "and in another version of [Massekhet Semahot] it is taught: Shavua Habat [= the week of the daughter] and Shavua Haben – Shavua Haben comes first".

In other words, if you have to choose between going to Shavua Haben or Shavua Habat, the former takes precedence. It is clear from this source that Shavua Haben is not a brit, because girls do not have a brit! Various scholars have said various explanations for Shavua Haben. Leopold Low said in 1875 that the Greeks held a Hebdomeuomena festival on the seventh day after a boy was born and he suggested that this is called Shavua Haben in our sources.

If we jump forward 1800 years, we know that Iraqi Jews hold a Shisha festival on the sixth night after birth for boys and girls. At that festival, girls receive their names. In other words, the festival is identical for boys and girls except that girls are named at the Shisha , while boys are named at the brit . The same may have been true for Shavua Haben/Shavua Habat. A festival may have been held for boys and girls on the seventh day, except that girls were named then, while boys were named at the brit. This suggestion will remain a hypothesis until further evidence is found.