Baby Naming Ceremonies
Welcoming a child, and naming the people who will stand by them.
A naming ceremony does what a christening does socially, without the religion, unless you would like some. It gives grandparents an occasion, gives your friends a formal role in the child's life, and gives you a set of photographs of everyone who mattered at the start.
They work for newborns, for four year olds who will absolutely not sit still, for adopted and fostered children, and for stepchildren joining a new family.
Fig. 04 Baby Naming Ceremonies
Who it suits
- Parents who want the occasion without the church
- Families where one side is religious and the other is not
- Adoption days, and the arrival of a child into a new home
- Older children who are old enough to take part and say something themselves
- Blended families marking the day they officially became one
- Second and third children who deserve the same fuss as the first
Guide parents, supporting adults, godparents without the god
Most families choose two to four adults to make promises to the child. Call them guide parents, guardians, mentors, or godparents if that is the word everyone in your family already uses. Nobody minds.
I will help them write a promise that is specific rather than vague. "I promise to teach her to swim and to always tell her the truth" beats "I promise to be there for her" every time, and it is the line the grandparents repeat for years afterwards.
Little touches that work well
- A candle for each parent and one for the child, lit together
- A wishing tree or a memory box that guests write into on the day
- A tree planted in the garden, photographed alongside the child every year
- Older siblings given their own promise to make and a job to do
- A letter from you to the child, read out and then sealed until they turn eighteen
- A blessing in a grandparent's first language
“Our families do not agree on much, including religion, and somehow everybody left happy. My mother has framed the certificate.”
Priya and DanNaming ceremony, Frome
- A planning meeting at your home, with the children very much welcome
- A ceremony of around twenty to thirty minutes, which is about the limit for small guests
- Promises written with you and with the guide parents
- A named part for siblings, grandparents and anyone else you want involved
- A certificate for the child, signed on the day
- A bound copy of the words for the memory box