Names

Since we had to put off Iyyar's bris for an extra week, he spent the first two weeks of his life without a name. He's still getting mail (like satisfaction surveys from the hospital) addressed to Baby Boy. It was kind of strange not having a name for him, especially since, unlike with Barak, I knew his name before he was born. We called him Mr. Baby, which is what we called Barak, but in my head I couldn't help calling him by the name we'd chosen. The friend who died two weeks ago, who was then very sick, did the picking--I gave her a short list of names I liked and she took it from there. She did, I must say, an excellent job.

I really, really like his name. I'm not going to post it here, but his first name is from Tanach and his middle name is from Chumash; both are biblical figures who I am particularly fond of, if I can put it that way. His middle name especially is of someone who is the subject of my favorite medrash ever; I told it over to the friendly African-American (and obviously very Christian) lady who did the birth certificates, and she just glowed with approval. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she someday winds up with a small black grandchild with a strangely Jewish name.

I think it's a wonderful name. But I have to admit it--even in the world of Torah Judaism, his name is kind of unusual. It's not Yaakov or Yitzchak or Yosef. No no no. Not even close. It isn't even Azriel or Yochanan or Uri. I googled it and so far as Google is aware, nobody in the world has his name. How many people can say that? I ask you.

Barak's name, if you didn't know, is not actually Barak. It's a pretty run-of-the-mill name, although it's one I have loved for years. The year Barak was born, three other little boys were born at the school MHH was teaching at; they all have Barak's first name. I didn't know that when we named him, but probably wouldn' t have done anything differently if I had. MHH was pulling for some very, er, off-the-beaten-path names (Ovadiah, Chasdai, Yom Tov, and so on), while I liked some more commonly used ones. The discussions were endless, and MHH finally got sick of it and let me do what I wanted. (Wise man.) Which I did, although we didn't actually decide until the last possible minute. After the bris, the very frum friend with whom I'd discussed names took Barak and me back to her house to recuperate for a week. On the way there, her husband called and asked what the name was. She told him, and then burst out laughing. She called back over her shoulder, "He said, 'She won, huh?"

Anyway, so, Iyyar is going to be the only one in his cheder with his name. When I tell people Barak's name, they usually say, "Oh, that's a beautiful name." When I tell them Iyyar's, they pause, ask me to repeat it, and then say, "Is he named after someone?" The very frum friend paused and said, "Well, that's very unusual." It certainly is. But I don't care. I love it.

And I hope he will too.