I have a question regarding giving a name to a baby. I have to name my baby after one of the grandparents, but I dont want to call the baby that name. Can I split up a name (if a grandparent has two names) and than add one of my own? Giving three names sounds like a lot of names. Do you have any marei mekomos with which I could researth this topic? I would be very thankful for any advice/halacha.
Answer:
Pe’er Hador (p. 200) writes in the name of Chazon Ish that giving even the giving of an extra name “disqualifies” naming a child after a deceased grandparent. However, Zocher Habris writes that it is the common custom to give several names after several people, and this has been accepted practice for centuries (see Avnei Yashfei, no. 196).
However, this applies to giving extra names, but not to splitting up a name (when a grandparent has two names) and using only one of two names. Calling by only one of two names (when the grandparent was actually called by both names)would not appear to be a valid “calling after,” as poskim discuss for cases in which a father-in-law and son-in-law (or mother-in-law and daughter-in-law) share one of two names.
