CHANGING THE NAME OF AN ADOPTED CHILD AFTER THE B’RIT
Question: A baby boy has been circumcised in the traditional manner and was given a name on that occasion. Now this child is to enter a new family, through adoption, and they wish to give the child a different name. Is this possible? What needs to be done in order to effect such a change, if it is possible?
Answer: The general problems of changing a Hebrew name (and presumably in this case, the common name) has been addressed in a previous responsum, “Changing a Hebrew Name” (W. Jacob, Contemporary American Reform Responsa, #33).
We should begin by remembering that on several occasions God Himself changed the name of biblical figures (Gen. 17:5, 32:29, 35:10), while other biblical figures had their names changed for various reasons.
In the Middle Ages names were changed principally in periods of serious illness in order to confuse the Angel of Death ( Chasidim, #363; Sefer Toledot Adam veChava, I, 28; Beit Yosef to Tur, Orach Chayim 129).
Furthermore, when a foster parent raised an orphan, which un- fortunately occurred frequently in earlier periods of our history, often the name of the father who raised the child was added to the child’s name, followed by the Hebrew word hamegadelo (Exodus Rabba 46-end; Isserles to Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha’ezer 129:10).
Here, we are concerned not only with identifying the new famIly, but also with giving an identity to the child.
The child in this instance is a baby and has no memory of a former name. The process of adoption, once formalized, cuts all previous ties with the child’s original natural parents. There would, therefore, be no reason to retain the original name nor would that be desirable. Furthermore, there would be no obstacle as in the case with adults whose names may appear on various legal documents (marriage, divorce, etc.).
After the adoption is finalized and the given name has been changed in accordance with the laws of the state or province in which the family lives, then the child should be named in the synagogue, and an appropriate certificate of naming should be issued. The previous name may then be ignored just as the pre- vious common name. Such a ceremony would provide an oppor- tunity for the parents to celebrate the adoption and to make the child formally part of their family.
Walter Jacob, Chair CCAR Responsa Committee