Name Giving & Baby Naming Ceremonies

Name giving ceremonies have a history almost as old as the human race. As celebrants now do then they started to become more popular from the mid 1970s. A name giving ceremony is not a baptism or a christening although it is sometimes referred to as a 'secular christening'.

The name giving ceremony conducted by a civil celebrant is a fulfilling and significant experience for all concerned. It is an occasion when a new birth is celebrated and a child welcomed into the world.

Family relationships are deepened and the parents become more fully aware of their responsibilities. So, of course, do the godparents (also called 'mentors' or' guardians') and grandparents.

The naming ceremony also has a community dimension represented by the wider circle of family and friends. It is an excellent occasion for the cultural expression of joy, hope and acceptance. Some religious people choose the non-religious naming service to celebrate the birth of their child. Some Christians, for example, do not believe in infant baptism and so choose this cultural celebration; they leave the child free to choose or not to choose baptism in the late teens. In fact, naming ceremonies are performed on this principle.

The name giving ceremony also responds to the cultural and community need to welcome a child into the family and the world, to remind all concerned of the great responsibility involved in bringing up a child, and to recognize and appoint those who will have an important role in the child's development.