Should we name children after grandparents?

It is an old custom, which comes from a time when the family was viewed as an inseparable trunk, and each generation was a new branch that had to carry back memories of the past. The name was a form of honor - a sign of respect for those who had kept the family alive. To place a child's name on Grandpa was like letting a permanent part of him continue to live.

This custom has a special beauty. Grandpa or Grandma's name gives the kid a story before he himself wrote his own. It's like an invisible thread connecting generations, a silent reminder that no one lives for nothing. These names are often filled with strong meaning - related to historical, popular, virtues that the family values. When a person grows up with such a name, he may feel pride because he bears the memory of a person who has been loved, respected, perhaps even a figure that left behind.

However, this tradition has the most difficult side. In today's society where new parents look for authenticity, they want their child to have a unique, modern name, which relates to their tastes and dreams, often the name of grandparents is seen as a restriction. At times, older names, heavy on sound or strangers, resemble children as burdens.

Is this tradition to be preserved, or should it be allowed to die with time?

Perhaps the answer is not black and white. There are parents who choose to name their grandfather because they want to keep his memory alive - a loving choice. Others choose completely new names because they want to give their child an independent identity associated with the world in which he will grow. There are even times when parents compromise: They use their grandfather's name as a second name, keeping it in documents, and each day they use another simpler or more modern name. The decorations are also not an idea to be neglected.

The important thing is that the name never becomes a burden. A name must be a gift, not a burden. He must give the child a sense of belonging, but not stop his flight. After all, the name is the first thing we carry from the east and the last thing that remains when we leave. It is an act of love both by respecting grandparents and by becoming creative with a new name.

Traditions are not an obstacle when we keep them open in heart, but they become burdensome when they feel like blind obligations. The point may not be in the name itself, but the reason why we put it. Do we make it for love, or just not break a habit? Because, in the end, children are no legacy of names, they are new stories waiting to be written. /Periscopi/