[Nate]

I've never understood the concept of naming a child after a living family member. Especially when it's a parent naming the child after themselves. It just seems arrogant and self-aggrandising. Also confusing.

But then, I come from a culture that sees naming a child after a living person as bad luck. The logic goes that it is traditional to name a child after a dead relative/respected person, so if you give the name of a living person, that means you wish they were dead.

In my family, parents tend to give a first name that they like and the middle name after a relative. In most cases the middle name is only in the traditional Jewish name and not on the civil birth certificate. In my case, it's Samuel, who was my great uncle who worked for the Red Cross and was murdered in Thailand by the Thais when the Japanese invaded.