Cultural/Family Traditions

bcashaw

 I was speaking to a friend who is due next month and she mentioned that her son already has his chinese name because her father in law is the one who traditionally chooses it. She also explained to me that the order of the names is different than we would phrase a name. It goes family name (surname) generational name (all the cousins in the generation will have this same "middle"name) and then the given name (which generally means something significant, hers translates roughly to intelligence) . 
My family doesnt really have a culture or religion , but each first born child in every family has been given the middle name LEE since the 1930s, so my son will have the middle name Lee and when/if my sibling has a child their middle name will be Lee as well. 
DH is greek and so on the 40th day of the babys life we will take him to the church to be blessed, before then i have restrictions on where i can take him, how many visitors may come, and when i can leave the house with him . 
I find these things so interesting and would love to hear other peoples traditions or things that they plan to do. Also wondering if there's anything people feel they need to do out of obligation, or if everyone is happy to continue whatever it is. 
LETS KEEP THIS CONVERSATION RESPECTFUL AND REMAIN OPEN MINDED OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND DIFFERENT CULTURES/RELIGIONS/FAMILY DYNAMICS.
 Lets not be March18 everyone. (Lol) 
Edited for spelling

ShePersisted

What happened on March18? !!!  

bcashaw

@ShePersisted i dont even know where to start with that question. Lets put it this way... their introduction thread got shut down, and then its just continued since then. 

ShePersisted

Omg just lurked there and I can't even. I did not have the cool to read through some of that crap it infuriated me so much. 

Airynn Chica

In my DHs culture the baby stays inside for 7 days then you introduce the LO to the outside world. We did it with the first 2. The meaning of names is also really important to us so if a name had a terrible/boring meaning it got nixed. 

bcashaw

@ShePersisted i cant lie to you. I havent been super active on this board lately because the first thing ive been doing when i come on TB is checking over there and just basking in the glory of their drama. 

DungeonTrollMel

It's tradition in H's family that the first born male gets the mothers maiden name. They then have 4 names. Because my maiden name is not a blood name for me and his mothers maiden name is dying out, we are actually keeping what he has instead. 

MaximumEffort

@bcashaw is DH orthodox? I am and we don't go to church for 40 days, it's not a shunning though, it was explained that it's to give the mother time to heal among other things with a new baby.  
In our family we don't really have any traditions when it comes to babies. I am Orthodox so I'll take him there after 40 days and he will be baptized which is usually around 40 days as well.  DD was baptised much later because I decided to have her baptised in Alaska and the same church all us kids were baptised and my parents and brother married.  I don't think a trip to AK will happen this year. DD does have a saints name as her middle name, Kassia, im hoping to do the same with this LO. 

MaximumEffort

@ShePersisted March 18 is rediculous, I feel kind of bad for first time bumpers or first time being pregnant ladies who wander into that group. The intro thread was so bullheaded and not quite welcoming. This group is so chill especially when it comes to random threads and lurkers.  

bcashaw

@MaximumEffort he is most definitely not orthodox, and i often cannot tell what is actually religion based and what is his family dictating how they want/like things done.  Originally i was told i cannot leave the house for 40 days and on the 40th day will bring the baby to the church to be blessed (not baptised because thats a huge affair that is done later). Now it has been clarified that i cannot take the baby out after dark (so like 4pm lol) and there are places i cant take the baby (bars, cemeteries, etc) the idea is that wherever you take the baby in the first 40 days is where they will be going for the rest of their life. So its okay to go to very close family's house as it will encourage a good relationip. 
About the visiting, i suspect that its a graceful way for the mother to turn down visitors ( its the first 40 days and we have already had too many visitors today). 

kaitlinliz

Our family doesn't have any types of traditions. but my cousins wife is of Asian decent (I don't remember which country, we don't see them often) and she doesn't do a baby shower or any gifts for baby before they're born - it's bad luck, so I sent them a huge box after their first was born, she's due a week or 2 after me with their second and depending how I'm feeling ill probably send them stuff again. DHs family (idk where this started) does alphabetical names - he's a CD, brother is DE and sister is JK (not in birth order) so we will be sticking with that tradition cuz I personally like it, his sister did not stick with that concept lol. They also have lots of 1st and 2nds. I refuse to make our baby a 2ND or Jr because we have too many with the same name on both sides of the family already (completely by accident too) so we won't be doing that. 

NYTino24

In DH's family, there has only been one boy born per generation, so all boys have dad's first name as their middle name. We don't have any naming traditions in my family. I usually buy each kid their own "my first Yankee" t-shirt / onesie, but I only did it with the first kid in each family (3 of my 4 sisters have kids). I also bought each kid their first Christmas outfit.

littlemissc17

I love reading about everyone's traditions! Unfortunately, neither of our families are very traditional. Quite boring, actually lol.

cwalker042

I have nothing. Quite boring on the traditions except holidays. It is neat to read about all the different transitions though. 

bklynchica

In Jewish tradition babies are named after family members who have passed. Can just be the first letter of the name, so the girls names will start with A and T in honor of DH's parents, and their middle names will start with H and E in honor of my mom's mom and stepmom (who raised her after her mother died and who she called mom.) My mom's dad was Noah, and I would totally use that name for a boy in the future.

My dad is not Jewish (Cuban, raised Catholic) and his family tradition was to give first born son the same name as the father. So that's how my dad got his name. They also include the mother's maiden name as part of the last name, and I'm pushing for that. Not a hyphen, just 4 names. It's very Spanish. He's not close with his family, and my sister is already named after his mom. It helps to have set rules/limitations in choosing names. 

Einneh

In my culture (vietnamese), we throw a celebration party for the newborn at the 1 month mark. It's a BIG party. All of our family members and close friends are invited. We'll have an insane amount of food and drinks all around. Guests get to meet and greet the little one and shower the parents and baby with gifts or money. (usually family members gives out money while friends gives out gifts)

I think the tradition started due to the low survival rate for newborn within the 1st month back in the old days. (my mother had lost her 2nd child 2 weeks after he was born, so to be able to celebrate a newborn making it to the 1st month, it's huge for us)

We did one with my son back in 2015 and will be doing it again for this baby #2.  I'm already thinking about how to plan this second one since we're so close to all the holidays. Maybe combine it with the Thanksgiving feast? hmm 

DuchessOfCambridge

This isn't cultural but DHs family makes each baby a quilt square that then is put together. It's really cute!

NYTino24

@DuchessOfCambridge That's a neat tradition though!

sarahunderthesea

The only tradition I can really think of is the family baptismal gown. My great grandmother made of for my grandfather's baptism, since then all of his children (except 1 son, because twins) were baptized in it, then my sister and I were baptized in it (rest of aunts/uncles thought it too old/ugly/etc to use), then DD was baptized in it and this LO will be too. I am just trying to figure out how to get baby baptized before s/he grows out of it with all the holidays so close to the birthday.

purdontuniversity

We're Reform Jewish, and my husband is even a rabbi, but there aren't too many fun, old fashioned traditions we're using since our families have been in the US for so long. When I ask him about a lot of that stuff, he tells me how he grew up without it in South Texas, just like me in Indiana. But! When it comes to baby names, he is SO superstitious! We aren't supposed to tell anyone what we've come up with because it'll bring on the evil eye. And we can't name the baby after anyone living because you might as well curse them. It's terrible luck to do so. There's even an old Yiddish curse that says, "May you soon have grandchildren named after you!" which basically means "Why don't you up and die." Needless to say, our baby name list was pretty slim pickings. 
Even if we don't have those traditions in our family history, I might pick up a few new ones. I think I'll tie red ribbons on the crib bottom to protect from the evil eye, and am considering ordering one of the red thread bracelets from the Tomb of Rachel. We're also not having a baby shower because it's considered bad luck, but I also consider it bad form since we just had our wedding shower and I hate to feel like we're asking for things from people again. Instead we'll have a Sip and See (a very Southern, very Savannah tradition!) after she is born and looking healthy, then a baby naming at the temple, probably at 3 months old. 

eazybreezy225

In my family it's tradition for the men to have two given middle names. It goes back many generations. The women only get one middle name because then they also take a married name... So the women's names are usually (first name, middle name, surname, surname).. and then the men's names are (first name, middle name, middle name, surname)... So everyone in my family (assuming the women get married) have 4 names. 
I have 3 daughters and I'm now pregnant with a son, and we have to pick 2 middle names.Which I found to be easy since it's our last baby and only boy.. I had many years to think of boy names. Lol.
As far as religious traditions go.. I am Pagan, nature is my church and is the center of all things for us, so I will be exposing my son to being outdoors as soon as possible. And what I mean by "exposing" is to simply just enjoy being outside. Sitting on our porch swing in my backyard during feedings and cuddling.. that sort of thing.
Also, I will be giving him a blessing within his first few days of being home. Preferably as soon as possible after arriving home from the birth. My Pagan beliefs include that women (or any gender) have just as much spiritual power as men (unlike other religious beliefs that center around a patriarchal system). So I will be the one to give him a blessing since he came from my womb. A blessing for health, strength, protection, guidance from our ancestors, etc.