Shalom Michelle and thank you for your question! I will relate firstly to one part of your question. You ask if it is not strange to name your child using a name that is based on your husband’s name, and you also mention that your family goes according to Ashkenazic tradition. According to Ashkenazic tradition, children are not named for a living parent or grandparent, although in a case where it is a different version of the same name, there are some opinions that say it is acceptable. Also it is important to take into consideration how the parent in question feels about it. Does your husband feel uncomfortable having a child with almost-the-same-name?
Giving a Jewish name as you are doing is very important, and has a big impact on a person’s life. According to Chassidic teaching, the inner meaning of the fact that the world was created by G-d’s speech, as the Torah describes it in Genesis, is that the letters of that speech are like a spiritual formula for the world. The first language was Hebrew, the language that the Torah was given in, and this was the language used in the world until the incident of the tower of Babel.
So when G-d said “Let there be light”, the Hebrew letters for the word light became the spiritual formula for light, just as H2o is the physical formula for water. On the first Friday Adam was created, and was given the spiritual insight to name all the living creatures that had been created. The Hebrew names he gave them are the spiritual formulae for their existence. Thus, a person’s name is the spiritual formula for him, and if G-d forbid he becomes dangerously ill, a name is often added to his name, in order to grant him additional life.
So we see how important it is to have a Jewish name.
It is interesting to note that you feel that it’s important to give a secular name as well. Today in the global village people are quite used to ethnic names of all sorts, from Indian to Italian to Swahili. The Biblical name Sarah sounds like it would correspond nicely to Sadie/Sheva, and even has a ‘ring’ similar to Sasha… It’s totally up to you!
The Lubavitcher Rebbe would counsel people who were not given a Jewish name at birth, to take a name that is similar to the secular one they were given. If someone was called Robert at birth, then a name such as Reuven was recommended.
We are taught that when parents name a child, they are temporarily gifted with an element of prophecy regarding the name of the child. An amazing story happened recently involving America and Israel. In a recent Israeli Defence Operation, (I think it was the one called ‘Cast Lead’,) a young Israeli soldier lost his life. A short time later, an observant Jewish couple in America, (I think it was in Baltimore,) gave birth to a baby boy. They were not sure how to name the child, and were thinking of naming him for one of their departed grandparents. At the Brit ceremony, the father of the baby suddenly came up with a name that the couple had not planned at all! They later found out that the name they had given was that of the fallen soldier. (If I remember correctly it worked out ok regarding the grandfather’s name also.)
This is truly an example of the spirit of prophecy at work! So even if you plan, the name you actually give, (for the birth of a girl this is done by the father in the synagogue at the reading of the Torah on a Monday, Thursday, or Shabbat morning,) will be the name G-d wants her to have!
It’s a good idea to prepare pictures of holy things to surround the new baby in her crib and baby carriage.
May everything go well!
