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Fathers can, and have, named their sons Ismael. So why would they not be allowed to name their son Esau? The reason for Esau and Ismael being similar is because both names are generally identified with as siblings of patriarchs that cause trouble and are undesireable.

Typically, Esau is portrayed as unfavorable in rabbinic interpretation of Genesis. I am not sure, but I would think there would be a halachic issue with naming a child after someone evil (I could not imagine that any Jew would be allowed to name their child, say, Amalek). This question is two fold because it asks a preliminary question, "Is Esav 'evil' or 'bad' in the Jewish mindset and is this falsifiable?"

Loewian
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rosenjcb
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    possible dupe? http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/73/759 – Double AA Mar 12 '15 at 06:18
  • Yoi ask my a father name? Is this to assume a mother can? – Shoel U'Meishiv Mar 12 '15 at 07:02
  • I learnt (IIRC indirectly from the Lubavitcher Rebbe) that the naming of a son is the only chance ordinary Jews have for prophecy. If a father named his son Esau, presumably this would reflect on the life of the son. It seems to me a strange choice, but so do Nimrod and a few others, even Nadav and Avihu. I wouldn't expect it, but I'm not sure there is a prohibition, if the father insisted even after it was explained to him that maybe it's not appropriate. – Epicentre Mar 12 '15 at 08:11
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    Yishmael did tshuva. The name Yishmael was chosen by Hashem, that's why it was used. Esav and his name do not have these redeeming traits. – user6591 Mar 12 '15 at 09:56
  • Yishmael is a special case as the name was given by G-d himself. (The angel who appeared to Hagar). It's true the name Eisav was given to him by a Patriarch but that still isn't enough. – CashCow Mar 12 '15 at 15:50
  • @CashCow Would you mind writing out a full answer then? – rosenjcb Mar 12 '15 at 18:23
  • i know someone whose jewish name is this – hazoriz Mar 12 '15 at 20:36
  • The angel of course passed on the message of G-d. Not that the angel was G-d – CashCow Mar 13 '15 at 01:38
  • Based on the simple reading of the verse Esav is not so bad. THis is the opinion of R. Abraham the son of Maimonides as well. Accordinly it would fine to name your child this. However, the whole problem of naming your child after an evil person is derived from the verse in Proverbs that the name of the wicked should rot. We do not generally derive law from the book of Proverbs. THe Torah itself, however, tells us to love others as ourselves, and given that a child would probably be mocked if his name were Esav, one would be Biblically forbidden from giving this name. – mevaqesh Jan 05 '16 at 19:18

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