guideparent

English

Noun

guideparent (plural guideparents)

1. A person who, at a child's naming ceremony, agrees to help raise the child (especially in a non-religious setting)

   The guideparents were very nervous during the naming ceremony.

   • 2018, Peter McGuire, “‘We’d be hypocritical standing in a church promising to raise our kids as Catholics’”, in The Irish Times:

     There’s a section where the guideparents and parents make their pledges to the child, usually promising to be there unconditionally and to support them always.

   • 2019, Richard Godwin, “'It locks you into a disintegrating friendship for life': the new rules of godparenting”, in The Guardian:

     Our experience is that almost all humanist naming ceremonies have guideparents involved.

   • 2020, Joanna Wojtkowiak, University of Humanistic Studies, Ritualizing Pregnancy and Childbirth in Secular Societies: Exploring Embodied Spirituality at the Start of Life‎^[1]:

     Becoming a guideparent gives the person a special role in the baby’s life.