What is the difference between a Sikh naming ceremony and a christening?

Answer 1

A Sikh naming ceremony for a child is simply for naming. What happens in Sikh services is that the reader of the Sikh Holy Book flips to a random page and reads the hymn for the day. That happens regardless. If someone has a child to be named, they listen to the first letter of the hymn and will name their child based on that letter. Often they will discuss it there and tell one of the administrators and an announcement is made to the congregation. Some will go home and think about it. There are 35 letters in the Gurmukhi script, the alphabet of the Sikh people (it was created by one of the Sikh prophets to include the many languages the hymns of the Sikh Holy Book were composed in). A naming ceremony for an adult usually occurs if he/she has chosen to be baptized (generally adults get baptized for they are old enough to make the commitments required) and doesn't have a Sikh name or never got his/her name Sikh name chosen in the manner above. I don't know too much about christenings. You can still be a Sikh even if you haven't had this naming ceremony as a child.