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.

   3 more examples

   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.

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

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

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

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

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