In practice, how are any extra names of the husband or wife supposed to be
written in a Get?
(a) The BEHAG cited by Tosfos (DH v'Chol Shum) writes that the Takanah was
to write in every single Get the man's (or woman's) name and then write the
words, "and every other name that he (she) has" -- even when we do not know
that the man or woman has any other names. (When the Gemara says that the
requirement of the Mishnah applies only when we *know* that the husband has
other names, it means that the Get is *Pasul* when this line is omitted
*only* when we know that the husband has other names. However, l'Chatchilah,
we always must include this line. (MAHARSHA))
How does this solve the problem of multiple names? The Mishnah was worried
that we would not be able to identify the husband, based on the name that is
written in the Get, in a city in which the husband is called by a different
name. If every Get includes the words "and every other name that he has,"
then we have not solved the problem! We still will not be able to identify
the husband more accurately! (CHASAM SOFER)
The Acharonim explain that since those words, when written in a Get, raise
the possibility that the husband might have other names, people will
consider that possibility more seriously and investigate the matter.
(b) RABEINU TAM rejects the view of the Behag. If every Get includes in it
the words "and every other name that he has," then when the husband does
*not* have any other names, it will look like this Get is not his, since it
is describing a person who *does* have other names! Rabeinu Tam therefore
concludes that we only mention the other names of the husband when it is
known that he has other names. Since we know what the names are, we write in
those names themselves and not just the words "and all his other names." He
adduces support for this from the Gemara later (35a) which discusses a Get in which the two names of the husband were written explicitly in the Get.
TOSFOS (DH v'Hu) and the RASHBA, however, conclude that Raban Gamliel
ha'Zaken only required writing in the Get all of the names of the husband
when the husband is called by one name in the place where the Get is
written, and by a different name in the place where the Get is given to the
woman. The Takanah did not apply to a man who is called by a second name in
the same city in which his first name is used. The Rashba writes that in
such a case, the second name need not be included in the Get, even
l'Chatchilah.
The Yerushalmi, however, cited by Tosfos, writes that l'Chatchilah the
second name must be included in the Get, even if it used in the same city as
the first name. Tosfos suggests a compromise: if the two names are similar
to each other, then only one name must be written l'Chatchilah. However, if
the two names are not similar, then both names must be written l'Chatchilah.
(c) RASHI (DH v'Hu d'Ischazek, DH Megureshes, and DH Miryam) seems to be
making a compromise between the opinions of Rabeinu Tam and the Behag. If a
person has two names which are equally well-known, then both names must be
written in the Get, like the Gemara (35a) implies.
However, the wording of the Mishnah and the Gemara imply that it suffices to
write "and every other name that he has" in certain cases. In fact, this is
implicit in the Gemara's original assumption that even if we do not know
that the husband has another name, we must mention other names in the Get;
since we do not know the other names, the Gemara obviously assumed that it
would suffice to write "and every other name that he has" (see Rashba).
Rashi therefore holds that if one name is more popular than the other name
(in the place in which the Get is written), then the less popular name does
not have to be written explicitly, but can be written simply as "and every
other name that he has." This is also the opinion of the RAMAH.
In a similar vein, the ROSH writes that if a person is known to the non-Jews
in his neighborhood by a secularized version of his Hebrew name, which
sounds similar to his Hebrew name, the secular name does not have to be
written in the Get explicitly, but it suffices to write "and every other
name that he has."