the.com/godparent

means A person who sponsors a child at baptism, promising to support their religious upbringing — and, in practice, often a trusted adult expected to step in if the parents can't.

from From 'god' plus 'parent,' built on the older sense of a 'spiritual' parent at baptism. Old English already had godfæder and godmodor, where 'god' marked a relationship of the soul rather than the blood — the godparent stood as your kin in faith. 'Parent' itself comes through Old French from Latin parens, 'one who brings forth.' So a godparent is, quite literally, a parent in God: family by ceremony, not by birth.