Year: 2014

Nouns as names

sanctanomina Personal stories

I just read this post on Swistle’s blog — though the parents’ naming style (nouns with non-Catholic-specific meanings) isn’t one I would use for my own kids (I just gotta have a connection to the faith), I do love their style and creativity. Their girls’ names are Haven and Lark; their little boy is Tusker; they’re looking for suggestions for their fourth baby, a boy.

It got me to thinking about nouns (on the unusual side — not Grace, Faith, etc.) that would fit within the narrow style discussed on this blog, and I came up with three off the top of my head:

Vesper

Emmaus

Tiber

I’ve heard Vesper used for a girl (it refers to the evening star, or the evening, but in the Catholic world it refers to evening prayers) (beware of secular references though, like one of the Bond girls); I’ve never heard Emmaus used as a personal name, though I imagine it as a boy’s name (like Emmett) (Jesus met some of His disciples on the road to Emmaus, a town close to Jerusalem, after the Resurrection); I’ve never heard Tiber as a name either, but I have heard of Tiberius (the name of a Roman emperor; Trekkies will recognize it! [Captain James Tiberius Kirk]) (the Tiber is a river that runs through Rome; converts to Catholicism say they’ve “crossed the Tiber”).

I also think Boon (meaning benefit, favor) as mentioned on the Swistle post might fit here, especially for namers who are on the far-out end of the Catholic naming spectrum.

What do you think of Vesper, Emmaus, Tiber, and Boon? What nouns can you think of that would satisfy a Catholic naming sensibility?

Sweet treat

sanctanomina Personal stories, Uncategorized

I found this nugget today: JoAnna at A Star of Hope blogged about she and her husband chose their five babies’ names. I love name stories!

Birth announcement: Joseph Pio

sanctanomina Birth announcement, Personal stories, Uncategorized

Ana from Time Flies When You’re Having Babies just gave birth to her first little boy: Joseph Pio. *Swoon* I love it!

He joins his three big sisters Naomi, Bernadette, and Lucy. Congratulations to the whole family!

Two middle names

sanctanomina Naming resources

I don’t mind the practice of bestowing two middle names on a baby at all (three of my five siblings have two middles, and they’re all happy, well adjusted adults who haven’t been held back in life because of so!many!names!), but I do see how it might be hard to figure out if/how to do so, especially if all you’re hearing are all the negatives.

Swistle’s post from yesterday addressed two middles, and I thought she did a great job of noting and then dismissing some of the common criticisms of two middle names.

Two new (to me) name blogs

sanctanomina Naming resources, Nicknames

I came across two new (to me) name blogs today: Appellation Mountain and Roses and Cellar Doors. It was actually this AM post, in which author Abby* noted, “Roses & Cellar Door’s post It’s Big Overseas is genius!  Why don’t we hear Olga, Joachim, Tecla, Emil – or their equivalents? – in the US?” that sent me to the mentioned R&CD post. I’m a huge fan of names with a pan-European feel — names that have an equivalent in most European languages — and I would argue the vast majority of such names are saints names. Check out the names on the R&CD list — are any of them NOT saint names?? And one of my very favorites is on there: Joachim.

*I just have to note that on Abby’s “About” page she says her and her husband’s naming style has shaken down to “classics on the birth certificate; unexpected nicknames in real life.” Very well articulated — I myself love that approach.

Nicknames: Getting to Bo/Beau

sanctanomina Nicknames

I always find it interesting when parents start the naming process with a nickname they love, and then try to backtrack into a given name. Some really cool first-middle combos can result. I came across this post today that seeks to offer formal given names for for both boys and girls for the nickname Bo/Beau, I really loved some of the suggestions, especially the unexpected ones.

On my bookshelf: The Baby Name Wizard

sanctanomina Naming resources, On my bookshelf

I have a lot of name books. Each one is beloved for one reason or another, and I plan to post about each one in due time.

The first — the mama of them all in my humble opinion — is The Baby Name Wizard, Revised 3rd Edition: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby by Laura Wattenberg.

You might think that, for a Catholic baby name blog, I might start with a book of saints names. There are many such that are excellent references, but no name book besides TBNW that I’ve ever come across has all the elements that I love in a name book: pronunciation, commentary, popularity, nickname options. Not only does TBNW have all those, but it has a feature that I’ve  never seen anywhere, and I just love it: it offers “Brother” and “Sister” suggestions for every single entry, by which it does not mean names that should necessarily be sibling names of someone with the entry name (though they are excellent suggestions), but more that the sibling names listed are similar to the entry in style and popularity; someone interested in the entry name might very well find that he or she also loves the listed sibling names and is inspired by them. It’s a particularly helpful feature for someone who has a sense of some names that he or she likes, but none of the ones on their list are striking them as *the* one. The listed sibling names might provide that very name, or send them on the path to finding it.

For example: Dakota (girl) has Sedona, Oakley, Montana, Shenandoah, Laramie, and Bryce listed as sister names, and Maverick, Chayton, Ridge, Jedidiah, Coty, and Sawyer listed as brother names. Not only do you have twelve more names to consider, but those names also give a fuller idea of the image that “Dakota” on a little girl projects.

I mentioned the “Saints” section in a previous post, and the names listed are truly delectable. Given that the “quirkier corners of 2000 years of religious history” were plumbed to create the list, there are some really fun options on there, like Amata, Filomena, and Landry for girls; Cormac, Gennaro, and Tillo for boys. Some of the more obscure ones aren’t listed in the main part of the book, but others are, leading to great related options: Felicity’s sisters include Verity, Juliet, and Arabella, and brothers include Crispin, Colin, and Oliver; Rocco’s sisters include Mia, Giada, and Lucia, and brothers include Luca, Arlo, and Jude.

I’ve read TBNW front to back a hundred times or more, and I always learn something new with each read. I can’t recommend this book highly enough (and if you’re a real name enthusiast, you can check out the author’s blog, which she updates weekly, and the various forums available to discuss naming issues and questions).

Seven boys

sanctanomina Personal stories

Suzanne Temple of Blessed Among Men hasn’t blogged in ages, but her seven boys’ names are still listed in the sidebar on her blog. She and her husband seem to prefer Biblical names — I love the ones they picked. What are your favorite Biblical names?