Month: March 2015

Baby name consultant: Baby Girl Wendt

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

Shannon Taylor Wendt, of OrganicMamasShop.com (lots of beautiful things for mamas and Catholic ladies and First Communicants!), and her husband Arnold Zachariah (“Zach”) (I love that!) are expecting their sixth baby and fifth girl within a couple of weeks. Shannon writes:

“Our last name is Wendt, it has a hard sound to it, so the first name has to be flowy, without hard consonants at the end, a pretty name like Jacinta doesn’t sound right to my ear when paired with Wendt, too many hard T sounds … I, of course, want a very Catholic name, but it has to be a little different … I would like our kids to have a cool story when someone asks them where they got their name. A little way to witness. And a cool saint to be connected to! … We also don’t like nicknames.”

Their other children are:

Trinity Rose

Isabelle Grace

Veronica Lily

Gabriel Michael

Seraphina Claire

Gorgeous, right? Shannon further noted that “so far our kids are either blonde (Isabelle and Seraphina) or red heads. And I feel like some names fit a red head better than a blonde, and vice versa. 🙂 ”

Shannon also provided the names that are on their “possibilities” list, but said none of them are really sticking out: Evangeline (Shannon’s favorite, but Zach has never liked it), Arianna or Adriana (Shannon prefers the former, Zach the latter), Anastasia (Zach’s favorite), Katrina, Kateri (but maybe too popular in their circle of friends), Felicity, Marielle, Edel or Quinn  (though Shannon’s worried that “neither of these names sound Catholic. I think Quinn is a fun name, but the popular trend of choosing last names as first names might over shadow this cool Catholic name… And Edel, pronounced like Adelle, will be pronounced wrong all the time and when pronounced correctly might get confused with the singer“).

After thinking about their already-named kids’ names, and the names on their list of ideas, and their last name, and their preference for no nicknames, and Shannon’s so-well-worded hope that “I would like our kids to have a cool story when someone asks them where they got their name. A little way to witness. And a cool saint to be connected to!” I think I came up with some good suggestions/ideas. As always, I shoot for three suggestions:

(1) A meaning name (Charis or Felicity)

Shannon’s other kids’ names are just beautiful, and full of faith-y significance, which really binds them together nicely. Even still, Trinity struck me as an outlier of sorts, and though I really try not to let my personal preferences sneak (much) into my ideas for others, I admit my first thought was to find a name that would be a little closer in style to Trinity, to kind of balance out the sib set. My very favorite suggestion in this vein of thinking is Charis (pronounced CARE-iss). It’s feminine and pretty, like all of the other girls’ names, but it feels like more of a “meaning” name to me, like Trinity. It’s Greek for “grace,” and is contained within the word Eucharist. Merriam-Webster explains the Charis-Eucharist connection thusly: “Middle English eukarist, from Anglo-French eukariste, from Late Latin eucharistia, from Greek, Eucharist, gratitude, from eucharistos grateful, from eu– + charizesthai to show favor, from charis favor, grace, gratitude; akin to Greek chairein to rejoice.” Such great Catholic meaning, and beyond that — such a beautiful meaning for a baby girl! I know they already used Grace as Isabelle’s middle name, but I think Charis and Grace are different enough in sound/appearance (obviously), and one is a first name and one is a middle, that it would be totally fine and not weird.

Additionally, Anastasia’s on their list as Zach’s favorite, and though I don’t know how Shannon and Zach choose the middle names (and I rarely offer suggestions for them, since it’s impossible to know family names, etc.), Charis Anastasia is really popping for me as a gorgeous combo.

The other thought that rose to the surface in the “meaning name” vein was Felicity, which was already on their list. It means “happiness,” and I particularly liked it with the middle name Edel (there I go with middle name suggestions again!). Felicity Edel. Beautiful! Putting Edel in the middle also solves the pronunciation and not-so-obviously-Catholic issues Shannon mentioned in regards to Edel.* And Edel is a short middle, like the other girls’.

Some other names that might also work in this category are Stella, Roma, Gemma, Vesper, and Verity.

(*As a side note, I looked up Ven. Edel Quinn to see if there was anything else offered about her name that could provide inspiration, and I thought these bits were interesting:

— “Edel was accidentally but providently named ‘Edelweiss’ because the Priest who baptized her had bad hearing and thought her father said Edel when he said her name would be Adele.” (source)

— She took the names Josephine Eucharia as her Confirmation names (source) (I wasn’t able to find much on the name Eucharia, but I assume it’s connected to Eucharist, which is a nice connection to Charis, if they want to think of it that way)

— Her middle name was Mary and she belonged to the Legion of Mary (so … Mary) (source)

— “Her mother meant to name her Adele, with an “e” at the end, but the priest associated her name with the diminutive form of the flower Edelweiss, and so the name Edel somehow stuck.” (source) (I liked this specifically because Shannon was worried about the name being misheard as Adele – it’s cool that Adele is still kind of an honor name for her!))

(2) Long and feminine (Christiana or Genevieve)

There are so many really gorgeous long feminine names on their list of considerations, as well as their other daughters, that I headed in that direction for my second idea. Shannon loves Evangeline but Zach doesn’t; he loves Anastasia but Shannon isn’t sure — I wondered what they’d think of Christiana? It’s my very favorite of the Christ- names, and of course the fact that Jesus Himself is the Honoree makes it uber super duper Catholicky Catholic. Christiana also contains “ana,” which is my favorite part of Anastasia. Christiana Quinn? This is definitely a swoon-worthy name to me!

The other name that I thought fit this bill really well is Genevieve. It has similar sounds as Evangeline, with all the V’s and N’s and the soft G, and she’s the patron saint of Paris, which is just so cool. Genevieve Edel?

(3) Giselle

I know this probably seems somewhat out of left field, but Giselle showed up several times in the Baby Name Wizard book as related to names they’ve already used or like: Trinity (via Genesis), Arianna, Adriana, and Quinn (via Xavier). It’s also got the -elle ending like Marielle, and Bl. Gisella of Ungarn is pretty cool, so … maybe?

I also thought these two previous consultations I did might be helpful to the Wendts, as I feel like there’s some overlap in their style and these others: Stark Family and Penny Family.

What do you all think? Do you think I’m in the right ballpark or miles away? Do you have any other suggestions to offer the Wendts? Please also remember to consider OrganicMamasShop.com for gifts for First Communion, Mother’s Day, Confirmation, or what have you — there are some really gorgeous things on there!

Ohmygoodness

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I can’t even tell you the exciting things that have happened in the last two weeks.

First, I responded to a tweet by Abby from Appellation Mountain asking for ideas for a little girl named after Grandpa Charles but not Charlotte and I suggested Charis and Abby replied to my tweet and said she loved the idea.

What???

I was so excited that I retweeted her reply to my tweet (or however you’d say all that) and then a little while later I checked my email and … Abby from Appellation Mountain emailed to let me know she liked my blog.

What????

I was a little (a lot) hyperventilatey over just those things and THEN Abby asked me if I’d like her to introduce me to Linda at Nameberry with the idea of maybe writing an article over there.

What???

So I said Yes please! and she made the email introductions and Linda said she was interested in some of my ideas, so I fleshed out one of the ideas (which was actually Abby’s idea, yet another thing to be grateful to her for!) and …

DRUMROLL …

It’s up on Nameberry’s Berry Juice section today!!!

What???

Go check it out! How to Name a Large Family by Kate at Sancta Nomina (that’s me!) 🙂 🙂 🙂

my_nameberry_article_homepage-03.23.15 - Copy

Updated to add the screen grab from Nameberry’s homepage — I like how they introduced the article. 🙂

The skinny on Lydia

sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty ,

I looked up the thing about Lydia being a daughter of St. Joseph — indeed a passage called “The History of Joseph the Carpenter” in one of apocryphal books known as the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy she is listed, along with sister Assia and brothers Judas, Justus, James, and Simon, as the child of St. Joseph from his first marriage (second paragraph).

Regarding this particular book (from New Advent):

“Arabic Gospel of the Infancy

The Arabic is a translation of a lost Syriac original. The work is a compilation and refers expressly to the “Book of Joseph Caiphas, the High-Priest”, the “Gospel of the Infancy”, and the “Perfect Gospel”. Some of its stories are derived from the Thomas Gospel, and others from a recension of the apocryphal Matthew. However there are miracles, said to have occurred in Egypt, not found related in any other Gospel, spurious or genuine, among them the healings of leprosy through the water in which Jesus had been washed, and the cures effected through the garments He had worn. These have become familiar in pious legend. So also has the episode of the robbers Titus and Dumachus, into whose hands the Holy Family fell. Titus bribes Dumachus not to molest them; the Infant foretells that thirty years thence the thieves will be crucified with Him, Titus on His right and Dumachus on His left and that the former will accompany Him into paradise. The apocryphon abounds in allusions to characters in the real Gospels. Lipsius opines that the work as we have it is a Catholic retouching of a Gnostic compilation. It is impossible to ascertain its date, but it was probably composed before the Mohammedan era. It is very popular with the Syrian Nestorians. An originally Arabic “History of Joseph the Carpenter” is published in Tischendorf’s collection of apocrypha. It describes St. Joseph’s death, related by Our Lordto His disciples. It is a tasteless and bombastic effort, and seems to date from about the fourth century.”

Also this (from here on New Advent):

“It will not be without interest to recall here, unreliable though they are, the lengthy stories concerning St. Joseph’s marriage contained in the apocryphal writings. When forty years of age, Joseph married a woman called Melcha or Escha by some, Salome by others; they lived forty-nine years together and had six children, two daughters and four sons, the youngest of whom was James (the Less, “the Lord’s brother”). A year after his wife’s death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates; a miracle manifested the choice God had made of Joseph, and two years later the Annunciation took place. These dreams, as St. Jerome styles them, from which many a Christian artist has drawn his inspiration (see, for instance, Raphael’s “Espousals of the Virgin”), are void of authority; they nevertheless acquired in the course of ages some popularity; in them some ecclesiastical writers sought the answer to the well-known difficulty arising from the mention in the Gospel of “the Lord’s brothers”; from them also popular credulity has, contrary to all probability, as well as to the tradition witnessed by old works of art, retained the belief that St. Joseph was an old man at the time of marriage with the Mother of God.”

So they’re “void of authority,” but definitely interesting!

Did you know this about Lydia?

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It’s family movie night here tonight and I have a bunch of things to do beforehand, so I haven’t looked into this more, but I’d be interested if any of you have ever heard this before or know more?

“Lydia of Thyatira is mentioned in Acts xvi, and was, in apocryphal writings, identified with a daughter of Joseph of Nazareth.”

~ The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names by EG Withycombe, 201

Happy Feast of St. Joseph! And a name by any other spelling?

sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty ,

Happy St. Joseph’s Day! Especially to my Italian-heritaged readers! What a wonderful feast day, what a wonderful saint!

We considered Joseph for our third son before we decided to give it to our fourth, and when we were first thinking of it, when #3 was on his way, we considered spelling it Jozef (or was it Josef?), because Pope Benedict’s name had been spelled that way. Of course, now that I look it up, in order to provide a link to Jos/zef Cardinal Ratzinger, I’m only seeing the Joseph spelling. So maybe I’m crazy? I just looked it up on behindthename and Josef and Jozef are listed as variants of Joseph in Czech and Polish and Dutch … but not German. So now I have a memory coming back that maybe we liked the Polish version (Józef)? Because my father-in-law’s family is from Poland? (We would not have used the accent.)

Anyway. We did consider that spelling, and when we got to #4 we had abandoned the unusual spelling for the usual, and all has been fine, and I’m very happy with the spelling Joseph.

I was thinking last night about spellings of names, and how spelling really really makes a difference to me. Does it to you? I mean, on the one hand, in day-to-day life, the spelling of one’s name barely matters. You hear what you hear, and who cares if your best friend’s name is Kelly or Ckelleigh? It all sounds the same, and that sound is what you associate with your best friend, and it’s a pleasing sound because of it.

But we’re not an audio-only society, and the visual adds a whole dimension to names, doesn’t it? For example, I’m not a huge fan of the name McKayla. I can definitely see its appeal — it’s kind of cool and kicky with the Mc- beginning — it’s got an Irish feel, it’s got a surname feel. The Kayla part is pretty and feminine. Put cool and kicky with pretty and feminine and it’s sort of obvious why it’s spread like wildfire all over the country in recent years. It’s just not my style, you know? But you know what name I looooove? Michaela. Or Micaela. I’m good with either of those spellings. Guess how I pronounce Mic(h)aela? Exactly like McKayla.

Off the top of my head, other names that have totally different feels for me based on their spellings are:

John and Jon

Julia and Giulia

Sara(h) and Sera (like Serafina)

Even Juliet and Juliette

And not only do the names have different feels for me based on their spellings, but I get a different impression of people themselves based on the spelling of their name (before I get to know them. After that, I find spelling doesn’t influence me in regards to how I feel about them one way or the other). If I was reading over two resumes, one for a Jon and one for a John, I’d have a totally impression of each, exclusively based on the spelling of their name. (So unfair, right? It’s not Jon/John’s fault, this one’s on Mom and Dad. Parents, beware!)

Swistle had a post somewhat recently where I first really took notice of this: the older child, a girl, has a first-middle combo that are both nouns used as names, and her husband really wanted to consider the name Noel for their second if it was a boy. It’s not really my favorite name for a boy, and I find the pronunciation NOLE (which is what they intended to use) sort of … something. I don’t know, maybe hard to say? I know that’s weird, because it’s such a simple sound, and especially considering that a reader suggested changing the spelling to Knoll, to fit better with the nature-y noun name the big sister had, and ohmygoodess I was blown away by the brilliance of that suggestion and what I considered to be the perfectness of it for that family. Why on earth would Knoll strike me as so fabulous and the sound of it not bother me at all — in fact, I thought it *sounded* pretty cool with that spelling — but Noel, with the exact same pronunciation, was not really doing it for me. There was also an interesting post on BNW just the other day, where a reader was asking about the name Ceilidh for a little girl, which is a noun (the name of a dance-party type thing in Irish), and it’s pronounced just like Kaylee. I don’t love Kaylee, but I kind of love Ceilidh!

What about the rest of you? Do you find that knowing the spelling of a name influences how you feel about either the name and/or the person with the name?

No pressure! But are my emails going through?

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I emailed two lovely moms back recently who were waiting for my response, and there’s certainly no pressure or requirement that you email me back but since most people do I’m worried that the emails haven’t reached their destination (though my account says they were sent). If you’re reading this and have been waiting for a response from me and haven’t received it yet, please email me! Or you can comment here. Thanks 😉

Finney the Leprechaun

sanctanomina On my bookshelf

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!

Our very own reader Irish Nannie has published a book, the first in a series of books for children called The Adventures of Finney the Leprechaun. This first book is called Finney Hides the Pot o’ Gold, and I’m delighted to tell you more about it here.

No one does Irish Catholic like Irish Nannie (whose author name is simply Nannie). This sweet story of Finney and his little friend Michaelín is full of love of God and His creation as he learns how very important it is to say “Please” and “Thank you.” It’s all in rhyme, and Nannie writes that her “hope is that this story-poem is read aloud … either to yourself or, even better, to or with someone. The best ever is if you have the great privilege and blessing to read to a child!” My own boys love to hear this story read out loud, and they loooove answering the questions at the end of the story!

There are beautiful photos illustrating the book, and also quite a few pages at the end that give the full and proper names of Finney and his family members, all Irishy Irish names (with pronunciations provided!). It is clear from every page that Finney Hides the Pot o’ Gold was a labor of love — love of all things Irish and love of God through Whom all good things come.

I’m also delighted to tell you that Irish Nannie is me own mum, and quite possibly my biggest fan, as I am of her. 🙂 ❤

Since all of March is Irish month, there’s plenty of time still to get your copy! And, as a special St. Paddy’s Day gift especially for all of you, Irish Nannie and I are offering a free signed copy to the first person to comment here with the correct answer to this question: In what town was my maternal grandfather born? (Hint: It was the last stop the Titanic made before it sank.)

Beannachtaí na Feile Pádraig daoibh go léir! (Blessings to you on St. Patrick’s Day!)

Prayers for a happy delivery: Wee Lassie Heckaman

sanctanomina Baby on the way

I don’t usually know ahead of time when the wee babes whose names are discussed here in consultation posts will be born, but I do know that the Heckaman baby is due to be born via scheduled c-section today. Please pray for her and her mama for a happy delivery! St. Patrick, St. Brigid, St. Gerard Majella, and St. Anne, please pray for them!

Celebrity guest: Danielle Bean (DanielleBean.com)

sanctanomina Famous Catholics, Personal stories, Real-life naming ,

I’ve mentioned Danielle Bean before (here and here) — she’s the publisher and editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest (yes, that Catholic Digest), co-host of the Catholic women’s talk show The Gist, author of a bunch of books including, most recently, Momnipotent, a book and parish study “that help women find peace, balance, and joy in their roles as mothers.” She’s also a speaker and writing coach. She’s basically doing it all.

Like last week’s celebrity guest (Rachel Balducci), Danielle’s blog was a highlight of my day when my older boys were small, when motherhood was still new, when I so appreciated chatting with other moms who had more kids than I did and were funny and smart and real about the highs and lows and the eternal meaning of it all … even if that “chatting” took the form of me somewhat obsessively reading their blogs, anxiously awaiting for new posts, taking to heart potty training tips and night-sleeping tips, and referring to them in conversation with my in-real-life friends and family (this internet age is so weird, isn’t it?). (I also secretly wanted Danielle’s house, which was built by her husband [!] and always looked amazing — cozy and sweet — in any pictures she posted. Also, her annual Oktoberfest, with so much amazing food [recipes are still on her blog!].)

Danielle’s youngest (of eight) was born just a month or so after my second, and I was right there with her through her posts on morning sickness (I remember a particularly poignant one on goldfish crackers and chocolate milk — there was nothing in the world that she wanted more, and once she had them … nothing she could possibly want less, and likely could never even look at them again. Oh the things you remember!) and waiting-for-baby and I could NOT wait to see what name she and her husband would choose because — they have great taste!

Danielle’s not blogging too much these days, but she loves names like I do, and she graciously agreed to fill me in on her kids’ first and middle names, and how each were chosen (be sure to notice #2 — perfect for Irish week!):

(1) Kateri Anne [which they say KAY-tuh-ree]

Kateri Tekakwitha was my confirmation saint many years ago, before she was even a saint. I loved her from the day I read a biography of her as a young girl (published by Pauline Books, I won the book as a prize in a poetry contest they rain in My Friend magazine). Kateri is strong and connected with nature and her stories of personal sacrifice really inspired me as a young woman.

(2) Eamon Michael

Eamon is the Irish form of Edmund and St. Edmund is a favorite of my husband’s. I was hugely pregnant with Eamon when we were watching the Secret of Roan Inish. One of the characters was named Eamon and we were inspired to look it up. When we found out it was a form of Edmund, we were convinced that was the name for us. We like that it is unusual, but it’s actually quite common in Ireland.

(3) Ambrose Augustine

Well you can read the column I wrote years ago, he tells me he still loves his name. I laugh all the time, though, because I get phone calls about his doctor’s appointments and whatnot and they always call him my daughter. You know, Amber Rose.

(4) Juliette Marie

My mom is French Canadian. I studied French for a total of 9 years in school. I like this name because it’s beautiful and a recognition of our French heritage. Marie is my mom’s first name. I wish I had a great saint story to go with it, but we kind [of] stumbled on the saint connection after the fact. People tease her about waiting for her “Romeo,” but she loves her name and it suits her. She is a poised and graceful young lady.

(5) Stephen Matthias

We both just love this traditional name and the fact that it was the name of the first Christian martyr. Stephen was St. Stephen for All Saints day a few years ago and he loved carrying a bloody rock around with him at the party and describing his death in gory detail. Stephen’s middle name is Matthias. We loved how Stephen Matthias went together so smoothly and only discovered after we settled on it that the sound of it is so “right” because the saints names are listed that way in the Eucharistic prayer. To this day, Stephen gets a grin on his face when the priest says “Stephen, Matthias” from the altar.

(6) Gabrielle Therese

Again, with [a] French girl name. This one happens to be my maternal grandmother’s first name (Grandmaman to me). She is 93 today [Feb. 24]. She always disliked her name, though, and went by “Gaby” instead. When our Gabrielle was born, we said it such a beautiful name we would not shorten it, but of course we do. She is Gabby to all her siblings and friends, but I still make a point of calling her Gabrielle regularly. It’s just so pretty. And do not get me started about St. Therese …

(7) Raphael Joseph

We pronounce this name (ray-FEE-uhl) but usually call him Rafe or Rafey. He likes both. When we were discussing names, I suggested Raphael and [my husband] Dan accepted it after concluding that “Rafe” was definitely a name you could call out to someone playing basketball. Today, Rafe is a skilled player and we call him name lots. His middle name was going to be Thomas, but he was born on the feast of St. Joseph after I spent an entire pregnancy saying that was the day he would be born, so you know. We HAD to change it. 🙂

(8) Daniel John Jr.

It only took my poor husband five sons before he got to have a junior! 😛 When I was pregnant with Danny (we usually call him that) we could not agree on names, so finally we just said if it was a boy, Dan would name him and if it was a girl, I would name her. At that point, Dan said “Ok then, I want a junior.” He had said he wanted to use his name for a son in the past but I always rejected the idea as ridiculous. I mean, he is Daniel, I am Danielle, did we really need another Dan in the mix? But I agreed. Then the day Danny was born, my husband was REALLY sick (coxsackie virus). So sick he was in terrible pain and I suggested he leave the delivery room and get a hotel room to rest for a while while labor progressed. I promised to call him when it got close. We should have known better, but whatever. Danny was born before Dan could get there, by about 20 minutes. I had already named him Daniel John, Jr. and signed the paperwork! Dan could not believe it. He was so thrilled. He actually thought I would not have gone through with it because I had been so opposed. Today, Danny is so proud to share a name with his dad, and he is our littlest so it’s extra sweet.

Aren’t those amazing stories? I love how each first name and middle name flow together so well. I love reading about the name discussions/disagreements between Danielle and her husband, and how they eventually resolved things into amazing first-middle combos for their kids. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did! Thank you Danielle for a great start to the week! ❤

Spotlight on: Bridget/Brigid

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If I wanted to write a really great post about Bridget/Brigid, this wouldn’t be what I’d write, but I’m tired and I wanted to post something Irishy today in anticipation of Tuesday! So this is what I got for you tonight:

“… The cult of St. Brighid [which this author says is pronounced “BRY-id” in “modern Irish”] was very popular in England as well as in Ireland. In English she was usually called Bride or Bryde, which represents the Irish Brighde, the genitive case of Brighid … it does not seemto have come into common use in Ireland until the 17th or 18th C. St. Brighid was known as ‘the Mary of the Gael,’ and it is possible that her name, like that of the Blessed Virgin, was considered too sacred for ordinary use. It is significant that Mary came into general use in Ireland at about the same time as Brighid. They are now and have long been the two commonest names in that country. The common pet-form Biddy displays the same process of formation as Fanny from Frances, Kit and Kester from Christopher. The name of the Swedish St. Brigitte or Birgitte (1303-73), which is usually translated Bridget in English, was an independent Swedish name. French and German Brigitte may represent either the Irish or the Swedish name, as the cults of both saints had a considerable extension.”

~ The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, by EG Withycombe, 54

Stay tuned for more fun next week, including another celebrity guest on Monday!