Month: May 2015

Baby name consultant: Uebbing Baby Quattro

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Do you all know Jenny from Mama Needs Coffee? She’s a hardcore JP2 girl, which is all I need to know (soul sisters and such). Also, she posted last month looking for help naming her fourth baby, which, you know, is what I live to do, and someone kindly suggested my blog (!!!!), and I followed up with an excited Yes please! and Jenny said Sure and here we are. So exciting!!

Jenny had provided all the relevant details (I almost wrote “deets” and then decided I’m neither young nor cool enough) in her post, like …

… her other kiddos’ names:

Joseph Kolbe

John Paul Francis (born a whole year before the election of the current pope — nice job with the middle name!)

Genevieve Therese nicked Evie (or “Evie doll,” which is the sweetest)

(Aren’t they wonderful!)

… and names they’re considering for this wee beb (with her own commentary):

Francesca (“for Frances of Rome, Francis of Assisi, and dear Papa Francesco“)

Rose (“for Rose of Lima, my Confirmation saint. And because her godfather is a native Peruvian from Lima, so how can we not?“)

Zelie (“Dave will never let me get away with this one but I’ve loved it for years and now she’s gone and is getting herself canonized the same year our baby is due. COME ON. And yes, I’m aware there is going to be a Catholic ghetto baby boom of little Z’s running around as a result. But I still love.”)

Elizabeth (“my sister’s name, and my best friend’s. I’m not in love with any particular St. Elizabeth, but I could cultivate a devotion to the Son of God’s Aunt, I suppose.”)

Grace (“A little popular, but it’s just such a sweet name. And it looks pretty next to Genevieve.”)

Luke (“meh. I’m fading on this one. But I’ve loved the name since I first saw Star Wars at age 12, and what child doesn’t want that kind of honor associated with his moniker? Plus, the Gospel of St. Luke is my fav.”)

Benedict (“we love our retired Papa“)

Reid (“family name on my side, Dave hates it, probably not a real contender“)

Anthony (“we love St. Anthony of Padua, our boys have an inexplicable devotion to him all their own, but I just don’t love the name. Daddy is a bigger fan than me. I’d consider Antonio because Italy, but then I’d punch myself for giving some poor kid the name Antonio Uebbing for life.”)

… and her due date:

Early August

… and her gut instinct:

“I think the girl’s names are a much more realistic list of actual contenders at this point, which means we’re probably definitely having a boy.”

(Hehe!)

And then we had a nice little email back and forth, in which she also said:

“I’m leaning more toward Francesca Rose after reading everyone’s comments, but still totally stumped for a boy. (and it’s probably a boy, all I want is green chile and salsa verde doritos and hot sauce on everything and I’m gaining like a freight train. ha.) … I’d name another kid after [Pope St. John Paul II] if I could get away with it – Karol maybe? Ha.”

So this is what I have to say about all this:

Okay, first off, a couple thoughts about her current ideas: Jenny said she’s leaning toward Francesca Rose for a girl after reading everyone’s comments. It’s beautiful! And so meaningful, with the Frances of Rome/Francis of Assisi/Pope Francis connection and the St. Rose of Lima—Jenny’s-Confirmation-saint-and-baby’s-godfather-being-from-Lima connection. And her love of Italian! (She loves Italy.) Francesca Rose is just great. But since she said she’s “leaning toward” it rather than fully embracing it says there’s an opening for new thoughts … first, I wondered if the Italian Rosa would pique her interest as a first name? Or maybe Rosana/Rosanna?

I was also very intrigued by Jenny’s love of Zelie and Elizabeth, as my first thought was — Zelie as a nickname for Elizabeth! And I was totally patting myself on the back for coming up with the best most unique idea ever … and then I read in the comments on her post our own dear reader Mandi at 3:59 on 4/11: “Maybe a more formal name with Zelie as the nickname” and Kate at 10:34 on 4/12 suggesting Zelie as a nick for Elizabeth. So I’m not as unique as I thought BUT it’s also great support for a great idea! What do you all think?? Is it too weird?? I just love this idea and it totally works! Ellie is a nick for Elizabeth; Z is in Elizabeth; shuffle up the letters … And this way Jenny honors her sister and her best friend and Zelie Martin all with one name; she gives her husband a longer name he can use or nick as he likes, and Jenny can have as her nick a name he otherwise wouldn’t go for. Seems like a win-win to me!!

As far as patrons, there are so many great Sts. Elizabeth, but I’m just crazy recently for Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur. What a woman!!! Since Elisabeth was French, Elizabeth could be in her honor as the English variation of her name. Or maybe stick with the spelling Elisabeth? Especially with having French Genevieve already? Elisabeth loses the obvious Zelie connection, but there are so many other great Eliz/sabeth nicks. Tess and Liddy are two of my favorites, and I have a sister Elizabeth who goes by Betsey. Another traditional Eliz/sabeth nickname is Lily, which is my second Eliz/sabeth thought for Jenny (after Elizabeth/Zelie) — Genevieve and Eliz/sabeth nicknamed Evie and Lily? Such sweet sister names! I love that Lily is Marian too. Whew that’s a lot packed into one name. 🙂

Another thought about Zelie — if not for a first name, I’d make a strong argument for a middle! Either Zelie or Azelie because, like Jenny said, COME ON, it’s her canonization year!!!

Finally, Grace — it is so sweet, yes popular, yes pretty next to Genevieve. It’s Marian and virtuous and Catholicky Catholic. It is quite a bit shorter than Genevieve, which maybe Jenny and her hubs like? My aesthetic sense tends to prefer a longer name especially for a girl, since their one girl has a longer name, but my aesthetic sense matters very little here of course. If Jenny was concerned about this too though, she could easily do something like Mary Grace, even if she only ever calls her Grace or Gracie. Sisters Genevieve and Mary Grace called Evie and Grace or Evie and Gracie are lovely together and a bit more balanced length-wise.

As for the boy ideas … Luke is hard to beat! The Gospel and the Skywalker are of course amazing reference points (reasons why it’s one of my faves too!), and it’s such a good match as a brother to Joseph and John Paul. Benedict I love for Papa Benny, like the Uebbings do. I want to give that man all the love I possibly can! I’ve found for myself and for others who consider Benedict that it’s not so easy to pair a middle name with it, as middle initials F, M, and J are really out unless you’re willing to saddle your boy with dirty initials. (So unfortunate!) That’s one of the reasons I love Reid on Jenny’s list — it screams “middle name” to me, as it’s a family name that she loves and her hubs doesn’t. The middle is the perfect spot for such a name! And there’s nothing wrong with initials B.R. Benedict Reid is very handsome! Benedict is like a forty ton Catholic wrecking ball, and Reid prevents the building from being blown to bits. (Does that make sense?)

Finally, Anthony. Jenny’s the second mama I’ve done a consultation for recently whose husband and kids love St. Anthony but mom’s not feeling it! I would totally put it in the middle, and if it’s in the middle, I would totally switch it to Antonio per Jenny’s preference.

Alrighty! The Uebbings have great taste and some great ideas here, but I can always come up with new ones. 😉 I have four for girls (I usually shoot for three but the last one snuck in there at the last minute), and I actually came up with six for boys, which I thought seemed appropriate since she said they’re having a hard time with boy names.

Girls
(1) Caterina or Catherine

As you all know, when I do a consultation, I often rely heavily on the Baby Name Wizard and its amazing feature where, for each entry, it lists boy and girl names that are similar in style/feel/popularity as the entry. It’s usually the first place I start when looking for ideas, and one name that showed up often for names the Uebbings have used and ones on their list of possibilities as well is Catherine/Katherine. I’m loving Catherine-with-a-C for them, after St. Catherine of Siena; it’s long, like Genevieve; and it’s got great nickname options (Cate/Kate, obviously!! 🙂 And Cat is sweet too). But I’m also loving Caterina, which was Catherine of Siena’s actual name, and Jenny loves Italian everything right?? Caterina is gorgeous. Genevieve and Catherine or Genevieve and Caterina? Lovely!

(2) Chiara or Claire/Clare/Clara

Okay, so I made a case for Genevieve needing a long-named sister, and now I’m suggesting Chiara or Claire/Clare/Clara. These names are just too good to pass by! Chiara especially, as it’s Italian, and what St. Clare of Assisi’s actual name was, and Bl. Chiara Badano Luce is ah-MAAAZing, a great great patron for today’s little girls. And even though it looks short, it’s actually three syllables like Genevieve, so … looks can be deceiving and all. I think it’s a great possibility. But if they like the idea of a Clare name but not Chiara, I also love Claire, Clare, and Clara (or Claira, as was used by one of our reader mamas recently).

(3) Karolina, Karoline, Caroline, Charlotte

Jenny said, “I’d name another kid after him if I could get away with it – Karol maybe? Ha.” I’m saying, nothing funny about that! Do it!!! I personally don’t recommend Karol for a boy, not for a first name — in the middle is fine (I know a little Peter Karol and a little Joseph Karol) — but what about for a girl? I’ve seen Karoline and Karolina storming up the Catholic name charts (I know one little Karolina, said like the state), but I also know an adult Karolina who’s from Poland (she says karo-LEEN-ah), and Caroline-with-a-C is totally legit as a JP2 honor name, since Karol is Charles and the Carol names are feminine variants of Charles. Charlotte is nice because it’s French, like Genevieve, but (though not necessarily “but”) it’s the new Baby Princess and loses a good deal of the visual and audio connection to Karol.

(4) Bernadette

Bernadette is inspired of course by the French Genevieve, but also by Jenny’s thought of Elizabeth, because I know someone who was going to name her daughter Bernadette and call her Betsy! How great is that?!

Boys
(1) Charles

My very first boy suggestion goes to our Great John Paul — if Jenny wants to honor him again, and especially if she doesn’t want to it be really over-the-top obvious (since she already has a John Paul), Charles is the name for her! I love Charles. It’s so handsome and distinguished, and Charlie is a great, solid, boyish-yet-manly nickname. If they don’t love it as a first name, it’s a great middle, especially for Benedict — the initials B.C. are fine and Benedict Charles is amazing! And two papas in one! (St. Charles Borromeo is also pretty great.)

(2) Leo

Leo is an amazing name! It’s handsome and classic, it’s papal (Pope St. Leo the Great!), and I know of at least one (very Irish) family who loves it but won’t use it because it comes across as “too Italian” for them.* Um, do you understand “too Italian”? I’m sure you’re either (1) no such thing! Or (2) awesome, bring it!

(3) Dominic

Dominic has that same heavy-hitting feel as John Paul and Benedict — there’s no denying that a little Dominic’s a Catholic boy! It’s also, like perhaps Leo, one of those names that can come across as very Italian. St. Dominic is one of my personal faves (I’m a life-professed lay Dominican).

(4) Gregory

I love what the Baby Name Wizard has to say about Gregory: “Popes, saints, and Gregory Peck! Can a name get any more distinguished?” I love that! Not only that, but Gregory is a Pope St. the Great, like John Paul and Leo. Love it! I suggested this for Grace Patton, with the nickname suggestions Rory and Gus (especially if the full name was something like Gregory Louis or Gregory Stephen — all the G’s and S’s) … I’m not feeling Rory for Jenny, but Gus I love.

(5) Samuel

Samuel is biblical and handsome, and Sam is one of the most amazing nicknames imo. It’s also a name that showed up in my research as similar in style/feel/popularity to some of the Uebbings’ other favorites.

(6) Gennaro

This was a last-minute add-on after I did the spotlight of the name Gennaro and totally thought of Jenny. My only hesitation with it — and I guess it’s kind of a big one — is that it’s got the same soft-g/j initial sound like the other Uebbing kids. They probably don’t want to feel locked into that going forward. (But if they liked that theme, I could totally come up with a bunch of good names for future babies that start with soft G or J!!! :))

And those are all my thoughts for Uebbing Baby Quattro! What do you all think? Is there anything else you would suggest for them? Thanks to Jenny for letting me weigh in!

*Lest any Irish fams now think Leo is “too Italian” for them, please know that my family is super Irish and also super into Leo — there are several going back generations.

I love to do name consultations! If you’d like me to give your name dilemma a go, check out my Baby name consultant tab.

Last names as first names

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I was thinking about how last-names-as-first-names are pretty popular as a baby name style, and have been for a while. Obvious surnames like Oakley, Hunter, Flannery, and Tennyson are used for both girls and boys. Others have been around so long that they’ve lost their surname feel, like Tracy and Sidney. My grandfather’s first name was his mother’s maiden name, and my sister-in-law’s middle name is her mother’s maiden name. I actually found the “Last Names First” section of the Baby Name Wizard online here, which gives an awesome listing of trade names and British Isles surnames — lots of fun options to look through!

Catholic baby naming also has the last-names-first-names subset, and it’s one of my favorites. I tried to think of all the ones that I know have been used as first names, it’s a pretty fab list:*

Aquinas

Avila

Cabrini

Clairvaux

Goretti

Jogues

Kolbe

Liguori

Loyola

Magdalene

Serra

Seton

Siena

Talbot

Vianney

Xavier

What names can you add to the list? I’m interested in surnames that *could* be used as first names without being too weird, but I’m most interested in names that you’ve actually heard used. Lay them on me!

——————————————-

*I was just telling someone about my blog today, and he asked if my posts are mainly lists of names, and I said, “Oh gosh no, I hate name lists, I much prefer commentary.” And then here I go, my very first post after talking to him is a list. 😛

Birth announcement: Claira Jane!

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I was so delighted to hear from a mama I’d done a consultation for a couple weeks ago — her baby girl is here! She writes,

“Hi Kate! Our DAUGHTER was born about 2 weeks ago – Claira Jane! She was unnamed for a few hours – couldn’t decide between Claira and Abigail – but it all worked out! Thanks again for helping us to focus in on names for this sweet baby girl!“

Isn’t Claira Jane just the sweetest?!! Nice job Mom and Dad! Congratulations to the whole family, and welcome to the world Baby Claira!!

claira_jane

Claira Jane

Spotlight on: Aurora

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My reader/friend Grace asked me a while ago (how long? A month or even two?) if I would spotlight the name Aurora — please all take solace from knowing that I do eventually do what I say I will, even if it takes a while!

As Grace pointed out to me, she was inspired in regards to the name Aurora by this passage from the Canticle of Zechariah:

“In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, and shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)

It’s the “dawn” bit that pointed toward Aurora, as Aurora is Latin for “dawn.” What a great way to name a baby after a favorite Bible passage! And here of course the dawn refers to Jesus, which is so awesome.

Aurora can also be Marian, as I wrote about here. I referenced this quote from Ven. Mary of Agreda’s Mystical City of God:

“[The] most poor and insignificant hut or cave, to which most holy Mary and Joseph betook themselves … was the first temple of light (Malachi 4, 2, Psalm III, 4) and … the house of the true Sun of justice, which was to arise for the upright of heart from the resplendent Aurora Mary, turning the night of sin into the daylight of grace.” (no. 468)

The “resplendent Aurora Mary” — lovely! A quick Google search also resulted in the Mirror of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Bonaventure, which has as Chapter XI, “Mary for her sake and ours is fitly compared to the Aurora.” (“Aurora” in reference to Mary is mentioned thirty five times!) And in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this is the closing prayer for Vespers:

“Hail, wonderful dial Ezechias of old
Beheld when the prophet His destiny told;
The Word, That incarnate in you did become,
Receded, descending to man’s lowly home.
Nine choirs He passed of superior powers,
To take up the tenth in this nature of ours.
The beams of this sun Are the light of your face,
And you the aurora Preceding his race.
The serpent that lurks In night’s desperate gloom .
You crushed, and caused, All beauties
to bloom.

I have caused a never-fading light to rise in heaven;
And like a luminous veil have spread it over the earth“

(The name Dawn could be used also, of course, but I think today’s naming sensibilities are more in line with Aurora.)

Aurora’s one of those great names that’s used in lots of different languages — a pan-European name, really (usage: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, German, Romanian, Finnish, Roman Mythology). The French Aurore is stunning as well, and while I didn’t find anything when I searched for “St. Aurora,” I did find this (Google translated into English) about St. Aurore (aka Aure and Aurea), “Abbess of Paris and spiritual daughter of St. Eloi and St. Columba.”

Secularly, you may know it from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, as Aurora was her given name, or the aurora borealis (the northern lights), which is a lovely reference. Really, there are loads of gorgeous reasons to consider Aurora.

And the nicknames! Lots of good nicknames for Aurora, which is good, as it seems (from the comments on Behind the Name anyway) that a lot of people find it hard to say: Rory or Ro, Aura and Aurie and Aurea. (I once heard of a set of twins named Aurora and Therese nicked Rory and Reece. Cute!)

What do you all think of Aurora? Do you know anyone with this name? Does she go by the full Aurora, or a nickname?

CatholicMom.com column for May

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Photo by Hans Braxmeier (2012) via Pixabay, CC0 Public Domain

My second column is up over at CatholicMom.com today! A Name by Any Other Spelling, which I’d posted about here previously. I’d love it if you’d head over there and leave any comments or similar experiences you have!

Reading round-up

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Have you seen this article? Totally fascinating: Six Words: “My name is Jamaal … I’m White.” (“NPR continues a series of conversations from The Race Card Project, in which thousands of people have submitted their thoughts on race and cultural identity in six words.“)

I loved this article explaining all the family connections — paternal AND maternal — in Princess Charlotte’s name: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana: The Meaning Behind the New Princess’s Name. I particularly love that Diana is the only name that honors only one person — it’s totally unambiguous who’s getting the honor. Will and Kate did a brilliant job.

AND — did you all see that Nameberry co-founder Pamela Satran totally called the Princess’ exact name? On Canadian TV the night before the name was announced!

A reader emailed with the news of the 13th baby boy born to the Schwandt family — I’d known she was pregnant, but hadn’t heard that she’d had another boy, what a household! And his name! Francisco Matthew! See what Michigan family names 13th son, now 2 days old

Finally, I was so taken with this name discussion over on Nameberry: Brother due for sister Bramble. First off — Bramble! I am so loving Bramble! I’m in awe that they came up with such a great, unused name! Second, someone suggested Brogue — Brogue! Ohmygoodness, Bramble and Brogue??? I’m sure it’s too much Br- for the parents, and it would be for me too, but I’ve been saying the names to myself for days, just enjoying them. Bramble and Brogue. (My first idea was Thicket. Haha! If they didn’t have Bramble, I’d say Thicket’s a pretty cool name for a boy, if super nature names are one’s taste. My second idea was Caspian, which I quite like.)

Baby name consultant: Nickname for Victor

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Theresa and her husband are expecting their first baby in a few weeks. They love the name Victor, but, as she wrote,

“I’m dying trying to come up with a nickname that I love for Victor. Vic is the obvious one … but we both sort of feel like it’s a very grown-up nickname for a little boy. We’d rather that he grow into it. But we LOVE nicknames … All of our other favorite names generally have nicknames that would end in a strong E sound, but I’m not tied to it if we can find something else for Victor that we love (Vic-y just sounds way too feminine.)“

You all know how I feel about nicknames! So I was really excited to tackle this one, and I think I’m pretty good at coming up with new and different nickname options, but I found Victor to be a little bit of a stumper!

My parents actually fostered a baby Victor when I was growing up, and we called him Victor or Vic exclusively, so in my mind Vic suits a little boy well (which is probably why I never thought of coming up with something different, despite the fact that I’ve had Victor on my list for a while). But I totally get why it strikes Theresa as grown-up — it has a little bit of an old-world, old-man kind of feel to it.

So this is what I came up with as possible alternatives:

(1) Vicster, Vic-Man, Vicker
Nicknames ending in a long E sound seem such a natural fit for a baby, and Vicky being too feminine for a boy reminds me of the possibility of one of my favorite nicknames, Gus, turning into Gussy, which I don’t care for because it seems similarly feminine (despite my dad’s protestations, since he had a friend [boy] growing up who was called both Gus and Gussy). I’d thought Gusty and Guster could fill that need for Gus, which made me think of Vicster and Vicker for Victor (is Vicker too like vicar though? Or if it is, is that a bad thing?). And “Man” seems a natural add-on to a boy’s name, at least in my house and with my nephews as well. I can totally see Vic-Man working, too cute!

(2) Vito, Vin, Vinny
I know, none of those is directly connected to Victor, and they’re so Italian sounding (which might be great for an Italian family, not so much for other ethnicities?). But Vito has all letters from Victor, and Vin(ny) could be from the letters of Victor+a middle name that has an N/last name with an N.

(3) Vicho, Victo, Vico, Vitty, Vio
I also came across Vicho and Victo (supposedly Spanish nicknames for Victor), and Vico (unknown), and the Italian version Vittorio made me think of Vitty, and one of my books says there’s a St. Vio and when I googled him I did find a Chapelle de St. Vio in France but no other info … but Vio? Kind of cute?

(4) Middle-name nickname
I suppose going by a nickname for a middle name might kind of defeat the purpose of choosing a first name you love and want your child to go by, but if the idea is to have an at-home/within-family everyday nickname to bridge babyhood with the age at which Vic becomes appropriate, a nick of a middle is as good as any other option, right? Victor John might go by Johnny, for example. Some of my boys have funny little family nicknames we use almost exclusively at home (like the -Man idea above), but we’d never introduce them that way to anyone, and at school they don’t go by them, so I think it’s easy enough to, for example, alternate between Victor and Johnny at home, but only introduce him as Victor (or Vic, when the time comes) outside the house. I promise the baby won’t be confused! (Though everyone else might be.)

(5) Last-name nickname
For example, a boy with the last name Callaghan could go by Cal; Sullivan could go by Sully; Monticello or Montgomery by Monty. It’s certainly not unheard of for a boy to go by a nickname of his last name, even within his family (though I do see how this could be problematic of there are more than one boy in the family).

(6) Sporty/attribute/snookums-type nickname
I brought up Theresa’s dilemma at my parents’ dinner table recently, and my dad came up with two great ideas: Champ and Jock. Champ because he was trying to think of names that meant the same as Victor — I thought Champ was pretty inspired. I have a bunch of boy baby clothes that say something about “champ” on them, so it’s definitely kind of a common boyish reference. Jock from the idea of Victor and and a J- middle name flipped — it’s a traditional nickname in Scotland I believe, for John I think (like the scottie Jock in Lady and the Tramp!), and easily takes a -y without being feminine — Jocky. Especially cool if you’re into horses. 🙂 His ideas also made me think of some of the traditional attribute nicknames, like Red or Rusty for a redhead, or Sis/Sissy for a big sister, that kind of thing. And of course parents often seem to come up with crazy cutesy little nicknames, like (as I call all my boys) Lovey and Sweetie Petey. Siblings too — one of my brothers often calls me Blu. These are the type of nicknames that you can’t plan for, though, which is frustrating to parents wanting to decide the nickname ahead of time.

(7) Totally unrelated nickname
I know a John who goes by Gus, a Gregory who goes by Duke, a Jonathan who goes by Jeb, an Edward who goes by Zeb, and a Gerard who goes by Sam. I love a great formal name for the birth certificate and diploma and marriage invitation — well thought out, nicely balanced, good distinguished feel, taking into account faith and family and heritage — but then I really love a friendly, accessible, easy everyday name. There’s no real reason why the formal name and the everyday nickname have to be connected. Even when they are, there’s no guarantee that everyone a person meets will know that (as someone I know named Elizabeth, who goes by Betsey, recently discovered. Who doesn’t know Betsey is a traditional nick for Elizabeth? More people than you might realize). This idea opens up a whole lot of opportunities — you and your husband love the formal name Benjamin but you really want to honor your grandfather who went by Cap? No reason you can’t have a Benjamin nicked Cap.

Well! I think this is a decent list of ideas — what do you all think? Do you think my suggestions are usable, are just crazy? Do you have any other ideas for Victor nicknames, and/or do you know any Victors that have nicknames besides Vic?

Too gruesome for naming?

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I had an interesting name convo the other day about whether some of the more gruesome saint stories are off-putting enough that parents might hesitate before choosing the name for their child.

I think my personal feeling is that I don’t mind the gruesome stories — it’s the heroism and faithfulness of the saint that attracts me, and I suppose it might even be that the more gruesome the story, the more I admire the saint’s holiness. I think of St. Maria Goretti — being stabbed fourteen times for refusing a boy’s advances. I think of St. Margaret Clitherow — being crushed to death for harboring priests. St. Nicholas Owen, St. Charles Lwanga, the Apostles, Bl. Thaddeus (Tadhg) Moriarty, St. Tarcisius, Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Thomas More, St. John Fisher — I can think of a million beloved saints and blesseds who showed strength and holiness in the face of suffering and evil. I love them all for their fortitude and faith and, indeed, heroism, and I’d be proud for my children to be named after them and to have their patronage and protection.

What about all of you? Are there any saints whose stories are so awful that you just couldn’t give the name to your child?

Fun name generator

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Have you guys seen this? “Find out what your name would be if you were born today” and every decade back to the 1890s. Abby called it addicting, and it kinda is — I did it for me and each of my boys, really interesting results! (I’d be Allison today.)

Spotlight on: Jacinta

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Happy Feast of Our Lady of Fatima! It’s a special one for me, as I went on a pilgrimage to Fatima just before I turned 14, and I consider it the first and biggest turning point in my faith life. I was brought up in the faith, and taught it well (especially by my mom, at whose knee I literally learned, so stuck to her was I through all my growing up, helping her with the babies, etc., and I loved every minute of it), but I didn’t realize that I didn’t *own* it until I went to Fatima (with the Blue Army sisters and my best friend from childhood, and no parents) — and in Fatima it became mine. I’ve always been grateful for the gift of it.

So it seems the perfect day to spotlight one of my favorite names (and my Confirmation name): Jacinta!

Lucia (by both pronunciations) gets lots of name love in the Catholic families I know/know of, and Francis in all its forms (including Francisco) is kind of all the rage right now thanks to Papa Frank, but I rarely hear Jacinta. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why!

Is it the pronunciation? I say jah-SIN-tah, which is acceptable as an English pronunciation. I know it’s said hah-SEEN-tah in Spanish, and perhaps that’s what a lot of people default to? But just like with loo-SEE-ah versus loo-CHEE-ah, I think all it takes is a simple correction.

As I’m sure you’re not surprised by, I’ve given a lot of thought to nicknames for Jacinta, as it’s definitely one of my very favorite girl names, and back before I knew I was going to birth six boys in a row, I thought there was a chance we might actually get past our very favorite girl name (which I will reveal if I entire menopause having never had a girl. :P), so I needed to know what we would call a little Jacinta when we weren’t calling her Jacinta.

Jess and Jessie have always been my favorites. They’re familiar to American ears, so there wouldn’t be any pronunciation issues as there might be with Jacinta. But one of my husband’s favorites (and mine too) is Tess, and we couldn’t do Jess and Tess, and Tess just a notch higher on our list than Jacinta (I actually still have to convince my hubs of Jacinta. Which I haven’t even bothered with, since all the boys).

So back to the drawing board. I really like the combo Jacinta Rose, and I thought Josie could come from that? I’ve thought of Cinta, but the “sin” sound makes me hesitate. Funny enough, that doesn’t bother me about Cinna (like the Hunger Games character), and Cinna would likely be my second favorite option, if it weren’t for that character. (Though maybe it’s not such a bad association … he was great and heroic after all … hmm …) Cindy’s also a possibility. Maybe also Cissy?

Jacey seems a natural nickname, at least spelling-wise, but the Stacey-Tracy-Jace-Jayden names, all of which Jacey feels like to me, aren’t really my style.

Janey’s a possibility, and a really sweet one … I think I’d love it more if it was just a little bit more different from our favorite name. Same with Jinna and Jenna, both of which could work.

Jetta could work. Ooh that’s a really cool name. Too cool for us I think.

This is a pretty great list though, some really great nicknames on here.

Secularly, I’ve always loved seeing the Aussie actress Jacinda Barrett‘s name in the credits (and I just have to say — she’s married to Gabriel Macht and if “Jacinda and Gabriel” aren’t the coolest names paired together than I don’t know what). Since she’s Australian, if she has a nickname, it’s probably Jazz, right? Don’t they do that Down Under? Barry is Baz and Sharon is Shazzer and all that? And then there’s Halle Berry’s character in the Bond movie Die Another Day whose given name is Giacinta but she goes by Jinx. I could also see a Giacinta going by the nick Gia.

What say you all to Jacinta? Yay or nay and why/why not? Would you prefer Jacinda or Giacinta? Do you know any Jacintas in real life, and if so, do they go by a nickname?