You guys. You’ll never guess what I discovered just now. You know Sophie the Giraffe? That totally hip must-have teether? The one with its own Wiki page?
“It has achieved national icon status in France, according to Slate, with more sold each year (816,000 in 2010) than babies are born (796,000).
Sophie is also popular in the United States, where the toy has been available for decades and even appeared in the movie Three Men and a Baby (1987), and where it has become the best-selling baby product offered by Amazon.com. Launched in California in the trendy Hollywood area, it became popular through word of mouth, especially on Amazon.com since 2008. The reasons proposed for this success are that it is marketed as eco-friendly and a growing consumer mistrust of the security and health standards of products made in China since 2007.”
Yeah, that Sophie.
Guess who it was named after.
“Sophie the Giraffe, a French children’s toy, was named after Madeleine Sophie Barat because the first toy went into production on May 25, 1961, St. Sophie’s day.” (source)
Did you all know this?? Are you as amazed as I am?? I was literally just now doing a little research on St. Madeleine Sophie Barat when I came across this info. We’ve actually never had a Sophie — my oldest was born in 2004, four years before its popularity on Amazon took off, so it was never given to us and I never thought to buy it for my boys (despite the fact that everyone that I know with kids the ages of my youngers have one), but I’m kind of digging having a toy named after an awesome and awesomely-named saint! It’s definitely jumping up to the top of my must-give-to-new-moms list (along with the books of saints). So so cool.
Sancta Nomina 
That is awesome! My son is two and we were given one when he was born. No idea that it’s been around almost 30 years! And that she’s named after a saint!
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I know! I’m still shocked! So cool!
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Loved this! And it so happens that I was chatting with a friend after Mass this morning and her 6 month old was playing with a Sophie giraffe; so I got to pass along the information. We got a Sophie giraffe a few years back as a gift for our 5th baby.
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That’s so awesome that you had the perfect moment to share this info!
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When my husband read about it while we were registering for baby things, it was totally the selling point. It turned it from a confusingly overpriced toy to something awesome and Catholic! 🙂
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That is SO COOL that it actually played a part in your buying it! (And Theresa I’ve been meaning to email you for ages — I’ll try to this week!)
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My little girl has a Sophie the Giraffe… she loves it (well, I need to find it again so she can continue the love). And now I am thrilled we have this trending toy, haha, that had me so perplexed at first!
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Haha!
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[…] I’ve never given a Sophie the Giraffe before, but I will be from now on, now that I know it was named after St. Madeleine Sophie! […]
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[…] Their girl’s list is gorgeous, I love all the names on it. Madeleine Sophie is a favorite combo of mind as well, gorgeous! (If they decide to use this combo, Sophie the Giraffe would be a perfect toy for her, as it was named after St. Madeleine Sophie Barat!) […]
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[…] well, all of which made me think of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat. I love both Madeleine and Sophie (I guess she went by Sophie, and her feast day in France is known as St. Sophie’s Day) and could see either/both working for this family. I like that it’s French, but not […]
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[…] As Shelby put it, it “goes well with your post about Catholic things in plain sight like the Sophie the Giraffe.” “Catholic things in plain sight”! I love […]
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[…] as a nickname, which is always so darling. But I’d be 100% happy with Madeleine too, and if they liked the combo Madeleine Sophie,after St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, I’d be even […]
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[…] (4) Sofia/Sophia/Sophie These names are definitely popular—Sophia is down to #3 from having been #1 from 2011 to 2013 (Sophie’s #104 and Sofia’s #14)—but they’re such great matches for this family’s taste, and really faith-y! Sophia’s a match for Lillian and Dominic, Sophie for Lily, and Sofia for Elijah. It means “wisdom,” so it’s a biblical/faith concept, and there’s a St. Sophia as well as St. Madeleine Sophie Barat who’s referred to as St. Sophie (Sophie the Giraffe was named after her!). […]
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[…] got it going on! Not only does her first name point ultimately to St. Mary Magdalene, but the popular teething toy Sophie the Giraffe was actually named after her!) (Also, how gorgeously cool is the combo “Madeleine […]
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[…] Madeline was another name that was a match for both Olivia and Dominic, and I like that it has the French influence—there are the Madeline books, which are set in Paris, and the French spelling Madeleine is the same as St. Madeleine Sophie Barat (known as St. Sophie). (The teething toy Sophie the Giraffe is named after her!) […]
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[…] Barat, who was known as Sophie (St. Sophie’s Day in France is in her honor) and—so fun!—the Sophie the Giraffe teether was named after that same saint! Sophie can also be considered Marian since one of Our Lady’s titles is “Seat of […]
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[…] Girl (1) Madeleine and/or Sophie I have these names together in one idea because of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat (also called St. Sophie). I have always loved “Madeleine Sophie” (first + middle) or “Madeleine-Sophie” (double first name) because of her, and like with my idea of Marie-Scanlan above, I would have so much fun coming up with nicknames for it, like Maisie. Evie and Maisie! I also love both Madeleine and Sophie on their own for the Uebbings — they’re both gorgeous, girly, saintly French names (though admittedly not very exotic). Madeleine Azelie, Madeleine Grace, Madeleine Isabel, Madeleine Julia, Sophie Eliz/sabeth, Sophie Emilia(na), Sophie Caroline are all just so lovely. And Sophie lends itself so easily to the hyphenated idea! Sophie-Grace (for Grace on their list, which is Marian, as is Sophie — Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom!) or Sophie-Claire (Mother Mary and Mother Angelica together in one!) are amazing! Also, fun fact: the Sophie the Giraffe teether was named for St. Madeleine Sophie!! […]
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[…] I just think this mama and her hubby did a fantastic job with their daughter’s name, Madeleine Virginia is beautiful! She’s right about the connection to Mary Magdalene — Madeleine is the French variant of Magdalene. And how cool that two of her grandmother’s cousins were Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart! I love St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, and a fun fact about her is that the Sophie the Giraffe teether was named after her! […]
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