A mama wrote to me asking for suggestions for not-so-normal Catholic names. I don’t have permission to share her name or her children’s names, but I did want to share my response, and get any other suggestions from all of you.
(1) Last names as first names
I often see in name books certain saints’ last names used as girl’s first names, and often with the note/disclaimer “mostly used by Roman Catholic families” or similar, which I always think is cool. Some of these are: Liguori, Majella, Vianney, Clairvaux, and Piamarta (which I think translates as “holy Martha,” which is kind of cool). The associated saints for those are St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Gerard Majella, St. John Vianney, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and St. John Piamarta. I’ve referred to the blog My Child I Love You several times before because of their awesome taste in names — two of their girls are Vianney and Clairvaux, and they’d considered Talbot at one time as well, for Bl. Matt Talbot.
There are some saints’ last names that are used for boys, too. Xavier is a great example, although it’s not so unusual anymore. And I think you would want to be a little careful, because some (like those mentioned above) are used almost exclusively for girls, even though they’re male saints’ last names. Some good ones for boys might include: Kolbe (St. Maximilian Kolbe), Campion (St. Edmund Campion), Rice (Bl. Edmund Ignatius Rice), Bosco (St. John Bosco) (Grace just named her baby Bosco!), Jogues (St. Isaac Jogues, said in French like Joe with a G on the end, but in American English I’ve only ever heard it said like Joe with a “GZ” on the end).
There are a whole bunch more here, both in the post and in the comments.
(2) Marian apparition sites
Another kind of name I see used from time to time for girls is the names of places Mary appeared. Like: Lourdes, Liesse, Salette (from “La Salette”), Fatima, Guadalupe (actually used for both boys and girls). Liesse is a new discovery for me, and I’ve just been loving it.
(3) Words (feasts, adjectives, nouns) that give off a Catholic vibe
This sometimes works better within the context of siblings with Catholicky Catholic names, but consider, for girls: Vesper, Eden, Trinity, Pieta. And for boys: Roman, Paschal, Emmaus, Tiber, Creed, Boon. These came from this post (including the comments, nice suggestions offered).
(4) Catholic names from other languages
This would make them “not-so-normal” only from an American standpoint, but that can be good enough. Like, for girls: Belén (Spanish for Bethlehem), Zelie (French, for St. Therese’s mom, who will be canonized next month), Inessa (a Russian [I think?] form of Agnes), Pilar (from a Spanish title for Our Lady), Paloma (Spanish for “dove”), Brid (form of Bridget, said “breed”), Caoimhe/Keeva (just one example of the million unusually spelled Irish names). For boys: Cruz and …. I’m blanking on more! I keep thinking of Xavier, which just isn’t uncommon enough.
(4) Other
Then I just started going through The Catholic Baby Name Book and my own head, trying to find or remember unusual saints’ names I’ve heard, and came up with, for girls: Quiteria (I actually know a mom who was considering this for her daughter), Amata, Keziah/Cassia (biblical), Pia (though I think Piamarta works better because it doesn’t focus so much on the “pee” sound. So unfortunate, because Pia’s a sweet little name).
And for boys: Athan (like Ethan, but not — I believe he was a Welsh saint), Inigo/Eneco (St. Ignatius of Loyola’s birth name; also The Princess Bride!), Ephraim/Efrem (not terribly obscure, but rare), Ivo (more popular in England/Europe I think than here), Aaro (Finnish for Aaron), Eleazar (form of Lazarus).
What do you all think? What names can you add that fit the criteria of “not-so-normal Catholic names”?
Some other ideas:
Avila, Delphine, Isidora, Paschale, Renata/Renate, Rose Philippine, Rose Lima, Rose Maria Benedetta, Sabina/Sabine, Salome
Dermaid/Dermot, Desmond, Gilead, Irenaeus, Jarlath, John Charles, John Davy, Peregrine, Severin, Soter, I’ve been hearing Titus a LOT lately from a sophomore in high school who runs XC down to babies being named Titus, Urban (a pope and a saint and my 5yo son!), Yves, and one I’m keeping secret in case our baby is a boy because I’m pretty sure that’s our boy name 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This! This is why this blog would not survive without all you wonderful readers! AWESOME list Hollyce, thank you!! (And Yves! So cool!)
LikeLike
I love the name Desmond- but can you tell me how it is a Catholic name? Thanks! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Katie, good catch! I just assumed there must be a St. Desmond or similar but you’re right — I’ve just done a bunch of different searches, and while I can find some Catholics with the name, like the late Bishop Daniel Desmond, I can’t find any saints, and Archbishop Tutu seems to be the biggest religious association (Anglican, not Catholic). Hollyce, do you know of someone that I’ve missed?
LikeLike
I was hoping there was a Catholic tie somewhere because I would love to use the name knowing it is connected to our faith!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I found a relation of Desmond in a google book making it Catholic. “…[St. Finian Lobhar was a disciple of St. Brendan who founded the monasteries of Inis-Fallen in Desmond, and of Ard-Fiman in the county of Tipperary]…”
https://books.google.com/books?id=elw3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA158&dq=St.+Brendan,+founder+of+the+monasteries+of+InisFallen+in+Desmond&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAGoVChMI5b-fmPmNyAIVi0yICh22Fg9F#v=onepage&q=St.%20Brendan%2C%20founder%20of%20the%20monasteries%20of%20InisFallen%20in%20Desmond&f=false
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yay!! 🙂
LikeLike
Love these!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh! I forgot Constance which I love but don’t hear too often for kids? I really like virtue names in general. The other Marian names like Stella Maris are also really pretty!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay Help me out. DH wants to name our baby Constance b/c thats his mother’s name… its so much longer than my other kids. Any cool nicknames besides Connie or Coco?
LikeLiked by 3 people
How about Constance Rose nicked Cora? Or Constance Leah and call her Caeli? Constance is one of my most fav names! But I like Connie, too 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love these ideas!
LikeLike
I love Cora!!! Thats a great idea! Thank you. Ill see what Dh thinks. Thank you. He really wants to honor his mother since 1 of our other daughters has my mothers name as a middle ( Joyce) but I just can’t get over how long Constance is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always think Roma for a girl is Catholic and unique, which is how you say Rome in Italian, and I think it’s beautiful.
I know a Pia and have always though that it was beautiful.
I think maybe it would be cool to look up where a favorite saint was from, and maybe that place name could work? Place names are so big right now, that not many are considered super weird but there are still a lot that are uncommon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh! And maybe feminizations of male saint names? Pauline/Paulina, Antonia, Simone, ect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Simone … makes me think of Petra too, and Mattea … and variants are a great idea in general, male or female, like all the versions of John … thanks Grace!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was my thought, too:
Clementine
Bernardine
Dominique
Justine
Leonie
Florienne
Emmanuelle
Nicoletta
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh Florienne, I’ve never heard that before!
LikeLike
Yes! I love Roma, and I do love Pia too. And saints’ places are a great idea. Like Avila … I recently read about St. John of Ravenna … great ideas!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Falling under the foreign names category, there are a lot of really epic Scandinavian Catholic names. A lot of Scandinavian names are sort of ugly sounding to American ears (I don’t know if there are a lot of takers for Sigurd or Bogdis) but some are pretty awesome. Bjorn is one of my all-time fav boys’ names and is a form of Bernard. Also for boys: Gunnar (the Scandinavian form of Gunther), Magnus, Anders, Isak, Rasmus (so cool, right?), and Sander. For girls: Agneta, Elin, Katrin, Inga, Dagny (one of my classmates is named this; it means “new day.”), Ingrid, Thea…I just think they are such cool, kicky variations on the regular English versions.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love all of these! We very nearly gave our second son the middle name Gunnar (family name), and we’ve tossed around Rasmus/Erasmus as well (another family name). I also like Magnus, and Sander’s probably my fave of the Alexander versions/nicknames. I love Katrin too, and Dagny’s interesting! Thanks for this!
LikeLike
What do you think of Lisieux for a girl nicknamed Lise? Or Lisel if she had an “L” middle name, like Lisieux Lousia? I’ve been thinking about this for a while but haven’t received any positive feedback on it yet–it certainly is unusual but I think it’s beautiful! A way to name a child after St. Therese without having to use a variation of “Teresa!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ohmygosh I LOVE it!!! I’ve never thought of Lisieux for a first name, and I’ll be honest that I’m not always sure I’m pronouncing it correctly (lee-SUE?), so that’s just something to consider in terms of whether others would be baffled by it, but otherwise it’s SUCH a great idea! I love the idea of Lise too (LEES?) and Liesl for Lisieux Louisa, lovely!!
LikeLike
You just made my day, I’m so happy you love it! I pronounce Lisieux as li-ZYOU, but lee-SUE also works in my mind, they’re super similar.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh okay, yes, I think your pronunciation is closer, beautiful!
LikeLike
I’ve been thinking about this all morning and I so much like your pronunciation so much better, it’s so elegant and French. Mine seems clunky and very American next to it!
LikeLike
Do it!! I’m also not a big Theresa-varient fan, but the nickname Tess might be worth it
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOVE Tess!
LikeLike
I’ve seen Tess as a nick for Elizabeth too, which gets around the Theresa issue.
LikeLike
Sorry! So, Desmond just the place name from Ireland Munster/Cork and I assumed the Mac Carthaigh were Catholic, but I probably shouldn’t have!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh gotcha! I was right there with you!
LikeLike
Our new neighbors are Greek Orthodox. The father is actually the priest at the local Orthodox church, which I think is neat. Some of the family names are unique and have lovely meanings.
Marika: Greek nickname for Maria
Kyriaki: The name means Day of the Lord. Kyriaki was a greek martyr. The girl in this family goes by Kiki.
Demetrius (or Dimitri): Christian martyr of the 4th century. He’s one of the patrons of soldiers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love these! Reminds me also of a Greek family I knew with a daughter named Chrysanthe (they said it cris-ANN-thee), I always loved that too.
LikeLike
I love all this info! It’s like a mini-course! Great work here!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Place name ideas: We know a Cupertino – they call him Cooper.
I have a neice born on August 20 named Claire. I know they didn’t do it purposefully or even know, but I think that is cool that is Bernard of Clairvaux’s feast day. Helps me remember.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cupertino nicked Cooper is genius! I love it! And Claire born on Bernard of Clairvaux’s feast day is so great!!
LikeLike
Love this post. I love Lindsay’s from( My Child I Love You) name choices. Love them. Lisieux is a great one.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love Pia!! One of my friends has a daughter named Perpetua and she is nicked Pia. I also have a cousin and second cousin girls with the name Ravenna. The first is actually Ravenna Pia and she goes by Rae sometimes, and the younger goes by Renny.
I love Caeli as a not-normal Catholic name. You could give the CH or the CK for beginning of Caeli; I know two girls with same name and different pronunciations. I think Regina is pretty out of the ordinary, too.
For boys, I am leaning toward Basil, Lucca, Todd*, Jude, and Andrew. You just don’t hear many Andrew’s these days. Or am I wrong??
*https://books.google.com/books?id=96u9tHR9-QC&pg=PA555&lpg=PA555&dq=St+Todd+catholic+saint&source=bl&ots=omIOFztseI&sig=i2Mi0fb1XagL4g0L4Jz2czpbegc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAmoVChMI74WwkrmLyAIVVy-ICh2pMQip#v=onepage&q=St%20Todd%20catholic%20saint&f=false
LikeLiked by 1 person
This link might actually connect without a copy> paste for St. Todd
https://books.google.com/books?id=96u9tHR9-TQC&pg=PA555&dq=st.+todd+catholic+saint&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAGoVChMIj5SX5f-NyAIVg5SICh2MjQoU
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh! I have that book!
LikeLike
I’ll have to check out that link! Ravenna Pia is beautiful! And I love Pia as a nick for Perpetua, so great! Hmm … I know a couple little Andrews …
LikeLike
Two names I’ve only heard on this blog: Rosary and Cana.
(Love, love, love Cana and would totally use it, if I didn’t have an Abel… Abel and Cana? No can do.)
Otherwise I just pick names I love from “Still Dusty” type name lists, then Google it for a related saint. I’m always surprised. For example, I found patron saints for both Arthur and Lewis.
And I love all the Marian links that Kate finds, so names like Pearl and Aurora on game-on, yay! An acquaintance even made Mabel into a Marian name by using it as a contraction for Mater Amabilis. So many options with that tactic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Mater Amabilis–Mabel!
LikeLike
Mabel is a diminutive of Amabel (from Amabilis) so doesn’t even need to be contracted to tie to that lovely Marian title – so pretty, glad you mentioned it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely!
LikeLike
Last names (or place names) as first names: Some I like that have been mentioned on the blog, but not in this post and figure should be mentioned here – Becket, Casey (St. Thomas Becket, Bl. Solanus Casey)
What about these as possibilities? (boys) Newman, Stein, Drexel, Claver, Jansen, Kirby, Bing, Fisher, Kemble, Mason, (girls) Chanel, Cascia, Claret, Bessette, Garnet, Lacy/Lacey
For Bl. John Henry Newman, St. Edith Stein, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Peter Claver, St. Arnold Janssen, St. Luke Kirby, St. Hildegard of Bingen, St. John Fisher, St. John Kemble, Bl. John Mason, St. Peter Chanel, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Anthony Mary Claret, St. Andre Bessette, St. Thomas Garnet, Bl. William Lacy/Bl. Brian Lacey
Words (feasts, adjectives, nouns) that give off a Catholic vibe: I have heard Ave, Kyrie, Pax
What about these as possibilities? Fiat, Curia, Chrism, Memorare, Litany, Ember, Divina, Matin
And what about Church Councils? Trent, Nicea
LikeLike
Ahhhh I love these ideas!! My faves are Bing or Bingen, Cascia (how do you say that btw?), Claret, Kyrie, and all from Fiat to Nicea. So great!!
LikeLike
Kah – she – ah, I believe.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was hoping so! Beautiful.
LikeLike
[…] a lot of great ideas, both in my post and (mostly) in the comments: Last names as first names and Baby name consultant: Not-so-normal Catholic names. I think this is a really great pool of names to draw from if Keri and her husband want to find a […]
LikeLike
[…] it used as a name, though I’ve long thought it has potential as one. (I wrote about it here and here.) This might seem totally out of left field, but Emmaus and Christian both made me think of […]
LikeLike
[…] more ideas for unusual Catholic names, these posts (and especially the comments!) may be helpful: Not-so-normal Catholic names, Last names as first names, and Nouns as […]
LikeLike
[…] Kolbe, that was inspired by Becket—it was actually listed as a style match for it in the BNW. One of you readers knows a little Cupertino, for St. Joseph of Cupertino, and he goes by Cooper—I think that’s so […]
LikeLike
[…] also had a connection to the faith. I also perused this post I’d done of Catholicky surnames, this post I did of “not-so-normal Catholic names,” and this article I wrote about surnames that derived […]
LikeLike
[…] had a couple of readers consider Cooper in honor of St. Joseph Cupertino (like this one), and I’ve heard of a little boy given the name Cupertino as his first name and called Cooper as a nickn… — I love all of these options! For this family, I feel like Cupertino goes best with […]
LikeLike
[…] Hubby wasn’t far off with Romulus, though, and that’s where Romilly’s Catholic-ness comes from: according to Behind the Name, Romilly is from an English surname derived from the names of several Norman towns whose names were ultimately derived from Romulus — the name of the mythological co-founder of Rome, and that actually means “of Rome” in Latin. So Romilly is from the Latin for “of Rome,” and if that isn’t Catholicky Catholic (in a fun, sneaky way!), I don’t know what is! (I’ve written similarly about the names Roman and Tiber.) […]
LikeLike