So yes, I’m going to be posting a lot of Pope stuff in the next few days!

The first exciting thing is: Today’s the day Blessed Junipero Serra will be canonized! Woooo!!!! You can read his name spotlight here.

Second, my mom was telling me about Pope Francis’ siblings’ names the other day, and I love them all:

María Elena
Alberto Horacio
Oscar Adrián
Marta Regina

And of course he himself was Jorge Mario. His parents were Mario José and María Regina.

I think maybe Alberto Horacio isn’t quite ready for a comeback (but soon! I could see Albert being the new Arthur, which is getting some love recently. And there was a Horatio in my boys’ school for a few years — definitely ahead of the curve, as he’s in high school now), but the others are definitely not only Sancta Nomina style but broader-society style too I think. I mean, yes, they definitely have a Catholic spin — I can’t see just anybody choosing Regina for their daughter — but I could see Maria, Elena, Oscar, Adrian, Marta/Martha, and George (Jorge) on a whole bunch of different kinds of people. Mario too, while it *can* have a religious/Marian connotation if you want it to (and I want it to!), comes across as less Catholic and more ethnic (Italian or Hispanic) I think. (Mario Puso, Mario Lopez [who’s a Pope Francis fan! And he did name his son Dominic, so …].)

I love how PF’s mama gave her first name to one daughter and her second name to another, and I love that he has his dad’s first name as a middle name. But I’m kind of shocked — given their faith AND Papa Bergoglio’s middle name — that there’s no José among them!

What do you think of the Bergoglio sibs’ names? Which would you consider for your child, if any?