Happy Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary! Such a lovely feast for little Rosary, and also a good day to pray for special intentions — I have one, if you don’t mind adding it to your own. And I’ll remember you all and your intentions in my rosary this evening. ❤
So we’re all going crazy wanting to know Emily’s baby’s name, right? For anyone who didn’t yet see, Emily linked to her consultation on her blog, and added the tantalizing note that she’d actually had the baby that morning, and that she’d reveal his name soon. I’ll share it as soon as she gives the okay!
The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, which I just love, and whose Editor-in-Chief, Sara, sometimes offers her thoughts in our comments here (I’m still a little dazzled!), has just added Joachim to its database! You know it’s one of my very favorite names, and I asked Sara about it a few months ago, and she tweeted me the other day to let me know it had been added. I *love* the entry! This is my favorite part: “The name was never common in any culture, but the importance of the saintly father of Mary meant that this name could be found pretty much anywhere” (emphasis mine). That’s one of the things I love about it!
Has anyone seen this article? The New Tug of War Over Baby Names. I totally get having hopes, even very strong ones, that a family name will be used by the next generation; I get feeling badly if that doesn’t happen; I DON’T get offering bribes for baby names! Definitely an overstepping of bounds, no? Have any of you experienced this in your own families, or heard about it happening in real life?
Finally, a reader just sent me this today — I don’t know how I missed it! Cate Blanchett Got Her Son’s Name from a Captain Underpants Book (Yes, It’s True!). Despite how very Catholicky Catholic her kids’ names are, it appears Roman Polanksi and Captain Underpants provided inspiration for the naming of two of her sons. Which just illustrates one of the things I love about saints’ names: You can be as ostentatious or understated about your faith as you want in regards to your kids’ names and no one really need bat an eye; conversely, there are so many saints’ names that no matter your taste (and even no matter your faith), you can still end up with children that make people like me think swoonily of popes and martyrs. 😉
Happy Wednesday to you all!
Sancta Nomina 
I’m so excited to hear the name that Emily and her hubby have chosen!! I’m sure it’s just as wonderful as Simon’s name 🙂
So, that article on the people bribing relatives to use names…..it makes me kind of sad and kind of angry. I feel like choosing a name is such an intimate thing between husband and wife and should be left that way. Bribery cheapens what a special thing it is to be pregnant and be picking a baby name. It saddens me that some grandparents are reducing their grandbaby/great-grandbaby to simply a name, when really he/she is an extreme gift from God. I feel like if my grandparent was came and told me “I’ll pay you 10,000 dollars to use this name” I’d probably be less likely to name my child that, because it would be like giving naming rights away to the highest bidder, instead of granting my child a name my husband and I love and have given a lot of thought and work into. I know we’re always talking about names on here, and they are important, but they are still just names, and what matters is not that the name you (meaning a relative) want is chosen, what matters is the gift that God has given your family.
I see maybe suggesting a family name at most. Like my grandma had definitely dropped hints that she would like her name to be used by one of us grandchildren, but I don’t see her going as far as to give the first one of us that finds out we’re having a girl money.
Clearly I had a lot to say about that one, lol. It just……I don’t know…..annoyed me I guess.
From the Cate Blanchett article, I found this an interesting quote from her: ““They have this interior code, and they give these examples of names. You go down to ‘I’ and the example is Ignatius. It was like the Virgin Mary going ‘Boom!’ ”” Maybe she is a closet Catholic?
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You worded this all so well Grace, I feel so similarly. Also — yes! I loved that Virgin Mary quote — the reader who sent me the link had pointed it out as well. Cate really needs to pop in here!! 😀
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Yikes, that baby name bribery phenomenon sounds so stressful. I can sympathize with the “old guard” since using family names is really important to me–my daughter’s name, first and middle, actually appears on my family tree in combination several times!–but offering bribes makes me sad for the grandparents-to-be. It seems like they need more reassurance that they will be special and honored in their grandchildren’s lives despite the name, maybe? But if my future grandchild was in danger of being named Khaleesi…I don’t know. I couldn’t say I wouldn’t be tempted. 😉 But the example of Frank vs. Max seems like the grandparents are just pushing for their name despite the great meaning of the parents’ actual choice, which seems…ungracious. But maybe they didn’t know that Max was the choice when they made the offer? I guess that’s unclear in the article.
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Aw yes, I do think it stems from sadness and needing to be reassured. 😦 And yes, “ungracious,” such a great word.
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