Rivers Family Baby Naming

sanctanomina Baby name consultant, , ,

You guys. Do you remember the post I did about Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers’ baby #8, due soon? I ended by saying if anyone knows Philip or his wife Tiffany and wanted to pass on the post, I would be delighted? Well our lovely reader skimac was actually able to pass it on to them, and Tiffany wrote back.

Tiffany wrote back!!!!!!

((Trying not to squeal with excitement.))

(Maybe I squealed just a little. 🙂 )

I’m still blown away that (1) she read the post and (2) took the time (very near her due date!) to respond and (3) her response was just so beautiful! I know you’ll all love it! It was left here as a comment by a friend of her mother-in-law’s, but I wanted to post it so you’d all have a chance to read it:

Halle Elizabeth- Philip and I just loved the name Halle and when I was in mass while pregnant with her I noticed the song we were singing had Hallelujah in it and I took it as a sign 🙂

Elizabeth is Philips mom’s middle name and two of my favorite saints. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and St Elizabeth Anne Seton. Although at the time I think we were just naming her after her grandmother 🙂

Caroline Leigh- we loved the name and her god mother’s name is Leigh Anne

Grace Marilyn- because I was in awe of Gods grace and his love for me. Marilyn- after Mary and my mom’s middle name

Philip Gunner- Philip obviously after his dad 🙂 and Gunner is Philips mom’s maiden name. Her parents had 9 children and passed down the Catholic faith in a very Protestant part of the world.

Sarah Katherine- Philip picked Sarah, he loved the name and I love Old Testament names 🙂 Katherine after my grandmother and st Katherine Drexel

Peter Michael- Peter is my brothers name, but we most of all love it because we both have a heart for the Protestants coming home to our faith and Peter symbolizes that for us… The rock

Michael- Philips middle name and the name of the one who has done much battle for us and all God’s children (St Michael the archangel )

Rebecca Marie- another Old Testament name we both loved. Marie after our mother Mary.

We are awaiting our next blessing, and plan on naming her Clare Magdalene (or Magdalen) not sure about the spelling, maybe you could help me decide 🙂

With all the opinions we have here in our house now, we finally came up with one everyone likes. And will name her after St Clare of Assisi. Magdalene because it reminds me again of God’s grace and no matter how far we fall from God he is always our Father and wants us home! Plus love that fact that she (Mary Magdalene) was at the cross.

Thanks for writing such a nice blog post about Philip 🙂 and you never know we may have to talk about some of your name suggestions- we have been known to change names last minute!!

In Christ,
Tiffany

How exquisitely beautiful are the reasons behind all these choices?! I love each and every one of them. I had my husband read it, and he — a convert himself — was so impressed by how Tiffany said they “both have a heart for the Protestants coming home to our faith.” Along that same line, I also loved the use of Philip’s mom’s maiden name, Gunner, because her “parents had 9 children and passed down the Catholic faith in a very Protestant part of the world.” Beautiful.

And now I think I’ve used up my quota of how many times I can say “beautiful” in one post!

I just have to point out one more thing — “Halle” is contained within “Hallelujah”!! I put that right up there in Master Class naming, I am very impressed with that! And like my sister-in-law said when she read it, now I have a new name to suggest!

(Also, I was totally way off about the Scandinavian influence I thought was revealed by Halle and Gunner. I love the real reasons so much more!)

Please say a prayer for Tiffany and her baby girl as the birth nears, asking especially for St. Anne’s intercession! I’ll be sure to post when I find out that the baby’s been born, and in the meantime — what would you suggest regarding the spelling of Magdalene or Magdalen? (My response, which I’d posted as a comment, was: “this is one instance where I don’t have much of a preference; I quite like both Magdalene and Magdalen. Mayyybe I’d tip toward Magdalene, just because that’s what I see most often when St. Mary Magdalene is written out, but really, I think either spelling quite obviously points out which saint they’re referring to.”)

Updated to add: I forgot to say! The choice of name for their new baby isn’t one I suggested (though I did reference Magdalene in my suggestion of Lena), but I love love love their plan of Clare Magdalen(e) for their new little one — saintly, elegant, just wonderful!

24 thoughts on “Rivers Family Baby Naming”

  1. Wow! So exciting!! Love their name choices.

    And ohmigoodness!! Clare Magdalene!! Yes!! Just yes!! Clare is wonderfully perfect (as I said early in response to your patron saint article, St. Clare of Assisi is one of my patrons). And Magdalene is a wonderful middle. Mary Magdalene gets such a bad rap in lay circles, I wish more people realized how awesome she is! She’s seriously one of my favorite people in The Bible. I think I too would go with the Magdalene spelling because it is the one that is used in texts for Mary Magdalene 🙂

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  2. Gorgeous!! I love how all the names work together, they fit each other as siblings. Strong Catholic roots and none too ‘out there’ (I tend to prefer more traditional names personally). Plus they all have strong meanings and reasons behind them, heritage names (something I personally do prefer myself). I don’t know if they go by nicknames, but I love the full names. My family is like that (Rebecca, Sandra, Michael, Douglas, etc. instead of Becky, Sandy, Mike, Doug). Gah, love it. They are defiantly champ in naming.

    As for spelling, I prefer Magdalene. This is because I with the e I would be more inclined to pronounce it mag-dah-lean (as opposed to the mag-dah-lynn I want to say without the e). Mag-dah-lean has a softer sound than mag-dah-lynn, which I think fits better with the soft sound of Claire. Both Claire and Magdalene feel gentle and beautiful to me. I also just personally prefer the sound the mag-dab-lean to mag-dah-lynn.

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    • “Champ in naming” yes! I’m interested by your pronunciation of Magdalene vs. Magdalen — I say them both mag-dah-lynn, I don’t think I’ve ever heard mag-dah-lean! How about the rest of you?

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      • I pronounce it like Grace – the len/lin way. So I guess it would depend on how Tiffany and Philip are going to pronounce it. Visually I think Magdalene is a little more elegant, but that spelling I think is more likely to be pronounce LEEN when people see it. The Magdalen spelling more likely to be pronounced len/lin.

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  3. Beautiful name! I came into the Church and was married at St Mary Magdalen so I’d use that spelling . However, without a personal connection, I think Magdalene is less prone to misspelling.

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  4. Oh, gosh! I love their reasoning behind the names (plus the names themselves)! I probably wouldn’t have ever thought of Halle, but Halle found in Hallelujah is amazing!!!

    Clare Magdalene is beautiful. I’d probably go with Magdalene over Magdalen. I think you’re right – it’s super clear where the inspiration came from either way, but I think Magdalene just feels more familiar. I’ve only ever pronounced it mag-dah-lynn (though “lean” and “len” are also sweet).

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  5. Such a great post. Love the names – all so classic and meaningful. Loved hearing the intention in all the naming choices. Stories with connections like that mean a lot to the children who carry those names, I would imagine. Such a beautiful family. Praying for them, for a safe delivery of this new little one.

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  7. I’ve heard both pronunciations for Magdalene and think most people would assume that it is said “leen,” just because of the spelling. So I would think spelling it Magdalen would avoid confusion, but at the same time, I like the look of Magdalene. Either is beautiful and I LOVE Clare! She has wonderful taste!

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