Baby name consultant: Mary, music, and ends-in-a

Mary Dove and her husband Gerry are expecting their seventh baby, a little girl! This little lady joins big sibs:

Maria Paloma (“which is Mary Dove in Spanish, she goes by Paloma“)
Isabella Maria (“goes by Bella, Bellita, Izzy“)
Juliana Marie (“Jules, Juice Cup, Julie Dear“)
Nicholas Matthias (“Nick, Nicko, even Nicodemus which I almost wish we named him because I have come to love it, he was named after Gerry’s Confirmation name, since he didn’t want a Jr.”)
Dominic Karl (“Dom, Domo and Domodemus; Karl is after my dad, Dom was almost Donovan but Dominic felt right“)
Augustine Raphael (“Gus, Gusto, Auggie; Raphael after Gerry’s dad“)

Just an amazing bunch of names! (And those nicknames! “Juice Cup”! 😀 ) I love them all, but I especially love that Maria Paloma has her mom’s exact name, just translated into Spanish — particularly interesting in light of our conversation about girls named after their moms the other day. (Also, the fact that Gerry “didn’ want a Jr.” makes it sound like Mary Dove would have been okay with that — further evidence for the idea that many of the boy Juniors are Mom’s idea!)

Mary Dove shared lots of fun namey info:

“I’ll start with me, since my own name needs some explaining. My name is Mary Donovan Z. My mom nicknamed me Mary Dove (like Mary Beth or Mary Jo) and it stuck. My family and close friends call me Mary Dove or Dove. I am part Irish/Scottish and German. My husband’s name is Gerry (Gerald) Micheal, he is European Spanish/Mexican and English/German. I like to have names that reflect family heritage and also the person’s appearance

A couple of things we do with our kid’s names, the girls have a Marian name in their names and the first name ends in the letter a because it flows with our last name (but having a name ending in A is not an absolute). 2 of our kids have blue eyes and freckles and burn in the sun (yup, that’s the Irish) and the other 4 have various light skin tones but tan and have green/grey/hazel eyes. 3 are slender and 3 are stocky (aren’t genes cool!!)

The boys have middle names that are family names. We also use nicknames a lot.”

I just died over Mary Donovan –> Mary Dove or just Dove. So great!

Regarding names for their Little Miss,

“[W]e will probably use Monica, as that is a family name and though not Marian, I think I might count it as Marian-ish. Gerry is partial to Felicity. I kinda like Pia (because I love Padre Pio). I prefer actual saint names but have considered the names Hope and Grace, too … [also] perhaps a variation on Bridget [after Mary Dove’s sister] … we are a bit of a musical family and was wondering about musical type names. My sisters and I had an a cappella singing group as teens and I play (though not really much now) the harp, Scottish bagpipes, and piano. My girls all play piano and each a string instrument (cello, violin and viola) my husband is learning guitar and Ukulele! (How cute is that? If you have older kids, the Ukulele is the cutest little instrument and quite easy to learn!) I like the name Cecelia but that seems to be the quintessential Catholic music name and plus I have a friend whose daughter is named Cecelia. Are there any other musical names out there??“

And a name that Mary Dove really likes but can’t use as it’s the name of her niece:

Anneliese

Alrighty, I’m going to jump right in with a few quick thoughts about the names Mary Dove and her hubs are currently considering: I love Monica, and I’m interested in her Marian-ish idea — I assume she means because it’s the name of a holy mother? I admit I’ve never heard that argument given before for the name Monica! But if her name calls Our Lady to mind for them, who am I to say it’s not Marian-ish!

I love the name Felicity, and I wondered what they’d both think of Felicita? It’s a legit variation (Italian) and retains their ends-in-a pattern. And speaking of Felicity/Felicita, of course I always think of Perpetua too, and I’ve heard of several little girls recently named Perpetua who go by the nickname Pia, which is a name Mary Dove said she likes — maybe they’d like to consider that as a way to use Pia, and it could also be a nod to St. Pio? Also, Our Lady is described as “pia” in the Salve Regina, so it can be a Marian name too. Maybe Monica Pia? And then they get a Marian name, their St. Pio name, and Monica all in one? (Though Mary Dove’s clever Juliana heard “onomatopoeia” when she heard Monica Pia — deal breaker? Or kinda cool?)

Before I get to my other ideas, I have to say I’m a bit stumped about the music question! I looked up patron saints of music, as there are usually several saints for each category/condition/etc., but there was only one listed besides Cecilia — St. Arnulf of Soissons, which didn’t strike me as terribly inspiring (though he himself is pretty awesome). I did see that a Frisian (from Wikipedia: “The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. The Frisian languages are the closest living language group to English languages“) variant is Anne, used for both girls and boys and said AH-nah, so I thought maybe Ana or Anna would work as a nod to St. Arnulf? Or are they too close to Anneliese?

I looked up patron saints of singers and had a little more success: St. Andrew the Apostle, King David, and St. Gregory the Great (Gregorian Chant is named after him) are all patrons of singers. Of those, Andrea would fit in well with the other girls’ names (and it’s a style match for Monica!), and I’ve seen Andra and Andrina as well. Greer is used as a feminine form of Gregory — it’s from a Scottish surname derived from Gregory, which is a nice nod to Mary Dove’s Scottish heritage. I don’t think it would work as a first name for this family, but maybe as a middle?

I had the most luck with “saints who were singers” — there are a lot of them (the full list here); these were three of my favorite ideas for them:
— Bl. Anne Pelras (that “Anne” again!)
— Bl. Chiara Badano (looooove Chiara for this family! It’s Italian instead of Spanish, but ends in -a and is so lovely, like the other girls)
— Bl. Marie-Gabrielle Trezel (Gabriela would be a perfect fit!)

And then I had the idea of Aria — as it refers to “song” or “melody” in Italian, and ends in -a, and is beautiful — and looked to see if there was a holy Aria, and there is! St. Aria of Rome! (The Game of Thrones character Arya Stark, said the same is Aria, is good to be aware of though, as some might think the name was inspired by her.)

Okay! I did a full round of research for girl names, where “research” means, as you all know, looking up all the names they’ve used and those they like/are considering in the Baby Name Wizard, which is an awesome resource as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I also went through my own mental files, and here’s what I came up with:

(1) Jacinta
Bl. Hyacinth-Marie Cormier is one of the blesseds who was a singer, and Jacinta — which I’d already had on my list for them! — is a feminine variant of Hyacinth (and actually Hyacinth can be used as a female name as well — see the Pioneer Woman’s best friend Hyacinth). I’d say it jah-SIN-tah, the English way, and I assume Mary Dove’s Juliana is said with an English J? But they could also do hah-SEEN-tah, it’s gorgeous either way. And it’s also Marian-ish, since Bl. Jacinta Marto was one of the Fatima children.

(2) Lilia, Liliana, Lilli
Lilies are associated with Our Lady, and so the Lily names are Marian. Lilia’s one of my very favorite variants, and Liliana’s another (and is actually a style match for Juliana — but maybe two names ending in -ana is too much?). Lili and Lilli are German variants that are specifically diminutives of Elisabeth (as Lily is a traditional nickname for Elizabeth), which is cool, but like with Juliana/Liliana, are any of the Elizabeth variants too much with sister Isabella? I think no, since one could choose a Lily name just because of the flower or Our Lady without any intention of connecting to Elizabeth. (Lillian is also a style match for Isabella, and Lily for Bella).

(3) Magdalena
I love this variant of Mary Magdalene’s name — it ends in -a like the other girls’ names, and has the beautiful nickname options Maggie (which has an Irish feel), Maddy, and Lena.

(4) Victoria, Veronica (or Cora?)
Victoria is a style match for several of their names — Juliana, Nicholas, and Sebastian — and I’ve recently been loving it as a nod to Our Lady of Victory. I’ve also seen the nickname idea Cora for it recently, which not only makes Victoria feel a bit fresher, but can also be a nod to either the Immaculate Heart of Mary or the Sacred Heart of Jesus (“cor” in Latin means “heart”). It made me think of Veronica, which is another gorgeous V name and a great saintly connection. I actually think Cora could also work as a nickname for Veronica, as well as Vee and Via (but not the Nic- names, of course, because of Nicholas. The traditional Ronnie feels a little dated to me, but if they like it that’s another nickname option). I’m also loving just Cora, as a given name!

(5) Natalia
Natalia also did quite well for them in my research, being similar in style to Juliana, Nicholas, Dominic, and Sebastian. I love the name Natalia, and I think Nat, Natty, Talia, Tally, Nia, and Lia are all sweet.

(6) Britta, Breda/Brida
My last girl idea for this baby girl is Britta, 100% inspired by Mary Dove’s sister Bridget, as Britta is a variant of it (and it ends in -a!). I love Britta, and another awesome tidbit is that it’s a style match for Pia! I’ve also seen Breda and Brida as variants/anglicizations of the Irish Bríd, which I believe is said “breed” and is an Irish contracted form of Brighid, which is of course a variant of Bridget.

And those are all my thoughts/ideas for this baby girl! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for this beautiful family?

Prayers please!

October 17, 2016 sanctanomina Sancta Nomina community

A mama I did a consultation for has let me know her baby has been born, and while I haven’t yet secured permission from her to post the birth announcement, she did tell me she’d like prayers for her baby:

“[The baby] was diagnosed with a heart defect this week. Could you please ask your readers to include him in their prayers, that the hole in his heart would close naturally and that he wouldn’t need surgery?“

Please keep this little guy and his mama and the rest of his family in your prayers!

Naming after women

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016 sanctanomina Men Who Love Mary, Naming nitty gritty Catholic baby names, Catholic surnames, Girl-names-on-boys, Mary, Men Who Love Mary, Religious name change

I spent a few minutes in the Baby Name Wizard discussion forums this morning as I ate my breakfast, and saw a comment containing a sentiment that I see with some regularity over there and that kind of irks me every time I see it:

“I think it’s totally lovely to honor a mother with a name for a change (I know lots of men who name their sons after themselves, either as juniors outright or using variant forms or middle names, but very few women who do so).”

I don’t even disagree with the comment! I know it’s more common for a dad to have a son named after himself than for a mom to have a daughter named after herself. And the commenter herself is one I highly respect, as her thoughts are *always* well balanced and fair. But I feel testy and defensive when I see things like “honor a mother with a name for a change” and “lots of men who name their sons after themselves” — probably because I feel like it’s a tentacle of a whole “down with the patriarchy!” thought process that usually includes the “old men in white hats in Rome.” Blah.

Anyway, my contrarian Rome-loving self immediately thought of lots of examples, old and new, of people (babies and olders) being named after women. My mom, for one example, was half named for her mom (I saw “half” because her mom’s name was Anne, and my grandfather wanted to name my mom Anne — imagine that! A man! Wanting to name his baby girl after his beloved wife! But my grandmother wanted to name her one of the names-of-the-day: Susan. So they compromised with Susanne). My sister has my mom’s name as one of her middle names. My paternal grandfather was given his mom’s maiden name as a first name. Before I had so many boys, I’d always planned to work one or more elements of my name into one or more of my daughters’ names.

Moving farther afield from moms naming daughters after themselves, my youngest son’s first name is for my mother-in-law and his middle name for my mom. Julianamama shared that she knows a dad with a great devotion to St. Margaret who named his son Garrett after her! (I died when I read that! Brilliant!)

I’ve done two posts (On my bookshelf: A Dictionary of English Surnames and Girl names turned surnames) highlighting how various surnames are originally metronymics (identifying a person by his or her mother), or diminutives of female first names that became surnames, or perhaps arising from religious devotion to a female saint — like Marriot (from Mary), Ebbetts (from Isabel), Scollas (from Scholastica, specifically for St. Scholastica, according to Reaney & Wilson), and Emmett (from Emma). All of these would be fine and interesting for a child to be named, and they’re all feminine in origin (even if the parents don’t realize it or it wasn’t their intent). And I did a couple posts on current men religious who took their Mother Mary’s name as part of their new religious names: Eleven new Dominican priests and Men Who Love Mary: MFVA (a whole Order of men who take Mary as part of their new name! And one had Therese as well!), never mind all the male saints with Mary in their names: St. Clement Mary/Maria Hofbauer (depending on what you’re reading), St. Maximilian Mary/Maria Kolbe, St. Anthony Mary Claret, St. Jean Marie Vianney, St. Josemaria Escriva … who else?

I’d love to know what stories you all have of moms naming their daughters or sons after themselves or similar family stories, and whether you know any Brothers or Priests with female saints’ names, or boys who have taken a female saint’s name for a Confirmation name. It’s not all oppression, people. (I’m done ranting now. 🙂 )

Spotlight on: Benedict/a

October 13, 2016 sanctanomina Spotlight Catholic baby names, Nicknames, Papal names

I haven’t done one of these in ages and it feels goooood to work on one! 😀

One of you dear readers asked me for a spotlight on Benedicta a while ago, so I thought it would be best to add in Benedict as well, as Benedict is the “originating name” in the sense that it was a name first, and then the female variant arose. (Withycombe says that Benedicta is, “Probably as a rule simply a f. form of Benedictus, the man’s name, though there are one or two obscure saints Benedicta.”)

Benedict/a’s meaning rocks: “blessed.” So great, right?! And for us, it also means “any of the Sts. Benedict, and/or the Benedictine Order (especially for those who have a Benedict spirituality), and/or our dear Papa Benny — Pope Emeritus Benedict XIV (aka B16 because we Catholics are cool like that, giving our popes hip nicks. 😀 ).”

Speaking of hip … this image of St. Benedict always kills me, he looks so cool, like he’s just wearing his hoodie, hanging out with friends, like (Catholic nerd alert!) your favorite young seminarian or director of campus ministry. 😀 I hope it isn’t disrespectful to say so! It’s my favorite image of him, and if I ever have a Benedict, I’ll get this icon for him.

st_benedict_of_norcia — Hoping it’s okay that I’m including this screen grab — I’ve seen this image all over the internet and only tonight discovered who wrote it — great job, Br. Claude Lane! I got it from Mount Angel Abbey’s web site.

I know some people have a hard time moving past the Benedict Arnold association that, unfortunately, continues to cling stubbornly to the name, but fortunately that’s only an American problem, and Pope Benedict, Benedict Cumberbatch, and time have all helped to dilute it, and will continue to do so I’m sure.

Benedicta suffers from no such problematic association, as far as I’m aware, and Simcha Fisher’s little Benedicta Maribel — called Benny exclusively and swoonily — is a tremendous example of how such a big name can work on a beautiful little girl.

As far as nicknames go for Benedict, there’s Ben and Benny, and I’ve suggested Bede as a nickname for it, and I’ve recently been loving the idea of Boon(e) as a nickname for it too, if you want something a little offbeat — it means “good,” a similar meaning to Benedict, which just adds to its possible use as a nickname for Benedict in my opinion (Abby did a post on Boone not too long ago, which I loved). I’ve also seen Ned (and Neddy!) — seriously adorable! Benito is a Spanish variant (though … is the Mussolini connection still too strong?) and Benedetto an Italian variant, and I think some of the other foreign variants could really work as nicknames or given names too, like Bendt/Bent (Danish), Bence (Hungarian), and Bento (Portuguese).

For Benedicta, there’s of course Benny and I think Betty, Neddy/Nettie, and even Becka could work. (Which makes me think — Beck could work as a nickname for Benedict too! Fun!) I could see Bonnie working for a girl as well. Benita is a Spanish form and Benedetta an Italian form (and Bettina its diminutive). Pretty!

I can’t not mention also Bennett/Bennet/Benett/Benet/Bennitt — medieval variants of Benedict that can be a little easier to bear while still retaining the saintliness of the name. Withycombe even says that those same variants were used for girls as late as the end of the 17th century! She also says that the surnames Benn and Benson were derived from Benedict, which provide further ideas.

All in all, I think Benedict and Benedicta are great names, very usable. I’d love to hear from any of you who have a Benedict/a or know any — do they like their name? Do they go by a nickname and if so, what is it?

Naming for difficult family members?

October 12, 2016October 12, 2016 sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty Catholic baby names, Family names

A reader asked me this question,

“What do you think about family names that the person/persons have had a rough life/difficult personality? I really want to use family names but there are a few names in our family tree that almost seem… how do I say it… to have issues attached to it? On one hand this is our family and heritage and the names are of wonderful saints and are great names, on the other hand, the name evokes at least for me, negative or stressful feelings, even though I may love the person… What are your thoughts?“

I thought this was such a sweet and sincere question — a good example of trying to make the best of what (and who) we’re given. Family dynamics can be ah-MAZing! And also the worst ever!

On the one hand, I think doing something like using the name of a particular family member can go far in repairing relationships and even mindsets towards those people, if that makes sense. And hearing the name of a beloved baby over and over again in a loving and safe environment might really help soften hearts toward the original name-bearer, which I think is a good thing (reconciliation and peace of any kind, even small, is a step in the right direction, right?). Almost like an act of charity? On the other hand though, if you think giving the name of a difficult person to your child would have a negative impact on your relationship with your child, or other family members’ relationships with your child, and the child’s view of his/her worth and standing in the family, then I do think that’s a serious consideration.

It’s definitely something that needs to be prayerfully considered on a case-by-case basis. I do love the idea though that, as in the reader’s case above where she actively wants to honor her family and heritage and it sounds like she loves some of the names belonging to people who give her “negative or stressful feelings,” that giving one’s child the name of a difficult relative is sort of an easy thing to do — an easy act of love or reconciliation. Even if you can’t bear to be around the family member too frequently or for too long, your child’s name bears witness to the decision to love.

What do you all think? I’m sure there are some doozy stories among you about this topic — just remember it’s a public blog and nothing published here is private!

Baby name consultant: French-ish for girls, classic for boys, no ending in long E

October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 sanctanomina Baby name consultant Catholic baby names, French names, Mary, Nicknames

Lauren and her husband are expecting their fourth baby, a little green bean (=gender unknown)! Their older kiddos are:

Michael Douglas (“my husband is Michael and my father is Douglas“)
Annabelle Grace (“after my great grandmother“)
John Walter (“goes by Jack, my grandfather’s name is Walter“)

I loooove these names!! The boys are so strong and handsome, and Annabelle is a huge favorite of mine!

Lauren writes,

“So I guess our trend has been strong(ish) family Catholic names? Jack is a bit of an outlier in terms of the length of his name because we still call Michael and Annabelle by their full names.

In terms of restrictions … names that end in a long E are pretty much out [because of having a last name that ends in the same sound]. For example, Betty or the like 🙂 I’m still a little torn on nicknames that end in that sound, because once in awhile a family member will call Michael Mikey or Annabelle Annie and they don’t say them with their last name, and it’s fine. Otherwise we are pretty open!“

Names they’ve considered for a girl include:

Mary Christine (“I’d like to use Christine, my mother’s name as a middle name — and I think I would consistently call her Mary Christine and not shorten it“)
Bernadette Christine

And for a boy:

Peter Charles (“Peter is my great-grandfather’s name“)
Benedict Something (“my husband likes Benedict but I’m not sure it fits with our current names“)
Francis (“I like — but would most likely call him Frankie, and there is the long E again. And my husband is not a huge fan“)

Additionally:

“Other family names for consideration include: George, William, Joseph, Fredrick, Agnes, Rose, Katherine, Patricia, Evelyn

As far as heritage, we are mainly German and Polish but my husband’s grandfather is from Syria“

I actually found this to be really challenging consultation because Lauren and her hubs have such great ideas already! You all know that I almost always start a consultation by looking up the names the parents have used and those they like/are considering in the Baby Name Wizard as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, so when I looked up the names Lauren and her hubs like I focused only on Michael, Annabelle, John, Jack, Christine, Bernadette, Peter, Benedict, and Francis and didn’t look up the other family names they listed for consideration (George, William, etc.) … but then when I was making my list of ideas for them, I had Katherine and Patricia as two of my girl suggestions—and then I saw they were already on their family names list! So I found it a challenge to come up with *new* ideas!

Before I get to the ideas I did end up with, I first want to say how much I like Mary Christine, and I wondered if they’d considered using just Christine as the first name? I would be excited to see it as a first name, as it’s really unusual these days and it’s one of my favorite of the Christ- names, so elegant and lovely.

Bernadette I love as well, but I wondered if they would agree with me that using Bernadette or Benedict now would knock the other out for the future? They seem similar enough to me in sound and appearance that brother and sister Benedict and Bernadette seem a bit much. But I do love Benedict as well, both the name and especially our Pope Emeritus. I find it’s a bit tricky to find middle names for it, as most parents find they want to avoid initials BJ, BM, and BF, but Benedict Charles would be quite handsome, as would Benedict George (and George could be a nod to Pope Francis, as his birth name is Jorge [=George] — two popes in one!), and I think something like Benedict Leo and Benedict Henry would be great as well.

Peter Charles is wonderful, just a great combination. And Francis is great, and Frankie is so cute.

Okay! Onto my new ideas/suggestions:

Girl
(1) Rosemary, Rosemarie, Rosalie, Rosamond
Rosemary is a style match for Bernadette and Rosamond for Benedict, and with Rose already on their list of family names for consideration, I thought names like these made sense to suggest. I know Rosemary, Rosemarie, and Rosalie all end in the long E sound, but I’ve said them all over and over again with their last name, and I don’t mind them at all. Maybe because they’re longer than a nickname? Rosie LastName has the sound they don’t care for I think, but the longer versions are lovely. And Rosamond gets away from that altogether. Rose can easily be the nickname for each of these, which also avoids the rhymey endings.

(2) Juliet
Annabelle seems to be a bit of an outlier style-wise—all the other names they’ve got on their list are basically swirling around the same area, but Annabelle has a little pop of color that I just love. Juliet is a style match for it, which is one of my favorite names, and when I saw that Julia is a style match for John, I thought that gave me enough permission to suggest Juliet to Lauren and her hubs. I spotlighted Juliet here.

(3) Teresa, Theresa, Therese
Teresa’s a style match for Christine, Theresa’s a match for Peter, and Therese is a match for Bernadette! Each has its merits (how great for a little girl to be named after Mother Teresa during the very autumn that she was canonized! And of course St. Therese — all the roses! And Theresa can be for either of them); all can take the nicknames Tess or Tessa, which I think would be really great for this family, especially for a sister for John-who-always-goes-by-Jack. (For more on T(h)erese see my Sibling Project page.)

(4) Evangeline or Genevieve
These two were actually style matches for both Annabelle and Benedict! They’re both gorgeous names, and I’m listing them together because they’re sort of a one-or-the-other proposition, since they both have strong E and V sounds. They both can take the nicknames Evie and Vivi, which I assume they wouldn’t like with their last name, but Genevieve could also be Gen, Genna, or Vieve.

Boy
(1) Bennett
I was really excited about Bennett for this family! I’d scribbled it down for them when I first read Lauren’s email and saw that she’s not sure about Benedict, because Bennett’s a medieval diminutive of Benedict and it can be a bit easier to deal with than Benedict for many—not quite as heavy, but retaining the same holy connections (though not as obviously). And then I discovered it’s a style match for Annabelle! Woo!

(2) Thomas
Thomas is just a solid, classic name, and though all those solid, classic boys’ names can be considered similar to each other, Thomas was particularly listed as similar to Michael, John, and Peter. And not that they asked for middle name ideas, but I’m loving the idea of Thomas Benedict. 🙂

(3) Stephen
Stephen is a style match for Michael, Peter, and Christine, and I’ve been hearing it here and there on little boys recently, and I’m always pleasantly surprised. Both my 8yo and 4yo have best friends named Stephen, and both go by the full Stephen. Danielle Bean, editor-in-chief of Catholic Digest, has a son named Stephen Matthias, which is such a swoony combo!

(4) Philip
My last idea is Philip—it’s a style match for both Bernadette and Peter, and the full Philip is one of my favorites. I know some people have trouble with nicknames, because Phil is hard to picture on a little guy, but I’ve been suggesting Finn as a possible nickname for Philip recently, which I love, especially paired with an N middle name (I love the idea of the first+middle combo Philip Neri with the nickname Finn!). If they’re worried about a P given name with an F nickname, there’s precedence in Julia Roberts’ son Phinnaeus going by Finn. (I’ve also been suggesting Finn as a nickname for Francis, if they want to consider that.)

And those are my ideas for Lauren and her husband! What do you all think? What would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Michael, Annabelle, and Jack?

Birth announcement: Owen Xavier!

October 8, 2016 sanctanomina Birth announcement Catholic baby names, Powerful patrons

A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know her baby boy has arrived and been given the awesome name … Owen Xavier!

She writes,

“I thought I’d let you know our baby was born at home on Sept 22 at 4:44 pm, after about two hours of labor (though I was only certain I was in labor for about half of that). Owen Xavier was 9 lbs, 1 oz and 21.75 inches long. He’s a keeper!

We actually have been debating charging his middle name due to some uncertainty but I think we’re going to stick with it.”

First of all, can you believe she was in labor for only two hours, and she was only certain she was in labor for an hour?! What! Second of all, Owen Xavier is such a cool combo! I love it! I also love her explanation behind it:

“St. Nicholas Owen seems like such a great patron, and both him and St. Francis Xavier are Jesuits from the 16th century, which is kind of neat. One worked alone, one worked with people — seems to cover all possible bases for this little guy of ours. 😉 OXM seem like pretty cool initials, too.”

Such cool connections with two amazing saints!

He joins some amazingly named big siblings too:

Helen Perpetua
Susanna Jean
John Benedict (Jack)
Leo Tobias
Lucy Therese
Edith Rose
Lydia Agnes
Alice Louisa
Jane Elisabeth (in heaven)

Each combo is amazing! I love every single one! It is such a joy to see such beautiful names being used!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Owen!!

Owen Xavier

Bonus consultation: Baby girl for family with eclectic taste

October 6, 2016 sanctanomina Baby name consultant Catholic baby names, Catholic surnames, French names, German names, Mary

One of the things I find really fun is when a family has several children with names covering a bunch of different styles — I love seeing parents who just use names they like! But even in such situations, it’s not usually too hard to find a thread of a theme (or themes) running through the kids’ names, and I find it so fun to look for it and see what I find.

The family whose consultation I’m posting today is one such, and the reason I wanted to post it. Sara and her husband are expecting their fifth baby, and third girl! Their older kiddos are:

Kolbe Conrad (boy)
Jameson Clare (girl)
Elsie Jo (girl)
Jude Francis (boy — in heaven)

Such a fun, interesting set! And each combo is full of meaning:

“Kolbe is named after St. Maximillian Kolbe and his middle name is a family name, until recently I didn’t know there was a St. Conrad (thanks to your blog!). Jameson is named after my father in law who was diagnosed with brain cancer while I was pregnant with her. Elsie was my maternal grandmother’s name, and Jo is my husbands maternal grandmother’s name. We loved the name Jude because he is the patron saint of hope. With that being said, I want this baby’s name to have just as much meaning.”

I love how Sara and her hubs have honored their family members in the naming of their children — there are so many ways to do so! I was particularly interested to see Jameson, as I have a girl cousin named Jameson, and before her I hadn’t ever seen the name on a girl. She too has a very feminine middle name like Sara’s Jameson Clare, which I quite like.

Names that Sara and her hubs have considered for this baby girl include:

Finley (“my husband likes this, I’m not a fan“)
Philomena (“this is Kolbe’s pick…sisterly love!“)
Faustina
Hope
Rose
Ruth

And names on the no-go list:

Lucy
Grace
Emma
Rebecca

The names they’re considering are just as eclectic as the names they’ve already used — I love them! And I was really eager to see what names my research would yield! You all know that I almost always start a consultation by looking up the names the parents have already used and those they like in the Baby Name Wizard as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I knew Kolbe, Jameson-for-a-girl, and Faustina wouldn’t be in there, but I thought/hoped that Conrad, Jameson-for-a-boy, Elsie, Jude, Finley, Philomena, Hope, Rose, and Ruth would give an accurate picture.

I also picked through my own mental files and looked back in my blog, and I came up with a few ideas as well.

So! All that said, these are my ideas:

(1) Greer or Grier
In trying to figure out if there was any thread(s) of a theme that ran through their taste in names (as evidenced by the names they’ve already used and the ones on their list), I thought surnames-as-first-names (Kolbe, Jameson) and unisex-ish names for girls (Jameson, Finley) were two themes that were apparent. Greer (or Grier) immediately came to mind—it’s one of my favorite names, a unisex-ish first name (though definitely skewing more female in recent years, a la actress Greer Garson, which makes it a nice bridge name between the more masculine Jameson and the very feminine Elsie) that’s also a surname, and it’s got saintly connections as well as it’s a variant of Gregory!

(2) Meike
Another thread that seemed to run through their name choices was a Germanic element, as seen in Kolbe, Conrad, Elsie, and Philomena, which led me to think of Meike right away, another of my favorites. It’s a German diminutive of Maria, said like Micah, so it has a boyish feel to it even though it’s a feminine name. And it’s Marian! I’m always swoony over Marian names!

(3) Ruby
I also thought there was a little bit of an “old lady” feel to some of their ideas, like Elsie, Philomena, Faustina, Rose, and Ruth. Ruby was listed in the BNW as a match for both Jude and Rose, and it also reminded me a bit of the feel of Greer—a little bit brassy and a lot old Hollywood starlet. I spotlighted Ruby here, offering some faithy connections.

(4) Landry
Landry was also a suggestion I got from the BNW, a style match for Finley and the English & French variant of the Germanic name Landric. Behindthename.com, which I always go to for name meanings/origin/history, says it’s a masculine name (there are a few Sts. Landry, all male), but it’s listed in the BNW as feminine, which made me think Sara and her hubs might find it appealing (the Social Security Administration says it was #858 for boys in 2015 and #918 for girls, so pretty even matched). It’s got a really pretty sound!

(5) Mercy (or Mercedes?)
Mercy was inspired by Hope, of which it’s a style match per the BNW, but also this Jubilee Year of Mercy, which they are so lucky to be having a baby born in! I do worry that maybe Elsie and Mercy share too many sounds? Especially with their birth order being next to each other? In which case, I think Mercedes could work—it means “mercies” and also points to Our Lady of Mercy (as does Mercy, of course, Marian names for the win!), and has a more international feel than Mercy, which fits in nicely with their other kids. I discussed Mercedes more here.

(6) Saintly surnames
Finally, I couldn’t help but think of the saintly surnames that I think would be great matches for Kolbe, so I thought I’d list a bunch of them here:
— Avila (for St. Teresa of Avila and/or St. John of Avila)
— Cabrini (for Mother Cabrini/St. Frances Xavier Cabrini)
— Goretti (for St. Maria Goretti)
— Siena (for St. Catherine of Siena and/or St. Bernardine of Siena)
— Talbot (for Bl. Matt Talbot, read more here from a mom who considered Talbot for her daughter)

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for Sara and her husband, based on the names they’ve already used and those they like?

Birth announcement: Declan James!

October 5, 2016October 9, 2016 sanctanomina Birth announcement Catholic baby names, Irish names, Powerful patrons

The mama from this consultation has let me know her little guy has arrived and been given the so-handsome name … Declan James!

She writes,

“I am the mama from the post about Robert Edward or Benedict Joseph. We went through a few other names including your suggestion of Bennett which I still love.

Ultimately we returned to our rules with our oldest’s name, John Patrick. With John we wanted Irish saint and a new testament name. It was slightly easier with him because his great grandpa is also John.

After several discussions about the pronunciation of Kieran, we landed on Declan James. He narrowly missed the opportunity to be named James Finbar, as St. Finbar’s feast day is September 25th and my husband’s patron. Declan was born on the 28th and is 7.06 pounds and 21 inches long.”

What an amazing set of brothers!! I absolutely LOVE John Patrick and Declan James together!!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Declan!!

Declan James

Sibling Project: Therese

October 4, 2016 sanctanomina Sibling Project Baby Name Wizard, Catholic baby names

I’ve still got St. Therese on my mind, three days after her feast day! 🌹

In July I asked for feedback regarding T(h)eresa for my Sibling Project, and at the time I wasn’t 100% sure whether I would do an entry for Therese or not. Ultimately I decided that I think Therese is different enough in style/feel that it needs its own entry, so here’s its post — we’ll see if I’m right!

As with Theresa, I actually don’t think Therese’s entry in the Baby Name Wizard is that far off:

Girls: Marianne, Louise, Bernadette, Nadine, Helene, Patrice

Boys: Gerard, Roland, Laurence, Claude, Armand, Jerome

I fully agree with the French feel and/or saintliness of Marianne, Louise, Bernadette, Gerard, and Jerome. But I do think the entry could use some tweaking, as I think I’m correct in saying that most of the families I see that have a Theresa variant use Therese, and not a lot of families use names like Nadine, Patrice, Claude, and Roland. The SSA data shows that overall Therese is “a bit downbeat” as Laura put it in the BNW — it’s fallen hard from its most recent peak at No. 252 in 1959 (it had a higher peak at No. 220 in 1927 before falling and rising again. I’m going out on a not-very-shaky limb and say that its 1927 peak was entirely due to our sweet St. Therese, who was beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925).

therese

But it hasn’t been in the top 1000 since 1984!

So tell me about all the little Thereses you know! (“Little”=15 years old or younger.) How do they pronounce their name? Do they go by a nickname? What are their siblings’ names?

And beyond real-life examples, what names (for girls and boys) do you think are style matches for Therese?