Year: 2017

Religious names: One community’s tradition

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You guys. Three of my boys had the amazing opportunity to be part of a week-long Vacation Bible School with two of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (Nashville), finishing up today. I can’t even. It was so amazing. Not least because my boys LOVED it, and they started out not loving the idea of having to go to school in the summertime. But mostly because the Sisters were awesome. I know a lot of you have the opportunity to be around Sisters, but we don’t, and this week has just been such a gift. Check out a photo here.

But! What I really wanted to write about was their names! The Sisters we had this week are Sr. Mary Celeste and Sr. Vincent Marie, and I was dying all week to ask them about how they chose their names. Joy of joys, today they let the kids ask any question they wanted, and one of them asked about their names, and they shared that, in their community, on the day of their profession they receive their habit and their new name. They can give three ideas to Mother Superior of names they might like, and she might choose one of them, or she might choose a totally different one. I was so interested by that! I just assumed you got to choose your own!

I would have loved to have chatted with the Sisters about their particular names, but alas, we all wanted to be with them every second, and there’s only so much of them to go around and so many minutes in a day, so I didn’t have the opportunity. I know there are some of you here who have contemplated religious life, even having spent time in the convent as a postulant and/or novice — please tell us about the name traditions you’re familiar with! And please pray for the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia!

Birth announcement: Fisher Gray!

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In May I posted a consultation for Christina (who has an Etsy shop called The Rushnyk Room), as she and her husband were expecting her third baby boy. I’m excited to share that her little guy has arrived and been given the awesome and meaningful name … Fisher Gray!

Christina writes,

“We actually put the scripture from Matthew 4:18-22 on our birth announcement we sent out to people which is the ‘fishers of men’ scripture … I actually am calling him ‘Fish’ or ‘Fishy’ a little bit and it doesn’t bother me like I thought it would. Ha!“

If you remember, Fisher’s middle name Gray is the same as his dad’s, and Fisher itself had been at the top of their list, both for St. John Fisher and for all the fishermen references in the Bible. Nickname possibilities were worrying though, so I’m really glad that Fish and even Fishy (soo cute!) have naturally arisen and that Christina’s okay with them. 🐟

Congratulations to Christina and her husband and big brothers Shepherd (Shep) and Becket (Beck), and happy birthday Baby Fisher!! To see his sweet little face be sure to check out this newborn photo on Christina’s IG as well as the more recent ones she’s posted (this family one is so great!).

Compliments for Sancta Nomina (all of us!)

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You all know I’ve been writing for CatholicMom.com for a couple of years, and I’ve always loved that it’s an award-winning site with a lot of amazing contributors — it’s such an honor to be a part of it! So you can imagine how thrilled I was to read that, in explaining why CatholicMom.com was awarded second place (!!!) in the Best Group or Association Blog category at the Catholic Press Association Awards ceremony in Quebec in June, evaluators noted:

“This blog covered a wide range of subjects including: baby name suggestions, holiday specials, service trip information, book reviews, grief, technology, etc. There was an abundance of content, which made evaluating each article nearly impossible, but demonstrates a commitment to the blog and to providing the readers with interesting and diverse content.”

Did you notice which subject was listed first? I’m pretty sure I’m the only one writing about baby names — at least regularly — so I squealed a little with excitement when I read that!

I also wanted to share the lovely thing Abby from Appellation Mountain said about us all in her July 2 Sunday Summary:

“I’m grateful for many things, but this community of namers nears the very top of my list.”

What an amazing thing to say! And I totally agree with her about you all, 100%. ❤

Birth announcement: Maura Kay!

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Happy Monday everyone! The mama whose consultation I’d scheduled to post today decided she’d rather not have a public post, which is always fine — there’s absolutely no pressure to have a public post! I only want it to be a help! — and fortunately I have a birth announcement to share with you instead! Woo! 🎉

Back in March, I posted a consultation for Heather from the Go Forth with Heather and Becky podcast (a day before the episode with me as a guest posted!), and I’m delighted to share that Heather has let me know her baby girl has arrived and been given the lovely and meaningful name … Maura Kay!

Heather writes,

“I wanted to touch base to let you know that our sweet baby girl has arrived, and to let you know about how we settled on her name!

Your consultation was very helpful for my husband and I, and really solidified my desire to name our daughter in a way that honored my mother. This caused us to lean towards Maura Kay as my mother and I both have the middle name Kay, and I also loved your suggestion of honoring my mother by using her initials and this name combination does both. Our older children are named after more well-known Saints (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton & Maximilian Kolbe), and I was unsure if St. Maura was too obscure where it is hard to find holy cards, medals, etc. and there just isn’t a lot of information about St. Maura. However, I love that it is an Irish variant of Mary, as my husband and I have a strong devotion to Mother Mary, and is a nod to my husband’s Irish heritage.

As I told you in the consultation, and on the episode of “Go Forth,” I love the name Catherine so much, and this was a strong contender until the end and I couldn’t commit without seeing her, which we have never done before with our other kids. I love St. Catherine of Siena, but my husband wasn’t sold on “Cate” as her nickname.

On the day she was born, I still couldn’t commit to a name, and it took quite a while for the nurses to leave our room for us to settle on her name. I thought she looked like a “Cate” and my husband strongly thought she looked like a “Maura.” Because I love both names, it didn’t take much convincing on his part to get me to agree to Maura Kay, especially where it allows her to share the family name of “Kay”. Maura Kay fits her so well, and we receive many compliments on her name! While her name isn’t one that is easily shortened like our Lizzie and Max, we all frequently call her “Mo Mo” which is a fun little pet name for her. Thank you so much for your help and guidance-your advice really helped us narrow down our name list and think about baby naming in a fun new way!

Maura arrived on June 6, 2017 at 6:46am and was 9.5 lbs and 21 1/4″ long.”

I love reading name stories where there was some uncertainty about the name and when the final decision is made, it was like Of course! Of course that’s her name! Maura Kay is just beautiful, and I love that it honors Heather’s mom and Our Lady all in one. Perfect!

Congratulations to Heather and her husband and big sibs Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Maximilian (Max), and happy birthday Baby Maura!!

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Birth announcement: Molly Amelia!

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I posted a consultation for Kate and her husband back in March — they had decided on Molly as a first name for their baby girl and were looking for a middle name. Kate’s let me know that her little lady has arrived and been given the beautiful first+middle combo … Molly Amelia!

Kate writes,

“I wanted to let you know that baby Molly has arrived. Although your suggestions gave us a lot to think about, we went with Amelia for her middle name. It has nice family ties for us as it was my great grandmother’s name and one of my closest cousin’s middle name.

We are happy to be home and her big sisters and brother already adore her. She’s such a sweet and easy going baby so far. We are really very blessed.

Thank you for your help with the naming process!!“

I’m so so glad they went with a middle name that has such meaning for them! Molly Amelia is a gorgeous combo!

Congratulations to Kate and her husband and big sibs McKenna, Emily, and Benjamin, and happy birthday Baby Molly!!

Molly Amelia at 12 hours old and 5 days old

 

Spotlight on: Beretta

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So my post on Beretta got a lot of attention! Not only did I get a lot of great comments here, but even Linda from Nameberry weighed in on Twitter! The overwhelming reaction was, “That’s a gun name,” followed by, “Don’t name your child after a gun.”

I posted that post, followed by this one, because a mama had emailed me asking about Beretta used in honor of St. Gianna Beretta Molla. Despite my love for that saint, I admit my first reaction was “that’s a gun name!” (and I have very little familiarity with guns), but I wasn’t sure if others would feel the same, so getting all of your feedback was really helpful to me and that mama, I’m sure. I also loved discovering that the name also calls to mind for many the car by the same name (which also reminds me of Shelby), as well as a hair barrette, and also biretta, which is the name for that square hat for priests, and according to one of our Italian readers also the word for “small beer.” (She also said that Italians don’t use surnames as first names, which is so interesting to me! I love learning about other cultures through names.) In hindsight, I wish I’d left out the part in my post about it being used as an honor name for St. Gianna, just to see if anyone would have that association right away as well.

My FB feed is regularly filled with gun posts — posts by those who are rabidly anti-gun, and by those who have no problem with them, and responses by both sides to the other side (often nasty) — so I can see even in my limited experience that the name Beretta definitely comes with some baggage that parents would need to feel comfortable with. But as the comments showed, as well as some quick research I did, there are some people who *like* gun names, whether because they just like tougher-sounding names, or because they nod to their profession or their hobby. There are many who see this as a negative (see The Frightening New Wave of Baby Names: Aggressive names from Gunner to Raider to Danger are on the rise [Nameberry] and Americans are naming their babies WHAT? We all know American are obsessive about their guns. But this is taking things too far. [Australian web site]), but I thought what Laura (Baby Name Wizard) wrote in her post Son of a Gun: The Firearms Baby Name Report was more balanced and well articulated:

“What does the trend mean? I believe it points to two different cultural threads in the United States over the past decade. The first is the rising role of guns as a cultural identifier. For hunters and firearms enthusiasts, guns can be both a passion and a symbol of a way of life … Some gun owners perceive their lifestyle as being threatened by those who don’t understand them or share their values. Choosing a gun name, then, can summon up happy memories of hunting with your dad — or be a statement of cultural defiance. It’s an in-group statement, designed to speak to those who share your cultural touchstones.”

I’m sure we all have friends or relatives who we can see liking names like this for the reasons mentioned above, and we can certainly all relate with cultural defiance.

Beretta is a particularly interesting name in light of all this, for us especially. What Laura said about gun names being “an in-group statement, designed to speak to those who share your cultural touchstones” is exactly why so many of us choose the names we choose for our babies. Zelie, Jacinta, Kolbe, and Karol are examples of names that will likely only be fully “gotten” by those who share our worldview. It’s likely only we would also be able to understand the saintly significance behind the name Beretta, if chosen by a Catholic family. And in fact, being that it’s an Italian name as well, so many of which are loved by so many of Italian heritage and even those who aren’t, Beretta’s the amazing, solitary result of the Venn diagram of gun names, Italian names, and Catholicky Catholic names. For a certain kind of family, fully informed, Beretta is exactly perfect.

This reader suggested Beretta’s a name that should be reclaimed, because of its faith significance. She wrote:

“I think, as a Catholic, one would have to ask the question: to what extent should worldly associations impact the choice of a saintly moniker for a child? Yes, there is a gun, but it is the maiden name of a saint nonetheless. And when other surname names (or place names) like Kolbe, Becket, Vianney, Avila, Lourdes, etc. get fair usage among Catholic circles, it doesn’t seem like Beretta should be an immediate write off. Actually perhaps there is reason to use it to “reclaim” the name so to speak, and when you are asked the child’s name it can be an evangelization opportunity to inform about St. Gianna Beretta Molla, and the Church.”

I do love the evangelization opportunities that names can provide! But I also think there are some names for which the negative associations far outweighs the positive, names that even I don’t think are ready to be reclaimed (Adolf comes to mind). I’m not saying Beretta’s in the same league as Adolf, but I am saying that worldly associations sometimes *must* impact the choice of a saintly moniker for a child. (Poor holy Adolfs.) Is Beretta one such name? I’m not convinced, not in a universal way anyway (I mean yes, if parents feel that way regarding their own child, but not in regards to a blanket disavowal of the name).

Another good point to make, which answers the question, “why not Molla, if using a saint’s surname instead of given name is going to be the ‘thing’?” is that personal taste is so often the deciding factor. It’s why some parents choose to honor St. Thomas Becket with the name Becket instead of Thomas, why Grandma Pearl’s namesake is named Margaret instead of Pearl, and why Catherine is chosen instead of Katherine or Elisabeth instead of Elizabeth. St. Gianna has three names — for some, Gianna is the best and only way to go; for others, Joanna or Jane or some other anglicized variant; for others Molly as a nod to Molla; for others Beretta or a spin-off of it.

In fact, some of you who appreciated Beretta’s connection to St. Gianna offered ways of working around the gun association by using its nicknames Retta or Etta as the given name, for example, or a sound-alike like Britta, or mashing up Gianna and Beretta to get Greta, or naming a boy Barrett. Some might be willing to go farther by choosing the full Beretta, but then tucking it in the middle spot where it can stay hidden if desired.

I suspect, though, that a family who loves Beretta isn’t going to be thrilled by the idea of using Retta, Etta, Britta, Greta, or Barrett-on-a-boy instead (though perhaps they be happy enough to use nicknames on a day-to-day basis, and/or might go for it as a middle name). Though many of us wouldn’t feel comfortable with giving our child a name rife with so many charged viewpoints, I’m going to guess that parents who choose Beretta are more than willing to defend their choice to the naysayers.

Faaabulous Brit Catholic baby, and a fun question

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One of you wonderful readers sent me the story of the birth of UK Parliament Member Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sixth baby, and then I saw it all over my FB feed! Everyone’s going gaga over this little guy! And for sure it’s because of his amazing name: Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher!

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Indeed, Rees-Mogg is Catholic, as his baby’s name proclaims! (Also, as his sister’s name proclaims — Annunziata!) Little Sixtus is also the sixth baby! According to British Baby Names, he joins siblings:

Peter Theodore Alphege
Mary Anne Charlotte Emma
Thomas Wentworth Somerset Dunstan
Anselm Charles Fitzwilliam
Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius

In Rees-Mogg’s announcement on IG he referred to the big sibs as Peter, Mary, Thomas, Anselm, and Alfred, so no double names or interesting nicknames as far as I know. I love seeing Anselm in the first name spot! Congratulations to the whole family!

This all brings me to what I intended to post today — Cat said in a comment a couple of weeks ago:

“I’d love to see a post and comments on the most unique or out-there Catholicky Catholic name people have ever used or known a person with that name.”

I would love to know that too! I’m on my way out the door and can’t martial my thoughts to share my own, but I can’t wait to read yours!

Birth announcement: Gemma Rose Katherine!

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A year ago I posted the names of the Saintly Heart boys — the sons of Maggie from the Saintly Heart shop (peg dolls and books), and not too long after she had a baby girl! I’m thrilled to share that her name is … Gemma Rose Katherine!

Maggie wrote an awesome IG post about her little girl’s names and patron saints, as well as one about her baptism day saint, which you should definitely check out, and if you scroll through her feed you’ll find some pretty cute pics of that sweet little lady, including this gorgeous one from her baptism!

Congratulations to Maggie and her husband and big brothers Blaise and Savio, and happy birthday Baby Gemma!!

Baby name consultation: Baby no. 7 needs uncommon+recognizable+not-too-difficult name

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I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July tomorrow! God bless America! 🗽

Colleen and her husband are expecting their seventh baby, a little green bean (=gender unknown)! 🌱 This little one joins big sibs:

Jonathan Paul
Elizabeth Bernadette
Augustine Luke
Clara Marie
Simon Joseph
Catherine Gregory (miscarried at 13 weeks in 2016)

I’m a big fan of all these names!! And it was funny to see so much overlap with my family as well — I’m Katherine and I have a brother Jonathan and a sister Elizabeth! And we very nearly named our youngest Augustin. I love Clara and Simon too!

Colleen writes,

“In theory I like nicknames but in practice we almost exclusively call our kids by their full given name … When we lost Catherine Gregory we were not prepared with a name and so we chose my confirmation name and my husband’s confirmation name together.

All our children have different first initials (with the exception of Catherine Gregory) and I would like to continue that, though I would be willing to break that rule for a really great name. For this baby we are looking for names that are not too common yet are recognizable and not too difficult to spell or pronounce … We love biblical and saintly names and I’m really drawn to names that instill a strong connection with a virtue or admirable characteristic. For instance, I associate Jonathan (the biblical Jonathan) with friendship and loyalty, Bernadette (St. Bernadette) with humility, Augustine (St. Augustine of Hippo) with willingness to repent and using one’s gifts to serve the Church, Clara (St. Clare) with a love for the poor, Joseph (St. Joseph) with fatherhood, etc. I have a similar association with each one of my children’s names and we talk with the kids about their saints and their corresponding attributes often.

We’ve settled on a middle name for a girl but that is it. If we have a daughter her middle name will be Jane after St. Jane de Chantal (and it’s also a nod to one of my favorite authors, Jane Austen, and one of my favorite books, Jane Eyre). I would love it as a first name but my husband is not a fan.

Some names I am considering include:
For a girl: Lucy, Helena, Teresa (nicknamed Tess or Tessa)
For a boy: Oliver, Asher, Blaise

My husband likes the options I proposed for a boy but doesn’t love any of the girls’ names. His favorites are Margaret (not nicknamed) and Charlotte, but both of those belong to family members and when he hears those names he wants to always think of those individuals first and doesn’t want them replaced in his memory.

Other names I love but can’t use for various reasons: Maura (too rhymey with Clara), Margaret nicknamed Greta (LOVE it but we have a niece named Gretchen), Abram (I love it but my husband does not).

For a girl’s name we are also considering calling her by both her first and middle names, for instance, Lucy Jane, Helena (or Nella) Jane, Tessa Jane.

Possible middle names for a boy are Thomas (St. Thomas Aquinas), George (my husband’s grandfather’s name and Blessed Pier Giorgio) or Louis (my husband’s other grandfather’s name, St. Louis Martin)

We unintentionally gave all our boys names with the same ending sound. I would prefer to break that trend this time around.

Names we can’t use or don’t like:
Michael
Charles
Genevieve
Benjamin
Timothy
Rachel
Daniel
Sebastian
Theodore
Miles
Henry
Owen

Thanks for helping us find the perfect name for our newest little blessing!“

I love the names Colleen and her hubs are considering for this baby, and I especially love the idea of calling a girl by first name + Jane — Lucy Jane, Nella Jane, Tessa Jane are all so sweet. I love Oliver and Blaise for them too, but I was surprised by Asher — it’s a great name, but it strikes me as so different from the feel of their other kids and the other names they’re thinking of. I also wondered if they’d considered Thomas, George, or Louis as first name ideas? Thomas and George particularly struck me as good fits.

I also feel Colleen’s pain over Margaret and Greta! I wonder what they’d think of Rita? Like Greta, it’s a diminutive of Margaret, so can take any of the Sts. Margaret as patron, or St. Rita (whose birth name was Margherita). I also wondered if they’d be interested in something like Goretti? It’s so similar in sound to Greta, but of course it’s a completely different name.

So you all know that I start each consultation by looking up the names the parents have used and 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. I did so here, and also had some of my own ideas:

Girl
(1) Martha
I like Martha for this family because it’s got the same beginning sound as Margaret, so I thought it might hit a similar note. Additionally, it’s actually a style match for Margaret per the BNW. I’ve heard it on a couple little girls recently, and Martha Jane is charming.

(2) Hannah
Hannah is a match for all their biblical names, especially the Old Testament ones. Not only that, but the story of Hannah in the bible is such a beautiful one! They could also use St. Anne as patron, as Hannah and Anne/Anna are variants of each other. I love Hannah Jane.

(3) Naomi
Of course this is another Old Testament name, and another wonderful model for a girl. I think Naomi really fits Colleen’s hope for a name that’s “not too common” yet is “recognizable and not too difficult to spell or pronounce” — do you agree?

(4) Veronica
I love Veronica because it’s so beautiful, but I also love that, though it’s not biblical, it *feels* biblical — though Veronica’s not mentioned by name in the bible, she’s there. It also strikes me as an exclusively Catholic name — I know non-Catholics use it, but the Church gave the name to the woman in the bible. Veronica Jane is lovely.

(5) Molly
Molly was mostly inspired by Maura — Molly’s a great way to use an Irish form of Mary without it rhyming with Clara. Additionally, I have a sister Molly! So to me it fits in perfectly with Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Catherine. It’s also listed in the BNW as a style match for Lucy and Tess. They could also use Mary as the given name and Molly as a nickname if they like, as Molly’s origin is as a nickname for Mary. Mary Jane nicked Molly, and Molly Jane are both great. (Also, regarding Maura, I wonder if Maureen appeals to them at all?)

Boy
(1) Isaac
Isaac seemed spot on to me — a heavy biblical name that also has a great saint association (St. Isaac Jogues), and it’s also a style match for Simon — perfect! I like Isaac Thomas, Isaac George, and Isaac Louis, all.

(2) Bennett or Benedict
I really wanted to suggest Benjamin, which is my other brother’s name, but since Colleen doesn’t want to have the “an/in/on” ending for a boy, obviously Benjamin’s out. But both Benedict and Bennett (which is a medieval form of Benedict) seemed like they might be their style. I like that Benedict is long like Jonathan, Elizabeth, Augustine, and Catherine, and I like that Bennett is shorter like Clara and Simon and has some of the Brit feel I get from them (the Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice are an example of the Brit feel I mean). Bennett’s actually a style match for Greta, and Benedict for Augustine! Benedict Thomas, Benedict George, Benedict Louis, Bennett George, and Bennett Louis all sound quite handsome to me.

(3) Leo
Leo’s a style match for Clara, Simon, Lucy, and Oliver, and I think it fits in really well with the other kids as well. It’s also the name of a Pope St. the Great, like Gregory. Leo Thomas and Leo George are great combos.

(4) Konrad
Conrad is inspired mostly by Greta — it’s a style match for it — but also by the fact that it’s a match for August, which I often look to for inspiration for style matches for Augustine (as Augustine isn’t included in the BNW). I’m suggesting the Konrad spelling in order to avoid repeating initials — it’s a totally legit spelling, a German, Scandinavian, Polish, and Slovene form of the name (according to behindthename.com). Kord and Kurt are both traditional nicknames for it, which are cool. Konrad Thomas, Konrad George, and Konrad Louis are all fine.

(5) Philip
Philip’s a style match for all their New Testament names, as well as Teresa. I’ve long loved Philip, and one of the most fun things about it is the nickname Pip, which I think is darling for a little boy, and gets at that same feel I get from Clara, Simon, Lucy, and Oliver. I love the full Philip for an older boy/man as well. Philip Thomas, Philip George, and Philip Louis go nicely together.

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Jonathan, Elizabeth, Augustine, Clara, Simon, and Catherine?

Congratulations to our winners!!

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Ellen, Laura, and Danielle are the lucky ladies who have won the St. Anne chaplets from my blogiversary giveaway!! Congratulations to them!! And thank you to all who entered! I know St. Anne is watching out for us all in a very special way. ❤ Have a great weekend!!