Year: 2019

Fun Friday Question: How different are your parents’ taste?

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I had so much fun with last week’s question and follow-up! It was so fun to read about your “almost names”!

Here’s another question for you: How different are your parents’ taste in names? If you were able to ask them right now what names they would have on their list if they didn’t have to take into account their spouse’s taste, what names would they be?

My parents did a phenomenal job naming me and my sibs (most of whom prefer to remain anonymous on here), but their lists are pretty different. I asked my mom last night for one or two of her favorite boy and girl names and she said:

Girl
— Róisín (Irish for “little rose”; said ro-SHEEN)
— Máirhín (the Irish “Mary” [Mair-] + “hín,” which is the ending syllable of the diminutive of her dad’s name — see Dáithín below; said mar-HEEN)
— Áine (used as the Irish equivalent of Anne, which is the name of Mom’s mom; said like the name Anya; Mom prefers this as a middle name, but then thought she preferred the sound of Áine Róisín and Áine Máirhín to Róisín Áine and Máirhín Áine )

Boy
— Fionn (“finn”)
— Dáithín (Mom’s dad was from Ireland and had the given name David, but he attended a St. Paddy’s Day event at my school once and introduced himself as Dáithín , which Mom had never heard before — he was apparently called that when he was small. [He also spoke with a brogue during that event, which he’d also never done.] Dáithí is used as the Irish equivalent of David)
— Mícheál (the Irish spelling of Michael, said MEE-haul)

It’s pretty clear what Mom’s taste in names is! 😂☘️

Dad wasn’t able to get back to me before this story went to press 😀 , but these are names I remember him talking about since I was little:

Girl
— Maureen, nicknamed Mo
— Samantha, nicknamed Sam

Boy
— Daniel (not sure about a nickname?)
— Sebastian, nicknamed Seb(by) (Dad often referenced former track and field Olympian [and current British politician] Sebastian Coe when he talked about this name; it was the nicknames Seb and Sebby that he really loved, I’m not convinced the full Sebastian is actually his style)

Dad loves girl names that can have a boyish nickname!

Mom’s Máirhín and Dad’s Maureen are pretty similar from their girl lists (though I don’t think Mom loves Mo and Dad probably wouldn’t go for an Irish spelling). Both my parents have biblical names on their boy list, which is what my brothers have, and if my sisters and I had been boys we would have had biblical names too, so there’s some common ground there. I love seeing that, though their lists look pretty different, there’s some points of possible overlap and compromise!

How about your parents? Happy Friday!

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Peter Joseph!

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Be sure to read the previous post — some fun things brewing in this month of Our Lady!

I’ve done a bunch of posts for Dwija from House Unseen, Life Unscripted, including a consultation for baby no. 8, then another consultation for baby no. 8 (so fun!), then a prayer request for that baby, then a name announcement, and a birth announcement. Baby no. 8 had lots of Sancta Nomina love! I’m delighted to now share that Dwija’s had baby no. 9 — a little boy, given the so-handsome (and feastday-appropriate for today’s feast of St. Joseph the Worker!) name … Peter Joseph!

Dwija writes,

“We actually broke one of my naming ‘rules’ because we already have a P name (Paul). But when we saw his ultrasound photo, I had to agree with my husband that he was a Peter 😅. Peter is also a family name and fits well with our other kids. His middle name, Joseph, is not a family name, but my husband has developed a special devotion to St. Joseph recently. Also, he was born on the Feast of the Presentation, we liked the connection to Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the temple.”

I love all of this! It’s so fun hearing about someone breaking their name rules upon encountering the perfect name — only a very special name can do that! And of course I love the connection to St. Joseph, both through Dwija’s hubby’s devotion and through the feast day Peter was born on. Well done!

Congratulations to Dwija and her hubs and big sibs Kathryn Marisol (Katie), Elizabeth Anne (Lizzie), Paul Anthony, Cecilia Jean (Ceci), Mary Isabel, Nicholas Robert (with Jesus), John Charles (Charlie), and Helen Margaret, and happy birthday Baby Peter!! (Check out his sweet face on Dwija’s Instagram!)

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

It’s May! (Baby name consultations are now open!)

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Happy May! Month of Our Lady! Feast of St. Joseph the Worker! (Which was instituted as a counter to the Communists’ “May Day,” as my historian friend shared with me today. Did you know that? I didn’t! How cool!)

Being that this is the month of Our Lady, I have a few goodies for you all! First up: I’m reopening baby name consultations! Details, including cost info, are here.

I’m also dedicating my site and its associated social media to Our Lady. We’ve been under the patroness of good St. Anne for so long, which is so wonderful and isn’t changing, but Mother Mary needs an official shout-out! (I mean, beyond alllll the Marian posts and of course my book of Marian names!) I’m adding wording to this effect under my roses (under my menu, to the right).

Be sure to check in frequently during the month for other fun things I have planned! (I’ll also be posting a birth announcement later this evening!)

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Lucy Adelaide!

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I posted a birth announcement for Rosie (from A Blog for My Mom)’s sixth baby two years ago, and I’m excited to share that she’s had baby no. 7 — a little lady given the gorgeous name … Lucy Adelaide!

Rosie wrote in Lucy’s birth story:

“We settled on a name way more quickly than ever before, which makes me feel really justified in refusing to discuss names before the baby had arrived — Lucy had been on our list for ages but we hadn’t used it because it felt too popular… This time we decided we didn’t care anymore! And Adelaide had also been on our short list (princess, patron of parents of large families) and the flow was perfect so we had a Lucy Adelaide!“

I looove both Lucy and Adelaide, I’m so glad Rosie and her hubs just went ahead and chose it! Popularity, pooh! And Lucy Adelaide really does have an exceptionally good flow. Great job, all around! (Although I don’t understand the collection of words “refusing to discuss names before the baby had arrived” … 😂 )

Congratulations to Rosie and her hubby and big sibs John Paul, Cecilia Therese, Elizabeth Anna, Mary Claire, Peter Damian, and Edith Veronica, and happy birthday Baby Lucy!! (Check out her sweet face on Rosie’s Instagram!)

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Follow-up to yesterday’s post: Opposite gender name?

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Thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday’s post here on the blog and also on both Facebook and Instagram! It was so fun to read your responses! One thing several of you shared was the name you would have had if you’d been a boy (all my responders were women) — I didn’t think to share that part of my name story, but I wish I had! My parents planned to name me Joshua if I’d been a boy, which is a name both my husband and I quite like, but it doesn’t work with our last name. That would have been a fun way to name a boy after me though! I loved reading that too — that several of you considered names for your children that were names almost given to you. I’m a big fan of creativity in honor naming!

Happy Saturday, day of Our Lady and eve of Divine Mercy Sunday! (Notable fact: St. John Paul the Great died on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday.) ❤ ❤ ❤

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Fun Friday Question: Who were you almost?

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Happy Friday everyone! Is this — could this be — possibly — my *fifth* post of this week?? Did I put up a post every day since Monday?? I can’t even believe it myself!

I have more birth announcements coming for you (so! many! babies! 😍😍😍), but I thought I’d take a quick breather and ask a fun question. A while ago Abby from Appellation Mountain asked about your “pre-name” on Facebook — actually, I can’t remember what she called it, it was something like “pre-name” I think, but probably not because I searched several times for that term and similar ones to find the post and link to it and I can’t, so I must have it wrong — anyway, she meant the name you almost had, or the name(s) that your parents considered for you before deciding on the name they gave you. I’ve been meaning to pose the question here ever since!

I’ll start: My parents considered Tiffany for me! (Which I’ve come to sort of love since I discovered it’s medieval form of Theophania [=Epiphany] and was traditionally given to girls born on the Epiphany. How cool!) (I was not born on or near the Epiphany, though.) They settled on Katherine Marie before changing it to Katherine Morna immediately after I was born (my sweet dad acquiesced to my exhausted mom ❤ ). (Happy day! I don’t feel a bit like a Tiffany, but very very much like a Katherine Morna, and especially a Kate.) How about you? Who were you almost?

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Clement Joseph!

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Grace from Camp Patton has been a great friend of Sancta Nomina — I’ve had the great privilege of doing two consultations for her (here and here) and posting two birth announcements (here and here), and Grace also graciously (!) gave my book an amazing endorsement, all of which still blows me away since I was fangirling over Grace before she ever knew I existed. I’m so happy to share that she’s had another baby! (You know I would have been all over doing yet another consultation for her if it hadn’t been for my own plunge into reclusion after giving birth.) I’m happy to share that she and her hubby welcomed their fifth boy and named him the incredible … Clement Joseph!

Grace wrote in the birth story she posted to her blog:

“We had pretty much agreed that if we had a boy we’d name him Clement in honor of Simon’s mom (you might remember the [excerpt from the Prayer of St. Clement] she scripted that was handed out at her funeral last December) … but had a tough time coming up with a middle name. Finally toward the end of my pregnancy “Joseph” just sort of clicked although don’t think I didn’t try to throw some wild and crazy middle name contenders Simon’s way. Simon was pulling for Clementine if we had a girl and I wasn’t completely sold despite the fact that I love the name (I just love a lot of girl names). So Clement Joseph he was!“

Clement! I love it! It’s a sophisticated, saintly, handsome virtue name (clement means “merciful”) and Marian (!) (e.g., “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary” from the Hail Holy Queen — Clement’s in my book!). And such a perfect and creative way to honor Simon’s mom. ❤ All in all, a great pick! (I’m also loving how Grace said, “don’t think I didn’t try to throw some wild and crazy middle name contender’s Simon’s way” — a girl after my own heart!)

Congratulations to Grace and Simon and big sibs Julia, Sebastian (Bash), Theodore (Theo), Phoebe, Bosco, and Abraham (Abe), and happy birthday Baby Clement! Go check out his sweet face on Grace’s Instagram (including the Clement Clips stories!)!

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Helena Faustina James!

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I spotlighted Amy’s beautiful family almost a year ago, and I’m thrilled to share that she’s had her TWELFTH baby — a baby girl! (Bringing the total to six boys and six girls!) She’s been given the gorgeous, meaningful name … Helena Faustina James!

Amy writes,

“[Hubby] and I wanted to keep with the theme of John Paul II [like their previous child]. I liked Karol and Karolina. Ryan did not. Being frequent visitors and going to the JP2 shrine, we decided to learn more about St. Faustina, as she was also a Polish saint and JP2 canonized her and instituted Divine Mercy Sunday. I liked Faustina! Ryan did not. 😂 After researching a bit more we found out her name before becoming a nun was Helena Kowalska. Finally a name we both liked and I felt strongly about Faustina being her middle name. 2 weeks before she was born we lost my dear father in law. We decided to honor him and include his name in Helena’s as she was the only grandchild who never got to meet her beloved “Poppy”. Now he will always be with her. ❤ “

This is such a great name story! I love the connection to St. John Paul II in a way that both Amy and her hubby could agree, and I love that they were able to work in Ryan’s dad’s name. Perfect, all around!

Congratulations to Amy and Ryan and big sibs Ray, Josie, Brady, Sean, Evan, Bennett, Mary, Finnian, Charlotte, Sloane, and John Paul, and happy birthday Baby Helena!! Check out her sweet face over on Amy’s Instagram!

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Linus John!

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I’m still working on catching up on birth announcements from the last several months, but I couldn’t not post this hot-off-the-presses announcement for a baby born Sunday!

I did a consultation and birth announcement for Emily’s second little guy a few years ago, and I’m thrilled to announce that she’s had another little boy — an Easter baby AND a rainbow baby! She and her hubby gave him the so-handsome name … Linus John!

I love Linus! And I love it with his big sibs: Simon Matthew, George Stephen (happy feast day, Buddy!), and Frances Xavier (with Jesus). A great, saintly crew!

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

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Basil Grace!

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Happy Easter!! He is risen!!

I posted a birth announcement for Kate’s third baby a few years ago (Kate writes at The Rhodes Log blog, and also: check out the amazing little cabins she and her hubby are building for sweet Texas getaways!), and was so excited when I saw she was expecting number four! Kate and her hubby welcomed a baby girl and gave her the delightfully unexpected and beautiful name … Basil Grace!

Kate commented on her birth announcement on Instagram,

“[My husband and I] really struggle to agree on names. We often find that we are both attracted to names that feel a little too bold and we bail on them. (Jake was almost Huck. Lucy June was almost Juniper.) Basil has been on the list a long time … baby four finally made us brave.”

Oh man. I am so glad that baby four made them brave! Though I love all the names they’ve chosen. ❤

When I asked her more, Kate wrote,

“We only had a boy’s name picked out when she was born, and I hadn’t researched Basil thoroughly even though it’d been on our girl list for a while. But I’ve since discovered that Basil is known as the Holy Communion plant because it was allegedly found at the foot of the true cross and consequently was later used to decorate communion rails. So that was a delightful find!

Her name also shares a root (rather obviously) with Basilica.

Her due date was near the feast of St. Basil, and so we knew going in that if it was a girl she’d probably be named after him — [but we pronounce her name] ‘Bay-sil.’“

Basil for a girl! Said like the plant! With a great patron saint and an etymological connection to the word “basilica”! I love the repeating long A sound in Basil Grace (mirroring the long U of her big sis Lucy June, which I also LOVE), I love how fresh and summery Basil feels (similar to how I’d said her big brother Roman’s name brings to mind “‘roamin’ roads,’  which totally fits the vibe I get from them”), and I love how Basil has basilica like Roman has Rome. I love the way Kate and her hubs think!

Congratulations to Kate and Jacob and big sibs Jake, Lucy June, and Roman, and happy birthday Baby Basil Grace!!

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!