Be sure to check back in on Friday for the Sancta Nomina Black Friday deals!

I read two things recently that I know you’ll all enjoy! This is the more recent one: Reasons to celebrate your Name Day by Tom Hoopes on Aleteia. I love the Name Day tradition in many (all?) European countries!

And one of you wonderful readers alerted me to the fact that the Schwandt family — nationally famous for having fourteen boys — recently welcomed baby no. 15 — their first girl!! Wow!! Their little lady’s name is Maggie Jayne, which is sweet and lovely, but I’m dying to know the story behind it! I know in our case, the name we’d chosen for a girl started out honoring my mom and mother-in-law and by the time we got to our seventh boy I’d added in a bunch of other honorees into the ever-evolving girl’s name. I remember Rachel Balducci saying the same about her daughter — her only girl after five boys: “Isabel was born! And that was always on my girls name list (which was never touched) and her middle name is Anne-marie, which is from each of the grandmothers. It’s a lot of name but I had to cram a lot into this one girl!” If anyone’s read about Maggie Schwandt’s name, please let me know! Her big brothers are Tyler, Zach, Drew, Brandon, Tommy, Vinny, Calvan, Gabe, Wesley, Charlie, Luke, Tucker, Francisco and Finley (I copied and pasted so if any of the spellings are incorrect [I’m looking at Calvan, which I’ve seen as Calvin in previous stories], it’s CNN’s fault). The Schwandts are Catholic, so if anyone knows how to get in touch with them, I’d LOVE to interview them about how they chose their children’s names!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I’m so grateful for you all!!

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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 (not affiliate links) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!