Author: sanctanomina

Birth announcement: Dominic Pax!

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I did a private almost-consultation for a mama due near Christmas — her baby came quicker than expected so I was only able to send her a few quick thoughts — but it turns out she and her hubby did an absolutely fine job on their own! I’m thrilled to share the amazing name they gave their little guy … Dominic Pax!

What an amazing combo! I’ve always loved that Dominic means “of the Lord,” and with Pax meaning “peace,” this little guy has an incredibly meaningful name! It’s also perfect for a Christmastime babe — his mama writes, “Pax just seemed like a really appropriate name for the season!” Indeed!!

Congratulations to the happy parents and big siblings Juliana Claire, Curtis Xavier, Adeline Frances, Thomas Ambrose, Thea Josephine (in heaven), and Fulton Joseph, and happy birthday Baby Dominic!!

Dominic Pax

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Baby name consultation: Maybe Mediterranean-ish for new baby, but definitely not Oregon Trail

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , , , ,

Happy Monday, everyone! This week is winter break for both my elementary and high school kids, so if you are also on break, I hope this consultation is a fun diversion for you in the midst of the much-needed break from the stresses of school days and also the additional fun and mayhem that is always part of it, at least in my house!

Today’s consultation is for a couple expecting their second baby, a sweet sister for big sister Avila. This family has the good fortune of Avila being a surname in their family tree! I love that so much!

A funny thing to keep in mind is that the papa says, regarding names, “1880’s America is out” and, “If it came over the Oregon trail, it’s out.” That made me laugh! But also provided important info about what kinds of names he doesn’t like (to a certain extent; see my comments below).

The mama also writes,

“I feel like our style and preferences are all over the place!

We like …

  • Josephine (for a long time, we said our second girl would be Josephine, but we’re second-guessing it now for some reason. We have a devotion to St. Joseph but I don’t love ‘Josie’ or ‘Jo’ for a nickname)
  • Madalena or Maddalena (your spotlight post about Mary Magdalena made me cry, in a good way! I love the nicknames Lainey and Lena, we like the Italian/Portuguese feel. We like how this sounds like Madeleine — a name my husband loves — but just a little more unique)
  • Lucia (pronounced loo-see-uh, but my husband does not care for Lucy, so he is hesitant, since Lucy seems like an inevitable nickname. I am Portuguese, so I like the connection to Our Lady of Fatima here, without literally naming the baby ‘Fatima’)
  • Caroline (We love this name! But does it feel too preppy next to Avila and other names we gravitate towards?? It might be worth mentioning that our home/clothing/lifestyle preferences lean quite preppy, so while it fits ‘us,’ I don’t know how it goes with Avila)
  • I like Edith and Edie, but my husband is strongly opposed (the Oregon trail comment haha)
  • I also like Bridget, but my husband isn’t a fan

Also,

“Our style is …

  • Familiar, but not super common
  • Not overly saccharine (i.e. ‘Isabella’ because the nickname ‘Bella’ is just too frilly for me)
  • Would like it to be a patron/tied to a saint
  • Like ‘hipster’ Catholic names as much as the classic European names (two styles that I feel like are conflicting)
  • We love traditional English names for boys (Charles, George, Henry) so if we go too Mediterranean this time, does that nix any English names for future children? If it helps, if this baby was a boy, we’d be strongly considering Giorgio, after Giorgio Frassati (we love him!)

Additionally, names they can’t or won’t use include:

  • Jacinta
  • Rose or Rosalie
  • Anna
  • Cecelia
  • Lucy
  • Edith
  • Eden
  • Zelie
  • Clementine
  • Noelle
  • Marigold
  • Gianna
  • Isabella
  • Veronica
  • Siena
  • Lily
  • Sophia
  • Colette
  • Stella
  • Hannah
  • Felicity

And they’d like to avoid:

  • Place names (since we already have Avila — we LOVE Siena but won’t use it for this reason, and because our best friends have a Siena that’s Avila’s age)
  • Unless you really convince me, I’d like to avoid another ‘A’ name

Finally,

“Overall, to me, it feels like Avila could go with a very classic/traditional name theme, or could go super Mediterranean. So, it seems like baby #2 could really determine a theme for us either way.”

Baby no. 2 really does offer an interesting opportunity for parents who like names of differing styes! My favorite idea is to choose a name that provides the most possibility for future children, which is the mindset I brought to this consultation.

The “Oregon Trail” thing and the fact that the mama said Edith falls into those categories for her hubby gave me a decent idea of what names he doesn’t like. It’s unfortunate, because those names are totally back in fashion right now, and a lot of the ones I thought I might like to suggest based on what’s in fashion right now for Catholic families (like Avila) have that older feel. (In fact, I would characterize some of their list as fitting that vibe! I could easily see Josephine and Caroline riding in covered wagons, and Mad[d]alena, Lucia, and Bridget could be thought of having a late 19th/early 20th century immigrant feel, which might be similar to what this papa says he’s opposed to. So unfortunate! I personally love those pioneer/Old World names.)

I was very interested by how Mama defined their style. From everything she wrote, I was most inspired by the fact that their “home/clothing/lifestyle preferences lean quite preppy,” “Not overly saccharine,” “hipster Catholic names” (which is where I would put Avila), “and “classic European names.” In fact, of all those, I would say “preppy” was the most inspirational to me — if I have the right idea of what that means, I think of names that I have characterized as “pearl necklace names” for girls and “pinstripe names” for boys (the latter was the Baby Name Wizard’s description for the name Brooks, which I would think might appeal to this family). So while she worried that “classic European names” conflict with “’hipster’ Catholic names,” I think both can fit with the pearl necklace/pinstripe aesthetic, and that’s the sweet spot I was shooting for.

Also, I wanted to assure this mama that “pearl necklace names” aren’t necessarily frilly. Her example of Isabella being out because Bella is too frilly for her gave me good direction — maybe Isabel is more her speed? I like that it doesn’t naturally nickname to Bella. The nickname Isa (if they wanted to use a nickname) feels more her speed, too, as it doesn’t have the same lacy feel that Bella does. I also think the “traditional English names for boys” that this couple favors fit in perfectly with their style as I’m understanding it (although … not to play devil’s advocate, but those are the exact kind of names the pioneer boys would have! Or does Papa only dislike those kinds of girl names?).

That’s actually another good point to discuss — it’s totally normal for parents to have a different style for their girl names than their boy names! I do agree with this mama that baby no. 2 can help determine a theme for them, and if they were having a little Giorgio, I do think it would mean Caroline and Henry would feel out of place going forward. But they could totally do George/Henry/Charles for boys and Avila/Lucia/Madalena for girls, no problem at all. And when I say “no problem at all,” I mean I don’t think it would really raise any eyebrows if they were to do so because doing so is within the realm of “normal” for American parents. But if they didn’t care about what others’ perceptions are, they could simply consider their style “Catholic hipster” and have Avila, Henry, Giorgio, Zelie (though I know it’s on their “no” list), Kateri, Stanley, Fulton, and Faustina! And confuse everyone, haha! But I’d really like to figure out a way for them to be able to use all their favorite names *and* have their children’s name style make sense to them.

This would be a good time for me to go through the names they’ve discussed or are considering and offer my thoughts, in case they’re helpful:

  • Josephine: I’m always a little sad when I read that parents have loved a certain name for a long time and when the time finally comes when they can use it, they’re not feeling it so much. I do understand! I’ve had the same feeling myself. But if the traditional nicknames are the only things holding them back from Josephine, maybe an unexpected nickname would solve the problem? A traditional but less common nickname for Josephine is Posy/Posey/Posie, which I think is darling and brings in the extra nice meaning of a posy being “a bunch of flowers.” Or Poesy, which is a poem/poetry. I also think Sophie can work for Josephine (but does Sophia on their list of names they won’t use make this one unusable?). I know Pina is a nickname sometimes used by those of Italian descent, since the Italian variant, Giuseppina, ends in -pina. And I’ve seen Fia sometimes suggested. So they have some options to consider that might make Josephine feel a bit fresher to them!
  • Madalena/Maddalena: I love these variants! They go really nicely with Avila, and Lainey/Lena are sweet. They do take this family more in that Iberian/Mediterranean direction, which could make Josephine and Caroline feel more mismatched for future daughters, but again, I don’t think it should affect their English boy name list at all. All that said, I think I would have thought Madeleine was more their style, so I’m not surprised Papa loves it! I get a “straightforward” feel from this couple re: their girl names (Isabel instead of Isabella). So while I love Mad(d)alena, since Madeleine feels like a better fit to me but Mama would like a more unique version of it, I wonder what they would think of Magdalene? They could still use Lainey/Lena as nicknames (even though I think it’s traditionally said to rhyme with “pin”), as well as Magda and Maggie. I like that Magdalene is Catholicky Catholic but not Spanish/Portuguese/Italian (though I do love that this mama has Portuguese heritage!), which makes it a great fit for Avila and other names on their list without making them feel restricted to names from a certain part of the world.
  • Lucia: Oh man, with Mama’s Portuguese heritage and love of Our Lady of Fatima, Lucia seems like a slam dunk! But if Lucy is a dealbreaker, that’s going to require some creative thinking. They could double down on Lu/Lou as a nickname, which would likely require them to use it almost exclusively and be firm and consistent with family/friends to make sure it doesn’t turn into Lucy, which could be exhausting. I could see Lu/Lou turning into Louie, which could be cute (I have a girl cousin we affectionately call Louie). Or actually, even better: Lulu! I do think that if they used Lucia at all, even occasionally, it’s very likely Lucy will emerge, but if they always and only use Lulu and introduce their daughter that way, I think that could work, and still give them the satisfaction of having Lucia on the birth certificate. For a Fatima connection, I totally would have suggested Jacinta, which seems more Avila-esque to me, but it’s on their no list … Jacinta is the Portuguese for Hyacinth, I wonder if they would be interested in that? If you watch the Pioneer Woman, you’ll know that one of her best friends is Hyacinth and she always refers to her as Hy. I also think Frances has that “straightforward” feel that I think is part of their girl name style, and could be a nod to Francisco — a different way of naming a girl for Our Lady of Fatima. (But is Frances too Oregon Trail?)
  • Caroline: Based on so many things in this mama’s email, I’m not at all surprised that she and her hubby love this name and feel that it fits “them”! If they reframe their thinking about it, I think it can totally go with Avila! Many, many families have named their children after St. John Paul II by using a Charles variant, since his birth name, Karol, is the Polish for Charles. Caroline is one I’ve seen many times! If they wanted to lean into this connection even more, they could spell it Karoline. Also, to address the “preppy” concern, one of the naming trends I see and love among parents with a similar style is using surnames as first names — Sloane is sort of a stereotypical example; mothers’ maiden names are often used as well — from this perspective, Avila exactly fits into that! The fact that it’s also a super Catholic saintly place name is just amazing for a family like this, but even if they weren’t Catholic, I could see someone with Avila as a family surname choosing it for their daughter’s first name. So they’re good with Avila and Caroline both fitting their preppy style!

Okay, on to new ideas! You all know that I always start a consultation by looking up the names the parents have already used and those they like in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I did so for this family, but it was only somewhat helpful because Avila and Madalena don’t have their own entries, for example, and even if Avila did, its style is as much “surname” as “saintly place name,” which makes it equal parts amazing and complicated from a style perspective. I kept thinking about a consultation I did for a family a while ago who were expecting twin girls — “pearl necklace names” were my total focus, and there was some overlap between the names they were considering and some this family likes (they ended up naming one of their babies Caroline, and the other Evelyn, which is, in origin, derived from Avila!), so I read through those posts again. I also looked through the list of Portuguese girl names on Behind the Name for inspiration. In doing all this thinking and researching, I found it pretty difficult to stay away from the old timey names! Hopefully they like something here:

(1) Mary or Maria [something]

Not only do I love a Marian double name anyway, but I really think something like this could be a bridge between Avila and any other kind of name they like. Consider Maria Caroline, for example, either as a first+middle combo or a double first name (Maria-Caroline; I use hyphens throughout this consultation for my double name ideas because I like that it makes the double name obvious, but it’s totally not necessary if they don’t like it!). Maria hits all the Avila notes, which means the middle name can be anything they want and still fit style-wise, and they can use the middle name (or second first name, if they consider it a double first name) as the everyday call name. Consider St. Therese and her mom and sisters, who had Marie- as the first part of their first names but went by the second (or third, in St. Therese’s case). So Mary or Maria [something] could go by her middle name, or a nickname of her middle name, and might help this couple feel more comfortable using a name they like that doesn’t necessarily feel like it fits with Avila. Doing this really opens up a whole host of names! If they hadn’t already used a family surname, I would suggest they consider doing so; boyish names become feminine and Catholic when paired with Mary or Maria (something like Maria-Bennett or Mary-Blaise); names that might have nickname issues could be helped by being paired with Mary or Maria (like Mary-Lucia — I don’t think a Mary-Lucia would automatically be shortened to Lucy [to Mary, if anything, I would think], and they could have fun trying to think of mashup nicknames if they wanted to, like Mia, Marly, Marilu, Malou, that kind of thing). While Mary Clare and Mary Elizabeth might be Oregon Trail names, I don’t believe Maria-Caroline, Mary-Lucia, and Mary-Bennett are!

(2) A different kind of double name

While double Marian names are traditional and not uncommon among Catholic families, double names in general strike me as having a preppy feel. As with Mary/Maria, they could give two traditional names an unexpected twist by pairing them, or femininize or normalize an otherwise uncommon or unfamiliar name for a girl, or temper a name that might feel overly feminine for them but they’d like to consider anyway. Some ideas include Sara-Kate, Lucia-Jane, Molly-James, Caeli-Clare. Other elements that might pair up in various combos might include Tessa, Cara, June, and Nell. Some boyish names could be fun, too, like Jesse and Elliott. I was looking around online for unusual real-life double names and saw Rose-Maite (I know they don’t want to use Rose, but I looove Maite! It’s a Spanish mashup of Maria and Teresa), Anna Reid, Kara Drake, Charlie Kate, and Sarah-Taylor. I was also thinking how this mama likes Edie, and thought they could consider an E name with a D middle (or second first) and use Edie (E.D.) as the nickname. Something like Elisa-Day or Eva-Daisy could work. I also know a Mary Elizabeth who goes by M.E. (Emmy).

(3) Julia or Juliet

Julia is a style match for Madeline (standing in for Madalena, which doesn’t have its own entry in the BNW) and Caroline, and has that non-frilly “straightforward” feel that I think they might like. It leans more “classic European” than “hipster,” though, which made me think they might like Juliet even better in terms of looking for a “familiar, but not super common” name. Juliette would certainly be overly frilly for this family, I think, but I don’t think Juliet is … or maybe it is? Just by virtue of the story? It does have good faith credentials, though: I did a spotlight post here.

(4) Eliana

Eliana was in the list of Portuguese names, and it’s such a beautiful name I knew I wanted to include it! Though its Portuguese roots don’t trace back to a name of much interest, it’s simultaneously a Hebrew name that means “my God has answered,” which is so great!

(5) Beatrice/Beatrix/Beatriz

Another name that caught my eye in the list of Portuguese names was Beatriz, and Beatrice is a style match for Josephine — I really felt like this name family (Beatriz, Beatrix, Beatrice) has that same feel that this couple likes. It could be a good replacement for Bridget on the mama’s list?

(6) Vivian, Verity

Because of Avila’s prominent V, I was hesitant to include other names with prominent V’s, but it was hard to do! Genevieve, Violet, Evangeline, and Victoria are all names that showed up in my research as being similar to names they like. But I did like the idea of Vivian — again, it has that straightforward, non-frilly feel (which, like Juliet, seems more their speed than the frillier Vivienne), and if the V’s bother them, it could be a good candidate for a double name like Mary-Vivian. I also like the idea of Verity — this strikes me as a Catholic hipster name! I also think this could be cool in a double name: Mary-Verity, Maria-Verity, Verity-Jane.

(7) Sidony

I wanted to think of an idea that could possibly appeal to the part of their style that loves Siena, so I was looking for names with similar sounds, and wondered what they might think of Sidony? It’s got an amazing meaning! According to The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977) (affiliate link) by E.G. Withycombe,

“this name was formerly used by Roman Catholics for girls born about the date of the Feast of the Winding Sheet (i.e., of Christ), more formally alluded to as ‘the Sacred Sendon’. Sendon or Sindon (from Latin sindon … ‘fine cloth’, ‘linen’) was used in Middle English for a fine cloth, especially one used as a shroud. The Sacred Sendon is supposed to be preserved at Turn … Sidonie is not uncommon in France, and the Irish Sidney is probably really Sidony.” (pp. 268-269).

The Feast of the Winding Sheet isn’t on the calendar anymore, but it used to be commemorated the day before Ash Wednesday. Isn’t that a cool background for a name?! So Catholic! So unexpected!

(8) Thais

I really wanted to give this couple a range of names, from Mary doubles to unusual ideas. Thais is unusual! In fact, it doesn’t fit their “familiar, but not super common” criteria, but it’s such a beautiful name that I wanted to include it. And it has a Portuguese variant (Thaís)! I spotlighted the name here. If they like it but hesitate that it’s a little too unusual, it would be a good candidate for a Mary double or other double: Mary-Thais or Ella-Thais or Clara-Thais.

I also wanted to mention a few more names that showed up in my research as matches for this family that didn’t feel quite right to include in the list above for whatever reason, but I didn’t feel right leaving them out altogether: Camila, Carina, Emilia.

As an additional note, I was thinking that Becket is a name that could be added to their list of English boy names that would also fit the Catholic hipster theme they like and be a nice match for Avila — a bridge name, maybe, between Avila and George.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for Avila’s little sister, taking into consideration the details discussed above?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Esme Bernadette!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , ,

I was thrilled to only recently discover (because I’m so absent from social media these days) that Grace Patton had another baby this past fall — her tenth (fourth girl) on earth! She and her hubby gave her the simply gorgeous name … Esme Bernadette! Check out her sweet face in her birth post here (including the pronunciation of her name, in case you’re not sure), and see the whole beautiful family in their Christmas post here.

I’m extra excited, too, because way back when, in 2015, when Sancta Nomina wasn’t even a year old, I posted a consultation for Grace’s fifth baby and actually mentioned Esme as an idea! Granted, it wasn’t one of my “official” suggestions, but I did mention it! That’s very exciting for a baby name consultant!!

(That consultation was the first one I did for Grace; I also posted ideas for babies no. 6 and no. 8; birth announcements for no. 5, no. 6, no. 7, no. 8, and no. 9; and she also has a sweet little one in heaven. Longtime big fan, right here.)

Congratulations to Grace and Simon and big sibs Julia, Sebastian, Theodore, Phoebe, Bosco, Abraham, Clement, Iris, and Felix, and happy birthday Baby Esme!!

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Baby name consultation: Ukrainian + Marian + unfamiliar-ish (?) for baby no. 4 on earth

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, issued a beautiful statement that you might like to read. This is a lovely quote from it, which contains a quote from Dr. King himself:

“As Rev. King taught us, we must confront the evils of racism and prejudice with the love of Christ: ‘Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God . . . the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth.'”

Today’s consultation is for Lindsey and her husband as they prepare to welcome their fourth baby on earth, a little green bean (=gender unknown 🌱)! This little one joins big sibs:

Lukas Paul (“Lukas is a nod to the blessed mother’s fiat and Paul is my dad’s name. He sometimes goes by Luka [our intended nickname] but prefers and introduces himself as Lukas. St. Luke the evangelist and St. Paul are his patrons, and I love that they were friends! [Your blog was my permission for Lukas to be a Marian name. I wanted our firstborn to have a Marian connection but since he was a boy I struggled until reading your reasoning!]“)

Simon Peter (“Simon is my husband’s great grandfathers name, Peter is his grandfather’s name. St. Simon Peter is [obviously] his patron. He has been a long time favorite saint of mine so was very excited to get to honor him so completely in Simon’s name. Whenever I yell his full name out at the playground I sometimes get a comment like, ‘Wow! Y’all really went for it!’ Indeed, we did, haha.”)

“Lukas and Simon are twins so we wanted their middle names to have a special connection, and we absolutely love both Sts. Peter and Paul to represent the east and west, as I was raised Roman Catholic and my husband was raised Byzantine Catholic and we are trying to foster a love for both rites in our home!“

Rose Marie (+) (“Our baby in Heaven. When I returned from the doctors appointment confirming my miscarriage, one single rose was in bloom in our garden that wasn’t even budding before. A true gift from Our Blessed Mother and St. Therese. Now I always imagine her as a little rose interceding for our family in Mary’s heavenly bouquet. She and St. Therese frequently shower our family with roses.”)

Mika Rose (“[pronounced mee-kah] — we call her MikaRose mostly. I am a big fan of her full name, and really wish we had made it MikaRose and then a separate middle name. It will be a happy addition when she is old enough to pick a patron saint name. (: Mika is a Ukrainian nickname [at least in my husband’s family!] for Maria/Marika. She is named after my husband’s beloved grandmother, Maria, always called ‘Mika.’ Nicknames are Marika, Mee-shoo, and Meeksy [coined by big brothers and man has it stuck….] Rose is for her sister and great intercessor in Heaven! Her patron is Mary, specifically Our Blessed Mother’s title of Mystical Rose and St. Therese. MikaRose even got to meet her namesake and great-grandmother Baba Mika a few times before Baba’s passing, which was just so incredibly sweet.”)

Incredible names, right?? Of course, you have to know that I am SO THRILLED that Lindsey was reassured of Lukas’ Marian connection by my work here at Sancta Nomina! I love the twin connection between Lukas and Simon, the sister connection between Rose Marie in heaven and Mika Rose on earth, the connection between Mika Rose and her great-grandmother, and how Our Lady is all through these beautiful names. Lindsey and her husband have done such a great job!! It’s such a joy to read such thoughtful and beautiful naming!!

Lindsey continues,

“My husband’s family is of 100% Ukrainian heritage, so we do like names that can be said easily in Ukrainian OR have a Ukrainian connection (not required, just preferred), and have an obvious patronage. Top priority to have a family name as either first or middle.

For a baby boy we have always loved Clement, Blessed Clement Sheptetsky (a Ukrainian priest and hieromartyr!) as patron and obvious Marian connection in the Salve Regina (which was the Marian hymn sung at our wedding). My concern is this — does it mix with our other kids names well? I worry because Simon and Lukas are very familiar names and Clement is not so familiar. But MikaRose isn’t familiar at all. So maybe a good bridge name? Also a little nervous he’s going to be nicknamed ‘Clem’ on the soccer field, but could stick firm to having people call him Clement (our community is mostly understanding of using full names). Middle name needs to be a family name and a canonized saint (do we need an apostle to fit with brothers???): some options are Stephen, Aloysius, or Cole. 

Still discerning if Clement is the right fit… Other boy options we really like are:

Basil. My husband and I both love this name, so it’s a top contender. We love St. Basil the Great and the Ukrainian pronunciation Vasyyl is so sweet. Basil Aloysius is a really cool name. The more I write about it the more I love it! I don’t know which pronunciation we would use, like the herb (BAY-zil) or like the Saint (BAZ-ill). I like both, but don’t love pronunciation confusion. 

Jacob- we like the Ukrainian pronunciation and we have a sweet nickname for it ready to go. 

Vincent – my husband isn’t sold on this one, but could maybe be persuaded. This is my uncle’s name whom I was very, very close to. I love the nickname Vince. Some great patron saint options too. 

Thomas- we love the Ukrainian pronunciation, don’t love the nickname Tom. 

A few more we have tossed around are: Gabriel, Mateo, James (very close friends named this), Thaddeus, Francis, Max, Nicholas, Louis (much too close to Lukas IMO), Cyril (too close to Simon?), and Gregory (don’t like any nickname option for Gregory), and Josaphat (don’t think we would actually go for it, but it is an epic name).

Boy family names (not used yet): Aloysius, Stephen, Ihor, Myron, Cole, Matthew, Vincent, Maurice, Nicholas, Alexander

Girls names we have quite a few options we are shaking around the brainbox, and I feel that my problem is I have too many ‘ideas/themes’ that I’m making us work with. My first idea was to have all of our daughters named after a title of Mary in the Litany of Loreto. So, MikaRose is Mystical Rose and any sisters following would have one as well. I do love this idea, but am not loving how it’s making many of the names we love feel unusable. So I’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t HAVE to do this, but if we could find a name we just adore that also so happens to be a title of Mary, I would be so so happy haha. Also the girl name needs an obvious patron and a family name. AND the name needs to fit well with MikaRose because I feel like we can get away with boys having a style and girls having a style, but don’t want this girl name to match the boy’s too much and leave MikaRose’s hanging awkwardly beside them. ….And maybe be a Ukrainian name…. I’ve dug myself into a hole with all the rules 😅

Girl names we are currently discussing: 

Stella- we both adore this name, but it’s not a family name or Ukrainian! But maybe it doesn’t matter? Obvious Marian title with that one! 

Azelie – same like Stella. We love this name, just no family or Ukrainian connection! Pronunciation would be a struggle. 

Margaret – my mother’s name. I would LOVE to honor her in some way. Her middle name is Anne. Although I’m a little nervous that it’s too “regular/common” like Simon and Lukas, compared to MikaRose which is a very unique and not obviously Catholic name. We would not call her Margaret, though, we like the nicknames Daisy and Mae. Also lacks the Ukrainian connection, but since it’s my mom’s name and a saint we love, could get past that. One of my favorite books growing up was My Only May Amelia and I just love that name. Thinking Margaret ‘Mae’ Emilia could be sweet, and she might go by the double name some, just like MikaRose. 

Magdalena or Helena – (nickname Lena or just use full name!). [Hubby] likes Helena more than Magdalena, but is open to both. Worried about Helena pronunciation, there are so many pronunciations and spellings. HELL-ena, hell-Lay-na, Ha-leena, etc. Sometimes I see Halina which is a name I like, but I think different name completely? 

Lilia – MikaRose was almost Lilia, Cecilia, or Josephine. Worried if we have another girl or two she’ll have to be a flower and we will run out!! (Same goes with  Daisy nn for Margaret above …. But clearly we love flower names and already have a few in the running, so maybe we should embrace the floral theme!) This feels like a good, safe option. Not super thrilled about it right now for some reason, though. I think maybe because Lily names are somewhat popular. But maybe our enthusiasm will grow again because it truly checks off the boxes – it’s Ukrainian, it matches MikaRose, and making it Marian will be easy – just need to add a family name)! Lilia Margaret is pretty special, and Mary, most pure would be an appropriate Litany title I think.

Marianna – beautiful Ukrainian name! Love the double patronage of the Blessed Mother and St. Ann and think the nickname Mari (marr-ee) is sweet. 

Edith – my husband’s suggestion. I don’t love it, although I do love the saint, and could probably get behind it eventually. It feels off though because it hardly checks any of my many boxes. 

Pia – don’t know if we could ACTUALLY go for this name, but we both do really love it. We have tossed this name around for years since we were pregnant with the boys. 

I like Genevieve, Vera, Gloria, Katerina/Katherine (nn Katya) and Felicity but my husband is not a fan. Giving for stylistic examples. 

My husband REALLY REALLY wants and  loves ‘Mary” or “Maria’ but I think we already have used that as a first name. He disagrees that all of our daughters could have a Marian first name and he IS right. He also makes the good point that I love Marianna. I worry that ‘Mary’ makes MikaRose’s name stand out from the other biblical/common names. I love the name Mary, I do(!!!!), but it just doesn’t feel like the right fit. I also love Maria, but especially since Mika is a nickname for Maria, it really feels like that belongs to MikaRose. He disagrees, and I am up for being persuaded differently. He says MikaRose and Maria are perfect sister names. I agree to an extent, except it once again makes MikaRose ‘out there’ and the other names super normal/classic. 

Formerly we have loved Josephine and Cecilia, but both feel a little too popular in our circles. But I could be convinced with the right nickname or Marian connection. They are already family names because both of my great-grandmothers were Josephine and my confirmation name is Cecilia. Maybe good middle names- just missing the Marian connection. Maybe we will fall in love with one of them again! 

Clara – we both like this name!

Girl family names: Margaret, Oksana, Frances, Carolyn, Gertrude, Maria, Anne, Mary, Mary Ann, Josephine, Doris, Mae, Cecilia 

Family devotions/patrons: the Sacred Heart of Jesus (our homeschool name is Sacred Heart Academy and our home is consecrated to His Most Sacred Heart), the Holy Family, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Ignatius, St. Padre Pio, anything Ukrainian/Byzantine focused we can get behind. Have started looking into some Ukrainian virtue names, like Rada means joy but I don’t love it.”

I loved reading all this and couldn’t wait to spend time working on this! And BOY DID I WORK ON THIS! This is definitely one of my longest consultations, if not my longest, and you have to know that I had to actually cut myself off — there was so much more I wanted to research and write about! Even as I was trying to finish it up I was reading about some Ukrainian martyrs and crying and showing my husband and sons, gah! I had to make myself stop reading about holy people so I could finish! And even here, I tried to edit it down a little so it isn’t ridiculously long.

I absolutely loved reading about Lindsey’s husband’s Ukrainian heritage and their efforts to foster a love for the Roman and Byzantine Rites in their home and family! I used this as my major inspiration when trying to find names I thought they both might like.

Before getting to my new ideas for this family, I thought I would start by offering my thoughts on the names already on their list, in case they’re helpful:

  • Clement: This, to me, is the name to beat. It’s got the great Ukrainian connection and the Marian meaning, with the additional layer of connecting to their wedding, and as Lindsey herself noted, I do indeed think of it as a great bridge name between Lukas/Simon and Mika. I myself go back and forth on Clem as a nickname — on the one hand, it’s the kind of nickname that’s not for everyone (just this morning I thought of “Clay” as a nickname I could suggest to parents that are interested in Clement but would like a different nickname than Clem — maybe for Clement Aidan? Clement Eamon? Clement Abram?), but on the other hand, I know that if we had named one of our boys Clement (it was on our list because of the Marian connection, and also our parish is St. Clement’s, for the Redemptorist St. Clement Mary Hofbauer), we totally would have eventually shortened it to Clem and grown to love it. I suspect it would be the same for Lindsey! And like she said, living in a community that’s “mostly understanding of using full names” means they’ll likely not have too much of a problem.
  • As for the middle name, Lindsey wondered if they should stick to apostles’ names in order to fit in with the brothers — that’s totally up to them! It makes sense for twins to have some sort of name connection (howwww many hours did I spend coming up with lists of twin names for my own self?! So fun!), so moving away from apostles’ names for their third boy seems like a fine and reasonable decision. Maybe even preferable, so they don’t end up feeling tied to it in the future? Stephen is a nice option because it’s biblical like Peter and Paul; Aloysius is nice because it’s not biblical, so it establishes that they’re not tied to biblical names; Cole made me hesitate a little — I like that it’s a family name, but it has a trendier feel to me than the more “serious” (in a good way!) feel of the older kids … but at the same time, maybe that would be nice, as a way of balancing the more unfamiliar Clement? I do tend to like alliteration as well. And Cole was on our own list for ages, it really is very sweet.
  • Basil: I agree, Basil Aloysius is pretty amazing!! I like that it’s clearly an Eastern name as well. I’m with Lindsey regarding pronunciation, though — I’ve seen some charged conversations online where people who pronounce it like the herb are skewered for “mispronouncing” it, despite the fact that both pronunciations are totally acceptable; also, the only BAY-zil I know is a girl (and her parents specifically liked the connection to the plant, as well as its connection to “basilica” and St. Basil). Hmm … now I’m wondering — I wonder what Lindsey and her hubby what would think about Basil for a girl?? Okay, so let me step off into a tangent for a minute:

I have a lot of thoughts about MikaRose’s name and its impact on their future naming, especially for girls! I absolutely love it, I really really do, and it was the second big influence on my final list of suggestions below (the first being Lindsey’s hubby’s Ukrainian heritage). I feel like her name is so unfamiliar to most Americans that one of the ways to find names that “match” hers is to look for names that are faithy but unfamiliar, whether or not they’re “technically” a match. So to me, a “technical” match would be a Ukrainian nickname for a traditional girl’s name. Some that I came across when doing my research that would fit include Natalka and Nastya, for example. But Natalka doesn’t feel like a “nickname” in the way Americans typically do nicknames because it’s as long as its originating name, and Nastya sounds unpleasant to English ears. So “technical” matches aren’t always exactly right. I feel like a good direction for this family to go, if they’d like MikaRose to feel like her name fits with their future girls, is to look for “faithy but unfamiliar-ish names that might have an Eastern European feel.” To a certain extent, Mika’s name will “explain” any unusual choice they make for any of their kids going forward!

So then, Basil — I totally never thought of this as a suggestion for a girl for this family at all when I was doing my research and compiling my list, but thinking of that little Basil Grace and their own double-name usage with MikaRose has my mind clicking!! Some ideas: Mary Basil or Maria Basil, as a nod to Lindsey’s hubby’s desire to use Mary or Maria as a first name, but have her go by her middle name? Or have her go by a mashup nickname, like Maisie? Or what about Basil Maria called Basil Mae/BasilMae as a double name like MikaRose? Or Basil Margaret nn Basil Mae? Then they get in the Mae they’re thinking of as a nickname for Margaret! I also really love Basil Grace, and that would satisfy their desire to have a Marian name for each of their girls. Okay, tangent over! I’ll talk more about girl name ideas after I finish with the boys!

  • Jacob: love it. I wonder if they would consider Jakob because of Lukas and MikaRose, or is that silly? (I got very excited about K’s when I was working on this!)
  • Vincent: Vincent seems like an important name to Lindsey! Since hubby doesn’t love it, I would love to see them consider it as a middle name!
  • Thomas: great name, and the full name can totally be insisted on.
  • Gabriel: one of my very favorites!
  • Mateo: Ooh, I love Mateo! So handsome and romantic! But I don’t love it with their other kids and their Ukrainian sensibility. I would love some version of Matthias/Mattias for this family, though! Maybe to honor their Matthew family member?
  • James: Always a great name!
  • Thaddeus: Fantastic. I love the Polish variant Tadeusz, too — would it be similar in the Ukraine?
  • Francis: Ditto James!
  • Max: Oh man, I’d forgotten this was on their list — I had Maksim/Maksym/Maximilian on my list of suggestions for them! I like this one for this family as a nickname for a longer name!
  • Nicholas: Keeping a Nicholas as the full Nicholas (harder than Clement and Thomas, I would think, because of that additional syllable), I would love to see this as a middle name for one of their boys
  • Louis: I agree that it’s too close to Lukas
  • Cyril: Simon and Cyril aren’t as problematic as Lukas and Louis, so I wouldn’t cross it off altogether — maybe just shelve Cyril for this baby and revisit it again in the future?
  • Gregory: Some non-Greg nicknames I’ve suggested to people include Rory (maybe too Irish for this family?) and Gus (especially with an S middle name, like Gregory Stephen)
  • Josaphat: I thought this was such a crazy addition to their list until I saw that St. Josaphat is a great Ukrainian Saint! I agree, it’s an epic name! I’d love to work it in somehow, but I’d probably try to do so in the middle name spot!
  • Boy family names not yet used: It’s a great list! I admit I’m thinking of them more as middle name possibilities (except maybe Vincent, as Lindsey would like to use it as a first name). Is Ihor said like Eeyore? From this consultation I learned that G’s are usually H’s in Ukrainian names! So interesting!

And for girl names:

  • I know you’re not at all surprised that I’m 100% on board with their idea to have all their girls have a Marian name somewhere (first or middle)! But also, I think it’s very wise that Lindsey’s moved away from the Litany of Loreto idea — there are SO MANY titles of Mary, flowers with Marian connections, and virtues associated with Our Lady that they will have enough to choose from for 100 girls! Or more!
  • Also, I definitely agree that they can have a girl style and a boy style that are different — many families do so! When this is the case, what I usually see is more creative/adventurous names for the girls and more traditional/familiar names for the boys, which is how I would characterize Lindsey’s and her husband’s style. I’m a fan!
  • Stella: I’m SO EXCITED to share something about this name that Lindsey and her hubby “both adore” but that they don’t think is Ukrainian! Crazy enough, I did a consultation for a mama a couple of years ago whose daughter is Anastasia, and she said they’d planned to call her Stella but it didn’t really work out. What??!! I asked her about it and she said,

“As for the nickname Stella for Anastasia: my great grandmother was Ukrainian and her birth name was Anastasia but she solely went by Stella. That’s how I initially came upon this nickname, but I’ve since met a few Russians whose full name is Anastasia but they go by Stella. I think it’s a semi-common nickname in Eastern Europe? To be honest I’m surprised you hadn’t heard of it!“

Can you believe that?? Then, Theresa noted in this consultation she did for her suggestion of Anastasia: “Stella is an Old Slavic nickname for Anastasia. I can’t find any reason why, but it is!” Isn’t that funny? I don’t remember telling Theresa about it, and like her, I could never find anything that explained it, but it’s totally a thing! I’m so excited to make a Ukrainian connection for this name for Lindsey and her hubs!!

  • Azelie: Okay, I have a few thoughts for this one. First, I wonder what they’d think about Mariya Azelie? I’m using that spelling of Maria because I know it’s Ukrainian, but certainly Maria Azelie would be lovely — that way, they’d have a Ukrainian first name (even if they decided to call her Azelie or Zelie exclusively. I’ll throw out Mazie again as a mashup nickname idea). Also, I’ve seen many people say that Azelie is the French for the azalea flower, and have named their daughters Azelie being pleased with the floral connection (plus St. Zelie of course), and while I’ve never been able to find anything authoritative that proves this (the French is the similar azalée), in this case, maybe it could be helpful to this family? The Ukrainian word for azalea seems to be azaliya — maybe they could use that as the given name, and use Zalie or Zelie as the nickname, with the intention of honoring St. Zelie? Not to add another floral name to their list, unless they want one! Haha! (You can read more about how I think intention matters more than the “facts” in naming here.)
  • Margaret: I really love Lindsey’s idea of Margaret Emilia nn Mae Emilia! Even though I agree that Margaret is “too ‘regular/common’ like Simon and Lukas,” their reason for using it is spot on, and Mae Emilia sounds like a natural sister to MikaRose.
  • Magdalena or Helena: I like both! Because Helena has so many different pronunciations, they can pick their favorite — it just requires them to be firm and consistent when telling people their daughter’s name, and when she’s old enough she’ll do it herself. Lindsey’s right that Halina is a different name — it’s a feminine variant of Galen! There’s a St. Galen, if you’re interested.
  • Lilia: This is my favorite of the Lily names! I love what Lindsey wrote about it, and I agree that Lilia Margaret is special. Mary Most Pure would be a beautiful attribution!
  • Marianna: You have to know I would love this one! It checks Lindsey’s boxes of Ukrainian and Marian, and you know I love St. Ann! Mari is very sweet, and so close to Mary that I’m surprised this isn’t the clear winner for Lindsey and her hubby!
  • Edith: I love St. Edith Stein too! But I agree with Lindsey that “it hardly checks any of [her] many boxes.” I would shelve this one for now, if it was me.
  • Pia: Oh man, I LOVE this as a Marian name, and it’s totally in the Mia/Leah realm, which is a group of names I love, and this reader named her baby Pia, which made me so happy! I seriously would love it if they used it!! Maybe it would be easier to use as part of a double name? Mary-Pia? Pia-Kate?
  • Genevieve, Vera, Gloria, Katerina/Katherine nn Katya, Felicity: These are all such pretty names! I’m glad Lindsey included them for stylistic purposes. Of them, I absolutely love Katerina/Katherine nn Katya — all three of those names were big style matches for this family in my research!
  • Mary and Maria: This is so funny to me! I totally get the difference of opinion that Lindsey and her hubby are having, even though on paper it seems like there should be no disagreement. My take is that I *don’t* think they’ve already used Mary or Maria, even though Mika is technically a nickname for Maria. I’m thinking of it as similar to Molly being, in origin, a nickname for Mary, but I would think sisters Molly and Mary are fine. Also, it’s a very Catholic tradition for all the girls in a family to have a form of Mary in their names, often as first names. I know I’ve shared here often that my dad has four first cousins from two different families, three of whom are sisters, with Mary as their first name, but they all go by their middle names. Additionally, another of those cousins is Marianne; my dad’s mom was Mary Loretta, who went by Loretta; and his sister is Marylee. So many Marys! In French, Marie is the version that’s used. My parents wanted all of their girls to have a form of Mary, so they switched things up between the first and middle names: I’m Katherine Morna (I discuss in my book of Marian names the Marian connection with Morna) and my sisters have Molly, Mary, and Maria. So none of us has the same form of Mary, but she’s there nonetheless. All that to say, I think this couple can consider Mika and Maria to be two variants of Mary, and add Marianna and Mary to the mix as well. I totally get what Lindsey means when she says she doesn’t feel like Mary is the right fit, and Maria doesn’t feel comfortable to her for this baby, so I would suggest either playing around with ways to make them feel comfortable (would an unusual Mary+ combo make Mary feel okay? Like Mary-Pia mentioned above, or Mary-Clement, Maria-Basil, Mary-Cole, Mary-Mattea [instead of the Mateo they’ve considered], Mary-Greer [Greer is derived from Gregory]? I’m using hyphens to make them clear as double names, but of course they don’t have to use them — they could do MaryCole, for example, to mimic MikaRose?), or shelving both Mary and Maria for now and focus on finding a different Mary name for this baby. Marianna is the obvious contender, but other options could include Mae already on their list, Mariae (the Latin possessive form of Mary), Marie, Marisa, Maylis (a combo of Mary and Lily), Molly, Mariah, Ria, Miriam, Mara, Maura, Maureen, and a whole bunch more. They could also consider branching out from variants of Mary to Marian titles, attributes, or symbols as they’ve already done with Pia and Lilia, but also Regina, Caeli, Virginia, Dolores, etc. Also all the flower names! Vincenzina Krymow said in her book Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends & Meditations (affiliate link), “It is thought that at one time all flowers and plants honored Mary, the ‘Flower of Flowers,’ in legend or in name” (12). I have loads of flower names in my book of Marian names with specific connections to Our Lady, including Daisy, Lily, Marigold, Iris, Violet, and others.
  • Josephine and Cecilia: I can see how these might feel too popular to Lindsey. I like Posie and Sophie as unexpected nicknames for Josephine, and they can both be Marian in that Posie is floral and Sophie can be from her title Seat of Wisdom. For Cecilia, interestingly enough the very similar Celia is unrelated — Cecilia means “blind” but Celia means “heaven” and with that meaning it can be considered to relate to Our Lady through her title Queen of Heaven (as with Caeli). And of course, putting Mary in front of them makes them Marian! Mary Josephine and Mary Cecilia are lovely and traditional, and you can have fun with nicknames — Masie for Mary Josephine, Malia for Mary Cecilia?
  • Clara: Beautiful! I wonder if they would consider the Klara spelling?
  • Girl family names: they’re all beautiful!

I feel like I’ve already written way too much, and I haven’t even gotten to my new ideas yet! So I’m not going to go in depth regarding Sacred Heart names (but do check out this post I did on the topic — there a few names there I think Lindsey might like), and I really wanted to look into Ukrainian virtue names (such a fun idea!), but I will have to be content with the list of names I compiled below. They’re the result of my usual research in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link), where I looked up the names Lindsey and her hubs have used and those they like as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I also looked through my book of Marian names, consulted the lists of Ukrainian names on Behind the Name and UkraineTrek.com, considered the names in the list of holy people who were Ukrainian by birth at CatholicSaints.info, and read this article on Ukrainian Saints. I admit I did look up some words on the English–>Ukrainian Google translate, which did inspire one of my ideas!

Girl

(1) Karoleva

Not having too much familiarity with Ukrainian, I can’t know for sure if this is a really viable option, but Google Translate tells me Karoleva is the word for “queen” in Ukrainian and I LOVE it! It’s like a Karoline-Eva mashup! I looked up “Queen Mary” and the result was Karoleva Mariya, which I also love! How beautiful!! (I also like the idea of just Eva, or Maria+Eva in Marieva.)

(2) Nadia

Nadia was actually the first name I thought of for this family — it means “hope,” and Our Lady of Hope could be the Marian title.

(3) Susanna

Susanna is listed as a Ukrainian name and is one of my very favorites (our first girl would have been Susanna!). It means both “lily” and “rose” in Hebrew, which earned it a place in my book of Marian names. Because of the unusualness of MikaRose, they might like to consider Susanna’s more unusual nicknames, like Sukie and Zuzu.

(4) Beata

This name has good Eastern European usage and is in my book because it means “blessed” and is specifically used to describe Our Lady in the Latin for “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary”: Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis. Some form of Beata Maria/Maria Beata/Mary Beata/Beata Mary would be a meaningful combo!

(5) Willa

When I was looking through the listing of holy people that were born in Ukraine, Sr. Wilhelmine Balka, also known as Sr. Angela, caught my eye because she was a nun in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (which seemed meaningful because of this family’s devotion to the Sacred Heart). Her cause for canonization was open as one of the Martyrs of Baining (though it’s since been suspended because those in charge of gathering information can’t find additional evidence that the murders were done out of hatred for the faith). An interesting and very sad story! Anyway, Wilhelmine is a big name, but the shorter Willa immediately struck me as a name that would be a great sister to MikaRose! I think Willa would work fine as a nod to Sr. Wilhelmine if they wanted it to! I also did a spotlight on it here, connecting it to Palm Sunday.

(6) Colette

My last idea for a girl is Colette, inspired by family names Nicholas and Cole. St. Colette’s given name was Nicolette, but I love Colette on its own. I have a friend who named her daughter Maria Colette, which I’ve always thought was stunning. I also mentioned Mary-Cole above as a possibility — I could see that working as a nickname for Mary Colette as well.

Boy

(1) Martyn (or Martin)

I don’t know what Lindsey and her hubs think about the Y spelling, but it seems to be specifically Ukrainian (Mariya, Nadiya, etc.) — when I saw Martyn in my research, I thought it would be a great name for Lukas and Simon’s brother!

(2) Konrad

This is one hundred percent inspired by Bl. Mykola Konrad. I love that his first name is the Ukrainian variant of Nicholas, so using Konrad could maybe be a nod to the Nicholas/Cole family members? His story is so moving!

(3) Joachim

I couldn’t not suggest one of my very favorite names when it seems to go so well with this family’s aesthetic! I think it goes great with their boys, and doesn’t sound strange at all next to MikaRose — in fact, I think it has real potential as a bridge name. I even found a church called Saints Joachim and Anna Ukrainian Catholic Church, which I thought was a good sign! Even better, I read the terrible and moving story of Bl. Yakym Senkivsky who was in the Basilian Order of St. Josaphat (I love that the Order’s name contains two of the names they included on their list) — his name is the Ukrainian form of Joachim.

(4) Leo (or Leonid?)

Leonid is in the list of Ukrainian names on Behind the Name, and with Leo being a fairly popular name, Leonid could bring a fresh perspective! Leo is, of course, the perfect, easy, nickname; I’d also be thrilled if they used Leo as the given name.

(5) Oskar

Oskar was inspired by the fact that it’s a style match for both Edith and Clara on Lindsey’s list, and of course I chose the K spelling because it feels more Ukrainian (is it getting old yet that I keep doing that?!). There’s a St. Oscar who’s also known as Ansgar and St. Oscar Romero as patrons.

(6) Elliott

This last one has a different feel to me and is maybe a little surprising? But Elliott’s a style match for Stella and Cecilia, and I’ve always loved that it’s a derivation of Elias/Elijah, which of course has the Ukrainian counterpart Illya. I also consider it Marian because of the Prophet Elijah’s connection to Our Lady in the bible and through the Carmelite Order.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the baby brother or sister of Lukas, Simon, and MikaRose? If you have specific knowledge of Ukrainian naming, please share!

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Baby name consultation: Baby no. 7 after six boys!

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Happy belated feast of the Epiphany! And today is a new-to-me feast day: Our Lady of Prompt Succor! I’m very familiar with Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Succor), and now OL of Prompt Succor — she’s such an immediate and everlasting help, that Mother of ours!

Today’s consultation is a tender one as it’s for a mama who’s expecting a baby after losing her previous youngest to a tragic accident. I think you’ll be as moved and inspired by this family’s story as I am! (I also wanted to give a little heads-up to anyone who might not be up for an emotional story today, which I totally get — sometimes [especially when I was pregnant] I just can’t spend the day crying, you know?)

First off, the name info: Jill and her husband, who are expecting their seventh born baby, a little green bean (=gender unknown🌱)! This little one joins big sibs:

Graham Stephen (“Graham is my maiden name. In addition to being my husband’s middle name, Stephen is also his father’s first name“)

Lucas Patrick (“We call him Lucas and Luke. I always loved the name Lucas. Patrick is Tim’s uncle, who he lived with a bit in college and thinks highly of. St. Patrick’s was also our church at the time. St. Patrick has been a favorite Saint of many of our kids over the years“)

Raymond Browning (“We call him Raymond and Ray. Ray is Tim’s maternal grandpa. Rae is also Tim’s mother’s middle name. We didn’t know it when we named him but St. Raymond Nonnatus is the patron of expectant mothers and midwives because he miraculously survived his mother dying in childbirth. I have spent my entire nursing career in the NICU and Women’s Services so learning this felt very divinely orchestrated to me. Browning is my father’s middle name [and his father’s and grandfather’s]“)

Titus John (“We came across the name Titus when we were pregnant with Raymond and searching for Catholic or Biblical boys names. We chuckled a bit about it because it felt so… I don’t know… Roman, but it stuck with us. By the time Titus was born, I loved the book of Titus and I felt sure we were supposed to use the name for him. It fits him well. It’s fun that he shares a feast day with his dad. During this time, I had also fallen in love with the Apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved and couldn’t imagine not naming one of my boys after him“)

Leo Joachim (“The only baby who’s gender we knew was Raymond’s. So, we’re pregnant with baby #5 and already have 4 boys. I had zero idea what we were going to name this baby if he was a boy … Titus’ name had felt so divinely orchestrated that throughout pregnancy #5 I prayed that God would make it obvious to me what we were supposed to name this baby. Occasionally I would suggest boy names that I thought were ‘okay’ and Tim would say, ‘meh.’ Tim suggested Leo over and over again. Leo is his maternal great-grandfather. I knew a few toddler Leos at our church so I thought the name would be too common and didn’t really want to use it. The morning Leo was born, after we moved into our post-partum room, we started trying to name him. My mom was on the way with our boys and we joked that if we didn’t name him by the time she arrived, she would name him. I had a list of about 10 boy names that I thought were okay and Tim didn’t like any of them. He still wanted Leo. I said, ‘Well, let’s just see who the saint of the day is. Maybe it will be someone we haven’t thought of yet. Maybe it will spark a name we haven’t thought of yet.’ I pulled it up and started laughing out loud. Pope Saint Leo the Great. I said yes to Leo right then but in case I needed more reassurance God sent more. My sister in law sent me an e-mail with a reflection from the day and said, ‘Leo would be a great name!’ Then, my co-worker, who isn’t Catholic, and didn’t know what we had named him, went to the gift shop to buy me something before she came to our room to see us. [She was on the lactation team with me.] She brought us a stuffed Lion. [Leo stems from the Latin word for lion.] It was settled. We liked Leo Joachim and Leo Joseph. [Joe is my father’s name.] I am always a fan of different names so since Tim was up for the name Joachim, I picked that. In addition to being a great name for Mary’s father, Joachim is also a family name on Tim’s paternal side.”)

(Sorry, I just have to interrupt to say JOACHIM!! And also, how about this story of allllll the signs that Leo was clearly the right name for this baby??!! 😍😍😍)

Augustine Joseph (“When we were pregnant with baby #6, I felt like Titus was a bit of an outlier, as far as being a name from the earlier years of Christianity. So, I was looking at names from the Roman Canon and the earlier saints. Tim’s sister and brother in law had lost a baby at 19 weeks who they named Gus [Augustine James]. St. Augustine of Hippo fit my search for older saints. I asked them how they would feel if we used it and they said they’d be honored. We weren’t settled on it by any means when we asked them but I don’t remember much about the rest of our name considerations or discussions. Born in January of the year of St. Joseph, we named him Augustine Joseph. I mentioned earlier, Joe is also my dad’s name [and his father’s and grandfather’s]. Augustine went by his full name but also Gus, Gus Gus, Gustin, and Auggie. At 18 months old, he choked on a sandwich and after I did CPR on him he was declared brain dead two days later. Saint Augustine of Hippo’s writings occur constantly which I see as a beautiful way God would frequently remind me of my saintly son and his patron saint. We like to say St. Gus, pray for us! Or Saint Augustine Joseph, pray for us. My sister in law and brother in law had not buried their Gus yet because they couldn’t find a spot that felt right (they live far from family). So, we buried the two of them next to each other in the baby section of our Catholic cemetery. It’s great because I can visit, pray at, decorate and care for Augustine James’ grave as I do Augustine Joseph’s. There are more details on some of the many ways God has worked miracles through Gus’ short life and death at https://breezybreastfeeding.com/how-to-grow-your-yes-to-god/ and in some of the links I placed in that article.”)

What a cross this family has been asked to bear! What a blessing that they’ve been given so many comforting signs like the frequent occurrence of the writings of St. Augustine and the miracles Jill’s been able to see come about through the loss of their beautiful boy.

“Throughout these babies, we’ve also had four miscarriages named John, Sammy, Josephine, and Gemma.”

This family has experienced so much loss! It’s always a privilege for me to work with families on choosing names for their babies, and I was feeling that privilege extra much when I was working on this. I’m so grateful for all the ways God uses my funny little interest in names to help others!

Jill continues,

“My favorite names are ones that people have heard of but are not common. Augustine was a bit tricky for me because so many people pronounced it like the town in Florida instead of like the saint. If they pronounced it like the town in Florida, then they would often think he was a girl because of the Christine-like ending. Though I care less about people being able to pronounce my kid’s name over the years and am open to more obscure Saints and Biblical names. 

Tim’s preferences lean more toward common names … He’s grown a lot though to consider many other names but he still learns more toward common names than I do. If a name is listed in the top 10, I consider that a negative but we still have used some common names I love. And my oldest ended up having three Grahams in his grade at our parish so you never know! If we had named him Luke like we originally planned, he’d be the only one. As it is, our Lucas is one of many (maybe 6) Lukes in his grade at our parish.”

Names they’re considering for a girl include:

  • Clara (“always our front-runner, we visited Assisi after Gus died and I fell in love with St. Clare. I used to think she was too intimidating to name a child after. Who can live up to Saint Clare?! While we were in Assisi, I realized she simply said yes to God and his plan for her. His plan for me will look different. But my goal is to say yes to his plan for me, however it looks, and I pray that my kids will say yes to God’s plan for them. I love the tweak of Clara. We live in a town with an active, Catholic, homeschooling community which means there are a lot of Clares. Clara is definitely not uncommon either. Clara Faye has been our front-runner. Leena Faye was my paternal grandmother’s name, though she went by Faye. My maternal grandmother’s name was Marjorie May and we have also considered May for many girl middle names“)

  • Cecilia (“I had a dream last year that we were pregnant with twin girls named Clara and Cecilia and I have loved the name Cecilia ever since. Our Cathedral is Saint Cecilia’s. Our parish, St. Wenceslaus, has St. Cecilia in stained glass in the chapel where we have daily Mass. I love to sing. Though I don’t have the talent or training to share it outside my home and Mass, my kids know that I may break into song at any moment. I have a few kids who insist we use Marie as a middle name for our first girl, since we used dad’s middle name for our first boy. I do think Cecilia Marie is beautiful“)

  • Ivy (“I just read my boys the story of Holly and Ivy. I loved this book as a kid and even though it’s about a little girl and a doll, my boys were very engaged with it. I loved the name and I checked your Marian naming book afterwards to see if Ivy was in there. I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful writing about Ivy in there and her roots to Our Lady of Sorrows. I was first introduced to our Lady of Sorrows years ago when my friend had a 16 week miscarriage [actually two friends on the same day at 16 weeks]. My friend was reluctant to invite Our Lady of Sorrows into her life but Our Lady pursued her and my friend finally gave in. She now has a beautiful devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. I was able to witness this process of hers so when Augustine died, I knew I wanted to learn about Our Lady of Sorrows. When Tim and I went to Italy after Augustine died, the one thing I had in mind to look for was an Our Lady of Sorrows Rosary. We were in Orvieto, Italy on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, and they have a powerful statue in their church of Mary holding Jesus after he was taken down from the cross. Our priest, who walked with us through all the Gus things, gave a homily about Mary’s thoughts while she stood at the foot of the cross. His contemplations about Mary’s thoughts were identical to my conversation with God throughout Gus’s last brain function test. Then I realized that my thoughts, prayer, and mindset during his last test (the one that would declare him legally brain dead or not) was not of my own making but a gift from Our Lord or from his mother. The next day, a fellow pilgrim said she had something for me. She said, ‘I didn’t mean to bring this to Italy, but I found it in my pocket. It’s an Our Lady of Sorrows Rosary that I made years ago. The colors remind me of the church we were at yesterday, in Orvieto, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, and I feel like you’re supposed to have it.’ I still chuckle at her words. I replied, Yes! I think I am supposed to have it! ;)”)

And names they’re considering for boys include:

“We are strongly considering the name Augustine for a middle name.”

  • Daniel (“love the old testament Daniel“)

  • Nicholas (“Tim has never been a huge fan but I’ve always come back to this one as a possibility“)

  • Simon

  • Anthony (“My maternal uncle’s name. His story wasn’t unlike St. Augustine’s. From reluctant to great disciple of Jesus. He died about ten years ago in his early 50’s. Naming a child after my Uncle Tony would be great but I’ve never loved the names Anthony or Tony. I do like AJ“)

I really love the names Jill and her hubby have given their kiddos! I’m so glad her husband came around on Graham — I think it’s so fantastic when Mom’s maiden name is doable for a first name! Lucas, Raymond (“Raymond Browning” is such a great combo!), Titus, Leo (I love all the signs from heaven that his name should be Leo!), and Augustine are all wonderful, too, and I love how they have a fairly eclectic group of names — it allows them to do pretty much anything they want going forward since they’re not tied to any one style.

And of course you all must know how absolutely STARRY EYED I am over Leo’s middle name!! I LOVE Joachim!! It’s so cool that it’s a family name on Jill’s husband’s side! That’s so awesome!

The names they gave their miscarried babies are also wonderful. I’m interested by their reusage of names — John and Josephine as first names, and John and Joseph for middle names, as well as the possibility of using Augustine as a middle name for this baby. In my experience, it’s a rare practice, but not unheard of, and can really create lovely connections between your children. We named the baby I miscarried sixteen years ago Ignatius, and my 15yo — the boy born ten months after I lost Ignatius — was just Confirmed and chose Ignatius as his Confirmation name, in large part because of that baby. It’s given me more joy than I would have thought to think of my baby in heaven and my son on earth sharing a special connection through their name.

Okay, I’ll start by offering my thoughts on the names they’re considering for this baby, in case they’re helpful:

  • Clara: I love it, it’s a beautiful, saintly name and has long been a favorite of theirs, never mind Jill’s meaningful realization about St. Clare. Clara Faye is lovely! To me, this is the name to beat.
  • Cecilia: The song in Jill’s voice (no pun intended, haha!) when she wrote about Cecilia would totally have put it at the top of my list for them if it wasn’t for Clara! Twins Clara and Cecilia would be perfect; otherwise, Cecilia is my favorite name for a second girl for this family.
  • Marie as a middle name: I’m with Jill’s kids — I love the idea of using Marie as their first girl’s middle name since they used Hubby’s middle name for their first boy! I’m also wondering what they’d think of Marie as a first name?
  • Ivy: This is such a sweet name! I love the connection to Our Lady of Sorrows, too, and was so interested to read Jill’s connection to her. What a cool story about the lady who gave her the Our Lady of Sorrows rosary!! This post on my blog about Theresa’s devotion to OL of Sorrows is a good one to link to here — I love this quote especially regarding the Catholic view of sorrow: “It is hope, instead of despair, in the face of tragedy. It is fortitude in the face of upset and chaos. It is trust in the midst of darkness. And it is gratitude in the midst of hardship.”
  • Daniel: Jill’s love for the Old Testament Daniel inspired one of my name ideas below! Also, a more familiar name like Daniel would pair really nicely with a middle name like Augustine.
  • Nicholas: You’ll see in my Appellation Mountain consultation that Nicholas was a name my husband and I talked about a LOT! We could never figure out how to make each of us comfortable with it … we talked about the nickname Cole (or even as a given name), and the variant/short form Colin is a style match for this family according to my research; I love the nickname Nico and the similar formal names Nikolai and Nicodemus (Nicodemus is another name I pushed for with my husband! It was always a hard no from him!).
  • Simon: I love it! It’s a big style match for this family per my research.
  • Simeon: I love Simeon, too!
  • Anthony: I feel similarly to Jill about Anthony — a great name and a great Saint, but I can see why it doesn’t appeal to her. I saw Antonia in my research for them (style match for Cecilia) — I wonder if they would be interested in flipping the honor of Uncle Tony from a boy to a girl? Antonia would be a pretty middle name; I also have a friend Antoinette and am often struck by how pretty and feminine her name is. It would be really nice as a middle for a short first name — Ivy Antoinette maybe? (Not Marie Antoinette!) Or Marie Antonia? The an-to-NEE-ah pronunciation would have a nice flow with Marie.

Okay, on to new ideas! I really love working on challenging consultations, which I consider this one to be because of Jill and her hubby having already named so many boys. It was fun to try to come up with ideas that I thought fit their style while not being names they’ve already used or considered or are on their “no” list! But no worries — I can always come up with more ideas! So as mentioned, I did my usual research in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link), but I also had some ideas of my own that I added to the list for gut-feeling reasons (which aren’t always on point, but sometimes are). I was reluctant to add any that are in my Mary names book, since Jill’s already familiar with it and I feel like she would have included ideas from it on her own list (besides Ivy and Simeon) if they appealed, but sometimes making a strong argument for a name gives it a sparkle it didn’t have before, so there are a few on my list below that are also in my book.

Girl

(1) Susanna, Annabel(le)

When I read that Jill loves the Old Testament Daniel, I immediately thought of Susanna, who is a virtuous woman in the Book of Daniel and saved by Daniel from death due to a false accusation. There’s also a Susanna in the New Testament who had been healed by Jesus and accompanied Him on his journeys and provided for Him. And there’s St. Susanna, whose feast day is the same as St. Clare! This is in my book of Marian names because it means both “rose” and “lily” in Hebrew (one in ancient Hebrew, one in modern Hebrew).

Annabel/Annabelle is also in my book, and Susanna made me think of it, as well as the fact that Anna and Hannah are both style matches for this family per the BNW. Annabelle is also a style match for Juliet! It’s a variant of Amabilis, which is part of the Marian title Mater Amabilis. So pretty!

(2) Phoebe

I never would have come up with Phoebe on my own for this family, but I was so interested to see it listed as a match for both Graham and Titus — I thought that was too cool to ignore! One of my fave Catholic mamas, Grace Patton, has a Phoebe — see all her kids’ names here; here and here and here and here are other families that have a Phoebe in case you’d like to see what a Phoebe’s siblings are named.

(3) Elise or Eliza (or the full Elizabeth/Elisabeth)

Elise is a match for Graham and Simon, and Eliza for Clara and Cecilia — that’s pretty amazing! They could use the full Elizabeth (or the spelling Elisabeth) to use either of those, or bestow one of the shorter forms as the given name.

(4) Lydia

Lydia also did quite well in my research, being listed as a match for Titus, Simon, and Simeon. I’ve always loved that Lydia in the bible was a seller of purple cloth, which means a little Lydia has her very own color!

(5) Natalie/Natalia

Natalie is a match for both Nicholas and Anthony, and it’s also in my book of Marian names because of Our Lady’s role in Jesus’ Nativity (Natalie refers to Christmas), as well as that word being attached to her through her own Nativity. Natalia feels like a more current version and closer in style to Clara and Cecilia. Natalie and Natalia are both pretty!

Boy

(1) Benjamin, Bennett, Benedict

I think one of these is my favorite idea for this baby if a boy! Benjamin is a style match for Lucas, Daniel, and Nicholas, and the nickname Ben is in the same friendly category as Ray, Leo, and Gus. Additionally, Jill and her hubby have two biblically named boys so far and four that aren’t, so it would be cool to loop in another biblical name.

That said, however, Bennett is really appealing to me — it’s a match for Juliet and as soon as I saw it I thought Yes! It just felt right, and the fact that it’s a medieval short form of Benedict made it seem extra cool. (Interesting to note that Austin is a medieval short form of Augustine.) I also feel like Bennett Augustine is an easier combo than some of the longer options, like Benjamin or Benedict.

Which, of course, brings me to Benedict. It’s got the same heavy “monastery” feel as Augustine, and Ben lightens it up just like Gus does for Augustine. You’ll see in the Appellation Mountain consultation I really wanted Benedict as a first name for my youngest! We couldn’t use the nickname Ben, but I really liked Bear. (Hubby was a no.)

(2) Dominic

Dominic is inspired by Augustine and Benedict (I always think of those three names as the “monastery” names). Nic(k) and Nico can be nicknames for Dominic! Maybe that’s how they can work in Jill’s affinity for Nicholas?

(3) Zechariah

Zachary is a match for Nicholas, but that didn’t feel quite right to me. It did make me think of Zechariah, though, which I love because of his connection to St. Elizabeth and further to the Visitation. Zeke is my favorite nickname for it, which feels a lot like Ray and Gus to me! (That “old man” vibe, which is so cozy and sweet!)

(4) Oscar or Owen

I’m not convinced that Oscar is a good fit here, but the BNW says differently! It’s a match for August (standing in for Augustine, which doesn’t have its own entry), Gus, and Clara, and I know of three sweet little boys with the name: here and here (Oscar) and here (Oskar).

Another O name that showed up in my research is Owen, which is a match for Lucas and Ivy, and my nephew Leo’s little brother is Owen. Also, St. Nicholas Owen is one of my faves! I’m not sure how that fits in with Nicholas on their list, but I needed to mention it!

(5) Tristan

Finally, Jill’s devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows made me think of Tristan. I love the name anyway, but knowing of its connection to the word “sad” — and therefore to Our Lady of Sorrows — gives it a really nice and unexpected faith connection. (I’m a big fan of “unexpected” in naming!)

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Graham, Lucas, Raymond, Titus, Leo, and Augustine?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Year in review: 2023 (quietly normal)

sanctanomina Housekeeping

Happy New Year!! Happy feast of Mary, the Mother of God!! 🌺🎉🌺🎉🌺🎉

Time for my annual recap! I’ve done one every year since I started the blog — I think they’re really fun to look back on:

As for 2023, it was definitely a quieter year than past years, but there was still a lot of fun content! I did 34 baby name consultations, 12 of which I posted on the blog — check out the baby name consultations tag to read them. One of the private consultations I did was for a postulant in an Order who had the option of choosing a religious name when she became a novice — that was fun! If there is anyone else out there, man or woman, who is in a similar situation and would like help coming up with ideas, I’m here for you! (And anyone else who would like their own baby name consultation, or would like to give one as a gift [I have gift certificates available], all the info you need is here.)

Another of the consultation posts was actually a prediction post for my newest nephew, and one of you guessed his name! Reader VEL predicted Malachy with the nickname Mac, which is exactly what my sister and her husband named him! Nice job, VEL!

In addition to Mac’s birth announcement, I posted 12 others — welcome to the beautifully named Calvin Francis, Heidi Rose, Joseph Mark Clement, Georgia Katherine, Felix Isidore, James Rafael, Remember Ocean Terebinth, Marigold Elizabeth, Benedict Jude, Stephen Scott, Maria Josephine, and Ivylisse Victoria!

I posted 3 Fun Friday Questions: How do you pronounce Therese?, Do you choose your child(ren)’s Confirmation name?, and Surprisingly biblical and non-biblical-biblical names?

I did a spotlight post on the name Ferris (did you know it’s a form of Peter??).

I posted on some topics of interest, including:

My book of Marian names continues to be one of the greatest joys of my life! It’s available directly from Marian Press at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy and on Amazon (not affiliate links), and perhaps at your local Catholic shop! I seriously use mine all the time, both when I’m trying to remember information about a name for my own self, and in baby name consultations.

I looped in some Mom stuff when I posted about my son’s broken leg in the beginning of September and when I posted an update on Instagram the other day — the Sancta Nomina community is full of great prayer-s, and I was so grateful to be able to share that with you — it was a rough fall, and I’m sure that any prayers you directed our way helped us get through it!

I was even able to squeak in a St. Anne pilgrimage, as has been my custom every summer since I started Sancta Nomina! Many of you know that, early on, St. Anne became the patroness of Sancta Nomina, and these pilgrimages have been my way of trying to thank her for her intercession. We went to the St. Ann by the Sea church in Marshfield, MA while on our Big Family Vacation — a much smaller pilgrimage than what we’ve attempted in the past because of all that we have going on in our Big Kid family. As I noted in the post at that link, it’s amazing to me that it’s become harder to make this trip as my kids have gotten older and we have older-kid responsibilities like their summer jobs, as well as the addition of my own job. I wrote an article for CatholicMom.com years ago about what a “pilgrimage” looks like for our family of many small children, in hopes it might be helpful for other families of small children who think a pilgrimage might be totally un-doable, never thinking that it might become more difficult to even plan one as those small children grew up! (You can read that article here: Pilgrimages for Parents of Young Families.) But indeed, that’s the point we’re at. You can read about my previous St. Anne pilgrimages here:

I still have hopes of making it to the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Shrine in Quebec someday — maybe for my tenth blogiversary! Which is next year?? Is that right?? Gah, that might be too soon! We’ll see — stay tuned!

I titled this review “quietly normal” because I think that 2023’s Sancta Nomina activity is representative of how things will likely continue going forward — a little less than in the early years, but still here, still a source of solid Catholic naming information, conversation, consultations, resources, and recommendations. You can continue to find me on Instagram, Facebook, and X/Twitter (@sanctanomina on all three), though I’ve pulled way back on social media (my posts still automatically post to FB and Twitter).

Thank you all for joining me in this lovely corner of the internet! I’m so grateful for you all! I continue to keep you all in my prayers, and I hope 2024 is a wonderful year for you all!!

🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖🙏💖

Birth announcement: Ivylisse Victoria!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , , , ,

Happy Christmas Eve!! It’s almost bedtime here at my house, and I have several little boys — and big boys! — who are beyond excited about it! They can’t wait to go to bed! 😂❤️💚

And I’m excited to share this birth announcement with you!! The other day I posted a consultation I’d done for Sheri and her husband’s fourth baby and second daughter — a consultation that Sheri had said I could post even though she and her hubby had already worked through it and chosen a name for their baby. As I’d shared, Sheri had said, “There’s no way you can put that much effort into all this and not get a juicy post out of it!”

I was so excited when I’d received the email from Sheri that let me know an idea I’d offered had inspired their final choice! I’d suggested Ivelisse, and they’d tweaked it a little to Ivylisse and added the V middle name Victoria for an absolutely stunning combo! As Sheri wrote,

“What a cadence, reminiscent of older times like her siblings, without being an old lady name, or too modern to feel real. And my husband feels like he had a big say in it because he liked the middle name ‘Victoria’ for a while (after OL of Victory, of course). Ivylisse balances it out sweetly, while still getting in the fun ‘IV’ in both nicknames and initials!

Oh fun thing, apparently Our Lady of Victory’s feast day is the same day/renamed as Our Lady of the Rosary, which is October 7th, which I only remember because it’s my youngest brothers birthday… and we asked him to be her Godfather (Mike and I are HIS godparents, being 19 year his seniors). Super happy coincidence I didn’t look up till we made our decision!

Thank you again! We love her name and it suits her so well!“

Isn’t that so fantastic?!! Ivylisse Victoria is absolutely lovely!! A perfect name for a Christmastime baby!!

Congratulations to Sheri and her husband and big siblings Finnian, Roanan, and Zeda, and happy birthday Baby Ivylisse!!

Ivylisse Victoria

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Baby name consultation: “something balanced and rare; not a made-up name, but something not used in ages” for baby girl

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Happy four-days-before Christmas, everyone! Are you all familiar with the O Antiphons? As the U.S. Bishops explain,

“The Roman Church has been singing the ‘O’ Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative ‘Come!’ embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.”

Today’s antiphon is O Radiant Dawn:

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

Beautiful! You can find the rest of them here, and an article I wrote for Nameberry about baby names inspired by the O Antiphons here.

Speaking of names for a Christmastime babe … today, I have such a fun consultation for you! This baby has actually already been born and named, but the mama and I really wanted you all to have access to the consultation, in case it’s helpful to you. As the mama said, “There’s no way you can put that much effort into all this and not get a juicy post out of it!” 😂 I will post the birth announcement in the next couple of days, so check back before Christmas!

Sheri and her husband were looking for help naming their fourth baby, second daughter. Baby Girl joins big siblings:

Finnian Anthony

Roanan Michael

Zeda Zelié (pronounced ZEEdah ZAYlee)

So cool, right? What a great bunch of names!!

Sheri wrote,

“We’ve never had a problem figuring out names for our kids because they just kinda ‘came’ to us, and felt right right away. Perhaps the oddest one is Zeda, but that’s my grandmother’s name, obviously quite unique and Great Grandma Zeda is just the best. She’ll even watch my kids for me at her apartment at the drop of a hat, and she’s 80. However, we kinda want to avoid names similar to, well, pretty much anyone we know (in my defense, Finnian was NOT as popular as it is now 10 years ago. I didn’t know any Roanans either!).”

(Isn’t that funny how that happens? I was just thinking the other day about two baby girls I encountered with names that, at the time, I thought were so old fashioned — Lillian [25 years ago, when I was in college] and Evelyn [when my 19yo was in preschool] — that are now mainstream and even popular!)

Sheri continues,

“That said, we HAVE kinda settled in on the first name of IVY. Why? Well, it was the first name that we thought ‘Oh that’s not bad, I don’t know any Ivys,’ and I had an acquaintance suggest it to me because she’s our 4th kid. Get it? Roman Numeral IV is 4, so… IVY! I’m hoping it’s not too obvious a pun to be cringy for starters, but for… seconders? It still just doesn’t seem complete! So we’ve been bandying about various middle names and nothing seems to just ‘click’ like the rest of our kids’ names. We’ve run out of saints that we’re really close to, and others just don’t seem to ring right (like Catherine, or Elizabeth… Even Mary/Marie or Josephine just seem to fall flat). And I don’t want to leave it up to fate and give her the name of the saint whose feast day she’s born on, because I like to celebrate feast days separately from birthdays with the rest of the kids, and that doesn’t seem fair. That also kinda leaves out all the fun names you could use to hint toward her December birthday (Holly, Noelle, Emannuella), because with Ivy it seems little TOO on the nose. And what feast day/saint would we commemorate then?

So I also considered double-barreling either her first or middle name. Ivy Grace? Oh right, we aren’t big on virtue names (and I have a whole family of friends who are Mary-something, so that’s out too), and I kinda liked Ivy Rose, but Rose locally is becoming a pretty popular, and then she also just sounds like a variety of flower. And then a two-part middle name seems to get cumbersome with 3-letter Ivy. Ivy Catherine-Marie? Goodness.

And here we are. My husband has had a few ideas, but again, nothing has been an ‘oh! YES’ feel of a name. I kinda thought of doing just I.V. as initials, but I’m not overly familiar with I or V names (Isla Victoria? Iris Veronica? Ehhh). I just have a feeling that her name overall is going to be something balanced and rare; not a made-up name, but something not used in ages … and I haven’t found it yet. I like references to botanicals or the moon… but everything I’ve found just seems too… looney! We know we don’t want a common name — if one of us suggests a name, more than half the time we say ‘Oh I know someone with that name’ even if they aren’t familiar acquaintances, so obviously we’ve been pretty frustrated and stuck on ideas.”

Two final details that I used to help with ideas:

  • Sheri and her hubby were “grade school (8th grade to be specific) sweethearts” who grew up “at St Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster Ohio, which was just designated a minor basilica!”
  • The older kids are calling the baby Jellybean (so cute!)

Isn’t this so fun?? Sheri even hilariously said, “I think you’re earning your 50 bucks this time around, sister!” But you all know I love a good challenge!!

First off, Zeda Zelié made me think of a particular idea: would it be fun for sisters to share a pattern of same initials for the first and middle names? Going with the Ivy idea for a minute, I like the idea of something like:

  • Ivy Immaculata
  • Ivy Inez/Ines/Inessa (variants of Agnes)
  • Ivy Isabel/Isabelle/Isabella
  • Ivy Ignacia/Ignazia

All of these match the feel of Zeda’s middle name Zelié, which I think of as particularly Catholicky Catholic. Immaculata for Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception of course (Immaculée is another variant Sheri and her hubs might like, and is French like Zelié); Inez/Inés/Inessa for St. Agnes; Isabel (or Isabelle, Isabella) for any of the Sts. Elizabeth; Ignacia/Ignazia is for St. Ignatius (of Loyola or of Antioch).

So let’s spring off of that to talk about Ivy for a minute. I love Ivy! I love that it is, indeed, perfect for a fourth baby, but not in a weird on-the-nose kind of way (NOT “cringy” in my opinion). Sheri’s I.V. idea is a good one, too — in fact, I remember hearing about an Isabella Verity (I think that was the combo) who went by Ivy and I remember thinking that was amazing! I really like Sheri’s Isla Victoria and Iris Veronica ideas, too, so maybe my taste is just off enough from hers that my ideas won’t land? But I had a lot of fun trying to come up with I.V. ideas just in case I hit on something she hadn’t thought of that hit just right. These are my favorite ideas for I names:

  • Imogen: this is my favorite idea for this baby. When I was looking for ideas, I wanted to consider Finnian’s and Roanan’s obvious Irish-ness while also respecting the fact that Zeda isn’t Irish. Imogen is originally a misspelling of Innogen, which is thought to derive from the Gaelic word for “maiden,” which makes me think of Our Lady. Even though it has Gaelic roots, it feels mostly British, I would say, which I think makes it equally plausible as a sister to Finnian and Roanan as well as to Zeda (which itself makes me think “British” because of Catherine Zeta-Jones).
  • Isolde: The literary Isolde was an Irish princess, so this, too, feels like a good sister for Irish-named brothers, while not being too Irish (especially since the original Tristan and Isolde was first recorded in French).
  • Irene: I’ve been seeing Irene a bit here and there, and I like that it has the long I sound in the beginning, which makes extra sense of the nickname Ivy if they were to do Irene V___. It also has the awesome meaning of “peace.”
  • Inez/Inez/Inessa: I mentioned this above as a possible I middle name for Ivy, but I also like any of them as a first name. I like that Inez has a Z like big sister; Inés is the Spanish form and is properly written with the accent, which might make this one better for the middle (and another nice connection to Zeda’s middle name Zelié); Inessa is so pretty and unexpected (a family I’ve posted about a few times on the blog has an Inessa, which the mom also pointed out is the name of a kind of butterfly! How pretty! That family also has a matching-initials theme — I’m sure you’d love to read through all their posts! Their Inessa’s full name is Inessa Irene. Gorgeous!).

Those could work as middles for Ivy, too, if they like the I.I. idea. I particularly like Ivy Imogen (Ivy could be the faith name here, as Ivy is in my book of Marian names because “Kenilworth ivy (Cymbalaria muralis) has also been known as Tears of Mary”).

My favorite V names include:

  • Vesper: I really love this one because it means “evening,” which can nod to Sheri’s love of the moon, and it also has pretty cool faith significance, in that “Vespers” is a familiar Catholic term (it refers to Evening Prayer because of “vesper” meaning “evening”).
  • Verity: Verity means “truth,” which also makes this one a great Catholic name! But is it too much of a “virtue name,” like Sheri said you doesn’t care for?
  • Violet: A beautiful botanical name that I included in my book of Marian names because the “violet flower (Viola odorata) has been called Our Lady’s Modesty, and has also been considered to represent her humility.” They could also consider the French Violette, which they might like if it helps with pronunciation of the whole first+middle combo, since they could stress the -ette, and connects to the Frenchness of Zeda’s middle name.
  • Vivian/Vivienne: This name means “alive” and like with Violet, they could do the trimmer Vivian or the frillier French Vivienne (which can also change the stressed syllable to help with the flow of the first+middle combo, and connect with Zeda’s middle name).
  • Vianney: For St. John Vianney; I’ve posted about a couple little girls with this name: this family has a Vianney Jean-Marie and this one has a Vianney Violett.

Given all that, some I.V. combos that I think are beautiful are:

  • Imogen Violette
  • Irene Vianney
  • Inessa Verity

Another idea is to use a middle name that doesn’t start with a V but has a prominent V sound in it, that could still make sense of Ivy as a nickname for an I first name with one of these middle names. Names like:

  • Maeve: As mentioned a couple times already, I liked the idea of working in an Irish (ish) element in order to loop in Finnian and Roanan’s Irishness. Maeve is a familiar Irish name, so you don’t need to worry about mispronunciations, and I included it in my book of Marian names because:

“I’ve seen people bestow it on their daughters in honor of Our Lady, mistakenly considering it to be a variant of Mary, but I do believe it can be considered Marian in a different way: the Baby Names of Ireland website … presents one of the meanings of Maeve as “cause of great joy,” which is similar to Our Lady’s title “Cause of Our Joy” (Causa Nostrae Laetitiae). Additionally, it would not be out of bounds for parents to combine the names Mary and Eve into Maeve.”

Its prominent V sound could work nicely with an I name to lead to the nickname Ivy!
  • Eve, Eva, Ava: Speaking of Eve, why not Eve? Or Eva or Ava (which is a variant of Eve). Our Lady’s title New Eve is a nice connection for this!
  • Naomh or Niamh: Niamh is the Irish name that’s more familiar of these two — it means “bright,” which is a great meaning; it’s often anglicized to Neve. Naomh is a newer name and means “holy,” which is also a great meaning! I think this could be anglicized as Neve, too, or Nave. I spotlighted them both here.
  • Aveline, Evelyn: Of the two, I prefer Aveline for this family, as it’s more unusual, but Evelyn, which is a variant of Aveline, is also a possibility.
  • Genevieve (I think you could even use Ivy as a nickname for Genevieve!), Evangeline: These might feel a little too familiar for Sheri, but I like them both because of their Vs, and their length could be perfect for a really short name like Inez. Inez Evangeline nn Ivy sounds pretty amazing to me!
  • Xavier: I know this might seem like a really odd addition, but there is precedent for a girl to have this name: Mother Cabrini, who is St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Certainly she took inspiration from St. Francis Xavier — Sheri can do the same for her daughter. I don’t know what Sheri’s preferred pronunciation is — ex-ZAY-vyer and ZAY-vyer pronunciation are equally legitimate — though I had the ex- pronunciation in my head when I put together the combos below. I also like that Xavier as a middle name would mean Zeda has the cool Z initial and new baby girl would have the cool X.
  • Imogen Eve
  • Imogen Eva
  • Imogen Niamh
  • Imogen Naomh
  • Imogen Xavier
  • Inez Evangeline
  • Inessa Maeve
  • Isolde Evangeline
  • Irene Xavier

So much fun to make such beautiful combos!

I also wanted to discuss Sheri’s idea of adding to Ivy to make a double first name, since she said Ivy doesn’t feel complete, but shes doesn’t care for virtue names, and Ivy plus any flower name feels too floral. Also, I agree with her that a double middle name feels like a lot with the tiny Ivy (though I love a long single middle name with it because it’s so tiny!). So I came up with a list of names that I thought could work! My very first idea was Ivy-Jane, which I was really gung-ho about, until I remembered that Sheri has a niece with a similar construction! Gah! I like these others (I’m using a hyphen because I think it makes it more obvious that it’s a double-barreled name and not a first+middle, but of course they don’t need to use a hyphen if they don’t want! But, if Sheri and her hubby like the I.I. initials idea that I suggested above, using the hyphen will allow I to be the initial for the entire first name combo):

  • Ivy-Kate or Ivy-Cate: I’m not biased because Kate is my own name! Except, maybe I am! I have often thought how much I like Kate as the second part of a double name and considered doing something like that with any daughters I might have as a way of nodding to me without using my full name Katherine. Ivy-Kate or Ivy-Cate (the C spelling feels fresher, maybe?) can nod to any of the Sts. Katherine/Catherine and don’t make a possibly weird “phrase” when coupled with Ivy.
  • Ivy-Cara, Ivy-Chara: Cara means “beloved” in Italian and Chara means “happiness, joy” in Greek and “friend” in Irish.
  • Ivy-Laine or Ivy-Lane: This could be venturing too close to cutesy? I like the image it brings to mind, though.
  • Ivy-Reina, Ivy-Reine: Reina and Reine mean “queen” (Spanish and French respectively), and are said RAY-na and REN. These could nod to Our Lady, Queen (Regina). (Is it weird to think you could also have fun with these combos being “green Queen”?)

Okay, on to new ideas! Since Sheri and her husband have mostly decided on Ivy as a first name (which I wholeheartedly support, either on its own or with any of the alternative ideas I suggested above), these might not be helpful at all, which is totally fine! I really just wanted to be sure they had lots of ideas associated with their taste and the things that are meaningful to them, as well as names that might feel perfect as the sister to their older kids. I was looking for names that fit Sheri’s “balanced and rare,” not made up but “something not used in ages” criteria that might also have something to do with botanicals or the moon. I used the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) as usual, as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and went with my gut as well. These don’t check off all the boxes, but they’re pretty close I think! I also only have five names instead of the promised seven, because I included so many ideas above:

(1) Avila

If the sound of Ivy is what draws Sheri and her hubs to it, I thought other names with a similar sound might appeal. Avila came to mind right away — it’s the kind of name I’d generally put in the same category as Zelie, in terms of “very Catholic” and “somewhat unusual.” St. Teresa of Avila is a Doctor of the Church, which is so cool for a little girl! (This could also work as a V-prominent middle name with an I first name.)

(2) Ivelisse

Another name that could hit the Ivy note in an even more perfect way for this family is the name Ivelisse. I know a woman named Yvelise, which I always thought was gorgeous — I looked it up to see if there’s an I variant, and there is! Though Behind the Name has this name ultimately deriving from Ivo, which is the name of some male Saints (Ivo/Ives/Yves), and is thus related to Yvette and Yvonne, I also saw that the -elisse ending could be considered an elaboration of Yves using Elise — a French short form of Elizabeth. So they could think of Ivelisse (or Ivelise) as including St. Elizabeth (which Sheri listed as a possible saintly connection, but one that didn’t “seem to ring right”), and could use Ivy as the nickname!

(3) Maisie

Maisie is a diminutive of Mairead, which is the Irish form of Margaret, and has traditional usage as a given name in its own right. I like that it has the Irish feel of Finnian and Roanan while sharing the Z sound of Zeda. Margaret means “pearl,” so this name can nod to Our Lady because she’s referred to as “Pearl of Virgins” in the Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.

(4) Ailís, Ailish; Eilís, Eilish; Eilidh

These names are also inspired by the Irishness of Finnian and Roanan, but also by the long I in Ivy. Each of these can have the long I as the first syllable: Ailís, anglicized as Ailish, is from Alice; Eilis, anglicized Eilish, is from Elizabeth. (I say “can have the long I” because I’ve also seen the long A sound as the first syllable. If any of you like these ideas, you might want to do your own research to be sure of the consensus re: pronunciation and be sure you’re comfortable with others’ opinions about this.) Going off Irish for a sec to Scottish, Eilidh is a diminutive of Eilionoir and “also taken to be a Gaelic form of Helen” and can be anglicized Eily, which is so similar to Ivy (but also to Isla, which Sheri already said she didn’t love. So maybe this idea isn’t a great one!).

(5) Selene or Selena

Finally, Sheri’s love of the moon made me think of Selene, which means “moon” in Greek; Selena is a variant. I really like how Ivy Selene and Ivy Selena sound as first+middle combos! And, for that matter, the Helen(a) names (including Eilidh above) are said to mean “torch” or “corposant” (St. Elmo’s fire), but Behind the Name says they’re also “possibly related to” the Greek selene (“moon”).

Finally, I had a few middle name ideas that weren’t connected to anything discussed above, but are related to those two miscellaneous details Sheri included that I mentioned in the intro:

  • Ivy Assumpta: I love how this flows! It’s inspired by how Sheri and her hubby grew up at St. Mary of the Assumption (and bonus Behind the Name considers Assumpta to have Irish usage!) (It’s very possible Sheri is sick to death of my Irish connections at this point!)
  • Ivy Julienne or Ivy Juliet/Juliette: These are entirely inspired by their “Jellybean” nickname for the baby! The similar Jilly is a not-untraditional nickname for the Julia names, so I thought it might be a sweet (sweet! Like candy! Like jellybeans!) nod to the baby’s in-utero nickname to include something similar in her middle name. I like Julienne and Juliet or Juliette the best of them as middles for Ivy.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? Feel free to offer any ideas that you think might be helpful to any readers who share a similar taste in names! Or any guesses about what you think Sheri and her hubby ended up naming the baby! Stay tuned for the birth announcement!

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Maria Josephine!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , , , , ,

I hope you all had a wonderful feast of St. Nicholas!

I had the privilege of doing a consultation for the first baby of Kathleen and her husband last spring, and am delighted to share that they had a girl and gave her the gorgeous name … Maria Josephine!

Kathleen writes,

“Our baby GIRL arrived on August 31st. We named her Maria Josephine. We love the idea of honoring the Blessed Mother with our Irish heritage (naming the first girl after Mary) and Alex’s Greek heritage with Maria being the Greek form of Mary. Thank you for the inspiration!!!!

Josephine, of course the feminine version of Joseph, is in honor of my dad and his confirmation name.

We can’t thank you enough for your help and encouragement!“

Isn’t Maria Josephine absolutely lovely?? I love that it incorporates Mom and Dad’s Irish and Greek heritage as well, and works in a nod to Kathleen’s dad, which was important to her. Just beautiful!!

Congratulations to Kathleen and her husband, and happy birthday Baby Maria!!

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Stephen Scott!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , ,

I posted a consultation for Kathryn and her hubby for their fifth baby last spring, and I’m delighted to share that their baby has arrived — a little boy given the fantastic name … Stephen Scott!

Kathryn writes,

“Hi, Kate! A few weeks late but wanted to let you know our precious Stephen Scott was born in October!

As you know, Scott Hahn was instrumental in my conversion to Catholicism so I really wanted to honor him with this baby’s name! When I was considering Scott as a first name, there was something you said in your consult ‘the J/J/S/S pattern is very pleasing’ which led me to search out all the Biblical ‘S’ names so we could have that first initial pattern, but also maintain our Biblical/Saintly theme for first names (which you also helped me realize I wanted to do!)

After re-reading the story of St. Stephen in Acts, I was so moved by his great faith & just knew that name was the one!

St. Stephen, pray for us!“

Isn’t that a great name story?! I think Stephen Scott is absolutely wonderful, and I still do feel like brothers James, John, Samuel, and Stephen have a very pleasing pattern with the J/J/S/S — I love it! And I really love the combo Stephen Scott — it sounds great together, and I’m so glad Kathryn was able to work Scott Hahn’s name into her baby’s name in a way that was peaceful to her. A success all around!!

Congratulations to Kathryn and her husband and big sibs James, John, Samuel, and Emilia, and happy birthday Baby Stephen!!

(His blanket! 🥰🥰🥰)

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, 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). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!