Baby name consultant

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

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

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!

Baby name consultation: Some really fun name rules (hopes) for baby no. 5

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

Happy All Hallow’s Eve’s Eve, everyone!

Today’s consultation is for a little green bean (= gender unknown🌱) due on Holy Thursday — the family’s fifth baby. Before sharing big siblings’ names, you should know that Mama Tricia wrote, “We love all our children to have a family name, patron Saint, and title of Mary in their name” — I’m amazed at how well she and her hubby did especially with the title of Mary! Check out these beautiful names:

Noah Samuel William (“Our Lady Queen of Patriarchs is the Marian title, St. William is patron, Samuel is the family name“) 

Maria Joy (“Marie is heavy family name, Joy is a play on her dad’s name Roy. Patron Saint is Maria Goretti and Our Lady Cause of Our Joy“)

Adam James (“Adam was the middle name of my brother who died as an infant, patron St. James the greater. My husband proposed on his feast day and hiking the Camino was a really moving experience for me. Title of Mary is Our Lady Queen of Apostles“)

Martha Lily (“Martha is my grandmother’s name and confirmation Saint. Lily is a name I’ve always loved and St. Joseph is my husband’s confirmation Saint. Her patrons are St. Martha and St. Joseph, and Our Lady Most Pure“)

What do you think of these names?? Aren’t the Marian title just amazing?? I love them all!!

I also want to point out, in case it’s helpful to anyone who might be considering these names for their own babies, that Maria goes by Mia sometimes within the family, and Martha goes by Millie sometimes within the family, as a mashup of Martha and Lily. I love those!

Tricia continues,

“Holy Thursday is my favorite liturgy — I was so happy to hear it would be our new child’s due date. There are so many feasts around that time too! I am open to naming the child something related to the day they are born, if indeed they come on the Annunciation, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter!” 

Names they can’t use include:

  • Aubrey 
  • Clark
  • Cecilia 
  • Juliette 
  • Miles 


Names they like for girls:

  • Agnes (“esp for an Easter girl“)
  • Dolores (“esp for a Good Friday girl, probably call her Della, but my husband doesn’t like it“)
  • Anna 
  • Monica 
  • Catharine “Kate”
  • Greta 
  • “I love Matilda and Gloria, but my husband says no“
  • “He likes Avila and Zelie, beautiful names but I’m worried about everyone always mispronouncing“

Girl middle names:

  • Felicity 
  • Sage (“seat of wisdom“) 
  • Pieta (“esp for Good Friday“) 
  • Ann (“my middle name“) 
  • June (“my mom’s middle name, maybe Immaculate Heart as title of Mary“) 
  • Fiat (“if bday is March 25?“) 

Names they like for boys:

  • Gabriel (“esp for March 25 bday“) 
  • John (“prob front runner, his dad’s name, lots of great Saints, James and John were brothers“) 
  • Luke (“I have always loved Our Lady of Częstochowa“)
  • Judah 
  • David 
  • Ambrose “Bo”
  • Maybe Pascal “Cal” (“for a Holy Thursday boy“) 

Also, some family names that could work include:

  • Theresa June (“my mom“)
  • Krista Lynn (“his mom“)
  • Gregory Michael (“my late father who I love so dearly, definitely think of honoring him but my brother is also a Greg and my nephew is Miles Gregory after him …”) 
  • John Samuel (“his dad“)

Tricia also wrote,

“I’d love more ideas especially with possible holy day birthdays, maybe what your favorites are?” 

Just to reiterate, in case you didn’t catch my enthusiasm above (!), I am just really impressed with how Tricia and her hubby worked a family name, a patron Saint, and a title of Mary into each of their children’s names. I love “Queen of Patriarchs” for Noah; Adam James is very handsome, and I love the family connection to Tricia’s brother; I’m also kind of blown away by their girls’ names: Maria Joy and Martha Lily are unexpected combinations to me, and I LOVE them! So lovely!

I wanted to offer some thoughts on the names they like, in case they find them helpful:

  • Agnes: Considering Noah, Maria, and Adam, I wouldn’t have thought of Tricia as liking “old lady” names (said with the utmost respect), but then with Martha, Agnes makes sense to me! Because of the baby being due on Holy Thursday, I thought of how one of you readers once told me you like the combo “Agnes Daisy” because it sounds like “Agnus Dei” — I thought it might be the perfect idea for this family! Daisy is a traditional nickname for Margaret, which derives from the Latin word for “pearl” (margarita), but its French form, Marguerite, is the same as the French word for the daisy flower (hence the traditional nickname Daisy). So there are a few layers of meaning in the middle name Daisy! It could work as the “title of Mary” element: as I wrote in my book of Marian names,

“The common daisy flower (Bellis perennis) has also been known as Mary’s flower or Mary-Loves, and the oxeye daisy (chrysanthemum leucanthemum) has also been known as Mary’s Star.”

Additionally, since Daisy is connected to Margaret, and Margaret means “pearl,” Tricia might also like this bit from the “Pearl” entry in my book:

“Though Pearl is a variant of Margaret, since Margaret means “pearl” (Latin: margarita), Pearl can take its place as a Marian name through the fact that Our Lady is referred to as ‘Pearl of Virgins’ in the Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.”

The connection to Our Lady of Sorrows can also be appropriate for this baby based on the due date, since the last four are connected to Jesus’ Passion and Death (The Meeting of Jesus and Mary along the Way of the Cross; the Crucifixion, where Mary stands at the foot of the cross; the Descent from the Cross, where Mary receives the dead body of Jesus in her arms; the Burial of Jesus).

  • Dolores: this is in keeping with the older feel of Martha and Agnes, and Tricia’s planned nickname of Della is darling! That said, I’m a big fan of finding names that both mom and dad like, so my advice would be for them to shelve this one for now since her hubby doesn’t like it (though it is perfect for a Good Friday baby!)
  • Anna: I love the name Anna! It’s one of my very favorites BUT — they already have Adam, and I’m going to propose some additional A names below that I like better for them than Anna, so my vote is to either cross Anna off the list entirely, or consider a related/soundalike/nickname-connected name like Susanna or Hannah. I have seven boys, and for all of them, if they’d been a girl, our chosen name was Susanna. We intended to use Anna for a nickname, which Tricia and her hubby might like as well! Hannah is another great option — it’s the same name as Anna etymologically-speaking, and gives them a different initial from Adam with nearly the same sound as Anna; it can also honor Tricia as an Ann name, since Ann is her middle name. I like that both Susanna and Hannah are Old Testament names like Noah and Adam, too.
  • Monica: Monica also has that older feel, and I do love it, but I’m also thinking of their Maria and Martha and how adding Monica to the mix is really M-heavy.
  • Catharine/Kate: How could I not love this name, with my own name being Katherine/Kate?! It’s a great option, and so timeless — it fits right in with the older names Tricia likes, and Kate is specifically a style match for Adam.
  • Greta: This was one of the reasons I thought of Daisy as a middle name for Agnes! I love Greta — it’s one of my favorites of the Margaret names, and it, too, has that older feel. I gave a lot of thought to how Tricia could honor her dad, Gregory Michael, and I think she could consider Greta to be for him, given that they both begin with “Gre.” If she did something like Greta Michaela or Greta Michelle, that could really hammer home the point.
  • Matilda and Gloria: Tricia’s style is so clear!
  • Avila and Zelie: I see these names a lot with the families I work with — I think of them as “new favorites” among Catholic families, while still being traditional names with solid, saintly history and usage. If Tricia’s concern is solely related to pronunciation, I would be inclined to advise her not to worry too much about that — Zelie especially is becoming more and more common (I wrote about it several years ago; as an added data point, my 9yo has a girl in his class named Xaylie). It is true that the names Tricia likes are ones that generally won’t be mispronounced, so I can see why the possibility of mispronunciations might bother her. At the same time, so many “normal” names have the possibility of being mispronounced — Madeline and Caroline can be said to rhyme with “lynn” or “line”; I’ve seen some people think Sean is pronounced like “seen”; even Maria is said like Mariah sometimes in England — and I always tell parents to just be firm and consistent with correcting people and teach their children to be as well.
  • The middle name ideas: I love all of these! I find it especially fun to discover that someone has a middle name that’s unexpected, which these parents have done with Joy and Lily, and their middle name list is similar! To me, unexpected middle names are the ones that don’t follow the traditional path of names like Marie, Rose, and Grace, which have been incredibly common for girls (for a reason — they’re incredibly beautiful!). I also like when currently popular first names are used as middle names, like they did with Martha Lily. That particular point made me think to suggest Sophie or Sophia as an addition to their middle name list, since, like Sage, they also mean “wisdom.”
  • Gabriel: Because Tricia doesn’t like the possibility of mispronounced names, I feel like I have to share that I know a Gabriel who frequently has to deal with people (doctor offices, for example) thinking his name is pronounced like “Gabrielle” (which I know is legit as the Spanish pronunciation, but he uses the English pronunciation and lives in a predominantly English-speaking area). I’m always surprised by that — I would never have thought that Gabriel was a difficult or unfamiliar name, given that it’s biblical and all! I would imagine this would be a dealbreaker for Tricia, so my suggestion is to make it a middle name. I particularly like it with John — John Gabriel is so handsome! Especially for a March 25 baby, like she said.
  • John: I think of John as one of those names that can take a bigger/more unusual/out-there middle name, which, as I’ve mentioned a few times already, I love! Johnny and Jack are great nickname options, too.
  • Luke: I love how Marian Luke is, not only his connection to the various images of Our Lady with the Child Jesus (Our Lady of Częstochowa as Tricia mentioned; Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a particular devotion of the Redemptorist Order, which founded my parish; etc.), but also that his gospel is the most Marian and contains her beautiful Magnificat.
  • Judah: I do love Judah — the sound, the “h” on the end, all of it — BUT I do think that its similarity to Judas might be a little too much for a Holy Week baby? Especially Holy Thursday?
  • David: I loved discovering that “Tower of David” is one of Our Lady’s titles! David also fits in really nicely with the Old Testament-ness of Noah and Adam. My older boys have a friend who has always gone by Davy, even now as a high school junior — I love, love Davy! So sweet!
  • Ambrose/Bo: You are speaking my language! We had Ambrose on our list of possibilities, and coming up with nickname ideas was one of my favorite things. Bo was definitely one of them! I also thought of Sam, Bram, and Brody (especially if paired with a “D” middle name, like Ambrose David). However, Tricia and her husband have a definitely style going on with their older kids, and the more unusual names on their list seem better suited to middle names I think. Again, I’ll go back to John: John Ambrose is incredible! They could even still do Bo as a nickname if they want (one of my boys goes exclusively by a nickname of his middle name and it hasn’t been a problem at all).
  • Pascal/Cal: Another awesome name that was on my own list! And I LOVE Cal! John Pascal (or similar) would be my preference for this family for the reasons I mentioned above, and would be really great for an Easter baby.

Tricia also gave a list of family members they’d like to honor if possible — I had a couple thoughts that I thought might be helpful:

  • Theresa June: I love both Theresa and June! They’d both be lovely for a girl. Junia is a biblical name — I wonder if that would appeal to Tricia in honor of her mom?
  • Krista Lynn: I was thinking that Kristopher could be a great middle name to honor Tricia’s mother-in-law! Maybe John Kristopher?
  • Gregory Michael: I had mentioned Greta above as a possible way to nod to Tricia’s dad; I also wanted to point out that the name Greer is derived from Gregory. I don’t think Greer is this family’s style, but maybe as a middle name?
  • John Samuel: John as a first or middle is great!

Okay, on to new ideas! I did my usual research, looking up in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) the names they’ve already 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 considered details of Holy Thursday that might offer some inspiration. Based on all that, these are my ideas:

Girl

(1) Abigail

Abigail is a style match for this family according to the BNW, but what originally inspired me to add it to the list was that Holy Thursday is when Jesus instituted the priesthood, and Abby is similar to Abbey and Abbott, which can be considered priest-y!

(2) Olive

Olive has that “older” feel of so many of the names Tricia likes, and was also inspired by Jesus going to the Mount of Olives on Holy Thursday night.

(3) Carmel or Carmen

These names were my attempt at finding a name similar to Avila and Zelie but without the pronunciation issues that Tricia’s worried about. Carmel is a holy place name like Avila, and has, to me, an “older generation” feel (I know an older lady named Carmel); Carmen is a variant of Carmel, if they prefer that form more. A bonus is that these names can be related to Holy Thursday, too! They mean “garden,” which calls to mind Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. I really like this idea for them.

(4) Mandy

This is inspired by Holy Thursday’s alternate and old name of Maundy Thursday; “Maundy” derives from the word mandatum and refers to Jesus’ words from Holy Thursday: “I give you a new commandment.” Mandy can be a reasonable nod to it, right? Mandy is one of those sweet nicknames that always feels so affectionate to me! I have a friend named Mary Angeline who goes by Mandy — I would love to suggest that here, except that they have a Maria already! Amanda is the most familiar way to get Mandy, and means “beloved,” which is fantastic; it also doesn’t start with M, which is something I’m trying to stay away from because of Maria and Martha. In the style of Mary Angeline, maybe something like … Amata Nadine? Angela Madeline? (Or Madelynn, incorporating Tricia’s mother-in-law’s name?) This could be fun to work with!

(5) Elizabeth

I love that Elizabeth has the biblical connection that the other kids have, and the Visitation is one of my favorite Marian feasts. I also thought Tricia might like the nickname Ella, since she has Della as a nickname idea for Dolores (which I love!).

Boy

(1) Andrew

Andrew is a style match per the BNW, but I also consider it (and other An- names, like Anson and Anthony) to be a possible way of honoring an Ann (St. Ann, and/or, in this case, Tricia because it’s her middle name), which I think makes this a really strong choice for them!

(2) Benjamin

I was very influenced by the fact that Noah and Adam have Old Testament names, so when I saw Benjamin listed as a style match, I thought it was a great choice! I think Ben is one of the friendliest nicknames.

(3) Nathan or Nathanael/Nathaniel

Nate was the inspiration here — it was listed as a style match for this family — and I like both Nathan and Nathaniel as the formal name for it. Using Nate as a nickname would probably knock Catharine/Kate out of the running for the future, but maybe that’s a chance they’d like to take? Nathan is shorter like Noah and Adam, and I love what I consider to be the Old Testament feel of Nathanael/Nathaniel (it feels weighty like Abraham and Melchizedek and Solomon). Nathanael has the added benefit of being an alternate name of the apostle Bartholomew, who of course was at the Last Supper — a nice Holy Thursday connection.

(4) Caleb

Caleb sounds like a natural brother for Noah and Adam, and it can take the nickname Cal, which they already have on their list for Pascal!

(5) Oliver

Finally, Oliver, which I’m including for the same reasons as Olive above. It’s one of the sweetest names, and I love that it can have a Holy Thursday connection via the Mount of Olives.

Tricia said she’d “love more ideas especially with possible holy day birthdays, maybe what [my] favorites are,” so I went through the feast days from two weeks before her due date to two weeks after, and these jumped out as me as possible ideas, either as a first or a middle:

March 14: Eve, for Bl. Eve of Liège and Our Lady (the “New Eve”)

March 15: Clement or Clementine for St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (my parish’s patron and one of my favorites) and Our Lady (“O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary”); Peter or Pascal for Bl. Peter Pasquale

March 17: Patrick, for St. Patrick

March 18: Clement, Clementine, or Mercy for Our Lady of Mercy

March 19: Joseph, for St. Joseph

March 20: Lucy for St. Photina of Rome, the name traditionally given to the Samaritan woman (Photina means “light” and so does Lucy)

March 28: Kristopher for Bl. Christopher Wharton and Tricia’s mother-in-law

March 29: Agnes for Bl. Agnes of Chatillon (she’s also celebrated the day before by the Cistercians)

March 30: Irene for St. Irene of Rome

March 31: Benjamin for St. Benjamin the Deacon

April 1: Sofia or Zofia for Bl. Zofia Czeska-Maciejowska

April 7: John for St. John Baptist de La Salle

April 8: Julia for St. Julia Billiart

April 11: Helen for Bl. Elena Guerra

This is not an exhaustive list of holy ones with feast days during that four-week period, just ones that jumped out at me. If you’d like to look through them yourself, start here and go forward day by day.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little sister or brother of Noah, Maria, Adam, and Martha?

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: “Well known but not often heard” name needed for baby boy

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

Happy Monday, everyone! Today is my grandmother’s birthday, whose name was Anne, and she was one of the reasons St. Anne seemed perfect for Sancta Nomina’s patroness. My grandmother, who I called Mimi, passed away 33 years ago — if you think to say a Hail Mary for her and our family, who all still miss her, I’d be so grateful!

I posted a consultation for Erin and her husband two years ago when they were expecting their daughter, and I’m so happy to be able to offer ideas for her third baby — a little boy, her second son! Little Man joins big sibs:

Calvin Frederick

Lucy Renee

I just love these names together! Such a lovely set!

Erin writes,

“I like to include saint/biblical and family names in some combination. My husband is not Catholic, so a name with a religious tie is less important to him. Calvin and Lucy were in our family trees. Frederick is my husband’s MN and grandpa. Renee is my MN and Godmother’s name.

We are having a little boy due September 2nd!

Our top choices we are considering are:

  • Henry
  • Samuel
  • Franklin
  • Walter

All of these are family names. Our favorite is probably Henry, but both of us feel it is more popular than we want. I’m also feeling drawn strongly to Samuel, but struggle with it feeling perennially popular. We really liked how Calvin was a well known name but not often heard. Franklin we both like but don’t love, although I do love Frankie as a nick name. My husband really likes Walter. I like Walt, but Walter feels a little too ‘grumpy old man’ to me lol.

Some other names I liked:

  • Isaac
  • Emmett
  • Bennett
  • Abe*
  • Peter*
  • Ambrose
  • Beau
  • Otto
  • Theo
  • Everett

Other names hubs liked:

  • Max
  • Mac
  • Harrison
  • Elliott
  • Benjamin
  • Hugh
  • Thomas

*Family names

We also both like August, but we’re unsure with his due date being so close to the month.

Our daughter is rooting for Sammy, and our son is convinced his name is Blaise! Lol

Family names we can’t use include: Archie, Eli, Oliver, Joel, Adam, Gavin, Caleb, Charles, and Cole.

Top contenders for middle names are: James and Douglas (my grandpa or dad’s name), but we aren’t super set there.

Can’t wait to hear what you come up with!“

Alrighty, let’s get to it! 😄

As I usually do, I thought I’d start with offering my thoughts on the names Erin and her hubby have discussed, in case they’re helpful:

  • Henry: I’m not surprised that Erin said their favorite is probably Henry, as it was far and away the biggest style match for them when I did my usual research in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link)! It’s a great name! I wonder if switching up the form they use might help it feel fresher, even if they use Henry on an everyday basis? Some of its international versions that I thought they might like include Henrik/Henryk, Hendrick, Hendry, Henning, and Henderson (which is similar to Harrison on Erin’s husband’s list). I think Henry can work as a nickname for all of these, or the traditional Henry nickname Hank. Since Erin mentioned popularity, I looked up the SSA rankings for each of the names and will include them as I discuss them; Henry is no. 7, Henrik is no. 926, and none of the others are in the top 1000 (though Henderson ranked in the top 1000 almost every year between 1900 and 1944!). (For reference, Calvin is no. 148 and Lucy is no. 48.)
  • Samuel: Another great name! Samuel is less popular than Henry at no. 20; it’s been rising in popularity for a long time, but slowly — it entered the 20’s in 1997 at no. 27, so in the grand scheme of things it hasn’t moved too much at all. It’s so cute how Erin said her daughter is sure this baby’s name is Sammy! If the nicknames are a big draw for them, I thought I’d mention that my husband and I considered Sam as a nickname for Ambrose, which I see on Erin’s list. I wonder what she and her hubby would think of that? Ambrose is no. 720.
  • Franklin: Franklin definitely feels like Calvin to me — “well known but not often heard,” as Erin said. Such a cool name, and awesome that it’s a family name for them! Frankie is a darling nickname, too. I wonder if they’ve considered Francis or Frank as given names? Franklin is no. 408, Francis is no. 462, and Frank is no. 439 (this name family is very consistent popularity-wise!).
  • Walter: It’s so funny that Erin’s husband likes Walter but she thinks it’s too “grumpy old man”! I agree that Walt is adorable, and I actually used my own husband’s like of what I considered to be “old man” names to try to convince him of the given name Walsingham with the nickname Walt for our youngest! Walsingham is the name of a Marian apparition location in England, and Our Lady of Walsingham is one of her titles, so I thought I was being incredibly clever; my husband did not agree, haha! One thing that Erin might like about Walter is that I’ve seen it with increasing regularity among the families I work with because of Servant of God Fr. Walter Ciszek. Here are some birth announcements: here, here (he has a big brother Henrik!), and a sibling group that includes a Walter here.
  • August: I know what Erin means about August for a baby due in the beginning in September! If he ends up coming early, in August itself, I wonder if that would that make it easier or harder for them to use? Would they consider Augustus or Augustine?

Of the names Erin and her hubby like, I won’t comment on them all except to say:

  • Emmett, Bennett, Everett, and Elliott are very revealing! I absolutely tried to find an idea that ends in -tt for them when I was doing my research!
  • Abe and Beau (Bo) are both names that I think can work as nicknames for Ambrose; also Bram, which was my favorite idea when I was pitching this to my husband!
  • I really want to figure out something with Harrison and Henry, since Harry originated as a nickname for Henry … using Henry as a nickname for Harrison is normally the kind of thing I’d go for, except I’m having a hard time with the fact that it would technically be going *backwards* — Henry isn’t  a nickname for the Harry names, Harry is a nickname for Henry! But I want to mention it anyway, in case it strikes this couple as the perfect solution.
  • Popularity of all these:

Isaac: 42

Emmett: 115

Bennett: 83

Abe: Not in top 1000

Peter: 214

Ambrose: 720

Beau: 89

Otto: 309

Theo: 99 (Theodore is no. 10)

Everett: 81

  • I also wonder about their son’s idea of Blaise — what do they think of that?? Could be very cool! Blaise is not in the top 1000.

On to new ideas! I did my usual research for Erin and her hubby in the Baby Name Wizard, looking up the names they’ve used and those they like to find style matches. I was also inspired by all of the names ending in -tt that are on their lists and wanted to find similar options for them. What do you all think of:

(1) Stanley

Walter on their list made me think of my own name conversations with my husband, as I noted about re: Walsingham nn Walt. I wondered if the name that my husband was really crazy about would appeal to them: Stanley nn Stan! I’ve actually seen an uptick in interest in this name among the families I work with because of the recent beatification of Bl. Stanley Rother. I did a really thorough spotlight of Stanley here. Stanley is no. 778.

(2) Malcolm

I was mostly inspired by Mac and Max on Erin’s hubby’s list when deciding to include Malcolm in my official suggestions, as well as the ideal of “well known name but not often heard” like Calvin. I absolutely think both Mac and Max can be nicknames for Malcolm, and I quite like it as a brother name for Calvin and Lucy. Though I don’t think there’s a St. Malcolm, the name itself means “disciple of St. Columba,” who was a great Irish Saint. I had suggested it to Haley from Carrots for Michaelmas — she has a Lucy too! Malcolm is no. 285.

(3) Name ending in -tt

I had fun looking through the BNW for names ending in -tt! Of them, my favorites for this family are:

  • Garrett: Garrett is derived from Gerard, which gives it its saintly connection. I love that! It’s no. 463.
  • Beckett: This can be literary (Samuel Beckett) or saintly (St. Thomas a Becket(t)) — or both! Beck is a fun nickname. It’s no. 195.
  • Dermot(t): This name is usually spelled with one T, but can be spelled with two. There are a few Sts. Dermot; the name in either spelling (Dermot or Dermott) is not in the top 1000.
  • Grant: Okay so, yes, Grant doesn’t end in -tt. But it showed up in my research as swirling around the kinds of names this couple likes, and I know of a family who chose Grant for their son with the “grant us peace” part of the Mass in mind, which I thought was clever. Grant is no. 220.
  • Atticus: Okay so, yes, again, this doesn’t end in -tt — and doesn’t end in T at all! But when I was skimming the BNW index the double T of Atticus caught my eye and I thought maybe it would be perfect! I’ve seen Gus used as a nickname for it, which kind of loops in their August idea. Atticus is no. 274.

So those are my official suggestions, but I also want to mention that I considered Leo (no. 22), Lincoln (no. 54), Martin (305), Philip (no. 494), Barrett (no. 208), and Rhett (no. 151) for them as well before whittling my list down to just the ones I mentioned above — maybe one of those would be perfect after all?

And those are all my thoughts! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of Calvin and Lucy?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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 predictions: Irish, place name, cool nickname — will little brother follow suit?

sanctanomina Baby name consultant, Predictions , , , ,

Hi everyone! 👋 Since my last post my no. 5 boy graduated from 5th grade, which means he’s moving on the middle/high school his big brothers go to; my no. 7 boy graduated from preschool, which means he’s moving on to Kindergarten (and ending the fifteen years I’ve had a little one in or anticipating being in our school’s sweet Early Childhood program); and we took a two-years-in-the-planning Big Family Vacation with my two brothers and their wives and kids, my parents, and my sister — 21 people in a house by the ocean (my two youngest sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew couldn’t come). While there, we went to Mass at a St. Anne church, checking the box for this year’s St. Anne Pilgrimage (that links to 2020; you can read more about 2021 and 2022 here)! And also: five of my seven kids and my husband came down with a stomach bug while on the vacation, which cut our vacation short, lasted through our drive home and into the next few days as well, and, man. That’s all I have to say.

But today I have a FUN THING!! My youngest sister is due next week with her second baby — a second boy! She and her hubby don’t share their name choices ahead of time so we’ve been having fun trying to guess/predict what her littlest man will be named, based exclusively on big brother’s name: Cashel, nn Cash.

Cashel is an amazingly fantastic name for my sister’s and BIL’s firstborn because they have a super Irish last name and they *got married in Ireland* and Cashel is an Irish place name with historical and faith significance. And it has the fantastic nickname Cash! It’s pretty close to perfect in my book. (Read more about Cashel [the place] here, and the name here and here.)

So today’s question: If you knew a couple with an Irish last name, who got married in Ireland, who gave their first baby boy an Irish place name for a given name, and that name has an easy, jaunty nickname, what names might you suggest or predict for baby boy no. 2??

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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: Unexpected middle name for Mary

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , , , ,

Maria and her husband are expecting their fourth baby — their third girl! This little lady joins big sibs:

Samuel Albert (Sam) “Samuel was born a few months after my husband became Catholic, and about nine months later I converted as well. We landed on his name quite easily. We knew we wanted a name that had spiritual significance for us and connected to our faith tradition. At the time that was biblical names. We loved the meaning of Samuel ‘God hears’. As a bonus, we  loved the literary connection of of Samwise from Lord of the Rings and that character’s loyalty and friendship.

Albert is a family name on my husband’s side. It is both my husband’s middle name, and his father’s middle name, and was his grandfather’s first name. In naming our first child, we realized connecting our children’s names to those that came before them was significant to us.”

Phoebe Grace “Phoebe checked all the previous boxes for us: faith connection with being a New Testament biblical name and not overly popular, unique but not unheard of. We loved the meaning “bright, or radiant” and the poetic connection to the moon, something that reflects light in the dark. (What a metaphor for Christian life, the moon reflecting the light of the sun.) Phoebe seemed like a bit of a risk. I thought people’s feelings would probably be polarizing, but I loved it and I thought it was charming and we went for it!

Grace is my mother’s name, and it was such a privilege to honour her when naming my first daughter.”

Anna Frances “Anna was named because of the biblical connection to the Prophetess Anna, who was one of the first people to recognize Jesus as the Saviour. How nice that it means, ‘Grace’ which gave her a connection to her sister’s name and my mother’s name again. We loved it because it was timeless and not overly popular. My husband’s mother’s middle name is Ann, so it was also a nice way to honour her. I’m also a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, so I liked the little connection to that name as well. 

Frances was chosen mostly because my husband wanted to honour St. Francis de Sales, and I also liked the connection to Pope Francis and St. Francis of Assisi. Also quite conveniently, Frances is a family name on my mother’s side of the family for many generations, and so it fits quite perfectly into place.”

Such wonderful names!! I love them all!!

Maria writes,

“For all our children we wanted to steer clear of names that were very popular or trendy, but wanted names that were both somewhat unique and had a ‘timeless’ quality. I definitely consulted Baby Name Wizard’s 100 year rule. 

We have landed on a first name for our baby girl: Her first name will be Mary. (Considering nicknames like Mae or Mair).

My husband has wanted to use the name Mary for awhile, and it has certainly grown on me as my connection to Mary has grown after my conversion from a Protestant to a Catholic. Although the name is, of course, very common in Catholic circles we are the only Catholics in our family and it’s not extremely popular overall on the charts so that works for us! Having done three biblical names so far, it is nice to do one for the fourth although that wasn’t a deal breaker for us. 

Also given my name is Maria, It is a nice connection to my third daughter in that way. I was also accidently named after my paternal grandmother.  Her name is Mary but she always went by a nickname so my Dad didn’t actually know this till after I was born and named! That is the one side of the family we’ve not honoured yet in our baby naming, so how perfect is that! My grandmother is in her 90s, and I recently traveled across the country to see her and attend my grandfather’s funeral. I told her that we were naming the baby Mary at that time, which was special.”

I don’t usually get consultation requests from parents who have already chosen a first name! But Maria’s “dilemma” is right up my alley! She continues,

“We are stumped for a middle name! 

Here’s a few of our thoughts:

– We checked all our boxes on the first name, and things are wide open! Mary has the faith connection and the family connection all in one. That being said, I love for a name (even a middle name) to have some significance and meaning behind it. A good ‘story’. 

– Because Mary is extremely traditional, I really wanted to find a middle name that was a bit unexpected and ‘fresh’ feeling. My husband liked names like Elizabeth and Catherine, but I really want to avoid anything that feels like it normally ‘goes with’ Mary or has that traditional double name feel. Rather uncharacteristically I had names like, ‘Wilder’, ‘Lark’, and ‘Gray’ on my ‘there’s no bad ideas in brainstorming’ long list. 

– I’m not sure how I feel about names that end in the same sound as Mary. Lucy was on our short list before for both girls, but I *think* I’m drawn to names that end in other sounds. 

Names that got to the short list: 

– A name with an ‘Elizabeth’ connection. My name is made of names derived from both Mary and Elizabeth (Maria Elyse). If her first name is Mary, I thought a version of Elizabeth might be a nice connection. It’s like having ‘the visitation’ captured in a name. I also love Pride and Prejudice and am secretly hunting for a ‘literary’ connection for this babe. The closest I got was: Elle, Ella, Isabel, Lise. None have so far really settled into being ‘the one’. 

– A name with an ‘Eve’ connection. I love the idea of Mary being the new Eve, and the connections between Mary and Eve. Ideas were: Eve, Eva, Ava, and maybe Evelyn (although I don’t think Evelyn is actually technically related to the name Eve…)

– Aveline – In my search for a more unusual middle name I stumbled across Aveline. Connection to the city of Avila, and therefore St. Theresa of Avila. I like that it is unusual and unexpected, and I think it sounds lovely with Mary. 

– I am drawn to some alliterative middle names – contenders were Mae, and Magnolia. These were the first ones that really made me feel excited like I did with our previous children’s names.  I think Mae is really a short form of Mary, so wasn’t sure that would fly. I thought maybe Magnolia could honour Mary Magdalene. Also worried it’s a little too quirky.  I’m not sure! Our other kids names have quite a depth of meaning, and I’m just not sure this fits the bill in the same way.

– Other names we’ve considered but didn’t quite sparkle for us: Charlotte, Lucia, Cecelia. 

Names we can’t use due to pets: Penelope, Eloise, Pia.”

I love that Maria and her husband have chosen Mary for the first name for their new baby!! It’s such a simply beautiful name. I love, too, that Maria and her baby will share a variant of Mary as first names! And that story about Maria’s paternal grandmother being Mary but her Dad not knowing is amazing. Wow!! Maria mentioned Mae and Mair as nicknames they’re considering; I also wanted to offer that Molly and Polly are both traditional nicknames for it.

One of the things Maria said is exactly what I would think as well: that since they “checked all [their] boxes on the first name … things are wide open” for the middle! And also, I would totally do what they’re thinking of in terms of finding an unexpected middle name. I’ve often said that Mary as a first name makes any first+middle combo sound Catholicky Catholic, and I myself would be leaning toward Wilder/Lark/Gray-type names instead of the beautiful but well used Elizabeth and Catherine. This is such a fun challenge!

Before I get on to new ideas, I thought I’d offer my thoughts on the names they’re already considering, in case they’re helpful:

  • A name with an “Elizabeth” connection: I absolutely love this idea for all the reasons Maria mentioned — finding an Elizabeth connection was one of my first priorities when I was trying to come up with ideas!
  • A name with an “Eve” connection: This is also a great idea, but I admit it pales in comparison to an Elizabeth name in my mind — I just love the Elizabeth idea! But it did inspire some of my ideas below!
  • Aveline: This, too, is beautiful, and Mary Aveline is stunning. Funny enough, Maria mentioned Evelyn in the “Eve” section, noting that it’s not actually etymologically related to Eve — but it is to Aveline! It was derived from Aveline! I’m not sure how that helps this family in any way, but it’s a fun thing to know!
  • Alliterative middle names: I, too, love alliterative combos! Maria’s right about Mae being a short form of Mary … I can also see what she means about Magnolia maybe being too quirky … it made me think of Marigold right away, but Mary Marigold wouldn’t work … I absolutely don’t want to steer them away from Mary as a first name, but I did wonder if Marigold as a first name might appeal to them? Mary/Mari could be her nickname, and I have a few readers (here, here, here) who named their babies Marigold with Our Lady, Queen as patron and the feast day of the Queenship of Mary (August 22 — same month as Maria’s due date!) as her name day. Even though Marigold and Magnolia are similar, I kind of feel like Marigold is the tiniest bit more grounded? Probably because of knowing a few little ones named Marigold, and Edith on “Downton Abbey” named her baby Marigold. All that said, I think Mary as a first name is the absolute perfect first name for an unexpected and even bold middle name, so I wouldn’t cross Mary Magnolia off their list! If they intend to call the baby Mary plus a nickname of her middle, then the full middle name can be as crazy as they want because very few people will ever really know what it is. Mary Mae is a fine nickname for Mary Magnolia; they could also do something like Mary Nola or Mary Lia as nicknames. I like Maria’s thought that Magnolia could honor St. Mary Magdalene; if she’s special to her, maybe a variant of her name might also appeal? Madeline/Madeleine and Magdalen(e)/Magdalyn/Magdalena would be lovely with Mary.
  • Names that end in the same sound as Mary: With Mary as the first name, I agree that I would lean away from a middle name that ends in the same sound — Mary Lucy sounds almost comical (though I know someone with a double name similar to Mary Lucy and it’s been fine for her. Anything can work if you want it to!). Maria said they’ve considered Lucia and didn’t care for it; I wonder if a different variant like Luz/Luce, Lucille, Lucinda, or Lux might work? Mary Luz and Mary Lux might especially touch on the Wilder/Lark/Gray feel that Maria was thinking of.

Okay! On to new ideas! They range from more “normal” to very bold, so hopefully something here will excite Maria and her husband! I normally look up the names the parents have already used and like in the Baby Name Wizard but in this case, since they’ve already chosen a first name, I focused instead on going through the M section of the BNW to see if there were any other alliterative options that jumped out at me, going through my own book of Marian names with the same goal in mind and to look for others that might appeal to Maria and her hubby, and jotting down ideas I had as I went about my day with their dilemma in mind. Based on all that, these are my ideas:

(1) Mary Bennet(t)

This is my favorite idea! I think it checks almost all Maria’s boxes if she’s open to thinking that it does. It has a connection to the Visitation in that Bennett is a medieval diminutive of Benedict, which is the word that’s used to translate Elizabeth’s words to Mary into Latin (“blessed are you among women” is benedicta tu in mulieribus in Latin). That also gives it a connection to Elizabeth (not as explicit as using a variant of Elizabeth, but still a connection if she wants it to be). And it has a literary reference, specifically to Pride and Prejudice! They spell it Bennet, of course, but it’s all the same name. And the fact that it’s predominantly a masculine first name and a surname gives it that unexpected/bold quality that Maria might be looking for.

(2) Mary Eliot/Elliot/Elliott/Eliette

Another name that might be perfect is Elliott (in whatever spelling!). Like Bennett is derived from Benedict, Elliott is derived from Elijah, giving it a nice faith connection (I included Elijah and its variants in my book of Marian names because of Elijah’s connection to Our Lady of Mount Carmel). Spelled Eliot, it can have a literary connection to T.S. Eliot. One of my readers has a daughter named Eliette, which is a feminine variant derived from Elijah. And Maria can think of it as having a connection to her name as well in that Eli- are the first three letters of Elizabeth.

(3) Mary Bessette

Bessette isn’t actually related to Elizabeth — it’s a surname derived from a French word “designating a small wood of birches” — but Bess is a traditional nickname for Elizabeth, so I don’t think it’s crazy that Maria and her husband could choose it based on the idea of “little Bess/little Elizabeth.” It comes with a saintly connection, too, in St. Andre Bessette — he’s great!

(4) Mary Evett(e)

My first few ideas were inspired by Maria’s desire for an Elizabeth connection; this one is inspired by her love of an Eve connection. Evett is a medieval diminutive of Eve that I included in the boy section of my Mary names book because it’s a surname and it reminded me so much of Evan and Everett, but it can also be feminine, as is probably most obviously seen in its variant spelling Evette (like Yvette, but Yvette derives from a different name). Other spellings/variants of the surname are Evatt, Evatts, Evetts, Evitt, and Evitts.

(5) Mary Majella/Maiella

I wanted to offer some alliterative options that Maria might like. The first is Mary Majella — Majella is the surname of St. Gerard Majella, patron of expectant mothers and a name that has some decent usage among Catholic girls especially of the older generations. I like the ending of “ella” could be considered a nod to Elizabeth. Majella is how St. Gerard is traditionally know, but that’s the English spelling and pronunciation — in Italian he’s St. Gerardo Maiella, and Maiella is a viable option too and so pretty! It’s said may-EL-la or my-EL-la as opposed to Majella’s ma-JEL-la.

(6) Mary Margo(t)

I thought Mary Margaret was too traditional for Maria, similar to Mary Catherine and Mary Elizabeth, but maybe a less common variant of Margaret would work? I like Margo/Margot — Mary Margo(t) is a cool combo.

(7) Mary Maeve

Since Maria was drawn to Mary Mae but knows that wouldn’t quite work since they’re the same name, what about Mary Maeve? Maeve is an Irish name said the same way as Mae but ending with the “v” sound (MAYV). If either Maria or her husband have Irish heritage, this could be really nice! A lot of people are intimidated by Irish names, but since Maeve is said just like it looks and it’s also currently no. 104, it’s one of the easiest Irish names to work with.

(8) Mary Amata

Finally, I’m including Amata simply because I love how it sounds with Mary. It’s in my book because it means “beloved,” which is such a great meaning, and Mary is called Mater amata (“beloved Mother”) in the hymn O Sanctissima.

Other names I thought about for Maria include Liesse, Quinn, Peyton, Cruz, Campion, Fulton, and Kolbe.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest as pairing well with the first name Mary?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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: Unexpected eponym for baby no. 5 (and name reveal for baby no. 4!)

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I posted a consultation Theresa did for Kathryn and her hubby for their fourth baby, and it’s exciting to both share the name they chose and post this new consultation for their fifth baby!! This little one joins big sibs:

James Elijah

John Isaiah

Samuel Robert

And …

“We ended up naming [baby no. 4] Emilia Gianna (after JP2’s mom and my confirmation Saint, Gianna Molla) and love her name so much!!!“

Isn’t Emilia Gianna so beautiful?! Emilia was one of Theresa’s suggestions, so perfect! James, John, Samuel, and Emilia are such an attractive, solid, saintly group! I love their middle names too, each combo is so great!

Kathryn writes,

“We are needing help with a name for baby #5! We don’t know gender. … For this baby, I just have to incorporate Scott as either a first or middle name if it’s a boy. I am a convert, and Scott Hahn’s books/CDs/podcasts are truly the reason why I am Catholic, why I love being Catholic, and why I have learned to defend the Catholic faith to protestant friends so well! That said, my husband and I are having a difference of opinion on whether Scott should be the first or middle name! If we use Scott as a first name, we need a STRONG saintly or Biblical middle name, such as Scott Augustine or Scott Joseph. My husband is pretty set on naming a boy Peter Scott, but I worry because we already have a James and a John that if we named our 4th son Peter, our 3rd son Samuel might feel left out as not being one of the ‘super apostle’ names! Maybe this concern is silly though. Please help me! Any other awesome suggestions on the way we can use Scott??

For a girl, Hubby and I are both pretty in love with the name Anna (from the Gospel of Luke, and also a nod to Saint Anne). It goes so well with her sister Emilia, but we’re really struggling to find the perfect middle name! 

Some ideas we love but don’t feel like are ‘the one’:

  • Anna Catherine 
  • Anna Clare
  • Anna Maria/Marie
  • Anna Therese
  • Anna Grace

Veronica was also one of the girl name suggestions Theresa gave me for Emilia, and I LOVE the name Veronica (but [there are some issues with the nickname Ronnie and their last name] which was why we ended up naming our 1st daughter Emilia…Vera is cute though…any other good nicknames for Veronica?!)

That said, Veronica Anne is definitely on the table provided we could find a better nickname option for Veronica! 

Open to other options with Anna or Anne as a middle name, as well, just want to incorporate that name somewhere!“

This was so fun! In all my years of doing these consultations and in all the conversations I’ve had with Sancta Nomina families, this is the first time I’ve encountered a desire to nod to Dr. Hahn, despite the fact that many, many people have come to the Church through his writings! My own husband is a convert, and I asked him to read Rome Sweet Home (affiliate link) when we were first dating; so many of Dr. Hahn’s other books played a role in his ultimate conversion ten years later as well.

*** Name fact of the day: “namesake” is used to refer a person named after someone (e.g., my oldest son is named after my father-in-law, so he is my FIL’s namesake). “Eponym” is the person after whom someone is named (so my FIL is my son’s eponym). I wanted a name for an eponym for years, not knowing until somewhat recently that the word “eponym” exists! So perfect! ***

I love Kathryn’s thought that Scott as a first name needs a “STRONG saintly or Biblical middle name”! Scott Augustine and Scott Joseph are both really handsome. Peter Scott is also very handsome! I do understand her concerns though about Samuel not being one of the “super apostle” names — her concerns aren’t silly at all, those concerns are part of wanting to give one’s baby the best name possible, and concerns like those are important to people who care about these things! I’d worry about it too! And I’m hoping I can help come up with an idea that both Kathryn and her husband feel peaceful about (even if it’s just reassuring them about ideas that they’ve already discussed).

That said, I can almost guarantee that their Samuel will likely not ever give it even two thoughts (unless they make a big thing out of it, which I’m sure they wouldn’t), nor will anyone else (except maybe the odd crazy-namer, like me, and only if they were to actively sit and think about all their kids’ names, which is unlikely). So funny, right? These concerns seem SO IMPORTANT when naming our babies, and later on they don’t seem very important at all (at least in my experience). My personal example is that six of my boys have a biblical name as either a first name or a middle name, and I *agonized* over the fact that one of them doesn’t have a biblical name in either spot! But when it came time to name him, saintly and family concerns overrode my desire to keep the loose biblical theme going, and no one has ever mentioned it! None of my boys have ever noticed, including the one without a biblical name! Peter Scott would be a fine addition to this family if Kathryn and her hubby came to an agreement on it, and maybe they will! But I would love to see them decide on a name they both equally love. I included new ideas on how to incorporate Scott below in my list of “official” suggestions.

First though, I want to say that I love both Scott Augustine and Scott Joseph! I actually quite like the idea of James, John, Samuel, and Scott as brothers — the J/J/S/S pattern is very pleasing and makes Scott seem a natural part of the set. That said, Scott is a different style than the others, and not because of biblical vs. non-biblical (though of course there is that), but because it doesn’t have that obvious faith connection. I mean, WE know it does because of Dr. Hahn, and there are some holy people that can be used as patron for a little Scott, like Bl. Maurus (William) Scott (who is actually great in light of Dr. Hahn’s role here, because he “was converted to the truths of Catholicism by reading Catholic literature”) and any of the Scottish Saints (since the name Scott in origin refers to a person from Scotland or one who speaks Scottish Gaelic), but your regular person that you run into out in the world won’t know that. Does it even matter though? It’s up to Kathryn and her hubby to decide! For that reason, I’d probably lean more towards the idea of using it as a middle name. I love Joseph for them, even though it would make this baby their third J-named son; because this baby is separated from James and John by two non-J-named children, I think it would be fine.

I also did some research into Dr. Hahn to see if anything showed itself as a possibility and discovered that his given name is Scott Walker Hahn. Walker made me think of Walsingham, which is a place in England and part of a Marian title: Our Lady of Walsingham. Would Scott Walsingham appeal? (I actually tried to convince my husband of Walsingham as a first name for our youngest son with the nickname Walt!) (He was not convinced. Haha!)

I, too, love Anna!! For all of our boys, the girl name we’d decided on was Susanna and we intended to use Anna as her nickname. It’s one of my very favorites! I love the list of ideas Kathryn and her hubs came up with for a middle name — they all sound lovely with Anna! One thought on Therese is that in the research I did on Scott Hahn, I read in this article that “one of the saints who [has] helped him the most in his everyday life” is St. Therese. If they were open to using this baby’s name as a nod to Scott Hahn regardless of gender, that could be a good way to do it! (Or Anna Scott, for that matter! Maybe that’s too far outside their comfort zone? I would totally understand if so! Hmmm … this makes me think of another idea that might be too crazy for them, but could also be awesome: a family I did a consultation for recently was thinking of Scarlett with the nickname Scottie, which I thought was adorable … I think Scarlett could be a legit way to honor a Scott in a daughter’s name because of the beginning S, ending -tt, and the “a” within … I offered possible faith connections to the name Ruby in this post because of its meaning of “red,” like a nod to the Precious Blood, the Wounds of Crucifixion, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all of which could totally work for Scarlett … with those beautiful meanings in mind and also the possibility of Scarlett nodding to Scott, maybe they’d like to consider Anna Scarlett? If they love it, I think it could be stunning! If they don’t, I totally get it, it’s a more adventurous idea.)

I also noted from the consultation Theresa did that Kathryn liked Rachel and Victoria, which I like with Anna: Anna Rachel and Anna Victoria are both quite nice. Anna Victoria seems particularly well-matched with sister Emilia Gianna because of having a similar rhythm. And really, I love all of their middle name ideas for a first name as well, since Kathryn said they’re open to other options with Anna or Anne as a middle name! Catherine Anne, Clare Anna, Maria Anna or Marianna or Annamaria, Therese Anna, and Grace Anna are all lovely. I have other ideas below …

I love Veronica too! It’s a fantastic “bridge” name for this family because of the boys all having biblical names (so far) and Emilia not having one — Veronica *isn’t* biblical, in the sense that the name doesn’t appear in the bible, but it *is* biblical because the person that we call Veronica is in the bible. A non-biblical biblical name! It can bridge their biblical names (James, John, Samuel, Peter, Anna) with their non-biblical names (Emilia and Scott). Fantastic! I wouldn’t worry about anyone calling her Ronnie unless they decide to call her Ronnie — as long as they choose another nickname and are firm and consistent about it, that will be what everyone calls her! If they like Vera, awesome! Others are Nica, Nicky/Nikki, Via, Vivi, and Vicky.

Okay! Now on to new suggestions! In addition to the Scott Hahn research I did, I also looked up the names they’ve already used and those they like/are considering 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. For girls, I was mainly looking for middle names for Anna; for boys, I was looking for heavy-hitting Catholicky Catholic names that would be a good balance to Scott’s more secular feel:

Girl

(1) Karoline/Caroline

While Anna as a first name paired with a middle name that ends in A has that really gorgeous, ultra-feminine feel that goes so nicely with sister Emilia Gianna, I also really like the rhythm of a combo like Anna Catherine. I immediately thought of Karoline when reading Kathryn’s list, and was pleased to see that Caroline is a style match for Amelia (standing in for Emilia, as Emilia doesn’t have its own entry). The Karoline spelling is obviously a nod to St. John Paul II to anyone who knows, as his birth name was Karol (the Polish form of Charles); the Caroline spelling can also nod to him if they’d like it to, and is just as lovely and classic as Catherine (I did a post on patron Saints for Caroline et al. here).

(2) Lillian

Elizabeth is a style match for basically all the names Kathryn and her husband have used and like, and Anna Elizabeth *can* work, but (1) Anna ending in A and Elizabeth starting with the same sound isn’t everyone’s favorite transition (maybe they don’t mind it though?) and (2) because it’s such a style match, maybe they’d like to save Elizabeth for the future? So I thought an Elizabeth variant might be nice, especially if it’s not an obvious Elizabeth variant, and Lillian seemed perfect! Behind the Name says Lillian likely originated as a diminutive of Elizabeth, and I love how it sounds with Anna. Our Lady’s Mom and her cousin in one name!

(3) Juliet(te)

Julia is also a huge style match for this family, but I don’t really see them considering it for the future for some reason, and I felt like Anna Julia is a little too sing-songy (if they disagree and love it, awesome!), but I love how Anna Juliet/Juliette sounds! I did a post on saintly connections for Juliet(te) here (also, Julia is biblical, so Juliet(te) is a diminutive of a biblical name).

(4) Colette

I was trying to think of other names that I thought went well with Anna that have a nice saintly connection, and I thought of a friend of mine who named her daughter Maria Colette — I have always loved that combo, and I thought Anna Colette sounds equally as gorgeous! St. Colette is a patron of expectant mothers, which I love.

(5) Seraphina/Serafina

Like with Julia, Sarah is a huge match for Kathryn and her hubby’s style, but also like with Julia I don’t really see them wanting to use it in the future, so I thought maybe a spin on it would be nice with Anna. Seraphina/Serafina refers to the angels, specifically the seraphim, and is such a beautiful name. Anna Seraphina is so pretty!

Boy

(1) Karol or Charles

As noted, for boys, I tried to think of other examples of “STRONG saintly or Biblical” names to go with Scott, and Karol came to mind first because of JP2. Karol is a variant of Charles, which could also be nice. Scott Karol and Charles Scott are both great.

(2) Benedict or Benjamin

In my Scott Hahn research, I also consulted this page of authors that were instrumental in his own conversion, one of whom was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict). Benedict is definitely one of those heavy-hitting names! Benedict Scott and Scott Benedict sound great together.

Benedict made me think of Benjamin, which could also be great for this family! It’s Old Testament like Samuel (so there wouldn’t be any possibility of Samuel feeling left out!), and I really love how Benjamin Scott sounds.

(3) Maximilian

In that first web site that I consulted, Dr. Hahn included St. Maximilian Kolbe as one of the Saints that have been most helpful to him — Maximilian absolutely belongs on this list of obviously holy names!

(4) Gregory

Most of the boy name style matches in my research were ones that I’m sure they’ve already considered like Thomas, William, and Paul. Great names, all! But Gregory jumped out to me as possibly being more like what they’re looking for — it has always struck me as a really Catholic name because of the big-deal Gregorys like Pope St. Gregory the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzen, and others.

(5) Francis

In the article about Scott Hahn’s book of Saints and Angels, he tells the story of a time when his son was close to death and he felt very clearly the presence of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, and Mother Mary. Francis Scott sounded so great to me and it took me a minute to realize it’s because of Francis Scott Key! Regardless, I still think Francis Scott would be really nice, and Scott Francis as well.

(6) Josemaria, Irenaeus

These last two are names of Saints that Dr. Hahn has been particularly affected by, and their names are so over-the-top amazing and saintly that Scott would be very nicely balanced out. I totally understand if they’re way too far outside of this family’s comfort zone! And I definitely think they’d go best in the middle name spot. Scott Josemaria and Scott Irenaeus are pretty amazing, and of the two, I think Scott Irenaeus has the best flow.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What middle name would you suggest for Anna and what name would you pair with Scott for the little brother or sister of James, John, Samuel, and Emilia?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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: Easy-to-pronounce, short(ish), familiar-but-not-common name needed for baby girl

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Many thanks to you all for sharing your Mary name stories! Please keep them coming!

Gabrielle and her husband are expecting their fourth baby — their second on earth and their third little girl! This little lady joins big siblings:

+ Mary Evelyn (“We lost her early in pregnancy on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption, and I always knew Mary carried her into Heaven with her“)

Chase Erik (“We chose his name to mirror my husband’s [Christopher Erik]. My husband is about 50% Norwegian which is reflected in the spelling of Erik. We wanted a first name that was easy to say and spell, something that was unique but also sounded familiar. Chase has St. Christopher as his Saint like my husband“)

+ Joanna Rose (“We lost her early in pregnancy as well on Psalm Sunday. In the Gospel of Luke, Joanna is mentioned as being one of the few present in addition to Jesus’ disciples for Christ’s resurrection, and we knew this was the name for her. She is also named after St. Rose of Lima because even though we didn’t get to see her in her full form, we knew she was beautiful“)

Aren’t these wonderful names? I love the significance behind each one, each so thoughtfully chosen. Mary Evelyn and Joanna Rose are absolutely lovely for their little girls in heaven, and Chase Erik is such a handsome combo for their son!

Gabrielle writes,

“Names we’ve discussed for this baby but don’t feel quite right: 

Marie/Maria – We like the idea of honoring Mary because she is due in May, but maybe feels a bit too similar to Mary. 

Amelia – We like the name in isolation, but don’t feel that it goes well with our last name and also seems to becoming a bit popular. 

Emily – Pretty, but perhaps a bit too simple. I am also having trouble seeing her grow into this name beyond a young girl. 

Lucy – Pretty name, and one of the women mentioned in the Canon. Also has a nice meaning of “light.” My mom’s name is Lucine (I’m 50% Italian, 50% Polish) and baby girl is due on May 12th. The Feast day of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated on May 13th. Lucy feels a bit popular though, and I am also having trouble seeing her grow into this name beyond a young girl. We aren’t a fan of Lucia and don’t think it goes well with Chase. 

Ava – We like the name, but it seems to blend in right with our last name because of only being one syllable with the double ‘a’. Something longer would hold it’s own better we think. Also means “birdlike” which is a drawback.

Avila – Sounds a bit better with our last name, but still a lot of ‘a’ sounds. We are considering Therese for a middle name, so being named after 2 different Teresa/Therese’s feels like a bit much.

Josephine – Definitely drawn towards this I think because we love the name Joanna as well as St. Joseph, but also have a feeling it might be too formal or not the right time. 

Lily/Lilian – Lily was our girl’s name for Chase, but it doesn’t feel right now. I have been hearing it more here and there which I think has turned us off. 

Sophie – My husband is fond of this name, but I feel it is too informal perhaps, and I don’t care for Sophia. 

Susanna – She is also mentioned in the same Gospel passage with Mary Magdalene and Joanna which seems kind of cool. We aren’t sure if it sounds quite right though because of the rhyme with Joanna and are debating if we like the nickname Susie. 

Clare – This is probably the name my husband and I collectively seem to like the best. It feels a bit more uncommon, but also familiar. Easy to say. It is another “C” name (Chase & Clare) which we were initially hesitant about. The spelling is a bit of a sticking point, but we don’t feel that it is a deal breaker. Most Americans spell the name “Claire,” but I think we would use the spelling after St. Clare of Assisi. 

Some family names we can’t use: 

Camille, Nicole, Christina (my middle name), Teresa, Alexa, Cora, Jenna, Moriah, Ashley 

Saints we have devotion to: 

– St. Therese of Lisieux – considering this for the middle name of this child pronounced TER-REZ. She has been instrumental in my life and the medical practice that has been helping us with some extra steps during this pregnancy is named Little Flower Family Medicine, so I feel that she has been interceding for this baby from day 1

– St. Michael – Michael would be the name of this baby if we were having a boy. We haven’t found a female take on this name that we like. 

– We love the Holy Family and are open to honoring them. My husband is fond of St. Thomas Aquinas. 

Random tidbits: 

– I am sensitive to having a difficult name to pronounce. Having to spell your name for people I don’t think is as big of a deal. Growing up I got a lot of people who would try to call me Gabby because they had difficulty pronouncing my full name, or people would often just mispronounce it. 

– We have kind of gravitated with a bit shorter first names because our last name is longer.

– For girl names, it seems I am drawn more towards sophisticated and feminine names, and my husband is drawn more towards sweet and simple. But we try to meet in the middle like anything!“

I got excited when I read that Gabrielle’s husband is half Norwegian and that she herself is half Polish — my husband is half Norwegian and half Polish, so I was excited that some of my research into his heritage might be helpful to this family! I also like that Gabrielle “wanted a first name that was easy to say and spell, something that was unique but also sound familiar” — I think they hit the nail on the head with Chase! I also used this thinking in coming up with my new ideas for them below.

Before sharing those new ideas, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the names Gabrielle and her husband have discussed, in case they’re helpful:

  • Marie/Maria: I’m 100% a Mary girl, as you all know! So I love the idea of honoring Mary in their baby’s name, and the fact that she’s due in Our Lady’s month adds such a nice sparkle! I’m of two minds about the similarity of Marie/Maria to Mary: first, that it’s actually a traditional Catholic practice for all the girls in the family to have a Marian name! This has taken the form of all the girls having Mary as a first name (I’ve seen this in Irish families, including my dad’s extended family: he has three first cousins who are sisters all with Mary as their first name [they all go by their middles]), or Marie (as with St. Therese’s family — she and her sisters were named Marie Françoise-Thérèse,Marie Louise, Marie Pauline, Marie Hélène, Marie Céline, Marie-Mélanie-Thérèse [I think Leonie was just Leonie though?], and their mother [St. Zelie] was baptized Marie-Azelie), or Maria (as many Spanish-speaking families do). It’s also traditional for a form of Mary to appear somewhere in the names of all the girls in a family, even if not the first name: my own family did this, with me and my sisters each having a form of Mary somewhere in our names. So I have no problem at all with Gabrielle’s Mary Evelyn having a sister named Marie or Maria! Additionally, the “naming all girls in the family after Mary” can also take the form of the Marian names being a mix of Mary/Marie/Maria and other names for Our Lady, like Rose — which they’ve already done! Even though they had St. Rose of Lima in mind for their Joanna Rose’s middle name, it can also do double duty as a Marian name. From this perspective, both their older girls have Marian names, so it makes sense to continue this with their new baby! All that said, I can also see that having two girls with an actual form of Mary and one without might feel off balance. A nice compromise might be to choose a name (first or middle) for the new baby that can be Marian but can also honor a different Saint, so all their girls can have a Marian connection but each in her own way.
  • Amelia: Gabrielle articulated so well that they “like the name in isolation” — I like that! I think we all have names that we love but don’t feel like they would work for our actual children for any number of reasons. I can see Amelia paired with their very long Scandinavian surname beginning with an A feeling A-heavy, and with Amelia ending in A and the surname beginning with A, it can be hard to differentiate each name when saying them together. At the same time, a lot of names have that kind of issue and the world doesn’t end, so if they love it, I say go for it! Also, there are a lot of names on their list that end in A, and a lot of great options in general that end in A, so I definitely wouldn’t cross any ends-in-a name off their list for that reason alone. (It feels like they don’t love Amelia, though, so I encourage them to shelve this name at least for this baby in hopes that we can come up with something they really love.)
  • Emily: Emily and Amelia are so similar that I wonder if Emilia might appeal to them? It’s actually the Norwegian (among others) form of Emily and is said basically the same as Amelia … it doesn’t solve the problem of many shared sounds with the surname or the ending-in-a + beginning-in-a issue, but this small tweak may move the “Amelia” idea from “liking in isolation” to “love!” An added cool thing is that St. John Paul II’s mom’s name was Emilia and her cause for canonization is open! Since Gabrielle’s 50% Polish, a name like Emilia that is equally Norwegian and Polish might be perfect!
  • Lucy: As soon as I saw Lucy I thought that if Gabrielle has a hard time seeing Emily as an adult name, even more so with Lucy. And then she acknowledged as much! I love the name Lucy for all the reasons Gabrielle mentioned, but, again, it doesn’t seem that she loves it, so let’s move on. One idea is that I’ve often thought Lucy could work as a nickname for Louisa — I wonder if that might work? Or Maria-Lucine nicknamed Lucy, for Gabrielle’s mom?
  • Avila: Ditto everything I said about Amelia and Ava with their last name. Also, according to Behind the Name, Evelyn actually originated as a diminutive of Avila! If name meanings are important to them, then that might be weird to have two daughters with variants of the same name (though of course no one would really know unless they’re weird namey people like me; and also, Avila calls St. Teresa to mind immediately for Catholics, which isn’t the same for Evelyn; and also, I’ve already advocated for using a Mary variant for multiple daughters, so really, anything goes!).
  • Josephine: A wonderful option for the reasons Gabrielle mentioned. I can see it maybe seeming “too formal” as Chase’s sister (or maybe instead, “too long”); I’ve also had the feeling of “not for this baby” for a name in regards to naming my own babies, only to use it for a later baby, so that’s valid too!
  • Lily/Lillian: I love knowing that this was the girl name they’d chosen if Chase was a girl — that’s very relevant! Even though it might feel a little stale and overly used to Gabrielle now, it’s good for me to know for my research. I do kind of feel like Lily might be like Emily and Lucy for them — somewhat difficult to imagine on an adult woman (though the Lily names are so popular right now that when their baby is an adult, there will be a lot of women named Lily and it will feel like a grown-up name!). It’s also interesting to note how many overlapping sounds Amelia, Emily, Avila, and Lily/Lillian have — lots of L’s and I’s. A couple things that are cool are that the lily is a symbol of both Our Lady and St. Joseph, which could make a Lily name plus a Jesus name a perfect Holy Family combo! Lily Christina, for example, which could also be a nice nod to Gabrielle in light of her middle name (though she listed Christina as a name they can’t use — I don’t know if that counts for middle names too?). Another is that Lillian likely originated as a diminutive of Elizabeth, and Lily is a traditional nickname for Elizabeth … Elizabeth is one of the longer names I normally wouldn’t suggest for this baby since they’re leaning toward shorter names, but since they have Amelia, Josephine, and Susanna on their list, I thought I’d mention Elizabeth too. Elisabeth is the Norwegian spelling, which I love, and Liliana/Lilianna are listed as Polish variants of Elizabeth!
  • Sophie: Definitely “too informal” is a recurring issue for Gabrielle with the names on their list, which I do understand. Emily, Lucy, Lily, and Sophie all kind of have that — they are, of course, full names in their own right (Sophie is the French form of Sophia), but the “ee” sound at the end is often how we make nicknames or “baby” names, so I can see why they feel overly young. I also totally get feeling like Sophie and Sophia are two different names — so similar, but with different feels, where you might quite like one and not like the other at all.
  • Susanna: Full disclosure: this was our girl name through all our kids! We have seven boys so we never got to use it, but it remains my favorite girl name. If it’s helpful, we intended to use Anna/Annie as the nickname, and I was also quite drawn to the nickname Zuzu (like “Zuzu’s petals” in It’s a Wonderful Life — it’s most likely that the character’s given name was the popular-in-its-day Susan), and the Polish form of Susanna is Zuzanna, which could add another nice connection to the nickname Zuzu for Gabrielle. Another traditional nickname for Susanna is Sookie/Sukie. I also included Susanna in my book of Marian names because it can mean both “rose” and “lily” in Hebrew, both of which are symbols of Our Lady.
  • Clare: Wow, I would say this is the name to beat! It feels like it exactly hits all the right notes, and the fact that Gabrielle and her husband both love it is so meaningful!
  • Other considerations: Gabrielle mentioned that they haven’t found a female variant of Michael that they like — I’m sure they’ve considered them all, but I did just come across Micha as a German/Dutch short form of Michaela, which I believe is said like MEE-ka, but that probably breaks Gabrielle’s rule of “too difficult to pronounce” (not that the pronunciation is difficult, just that it’s not intuitive for a native American English speaker to arrive at MEE-ka from Micha). Misha/Mischa is also a diminutive of Michael that has usage for girls and has a more familiar pronunciation (MEE-sha). These options seem a little outside their style, though. I love that they have a devotion to the Holy Family and that Gabrielle’s husband likes St. Thomas Aquinas — I kept those in mind when coming up with new ideas.

Now on to those new ideas! In general, I tried to stick with shorter names, as Gabrielle noted that they’ve been drawn to names on the shorter side because of the length of their surname. I actually had the thought when going through the list of names they’re considering that the longer names didn’t really seem to fit as well with what I feel like they’re looking for, but would make amazing middle names, so I kept that in mind, too. I also like how Gabrielle articulated that she’s “drawn more towards sophisticated and feminine names” while her hubby is “drawn more towards sweet and simple.” This is another reason I think Clare is amazing for them! And I also really leaned on that aspect hard when I was looking for new names, as well as “familiar but not common.” I did look up the names they’ve 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 — it’s starting to feel a bit outdated, but I still find it helpful. And I had a few gut-feeling ideas. All in all, I tried to offer ideas that were closer to the style of Chase’s name as well as closer to the style of Mary Evelyn and Joanna Rose:

(1) Tessa

They’re considering Avila, they love St. Therese and feel like “she has been interceding for this baby from day 1,” and they prefer shorter names. How about Tessa? It’s a short form of Teresa/Therese and is a style match for Chase and Clare! Drawing from the list of names they like, Tessa Josephine could be a really great combo for this baby! In fact, I love Josephine as a middle name for all of the ends-in-a names I list below.

(2) Flora

I’m seeing Flora a bit more here and there these days, which I love! It literally means “flower,” and I read in a book called Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends & Meditations by Vincenzina Krymow that “[i]t is thought that at one time all flowers and plants honored Mary, the ‘Flower of Flowers,’ in legend or in name” — so Flora can be Marian! But I was mostly inspired by the name of Gabrielle’s medical practice, “Little Flower Family Medicine” — Flora can honor Our Lady and St. Therese in one name!

(3) Magda

They love that Joanna and Susanna were mentioned in the same Bible passage, along with Mary Magdalene — what about a name for her? Especially since it doesn’t contain -anna? There’s the full forms Magdalene, Magdalena, Maddalena, Madeline, and Madeleine, but I’m kind of loving Magda for this family, which is a Norwegian and Polish short form of Magdalene.

(4) Mabel (or Annabel?)

Another M name that I really like for them, as it’s an unexpected Marian name, is Mabel. It’s originally a medieval form of the name Amabilis, which is included in the Marian title Mater Amabilis (“Mother Most Amiable” or “Mother Most Lovable”). It’s listed in my book as a variant of Annabel, as Annabel is derived from the same name (Amabilis) — because they already have Joanna, I wouldn’t think Annabel would appeal to them, but since they’re considering Susanna, maybe it would?

(5) Kirsten

I enjoyed spending some time trying to come up with ideas to honor the Holy Family — I love the idea of Lily Christina, as I mentioned above, and another idea I had was a Jesus name for the first name. Kirsten immediately came to mind as a less-common Christ- variant, and I love that it’s Norwegian! Something like Kirsten Marie-Josephine would be stunning and work in all the members of the Holy Family! Another beautiful way to work them all in would be Kirsten Liliana. I also love how Kirsten Susanna sounds! So much beauty!

(6) Tamsin

I also tried to figure out what to do with St. Thomas Aquinas. I could certainly see them saving Thomas for a future son, like they’re doing with Michael, but they could also honor him with a girl’s name. I’ve seen Quinn and Aquinnah, but neither seems this family’s style. I could see them liking Tamsin, though! It’s a contracted form of Thomasina. I don’t care for Tammy as a nickname, but Tam is really cute (and itself a Scottish short form of Thomas that I think works fine for a girl); I’d also thought — and still do — that Tess could work as a nickname for Tamsin (if they even wanted a nickname), which could loop in St. Therese.

(7) Halle

Most of the ideas above were based on Saints Gabrielle and her husband would like to honor and Mary with a particular eye toward short/sweet/sophisticated and leaning heavily on Norwegian and Polish heritage with a little Italian as well. But I don’t want to ignore the style matches revealed by my research in the BNW, so these next few are specifically inspired by that. Hailey is a specific style match for Chase, and I immediately thought of Halle — similar sound but that spelling is Norwegian (though a male name in Norway), and I also thought of this couple who named their daughter Halle because it’s contained within Hallelujah! How cool! (They also have a daughter named Clare Magdalen!)

(8) Nora

Cora and Eleanor were both listed as style matches for Evelyn — I know Cora’s on the list of names they can’t use but otherwise I might have suggested it for them. I wouldn’t have thought of Eleanor, but as soon as I saw it I thought of its nickname/short variant Nora, especially in light of the rhyming Cora — Nora immediately felt perfect! It has much the same feel to me as Clare: simple, sophisticated, and feminine. It’s also listed as Norwegian and Italian on Behind the Name! I think it’s a great option for this family!

(9) Lydia, Bethany (Bethan?)

Lydia is a style match for Amelia and Susanna, and Bethany for Joanna and Susanna — I thought they were worth a mention! They’re both biblical place names that have become given names (Lydia was actually from Lydia, which is why she was called that in the bible, and a cool thing about her is that since she was a seller of purple cloth, a little Lydia has a built-in color! Bethany is the name of the town where Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha lived; since meanings are important to Gabrielle, it should be noted that its meaning isn’t totally clear — it’s thought to mean “house of figs” or “house of affliction,” which isn’t great. That said, Behind the Name says that it’s traditionally been used “primarily by Catholics in honour of Mary of Bethany” — I’m a big fan of names that have a super-Catholic history! Also, my article on name “definitions” vs. name “meanings” might be helpful). An added thought with Bethany is that the very similar name Bethan has more of a Mabel/Tamsin feel to me, and is a Welsh diminutive of Elizabeth.

(10) Charlotte, Lottie

I really wouldn’t have included Charlotte if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s a match for Evelyn, Amelia, and Sophie! Especially with the Ch- beginning, even though it’s said differently than Chase, it just seemed too much. But I’m intrigued by the nickname Lottie — it has a Lily/Lucy feel that makes me think maybe Charlotte nicknamed Lottie isn’t crazy for this family?

(11) Alice

Alice, too, did quite well for them, being similar to both Lucy and Clare. I like that it feels less “little girlish” than Lucy, and as mentioned, Clare seems the name to beat, so with Alice being considered a style match for it, maybe it’s perfect! It also seems to avoid the issues the other A names (Amelia, Avila, Ava) have since it doesn’t end in A.

(12) Kate, Grace

Finally, both Kate and Grace are matches for Clare, and I thought they both bring together Gabrielle’s “sophisticated and feminine” preference and her hubby’s “sweet and simple” preference.

Whew! Those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little sister of Chase and sisters-in-heaven Mary Evelyn and Joanna Rose?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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: Easter/rosary name ideas for a baby boy

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , , ,

Sara and her husband are expecting their fourth baby, a little boy! This little guy joins big sibs:

Adelaide Karen Noel (“Goes by Adelaide. Adelaide for St Adelaide, Karen is husband’s mother,my sister, and a nod to my mother and great grandmother, and she was born Dec 22. I also like that Noel is a mystery of the rosary and a long time friend of mine“)

(In heaven) Frances Xavier Fiat (“for Mother Cabrini, Mary, and the Rosary“)

Benedict Stanley Thomas (“Goes by Benny, Benedetto, and Detto. Benedict for St. Benedict of Nursia, Stanley is my father and Stanley Rother is cool, Thomas for multiple grandfathers and also Thomas More. Also born December. I like to think that Benedict is connected to the rosary because it means Blessed“)

Sara’s children’s names are absolutely stunning! I could imagine parents finding names like Karen and Stanley somewhat challenging to incorporate into the names of children born today (though I have seen Stanley popping up here and there — Bl. Stanley Rother has done wonders for the name, and my husband and I considered it ourselves), but both Adelaide Karen Noel and Benedict Stanley Thomas are amazing — both of the full combos done in such a way that the more dated names are given a new sparkle and create a pleasantly unexpected part of the whole. I’m terribly impressed! And Frances Xavier Fiat, oh my. What a perfect name for a baby in heaven. It’s not often that I’m surprised by names, but I found an element of surprise in all three of Sara’s babies’ names — such a joy for name lovers!

Sara writes,

“Hello! I have been a fan of your blog for a few years now but I think we may need some extra help with baby #4. Nothing we have come up with has stuck 100%, and so I feel like we are reverting to second-favorite names and it would be cool to have a name we are sold on! Maybe we could grow into loving a name, but I’d like to pick your brain! I am also due in the Easter octave so running out of time for us to come up with something on our own.

Constraints: 

  • [Our last name] totally sounds like a first name. People never get my husband’s name right, since his first name is actually a surname … and it has led to his being mislabeled in college applications, background checks, and even the ER. So if we can pick a boy name that really sounds like a first name that would help. 
  • I was Sara in the 90’s and it always seemed that I wasn’t the Sarah someone was yelling for. So I’d like to avoid super popular names, and if they’re obvious to spell that’s also a bonus (I tell people I respond to both Sara and Sarah xp)
  • My family has a tradition of 2 middle names, so that gives us both more options and more decisions to make!
  • We accidentally have a bit of an ABC theme? So if we lean into that, a C or D name would be cool. Or now is our chance to break out of it!
  • We like nickname options and also having cool long names that we can just use. 
  • Husband is adamant that first name must be a saint. Fictional saints or heroes do not count (couldn’t sell him on Caspian).”

Additionally,

“Mary and Joseph are our confirmation saints, thusly our family patron is the Holy Family. 

We are pretty much American mutts, but have a bit of Norwegian and Irish Heritage. My suggestions to use some French names have not met with any success. 

Here’s our short list and top picks currently that just don’t seem to be landing 100%:

  • Joseph (“amazingly, no one else has used this in our parish. We do have one friend in our community due at the same time who will have a Joseph James IV. Neither of us really love Joey, but Jojo or Joe would be ok. Have felt like St Joseph has been stalking me so he definitely needs to be honored somehow, and husband has a strong devotion to him. Worried this might be too common“)
  • Mark (“must be one of the middle names for husband’s late father“)
  • Vincent (“for Easter. Would love more Easter options“)
  • Abraham (“can a baby pull that off?“)
  • Dominic (“rosary connection but not a current devotion to St Dominic“)
  • Isaiah (“maybe too common“)
  • Theodore (“maybe too common“)

So we have been bouncing between Dominic Mark Joseph or Joseph Mark Vincent. Neither one feels like a home run. Would love some thoughts and suggestions!“

So much of what Sara said resonated with me and I definitely tried to keep it all in mind: not wanting to feel like they’re “reverting to second-favorite names”; their last name sounding like a first name and her husband’s challenges with his own first name paired with his last name; Sara’s own “super popular” name; possibly wanting but maybe not wanting a C or D name; “cool long names” with nickname options; “Fictional saints or heroes do not count” (this one made me laugh! But I also get it. But I also love Caspian!); that they would “love more Easter options”; and the fact that all of their other kids have a connection to the rosary in their names.

I generally like to start by offering my thoughts on the names the parents are considering, in case they’re helpful:

  • Joseph (Joseph Mark Vincent): I have quite a few thoughts about Joseph as a first name for Sara’s baby! First, I love that he’s Dad’s Confirmation Saint and that he has a strong devotion to St. Joseph. Beautiful! Based only on that, I agree with Sara that “he definitely needs to be honored somehow,” and the addition of her feeling that St. Joseph “has been stalking” her seals the deal! All that said, I do feel like the style of the name Joseph isn’t quite where this couple’s style preferences lie, as Sara noted that she worried it “might be too common” and she feels like they’re “reverting to second-favorite names.” Sara mentioned issues with the nickname possibilities, which could be key. Jojo is adorable and Joe is as solid as they come; some other possibilities include Sepp, Seppel, and Zef, which are inspired by international variants and diminutives of Joseph. I’d also posted once about variants of Joseph from A Dictionary of English Surnames and loved that Jessop is one, which makes me think that Jess might be doable as a Joseph nickname (I looove Jess for a boy). They could also consider Jay, which is easy for any “J” name. Joseph Vincent Mark is a very handsome combo! I also think (similar to the thinking of the possibility that breaking their A, B theme now, instead of leaning into the alphabet with a C or D name) that breaking their current pattern of less-common names with a more-common, but equally faithy, name will help them have more options going forward rather than less.
  • Mark (middle name only): Great middle!
  • Vincent: Did you all know that until I read Sara’s email, I had never known nor looked into what Vincent means?! “To conquer” is a great, meaningful name for an Easter baby! Per Sara’s request for more Easter options, I included more below.
  • Abraham: I know of two little Abrahams — a five-year-old and an eight-year-old — so I can confidently say that, yes, a baby can pull it off! The five-year-old is “Catholic influencer” Grace Patton’s son, and he goes by Abe — I LOVE Abe!! The eight-year-old is a new friend of my own eight-year-old’s, and I’ve learned that he always went by Abe or the full Abraham, but never liked it because the kids at his old school would call him “Abraham Lincoln” (not sure why this is bad?? Kids!), so here at our school he goes by AJ (his full name is also Abraham James, like Abe Patton’s), which is also a possibility for Sara’s baby (Abraham Joseph Mark, maybe?).
  • Dominic: I love Dominic! Definitely a perfect name for the brother of Benedict! The rosary connection is spot-on, too. Not having a current devotion isn’t a dealbreaker, either! Sara and her hubby can cultivate one, and indeed I think sometimes Saints call to us through our taste in names.
  • Isaiah: Sara had mentioned popularity with Joseph, which I addressed above, so my thoughts are similar here — if they love it, use it! I did want to look at the rankings for the names that they like and those that they’ve used, to have an accurate overall view of the popularity of their ideas:

— Isaiah: 56

— Adelaide: 263

— Benedict: 991

— Joseph: 28

— Vincent: 117

— Abraham: 202

— Dominic: 99

— Theodore: 10

Indeed, the names that Sara worried might be too popular (Joseph, Isaiah, Theodore) are very popular (Theodore at number 10! These are the 2021 numbers, which are the most recent available from the Social Security Administration). Even Dominic is top 100, and Vincent not too far behind at 117. I get her hesitancy! But I’ll reiterate that I think they’ll be happier using a name they love, even if it’s popular. (I’m not forgetting that Sara said none of names that they’re considering are really feeling like “the one,” so I know popularity isn’t the only issue!)

  • Theodore: See my comments above re: Isaiah

While reading the list of names Sara and her husband are considering, I had several ideas that seemed “like” the ones they like, but just different enough that they might find them to be just right. I’ve never done an “Instead of … what about” list in a consultation before, but it seemed right to do so for this family! So:

  • Instead of Vincent, what about Victor? It has that great meaning that’s so perfect for Easter! And its SSA ranking is 209, which is closer to what they like than Vincent’s 117. My post on nicknames for Victor remains, to this day, one of my most popular.
  • Instead of Abraham, what about Abel? Popularity-wise, it’s a little *more* popular at no. 196, vs. Abraham’s 202, but might feel more baby-friendly to Sara? And can still take the fantastic Abe as a nickname! This mama has an Abel, if you’d like to read about one in real life (click on the link for the fifth baby’s birth announcement to see all her boys’ names).
  • Instead of Isaiah, what about Isaias? It’s the Latin form of Isaiah and far less popular at no. 489 vs. Isaiah’s 56. I also thought Tobiah/Tobias/Tobit or Elias (Latin form of Elijah, which blows my mind that it’s no. 4!) might scratch this itch. (Rankings: Tobiah’s not in the top 1000; Tobias 277; Tobit not in the top 1000; Elias 48.)
  • Instead of Theodore, what about Thaddeus? It’s thought they may be related, and can both take the nickname Ted(dy) (I know a Thaddeus who goes by Ted), but Thaddeus is no. 820 vs. Theodore’s 10. I wrote once about how there are some names that seem very similar but tend to be somewhat polarizing, with people pretty certainly preferring one over the other, and Theodore/Thaddeus was one of the pairs I included, but I thought I’d take the chance! Thaddeus has the nickname possibilities of Thad (I knew a Thaddeus called Thad once, and on “The Chosen” Thaddeus is called Thad sometimes), and also Tad/Taddy — I think Taddy is the most adorable name for a little guy!
  • Instead of Caspian, what about Campion? St. Edmund Campion is real, and amazing! Also, Campion means “champion,” so it can have that nice meaning for Easter that Vincent and Victor share. Cam and Cap are adorable nickname options, and Campion isn’t even in the top 1000, being given to only 5 baby boys in 2021! (** I realized after I sent the consultation to Sara that Campion breaks the rule of “no surnames as first names” but I’m leaving it here in case it’s helpful to any of you readers. **)

So those are five new ideas, but they felt a little bit like cheating, since I’m thinking of them as twists on the names they were already considering, so I came up with a bunch more. I did consult the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link), but leaned as much on trying to find Easter names, C or D names, and more uncommon Saintly names in general. These are my additional ideas:

(1) Paschal nn Pax

This was my very first idea for this family, which I scribbled down as I was reading Sara’s email the first time, before I had done any research. Paschal means “Easter” — so perfect for an Easter baby! It’s also a Papal name and Saintly name, and I really love that it can take the nickname Pax, which in and of itself is amazing because it’s Latin for “peace.” Gah! So fab!! (I also quite like Joseph Paschal Mark, and the possibility of the nickname JP, which gives it a St. John Paul II vibe as well!) Neither Paschal nor Pascal are in the top 1000.

(2) Clement

Clement seems like a great option for this family for a few reasons: it’s a C name; it means “merciful,” which is great for a baby born near Divine Mercy Sunday; it’s a great Papal and Saintly name (my favorite is my parish’s patron, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer); and the little Abraham I mentioned above (Grace Patton’s son) also has a brother named Clement (and a brother named Theodore!)! The only real nickname option is Clem, which is not to everyone’s taste; this family intended to call their Clement Joshua Samuel “CJ,” which is another option. Here’s another Clement-with-no-nickname. Clement isn’t in the top 1000.

(3) Cosmas

Thinking of Catholicky Catholic C- names, Cosmas came to mind! With the C names, I like that Sara’s son would share initials with his dad, and Cosmas doesn’t have that surname-as-first name thing, so it should be a little easier, right? Cosmas isn’t in the top 1000.

(4) Damian, Damien nn Danny or Denny

How could I suggest Cosmas without Damian? I actually think Damian is more their speed than Cosmas, and fits in nicely with Adelaide and Benedict. I love the spelling Damien too, and the different spellings bring different people to mind, for me: Damian is St. Damian, brother of St. Cosmas; Damien is St. Damien de Veuster (also known as St. Joseph de Veuster), the leper priest. Both wonderful! (Here are all the holy Damians/Damiens.) Damian is no. 113 and Damien is no. 280. These were on my own list and I thought Danny would work nicely as a nickname for Damian and Denny for Damien. Also, see this amazingly named sib set that includes a Damien!

(5) Gabriel

I’m writing this on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, so Gabriel is on my mind — which I also love for this family! An Annunciation name is great for a baby born near Easter (very “full circle” feeling), and I also consider Gabriel to be a rosary name, since the Annunciation is the First Joyful Mystery. Its nickname Gabe rhymes with Abraham’s Abe, too, which might mean that Sara and her hubby will like it! Gabriel is no. 38.

(6) Nicodemus

I started to venture farther afield for these last two ideas, and for this one — Nicodemus — I almost put it as an “Instead of Dominic, what about Nicodemus?” idea. I decided not to since Sara said that the appeal of Dominic was the rosary, which Nicodemus doesn’t have, but I’ve always loved the person of Nicodemus in the Bible (he’s considered a Saint too!) and I’ve always loved his name. And Nico is such a great nickname! (Dominic can take Nico as a nickname as well.) It’s really perfect for an Easter baby, too. Nicodemus isn’t in the top 1000.

(7) Joachim

My last idea is the name I could never convince my husband of, try as I might! I absolutely love the name Joachim, and since Sara said Norwegian is part of their family heritage, I thought I’d offer that I really leaned on its relative popularity in the Scandinavian countries when pitching to my husband, as he’s half Norwegian! (It didn’t work, alas.) Tradition holds that it’s the name of Our Lady’s dad, and while it can take the Joe nicknames (which I might normally suggest, except that St. Joseph is such a dear friend to Sara and her husband, so his name really needs to be used), I always wanted to use the nickname Jake (which *almost* convinced my husband, because he loves the nickname Jake too). I spotlighted the name here, which has a lot of great info. Joachim isn’t in the top 1000.

Besides these ideas, I also wanted to offer some names that are specifically tied to the rosary in case they’re helpful for this baby or in the future. I wrote a book of Marian names, and many of the entries were because of their connection to the rosary, including Leo (for Pope Leo XIII who has been called “The Pope of the Rosary”; Leo is also the name of many Saints); Louis and Montfort for St. Louis de Montfort who wrote The Secret of the Rosary (affiliate link) (Monty as a nickname for Montfort!); Peyton for Ven. Patrick Peyton, known as “The Rosary Priest”; and Pius, for Pope St. Pius V “who asked Christendom to pray for the Rosary for protection against the Muslims in the Battle of Lepanto” and then established the feast of Our Lady of Victory on Oct. 7 — which has become the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (another reason that Victor could be great!). (Pio is the Italian variant of Pius, which could add an extra great layer for St. Pio!)

I also looked through the posts I did on names for the Mysteries of the Rosary and though I didn’t include Pierce and Simeon in my post on the Joyful Mysteries, they’re connected to the Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple (because it was then that Simeon prophesied that Mary’s heart would be pierced with a sword), so you they can be thought of as rosary names … and from my post on the Sorrowful Mysteries there’s Simon (from Simon of Cyrene), Dismas (the repentant thief), and Rex (meaning “king”) and are related to the Carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion, and the Crowning with Thorns, respectively. Not everyone likes to give names with sorrowful or difficult stories to their babies (I wrote more about that here), but others find spiritual comfort and power in doing so, so it made sense to include these, just in case! (Here are my posts on the Luminous Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries as well; be sure to read the comments for more ideas!)

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of siblings-on-earth Adelaide and Benedict?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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: Looking for faithy, literary name for baby boy no. 5 due on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima

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Zach and Laurel are expecting their sixth baby — their fifth boy! Little man joins big siblings:

Samuel Philip nn Sam (“We chose Samuel for the OT prophet, the character Sam Hamilton in East of Eden, and Samwise Gamgee from LOTR”)

Charles Richard nn Charley (“We chose Charles for St. Charles Borromeo, Charlemagne, and because we really wanted to use Richard as a middle and needed a good pairing“)

Penelope Joan nn Nellie (“We chose Penelope because Zach was reading The Odyssey at the time, and Joan for St. Joan of Arc and as a variation of Janet, her maternal grandmother. I liked the pairing of the patient, wise Penelope with the zealous, active faith of Joan“)

Martin Ambrose called Martin “never Marty!” (“Martin is Laurel’s grandmother’s maiden name, so it checks the family box as well as paying homage to St. Martin of Tours“)

John Henry Benedict called John Henry “so far” (“John Henry Newman was important to Zach’s conversion to Catholicism, and we both joined the church during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI“)

What a fantastic bunch of names!! You know I was rubbing my hands together with happiness over diving into this “dilemma”!

Considerations that are important to Zach (who gave this consultation to Laurel for Valentine’s Day! 😍🥰) and Laurel include:

  • One strong saint name (first or middle)
  • Not unique, but not common
  • Historical and/or literary connections

Names they both like include:

  • William (“(Shakespeare!) but it’s SO popular right now, and we’re already pushing it with royal family connections“)
  • Arthur

Family name possibilities include:

  • Grandma Michelle Kay
  • Family name O’Meara

Other considerations:

  • Due date is May 13th (Our Lady of Fatima)

Girl names they’ve discussed include Antonia, Ariadne, Evangeline, Genevieve, Gwendolyn(e), Imogen(e), Josephine, Julia(nna), Marian(ne), Marina, Miranda, Pearl, Salome, Sylvia, Diana, Talitha, Tatiana.

This was so fun to work on! I love the names Zach and Laurel chose for their older kids, and I love offering new ideas for them to consider for this baby boy. As you know, I like to start by offering my thoughts on the names the parents are considering, in case they’re helpful:

  • William: You’ll all be interested in the conversation my husband and I had about this name on behalf of Zach and Laurel! I was asking him if he got an overwhelmingly “royal” feel from Samuel, Charles, Martin, and John Henry, given that Zach said that they’re “already pushing it with royal family connections” in regards to William. He agreed with me that there isn’t too much of a “royal family” feel, so I was about to include that here — that I thought William would be just fine and no need to worry — but then I gave my husband the fuller context and he was like, “Oh, right, Charles and William, yeah that would bother me too.” So there’s that! However, I still think that when you have a bunch of other kids with non-royal-family names, the association is much diluted. Also, I think Charley and Will would move the association even farther away; Charley and Liam or Billy even more so. If I had to decide if I thought it was overly problematic or not, I would say *not*. But of course, this is a decision only Zach and Laurel can make!

I also wanted to discuss popularity, since they’d mentioned it’s a concern regarding William. I looked up the popularity of their children’s names for 2021 — the most recent year of available data — and was interested to discover:

  • Samuel no. 23
  • Charles no. 50
  • Martin no. 302
  • Penelope no. 23
  • John no. 27
  • Henry no. 9

Look how consistent the Samuel, Penelope, and John numbers are! Wow! Charles at no. 50 is a bit misleading for their Charley, since the Charles-es nicknamed Charley/Charlie are joined by the girls named Charlotte who may be called Charlie/Charley and the little ones with Charlie/Charley as a given name — I would venture to say that family of names is more like Samuel/Penelope/John in terms of true popularity, which adds to their consistency. Henry is in William territory, being in the top ten, but John Henry as a couplet decreases the popularity, and indeed, William is its own animal given that itself is at no. 6 and its nickname/variant Liam is at no. 1. What I was really shocked by is Martin! No. 302! I looked at the names surrounding it to see if there might be any ideas there for Zach and Laurel, and none of them were their style! Derek, Jensen, Muhammad, and Daxton were close matches popularity-wise! That’s crazy! Martin is certainly NOT an outlier style-wise in their kiddos’ names — it’s just a great example of how popularity can be misleading and should very rarely be the overriding factor (at least in my opinion, and of course there are always exceptions).

  • Arthur: I love that Arthur taps into the British + royal feel that they like without having the potentially problematic royal family connections! I’m guessing they’d probably go with the full Arthur on an everyday basis rather than Artie (both because they don’t care for Marty, and because if their Martin ever did go by Marty, they’d have the rhyming Marty and Artie), but if they were interested in a nickname, I’ve seen Bear used, as a nod to Arthur’s meaning. I think that’s so cute for a little guy and I can easily see it on a grown man as well.

As for new ideas, I looked up the names they’ve used and those they like in the Baby Name Wizard book (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. It’s becoming a bit outdated, but I mostly still find it to be really helpful. I also considered literary names/connections (including this post I did on Catholic literary names; be sure to read the comments too!), their last name (which is a noun), and certainly the faith!

Also, I want to make a strong case for Michael as a middle name! Of all the grandparents, Grandma Michelle is the only one who doesn’t yet have a namesake, and the male equivalent, Michael, would work perfectly. I’ve also connected Miles and Milo to Michael before (this post discusses it a little), so maybe one of those could work as a nod to Grandma Michelle?

Alternately, with Kay being her middle name, they could consider Kay itself! Sir Kay was one of the Knights of the Round Table — it was a masculine name back then, possibly from the Welsh name Cai (which they could also consider), and perhaps ultimately from the name Gaius — there are a bunch of Saints named Gaius! (Read more about the masculine history of the name Kay here.) There is, certainly, the issue that Kay will likely be read as feminine by most, if not all, of the people they know, so I might recommend pairing it with an ultra-masculine name. Like Gunnar. Or Maverick. Haha!

If they don’t like Michael or Kay as nods to Grandma Michelle but they like the idea of naming the baby after her somehow, and since they’ve already done a “twist” on another grandparent’s name with Joan for Janet, I think a strong K middle name could do nicely! My two favorite ideas for this family are Karol and Kolbe. Karol is St. John Paul II’s birth name, and he has a particular and amazing connection to Fatima, which would make it extra meaningful for a baby due on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. One possible issue for Zach and Laurel is that Karol is the Polish form of Charles, but even I, with my extreme name nerdiness, wouldn’t at all mind a repeat of the name in this case — it’s a different form, it’s clearly tied to one particular person, who is a different person than the men they’ve already honored with Charley’s name, and the particular person tied to Karol is specifically and powerfully tied to the baby’s due date. If Karol felt too feminine, they could also consider Karl, which is also a variant and therefore can honor St. JP2 as well.

The other name, Kolbe, is recognizable to Catholics as the surname of St. Maximilian Kolbe, one of my very favorites. I know many families that have chosen Kolbe as a first name for their sons, but that isn’t this family’s style at all as far as I can tell. But Kolbe as a middle name seems just right! Both Karol and Kolbe would give their son the middle initial K., which is an exact match for Grandma Michelle’s middle initial.

Okay! Now that I’ve been very pushy about middle name ideas, on to my new ideas! Based on everything I wrote above, these are my ideas for Zach and Laurel’s fifth baby boy:

(1) Francis

As soon as I saw the baby’s due date, I thought of Francis! Francisco certainly isn’t their style, but Francis seems a perfect fit with their other boys. Frankie is absolutely adorable for a little guy, and Frank is solid and handsome for a man. I’ve also suggested Finn as a nickname for Francis to several families — I don’t think that’s this family’s style, but I thought I’d mention it just in case. Francis Michael, Francis Karol, and Francis Kolbe are all amazing. (I might stay away from Kay as a possible middle for Francis, since many people are confused by the male Francis vs. the female Frances and may think they gave their boy two girl names.)

(2) Lewis or Louis

My preference here is Lewis, with C.S. Lewis as inspiration as well as the fact that Lewis is a medieval English form of Louis, so it can take any of the Sts. Louis as patron, and there’s also the Welsh martyr St. David Lewis. (I first heard about St. David Lewis from this reader of mine, who named her one-of-many-boys Lewis — her love for the name and reasons for choosing it are inspiring!) I also thought Zach and Laurel could think of Lewis as being connected to Servant of God Sr. Lucia of Fatima, which would be another nice tie-in to the baby’s due date. I love Lewis Michael, Lewis Karol, and Lewis Kolbe.

Louis would also be great, and can take all the same connections, but I thought that since they’re hesitant about Charles and William, Louis might have a similar difficulty for them.

(3) Laurence

Another L name that I actually love (LOVE!) for them is Laurence, inspired by Laurel’s name! Laurence is a great, saintly name which, as I understand it, is the original spelling (Lawrence is a newer variant, but also a great one, and I’d be find with this too!). Since this family is literarily inclined, they might be interested in Laurie as a nickname, like the character in Little Women (this family recently had a little Lawrence and they’re calling him Laurie!). Or, because of that same character, I think Teddy could work as a nickname! I actually did a post a while back for a mama who’d decided on Lawrence Kolbe for her son (AMAZING COMBO!!) but was looking for a non-Larry nickname, and a few that I thought could also work here include Rory, Lenz, and — perhaps perfect for a Fatima-due-date baby — Lolek, which is a Polish diminutive of Karol and what St. John Paul II went by as a child. (I particularly like Lolek as a nickname for Laurence Kolbe or Laurence with another K middle name.) (Here’s a birth announcement for another little Lawrence, in case they need some more convincing. 😊) (Also, I wonder what they would think of Laurence O’Meara? I love this too!) (Ooh — would Leo work as a nickname for Laurence O’Meara?? This was a last-minute idea as I was finishing up this consultation … I’m kind of loving it!!)

(4) Gilbert 

At first, I really, really loved Gilbert for this baby! Gilbert is G.K. Chesterton and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables, and it’s the name of several Saints, and the nickname Gil is one of my very very favorites ever … but then I thought about Gilbert with their last name, which also starts with a hard G, and thought it’s likely they won’t like it. But am I wrong? I hope I’m wrong! Some people really dislike alliteration in naming, but I tend to love it — alliterative names are distinctive, and can have a superhero feel (a la Peter Parker). Gilbert Michael is especially handsome to me.

(5) Gerard

A G- name that they might like better because it has the soft G sound that isn’t repeated by the initial sound of their last name is Gerard. So saintly! So traditional! Gerry/Jerry is the traditional nickname, but I posted a birth announcement for a little Gerhardt (German variant of Gerard) whose family intended to call him Hart. I think that could work for Gerard! Or perhaps even better, Hardy as a nickname for Gerard! (The elements in Gerard are ger + hart.) Hart and Hardy are so cool. But is Hardy to similar to Henry? They might also like that I have a native Irish friend named Gerard but he says it more like Jared. Indeed, it seems the “British English” pronunciation puts the stress on the first syllable (they also do that with Bernard, saying BER-ned instead of ber-NARD). I like that pronunciation a lot! It would take a commitment on their part to correct people every time, but if they’re up for it, it could be perfect for them!

(6) Victor

I wanted to include at least one V name for Zach and Laurel to consider, since this baby is their fifth boy and it’s fun to nod to that with a V name! I like Victor for them a lot — it’s a great name that I always think of as being a Jesus name (I even wrote an article about it for CatholicMom.com several years ago). Funny enough, as I mentioned in that article, the original post I did on my blog about nicknames for Victor remains one of my most popular posts, even after all these years. And Victor was no. 209 in 2021, which is more similar to Martin’s popularity than their other children’s names. What do we think of Victor Michael? It’s such a handsome combo, but is it too “Michael Vick”?

(7) Tobit, Theodore

Finally, I wanted to include at least one name that shares Penelope’s style. It’s very common for parents to have a different taste in names for their boys than for their girls! Totally fine! But my favorite is when there’s some crossover. My favorite idea for this family as a style match for Penelope was Tobias until I remembered that Tobias is on their no-go list. So then I thought maybe Tobit? Also a very cool name!

Another that’s similar in style to Penelope, and perhaps an even better fit for a brother for their older boys than Tobit, is Theodore. I’d mentioned Teddy above as a possible nickname for Laurence because of Laurie in Little Women — he was called Teddy because his name was actually Theodore Lawrence — I would love that combo for this baby (I’d prefer the Theodore Laurence spelling to mirror Mom’s name). Theo is also a great nickname for Theodore! The more I think about it, the more I think Theodore nn Theo might be perfect for this baby.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of Samuel/Sam, Charles/Charley, Penelope/Nellie, Martin, and John Henry?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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: Lots of hopes and considerations for baby no. 3’s name

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Happy Monday, everyone! Today’s the feast of St. Colette, who is a great Saint for our Sancta Nomina community because she is, according to this source, patroness of women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers, and sick children; there’s a fuller account of her life here. And her name! 😍😍😍 I think Colette is just gorgeous, and while I would use it as is, I also love that she’s also known as Nicolette, which opens up more possibilities for parents who might like to name their daughter after her. Enjoy today’s consultation! And I hope you all have a great week!

Zoey and her husband are expecting their third baby — a little green bean (gender unknown)! 🌱 This little babe joins big brothers:

Austin Thomas (“Austin is my husband’s middle name and Thomas was a family name from both of our paternal grandfathers. We’ve also given him Thomas Aquinas as his patron (until he wants to choose his own) because he is SO inquisitive especially about the faith. His nickname is Austino/Stino which happened totally organically as I was initially opposed to nicknames but it turns out we are indeed a nickname kind of family, they’re so fun.”)

Elijah James (“This was so easy to pick. I just knew my next boy would be Eli and we loved having a long and short form option + power house project. James because as a convert I loveeeeee the book of James, did you know at the reformation the Calvinists tried to remove the book of James? It’s VERY Catholic and was huge in my conversion. He goes by both Elijah and Eli.”)

I love Austin and Elijah/Eli as brothers, and I love the explanation behind each one! (Also: “I was initially opposed to nicknames but it turns out we are indeed a nickname kind of family, they’re so fun” — sing it, sister!! 😂)

Zoey writes,

“So this time around we (should I say I) am struggling. I can Not turn my brain off and try ink of baby names all day… I need to clear this brain space! So far everything I’ve pitched my husband “likes” but nothing has been the one! I’ve been trying to narrow down what our “style” is and feel like the third baby really solidifies that so maybe that’s why I feel so strongly about the name we choose this time around. I’d like to say I don’t like “popular names” but then look at my boys names and I just stuck my foot in my mouth. But this time around I would like to go less common, which I find easier to do with girls than boys for some reason. I don’t love super traditional names and don’t feel like they have to have a direct saint association… but do like to have a meaning behind the name.”

Names they’re considering for girls include:

Hallie Josephine — “Hallie as a namesake for ‘Harold’ from its nn Hal. Harold is strong in both our families and Josephine was my husband’s great grandmothers middles name + St. Joseph. And I love the double barrel nickname of Hallie Jo.”

Blythe Emily — “Emily was first name of aforementioned grandmother. And Blythe.. not totally sure how I came about this but I like that it’s fairly uncommon and feminine without all the frills. I originally liked Blair but this feels softer especially with our last name.”

Helena (heh-LAY-na) — “my husband actually through this one out so I’ve got to cling to that! I also really like nn Laina. Maybe Helena Zoe or Audrey Helena (my name is Audrey Zoe, and mamas should get juniors too!).”

Scarlett nn Scottie — “but my husband isn’t too keen. Also I’m due 4/25 so technically after the Easter octave but would consider eater-ish names) like Scarlett referring to the precious blood or paschal for boy… you get my drift. We like a good name story, strong association to give the kids some roots as they grow up!“

Miriam — “my husband will only offer Miriam as a girls name… he keeps coming back to it no matter what I suggest. I honestly hate it. Is there a compromise in there from the style of names I like and Miriam? I feel Like they couldn’t be more different!“

And names for boys: 

John Luke — “would be first and middle but I’d really like to call him the full name. My husbands family is very Italian so he would likely get nicknamed the Italian form Gianluca. I love this but it also feels kind of plain… thoughts?“

Alexander Rhodes — “I am not sure how I found the name Rhodes but I have not been able to put it down! … I love that subtle nod to the rosary… sending our prayers up to Mary to be presented to Jesus as a beautiful rose bouquet. Finding a first name with it has been a little hard but I’m loving the idea of Alexander (nn Xander) and that his name would, in a way, make the chi(X)Rho Symbol as a dedication to Christ.”

And — “Other names we’ve thrown around for first or middle are Ambrose, Matthew, Montfort (nn Monte), Xavier, Adam…” 

Middle names are important to Zoey as well:

“For middle name considerations, we like anything biblical (as you can tell!) my husband loves the rosary (I’m working on it!) and divine mercy. His confirmation Saint is Francis, mine is Zelie Martin although I’m not sure I’d like to use that name at all since I’d prefer to use Zoe. (Z-oh pronunciation). Some other middle names we like if not a saint/biblical name would be Soliven (our dear priest friend who just moved parishes! He married us, confirmed me, and baptized both our kids), Rhodes as I mentioned, Woodrow/Woodruff/woods (my husband’s dad’s name). For girls, as mentioned Emily, Josephine, Audrey, Zoe (Z-oh), Laree, Naomi, Amaris, Lea, Marriott (yes like the hotel, my grandmother’s maiden name, pronounced Mary-et like Chariot) or Therese (I don’t love the full version but would consider a variant, maybe Reese? It’s a mix of my husband’s mom’s name Renee Therese).” 

Names they can’t use (including variants):

William 

Louis/Louie 

Andrew 

Anthony 

Joseph 

Michael 

Nicolas 

Elizabeth 

K/Catherine

Finally, Zoey notes,

“The other challenge is we have A LOT of catholic friends with large families or growing families and a lot of the “mainstream” catholic names (think Benedict, Blaise, Kolbe, Caeli, etc) are “taken” by them so we are challenged to be a bit more creative, which is fun but can be hard.”

No surprise that I really enjoyed reading Zoey’s “dilemma” — I do enjoy the struggle of trying to narrow down a couple’s style and I tend to agree with her that “the third baby really solidifies that” … that said, though, I hate for anyone to feel like “rules” like that are binding and you can never wriggle out from under them. You know? Baby naming should be fun! And if losing some rules helps it to feel more fun, I’m all for that! But of course, I do like stylistic consistency! I have some thoughts on what I think Zoey’s boy style is, which I’ll include in my list of “official” suggestions below. Also, how she said she’d like to go “less common” this time and that she finds it easier to do with girls than for boys is very, very common, so I encouraged her not to worry! I also love her criteria of “not super traditional” plus “don’t feel like they have to have a direct saint association” plus “meaning behind the name.” Those are great! Also that she thinks they’d like a nickname option. Oh, also no forms of Therese/a or Mary/Maria (not wrong at all!); no names ending in -ana; no cutesy names — must age well. Also prefer not repeating initials. Whew!

Okay, before getting into my list of official suggestions, I thought I’d offer my thoughts on the names they’re currently considering, in case they’re helpful (some are not mentioned above because they were included in subsequent emails):

  • Hallie Josephine: Hallie is such a great way to honor a Harold! I also know someone who named her son Hap (just Hap) because it’s also a nickname for Harold — maybe Hap would work for this family for a boy?
  • Blythe Emily: I never, ever see Blythe on parents’ lists — so fun to see it here!
  • Blair: I like Blair, too!
  • Marriott: I LOVE this as a middle name!! It’s in my book because it derives from Mary!! I personally love it for both a girl and a boy, so cool!
  • Helena nn Laina: A beautiful option! A nice connection here is that St. Faustina (of Divine Mercy fame) was named Helena at birth! Zoey included the Divine Mercy as a devotion that’s important to her and her husband, so this would be very meaningful from that perspective.
  • Audrey and Zoe as first names or middle names: I’m absolutely with Zoey that mamas should get juniors!! I like both Helena Zoe and Audrey Helena.
  • Scarlett nn Scottie: ah-MAZ-ing!! I love love the name Scarlett but could never figure out a great nickname — Zoey has totally done it! Scottie is adorable! And Scarlett for the Precious Blood is just wonderful.
  • Naomi: When I saw Naomi as a possible middle name, my first thought was that I’d love that as a first name option for this family — and then Zoey included it in a later email as a first name contender! It has a very “Miriam” feel to me without, of course, being Miriam — this might do the trick!
  • Jules for a girl: An interesting option! This actually makes me think of their boy style a lot — I wonder if they would consider it for a boy?
  • Julia Reese: Julia Reese is a stunning combo! Zoey worries that Julia sounds a lot like Elijah, which I can definitely see.
  • John Luke: I love John Luke, but I do know what Zoey means about it feeling plain. I think calling him by both names would “solve” that — John Luke as a combo makes both John and Luke feel less plain. I know a little Gianluca who is called the full Gianluca all the time, so this feels natural to me!
  • Alexander Rhodes: I love all their meaning behind this!! Another name they might like to consider is the male name Royce, which actually means “rose” (I included it in my book!) — I really like Royce for them in place of Rhodes, if they want to have a more explicitly “rose” name for the rosary.
  • Ambrose, Matthew, Montfort (Monte), Xavier, Adam: I love all these! Monte is really fun, I think that’s my favorite of these for this family.
  • Lucas Gabriel: Love this, yes! Luke and Lucas both feel like a really good first name option as a brother to Austin and Elijah. And Gabriel is one of my favorite names ever!
  • Conrad Jude (Thaddeus): LOVE this too!! My husband and I considered Conrad with Cord as a nickname (how cool is that?? AND they could think of it as a rosary connection if they wanted, since the string part of the rosary is often referred to as a cord!). And I had Jude on my list of official suggestions for this baby before even seeing that they had Jude on their list! I would love to see them consider it as a first name!

Regarding Zoey’s husband’s love of Miriam: I wonder if they’ve considered Marriott as a first name? Miriam and Marriott sound very similar to my ear when I say them out loud, and they both are variants of Mary … maybe Hubby would be okay with that? Especially if they pair it with a super Old Testament middle name, like Marriott Zipporah or Marriott Keziah or Marriot Esther? They could even use Miri as a nickname for Marriott? Or Mimi! Another idea I had was Marriott Emilia — I love the rhythm; Emilia can be for Grandma Emily and can also be sort of a Divine Mercy name in the sense that Emilia was the name of Pope John Paul II’s mom and he was huge into Divine Mercy (his mom’s cause for canonization is open!).

Now on to my new ideas! I tried really hard to stick to all their rules, but I’m pretty sure one or two of the girl names might strike Zoey as possibly too cutesy, but I wanted to leave them on in case I’m wrong, and/or in case they might like to consider them as a middle name for Marriott as a first (if Zoey can bring herself and her hubby around to that idea). I went through the Baby Name Wizard book (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and I looked at past posts I did on names for Divine Mercy and Easter (Sorrowful Mysteries and Glorious Mysteries) and the Sacred Heart (because of Zoey’s comment about Scarlett and the Precious Blood), and some gut-feeling ideas as well — based on all that, these are my ideas:

Girl

(1) Faith

Their boy name style has a “country/western” feel to me, and Scarlett fits into that as well, and Faith is listed in the BNW as fitting into that vibe as well — I love the name Faith! It’s simple and obviously faith-y, uncommon and sweet. I knew a Faith when I was growing up, and I always loved her name, as well as the nickname Faithy. Faith Marriott works beautifully!

(2) Greer

As soon as I read that Zoey likes both Blythe and Blair, I immediately thought of Brynn! Unfortunately there isn’t any obvious faithy connection (despite their being a St. Brynoth and a St. Brynach), but it made me think of Greer because I know a Brynn who has a sister named Greer, and Greer struck me as a great suggestion! It derives from the name Gregory, which is where the faith connection can come (either a St. Gregory, or St. Maria Goretti, since Goretti also derives from Gregory), and I think it sound fine with Marriott!

(3) Rebecca/Rebekah nn Ruby (also Romy?)

I thought quite a bit about how to work with Zoey’s husband’s love of Miriam and marry it with Zoey’s taste, and I thought Rebecca/Rebekah with the nickname Ruby might do the trick. Like Miriam, Rebecca is an Old Testament name (which the spelling Rebekah really hammers home), and years ago I saw a birth announcement for a baby Rebecca nicknamed Ruby and I felt like my whole life was made — I LOVED that so much!! I think Ruby is just darling, and it can have the Precious Blood connection Zoey mentioned with Scarlett as well. (I actually spotlighted Ruby here, with some other ideas of how to get to it.) Thinking about Rebecca/Rebekah Marriott, though, also made me kind of love the idea of Romy as a nickname for that combo — the R part from Rebecca/Rebekah, the M part from Marriott — maybe they’d like that better? Romy is sweet too.

(4) Ivy

When I’m looking up names in the BNW, I always pay attention to names that are listed as style matches for more than one of the names on the parents’ list, and Ivy was a big one! It’s listed as similar to Eli and Zoe, as well as Scarlett and Xavier! It’s an entry in my book because of its Marian connection, and Ivy Marriott sounds pretty amazing.

(5) Willow/Willa

I looked through the Country/Western section of the BNW for inspiration, and was interested to see Willodean in there — because Zoey had mentioned Easter as a possible inspiration for this baby’s name because of her due date, I’d already been thinking of Easter-related names, and Willow and Willa are two of them! More specifically, they refer to Palm Sunday, but I think that’s close enough for what they’re thinking? I spotlighted them both and explained the connection here.

Some other girl names that came up in my research that intrigued me but I didn’t end up putting in my “official” list of first name ideas (but wanted to include here just in case, and/or also as middle name ideas) include Mercedes (it means “mercies” and can take Sadie as a nickname, which I thought was perfect for this family!), Mercy itself (I know a couple little girls named Mercy!), and Chesed (Old Testament term referring to “mercy” — read more in this comment. Amazing!).

Boy

(1) Caleb

As mentioned earlier, I felt like their boy name style can have a country/western feel, and taking into account their affinity for biblical names as well, I thought Caleb was perfect! The nickname Cal is one of my favorites, I love it. Kobe and Colby were listed as similar to names Zoey likes, which made me want to suggest Kolbe, but then she’d specifically mentioned Kolbe as one they can’t use! But Caleb has similar sounds and rhythm, so I do quite like it for this baby.

(2) Casey

I looove Casey!! Casey was in the list of Country/Western names, and Bl. Solanus Casey is one of my favorites, Casey + Bl. Solanus made me think Casey Soliven would be a cool name for this baby! There was also a family I did a consultation for who loved Bl. Solanus but preferred Case instead of the full Casey, so that was the given name they went with — I could see that working for this family too.

(3) Becket

Funny enough, I got to Becket from Bennett, since Bennett is a medieval short form of Benedict like Austin is a medieval short form of Augustine, so they always make me think of each other, but I didn’t think Bennett was quite their style (and also that might have seemed a little matchy?) but then Bennett also makes me think of Becket and I thought yes! Becket! St. Thomas a Becket is an awesome patron.

(4) Garrett

I think Garrett is such a great name — I think it definitely fits with their boys, and can also derive from Gerard, which gives it an awesome faith connection.

(5) Hardy

I’ve suggested Hardy a few times to families over the years and no one’s bitten, so maybe I’m out of touch regarding this name, but I think it’s awesome! It can be a sort of virtue-esque name in the sense of “bold, brave” and also “healthy” AND it can be related to Gerard! (Check it out here and here.) It was the name of a boy in a movie I saw when I was little and I always loved it. (I would also consider it to be an excellent nickname for Gerard, but I don’t think Gerard is this family’s style. Also, there’s this birth announcement I posted for a little Gerhardt [German form of Gerard] who goes by the nickname Hart — I love that too!!)

(6) Jessop

I’ll be interested to see what Zoey and her hubs think of this idea! It’s a variant of Joseph based on pronunciation of the name from mid-sixteenth-century England, and it definitely feels sort of country/western, so I love that it takes Austin’s medieval connection and Eli’s biblical connection (and both of their possibly country/western feel) and adds an authentic St. Joseph connection! I also love the nickname Jess for a boy (love love!). I think this could be amazing! (I included it in my post on names for St. Joseph.)

Some other boy ideas I had included Jasper (one of the Three Kings has traditionally been known by the Casper name family, which includes Gaspar and Jasper), Paxton (inspired by Xander and Xavier and also “pax” means “peace” in Latin — an awesome, faithy connection!), and Jesse (country/western + biblical), but I liked my other ideas better. But I wanted to mention these just in case!

And those are all my ideas for this family! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Austin and Elijah/Eli?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself 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!