Birth announcement

Birth announcement: Andrew Augustine!

sanctanomina Birth announcement ,

I posted a consultation for Janelle and her husband back in June, which was pretty memorable for its requirements:

“We clearly have a first – middle alliteration thing going on that we would like to keep but in addition to that we also like a solid spiritual meaning and a familiar but not trendy first name with an unusual middle for the boys (reversed for the girls obviously). Bonus for my husband–a theologians name for the boy. Bonus for me–a nature or scientific reference (Elanor: flower from LOTR, Peter: rock, Inessa: genus of skipper butterflies and the coolest version of Agnes ever)“

Janelle emailed me to let me know their baby boy has arrived! And they gave him the very handsome name … Andrew Augustine!

Janelle writes,

“You did a name consult back in June for my little boy due in July. Here he is–Andrew Augustine. We so appreciated the many suggestions both from you and from the commenters on the post but in the end, my husband really had his heart set on this name. We’ll have lots of ideas for the future if we need them. Thank you so much!”

Indeed, Andrew Augustine was the option they’d been discussing when Janelle first emailed me — to me, when you keep circling back to the same idea, even after having been given loads of other ideas that you kinda like, that means something! This little boy was clearly meant to be Andrew Augustine. (And he certainly seems delighted over his name, if his picture below is any indication! So cute! 😀 )

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

andrew_augustine

 

Andrew Augustine

Saintly names

sanctanomina Birth announcement

In light of the announcement of Kim and Kanye’s baby boy’s name (Saint), which has sent the internets into a capital-T-tizzy, thought I’d reblog the post I’d done on the name Saint over a year ago.

As I commented on Twitter, I think the selection of Saint is evidence of a yearning for holiness, which is a wonderful gift to give one’s child. 😇

sanctanomina's avatarSancta Nomina

I just read the birth announcements of Saint Lazslo (born August 20), son of Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, and Ophelia Saint (born August 1), daughter of Foo Fighters rocker Dave Grohl.

I was struck by the use of “Saint” in both names (and especially as a first name) — I’ve never known that word to be used as a given name in English (and I admit I’m a little surprised to see it being used by celebrities who, as far as I know, have not been loud and proud about any religious affiliation. Never mind that “Saint” is a pretty Catholic term — I have heard non-Catholic Christians refer to all of faithful Christendom as saints, but at least in my experience it’s generally more heavily weighted toward Catholic). However, there are common names in other languages that translate as “Saint” or “holy” (which is what “saint” means):

View original post 145 more words

Birth announcement: Tiber Augustine Édouard!

sanctanomina Birth announcement, Uncategorized , ,

Our dear reader hollyce has had her seventh baby — a boy! She and her husband have given him the ah-MAZ-ing name of Tiber Augustine Édouard! She writes,

“Tiber Augustine Édouard Krueger born at 2121 on 10.31.2015, 6lbs14oz 19.5″ long

Named Tiber because of my conversion and Kris’s reversion in 2004-05, middle names chosen by godmother and oldest sister Lily for St. Augustine, St. Édouard and Édouard Manet“

Ohhhh my. I can’t tell you exciting it is for me to see a little guy with the awesome and so-meaningful name Tiber! I LOVE it! ❤

He joins his amazingly well named big sibs:

Elizabeth Chandler nn Lily (“after my mom’s middle and maiden names“)

Cole Jacob (“shares my husband Kris’s middle name Jacob after Kris’s maternal grandfather and he has Kris’s mom’s initials“)

Anne Eleanor nn Annie (“named after the Anns and Annas on all sides of the families and St. Anne, Our Lady’s mother. She has Kris’s late dad’s initials“)

Blaise Robert (“after St. Blaise and my late dad, Robert“)

Urban Paul (“after Kris’s uncles’ middle names, St. Paul and Pope St. Urban – Uncle Steve was given Urban as his middle name after his Uncle Barney. Apparently Barney was a nickname for Urban?!“)

Mary Margaret Rose (“after the Blessed Mother, St. Margaret Clitherow, and we just liked Rose“)

Beautiful beautiful beautiful!!!

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

tiber_augustine_edouard

Tiber’s baptism day!

Birth announcement: David Newton, Jr.!

sanctanomina Birth announcement, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Mandi from A Blog About Miscarriage has had her baby! The consultation I posted for her back in September focused on a middle name for a girl, but it was all moot because she has welcomed a son — David Newton, Jr.!

She writes,

“Our son was born Wednesday, November 11 at 6:25pm. He was several days late but when he finally came, he was born less than an hour after labor started.  He was delivered by his daddy in the car!

We had narrowed down middle names for Cecilia to two front runners, Clare and Rose, with Paloma and Zelie as wild cards still in consideration, but decided to wait until the baby was born to make a final decision. Since baby was a boy, it turns out we never needed to. 

We named our son David Newton Richards, Jr. He shares his name with not only his father but his great grandfather and great great grandfather. My husband was given that name after his grandfather who died when my father-in-law was a teenager. He has a first cousin named David after their grandfather as well (and his son has the middle name David), so we have lots of Davids in the family and we are honored to pass on the tradition. My brother is a Jr. and I always loved that naming tradition so I planned to have my son be a Jr.  long before I met my husband. It was serendipitous that the man I did meet happened to have an awesome name with a rich family history. I used to not care for Newton much but I’ve grown to love that it’s old fashioned and uncommon. It hasn’t been in the top 1000 boys names in the U.S. since 1957! 

We haven’t come up with a nickname for little David yet (which I feel is kind of necessary to distinguish him in conversation from his dad) but are using a bunch and seeing which feels right. Being the nickname queen, maybe you have some suggestions for us that we haven’t considered? I myself am a bit partial to Newt but I don’t think I’ll be able to get that one to fly 🙂 “

What a wonderful family naming tradition little David was born into!! (Also, did you catch that — he was born in the car!)

Mandi asked for nickname ideas for David (she called me the “nickname queen”!! 😀 ), so these are mine:

  • (I love Newt!)
  • Certainly there’s Dave and Davey — Davey especially has kind of a throwback little guy feel, so sweet!
  • My grandfather was from Ireland and his name was David but his nickname growing up was Daithín (I think that’s how it’s spelled) — Irish for “little Daithi,” where Daithi is the Irish for David. Daithi is pronounced DAH-hee and Daithín like dah-HEEN, so maybe dah-HEEN? (Not sure how you’d want to spell it though! Daheen looks too feminine? And Daithín too Irish?)
  • My cousin is David Jr. and he goes by DJ, so maybe that?
  • You know I’m a big fan of combining first and middle names to come up with nicknames — in this case, maybe David Newton could become Danny? Not that unusual, but distinct from Dad. Or Dane?
  • Or Junior! (I hear Sean Connery saying, “Junior!” in his fabulous accent from the Indiana Jones movies! Haha!) Or just Jay? From Junior, which is kind of like Dave but different?
  • You could also do Richie, which is such a common thing for guys to go by (their last names, or nicknames of their last names), but maybe that’s weird to start at home? Is that more of a nickname that buddies bestow in high school?
  • This is a little crazy, but could be cute — what about D2? Like David II? It’s different, it’s Star Wars-y? Or just D, for that matter?
  • Or what about Dewi? It’s the Welsh version of David, and St. David of Wales is known as Dewi Sant, and Dewi’s kind of like David and Newton smushed together!

What nicknames would you suggest for little David Jr.?

You can read more about this little guy’s car birth in Mandi’s announcement on her blog. Congratulations to Mandi and David Sr. and big sister Lucia, and happy birthday Baby David!!

david_newton1

David Newton, Jr.

david_newton2

Hi Mister!

david_newton3

Proud big sister Lucia

david_newton4

Tiny guy!

Birth announcement: Charles Michael!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , ,

A DAD that I did a private consultation for emailed me yesterday to let me know his little boy has arrived — Charles Michael! He writes,

“Charles Michael … Born one week late on 11-10-15, 6:07 am, 8 lbs, 21 inches, Everyone is doing great!“

What a handsome name!! He joins equally well-named big sibs:

Ariana Camille
Audrey Caroline
Caleb Daniel
Amelia Clare
Anne-Catherine Gianna

C is a big deal for this family! I love that the girls have a C name for their second names, and the boys have it for their first — lovely job! And Michael and Daniel as the two boys’ middles both end in -el — what a really great way to have a nice tie-in for the boys without being overly matchy. A really beautiful bunch of names!

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

charles_michael

Charles Michael

Birth announcement: Henry Edward!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , ,

A private consultation mama has let me know her baby boy has arrived — Henry Edward! She writes,

“I wanted to share with you that Henry Edward was born on October 8th.  He is such a blessing and I think Henry fits him perfectly. I’ve attached a picture of Henry with his proud big brother, John and big sister, Lucy.”

I love love love Henry, and it’s so perfect as a brother to John and Lucy — what a great sib set! So well named! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Henry!!

(I just love the joy and pride Lucy and John exude in these pics!)

henry_edward1

Henry Edward and big sibs

henry_edward2

Baptism day!

Birth announcement: Caroline Mary!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , , ,

A mama who emailed me not too long ago with some last-minute name questions for her first baby just let me know her baby has arrived — the beautifully named Caroline Mary! Shannon writes,

“We had our precious baby girl on September 8th (4 days early, so our correspondence was right on time!) and named her Caroline Mary. We loved your Caroline suggestion!! Such a unique and special way to honor Saint Pope John Paul II. She was born on Our Lady’s birthday, so Mary was the perfect middle name.”

Shannon and her husband really wanted to honor St. John Paul II, and I just love that Caroline hit the right note for them! I love love it paired with Mary, and so amazing that she was born on Our Lady’s birthday! What a blessed baby!

Congratulations to Shannon and her husband, and happy birthday Baby Caroline!!
caroline_mary2

Caroline Mary

caroline_mary1

Caroline with her Mama!

Birth announcement: Ronan James Eugene!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , ,

Yes! It’s a two-birth-announcement day!!

I posted the consultation for Theresa and her husband back in May, and it was particularly fun because, as she’d said, “Boy names are so much harder! … I don’t really know what boy names [my husband] likes. I don’t know if he knows … He doesn’t like names that are super specific to any ethnicity (Seamus, Carlos, Giovanni) or most Old Testament names (Noah, Elijah, Isaac) or names that are gender neutral or feminine sounding. If you can find a boy name we both like, I will be amazed!”

Though I wasn’t able to come up with a name her husband would go for, Theresa herself discovered the elusive name, and just emailed me to let me know their son arrived last week — Ronan James Eugene! She writes,

“If you remember, we were having a particularly hard time with boy names, so of course, in early June, we found out we were having a boy. We had a difficult time deciding. We eventually landed on Ronan James. I saw Ronan somewhere on a list of names for people who like Patrick (got that idea from you), and I liked it. Once I found out that there have been several St. Ronans — I was sold. My husband took a little more convincing and time but eventually agreed. James was because we both like it, and I feel like it goes with everything, but mostly because my husband’s Great Uncle Jimmy died this year and we thought it would be a nice tribute. So we were all set … then in September, my father passed away after a very long battle with MS. His name was Patrick Eugene. Since I already had a Patch (Roy Patrick III) for my husband and father-in-law, we decided to add Eugene to Ronan’s name for my dad. Ronan James Eugene was born on October 30. Thank you for all your help, and I love reading your blog.”

What a perfect name! I particularly like that one of Theresa’s favorites had been Finnian, and Ronan seems really similar to me, and one of her husband’s favorites had been James, so putting the two together, and then adding in Theresa’s dad’s name, just ties everything up in a handsome little package.

Congratulations to Theresa and her husband and the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Ronan!!

ronan_james_eugene

Ronan James Eugene

Birth announcement: Teresa Catherine (Tessa)!

sanctanomina Birth announcement ,

Back in June I posted the consultation for the wee one whose mama just let me know has arrived: Teresa Catherine, called Tessa! Mama Beth writes,

“We named her Teresa Catherine after Mother Teresa and St Catherine of Siena ❤ And so far we are calling her Tessa … She was born 10-10, 7 lbs 11 oz 21 inches 🙂 “

The name decision has a beautiful story too:

“I was infertile for 4 years. I ended up having stage 4 endometriosis and I’ve had 3 surgeries to remove it. The last one was this past December. I used to go on a mission trip to Mexico every summer until my oldest daughter was born. The last summer I went, I went with our priest to the missionaries of Charity and attended mass with them. Afterwards I asked the sisters to pray that I could have a baby. (We had been married and trying to conceive for 3 years at this point.) The sisters literally started laughing and jumping up and down and said, “this is Mother Teresa’s specialty!” They gave me a medal and a card with a piece of her sari in it and promised to pray. Exactly one year later (to the day) we found out we were pregnant with Madeleine. 🙂

So a few months ago, I was cleaning my drawers and found the Mother Teresa medal and put it on. I had never considered the name Teresa. One evening I asked my husband what he thought of Teresa and call her Tessa. He immediately said “I think that is it!” We visited St Maria Goretti’s relics a few weeks ago and I touched the medal to the glass so now it’s a 3rd class relic too!

We actually didn’t know her middle name for sure until I was in labor. Ken really liked Catherine, but we considered saving it for a first name. But we decided we wanted it for her. My aunt’s middle name was Catherine, she died of cancer when I was 10. And my husband is a convert and right after he converted he went to Europe for 5 weeks and visited Catherine of Siena’s church over there.

So Tessa is named after 2 great saints! 🙂 “

Stories like these are one of the many reasons I love this blog — how wonderful to hear the powerful and amazingly personal ways in which God works in our lives, often through the intercession of the Saints! And hearing things like, “I had never considered the name Teresa” gets me all excited too — it’s so fun to discover what’s hiding in our hearts!

Congratulations to Beth and her husband and their older children, and happy birthday Baby Tessa!!

teresa_catherine

Teresa Catherine

Birth announcement: Philip Rivers’ baby has arrived!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , ,

Chargers’ QB Philip Rivers, favorite football player of Sancta Nomina 🙂 , and his wife Tiffany welcomed their eighth baby and sixth daughter, Clare, this past Wednesday!

Despite the fact that I was googling every couple of days to be sure I didn’t miss the announcement, I didn’t see it until earlier today, hence the belated birth announcement. But better late than never! You can read more here (awesome article. I’m constantly blown away by how he and his wife are loud and proud about their faith and marriage. Catholic courage, baby!) and here.

It was so fun being given a sneak peek into the Rivers’ baby naming, and knowing ahead of time what little Miss Clare’s name would be! Thank you all for keeping Tiffany and Baby Clare in your prayers, and congratulations to the Rivers family!!

Updated to add: I assume the little one’s full name is Clare Magdalen(e) but I haven’t seen any report to confirm that, nor to confirm the spelling.