Birth announcement: Christopher Jesse!

I’ve had the great blessing in the last few weeks to receive a few panicky last-minute emails, along the lines of, “Help! My baby’s due [in two days/next week, etc.] and we can’t decide on a name!” They’re as fun and stressful as you can imagine — I love love being able to offer some thoughts, and I’m always nervous and hopeful I can get back to the mom with some ideas before the baby’s born!

One such was lovely Allie, whose eighth baby, gender unknown, was to be born the following week via scheduled c-section. Her other kids are named:

Andrew James

Timothy Ryan

Dylan Richard

Kyle Scott

Gabrielle Marie

Caitlyn Rose

Elizabeth Claire

Great names, right?!! Allie and her husband had decided on Caroline Grace for a girl (beautiful!) but were having a hard time coming up with a boy name. They knew for sure they wanted to use the middle name Jesse, after Allie’s dad, who passed away several years ago.

My suggestions for her, based on the style and feel of her other kids’ names, as well as flow with Jesse as the middle name, were: Christopher, Alexander, and Samuel.

Just last night Allie emailed me with the following:

“Just wanted to update you on our new arrival and name decision. We were blessed with a beautiful baby boy on Monday. After talking to my husband Scott we both felt drawn to the name Christopher Jesse! We love the strength of the name and you can’t go wrong with a name honoring Christ. (And St Christopher ain’t too bad either. :)) So I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to get back to me. May God bless you and all you do!“

How wonderful!!! Congratulations to Mama Allie and her beautiful family, and happy birthday to Christopher Jesse!!

Christopher Jesse

Wee lassie’s debut!

March 24, 2015May 12, 2021 sanctanomina Baby name consultant, Birth announcement, Update Baby name consultant, Birth announcement, Catholic baby names, Irish names, Mary, Personal stories

Theresa’s name dilemma kicked off Irish month as she was scheduled to have her eighth baby, a little girl, on St. Patrick’s Day. She emailed me an update and a photo of the new little lady!

“Everything went well, we’re back home with ::drumroll:: Rosary Brigid Elise! She was 6lbs. 14oz, 18.75 in, and has been a wonderfully happy baby with siblings who fight over getting to hold her.

About her name, there’s always that moment when you’re faced with filling out the Birth Certificate paper and you wonder if you chose the right name. But I’m confident we did. The consultation helped us to look deeper into other forms of Elizabeth, my sister’s middle name, since I liked Eilis, but my husband didn’t care for it. We came across Elise, which seems to still flow nicely.

So, thank you for the inspiration and input!! We have a beautiful name to go with a bonnie wee lass! 😉 “

So wonderful!!!! I just love her name!!! I never in a million years would have considered Rosary for a little girl, but because of Theresa and her beautiful baby it’s totally on my radar as a viable Rosie name. Nice work Heckamans! And I’m ever so grateful for the update!

Rosary Brigid Elise

Jessie’s girl!

March 4, 2015March 4, 2015 sanctanomina Baby name consultant, Birth announcement, Update Baby name consultant, Birth announcement, Catholic baby names, Mary, Personal stories

Back at the end of January Jessie wrote asking for help naming their fourth baby, a girl. She has wonderfully provided us with an update, and a photo!

“Kate! I’m so sorry for not updating you sooner! Our little girl was born on Valentine’s Day and we have just been so caught up in her that I forgot to write … [My husband] decided he would really like to honor his Great aunt, who was like a grandmother to him and to who he was very close to without directly using her names. Her middle name was Mary so I searched all your posts for Marian versions. We ended up with Liliana (lil-ee-ah-na) Grace. Lily for Mary, Ana for St. Anne, Jesus’ grandmother, since he always thought of his Aunt as his grandmother, Grace because I still liked it 🙂 We both love it and I never would have thought of it without your posts which included so many original ways to include Mary/saints in names. Thank you so much! I’ve attached a picture for you in case you want to use it in an update … we did truly love your suggestions. I’ve called dibs on Louise Philomena for next girl!!!“

How wonderful! Something that had really jumped out at me when Jessie first emailed was how she said, “I’d love something that matches the feel of both Eleanor/Ella like my first little girl but by the time I weigh everything else, I can hardly think about that too.” I totally think Liliana fits the bill! Nice job, Jessie and Hubby! And thanks so much for the update — it’s so fun to read the end (but really beginning!) of the story!

Liliana Grace

Birth announcement: Simcha’s baby!!

February 25, 2015February 25, 2015 sanctanomina Birth announcement Baby name consultant, Birth announcement, Catholic baby names, Nicknames, Personal stories, Simcha Fisher

Baby Fisher is here!! And her beautiful name is:

Cornelia Roxanne

Cornelia Roxanne!!!

Neither Cornelia nor Roxanne were part of my suggestions for the Fishers,* and even after knowing that Simcha said the name they chose might lead one to think of “a vegan stripper, or possibly a British lady-in-waiting for Persian nobility,” I still didn’t come up with either name.** But I love it! Cornelia totally sounds like one of their kids to me, and — just picturing her and big sis Benny buddying around like my two youngest sisters — I’m just loving Benedicta and Cornelia as sisters … and, not saying they *should*, but if they go for a nickname … and if that nickname happens to be Nell … ohmygoodness. Benny and Nell???? It’s like a storybook, with fields of sunshine and little girls in pretty dresses with crowns of flowers in their hair.

Even though Simcha and Damien didn’t choose one of my suggestions, I do feel pretty good about the fact that I spotlighted Cornelius a while ago, in which I discussed Cornelia. So even though it was totally not on my radar for them, and I’m not sure I’ve ever really considered Cornelia much at all for anyone, I suppose there’s the tiniest chance they saw my little Cornelius post and were inspired by it. 🙂

But probably not. In all likelihood not. They are pretty fab namers, those Fishers. Welcome to the world Cornelia Roxanne!!

———————–

* My suggestions for a girl were Stella, Esther or Miriam, and Hannah

** On Rebecca Frech’s Virtual Baby Shower for Simcha post, before I knew about the “vegan stripper/British lady-in-waiting” thing, after my initial suggestions of Stella, Esther or Miriam, and Hannah, I suggested Pearl Emmanuelle and Martha Frances. After discovering that new bit of info (vegan stripper/Brit LIW), I decided Edith Esther and Althea Kyrie were my top two predictions.

Birth announcement: Lourdes Marie Talbot

February 21, 2015February 21, 2015 sanctanomina Birth announcement Birth announcement, Catholic baby names, Mary, My Child I Love You, Personal stories

I posted once about the beautiful names of My Child I Love You‘s blog mama Lindsay, before I knew her #9 was on the way. I’d been eagerly anticipating the birth and name reveal, until I learned that the baby had an omphalocele and that “this tiny, innocent baby will suffer from pain her first early days.” Then I was eager to pray and for a good outcome, and it seemed inappropriate and selfish and heartless to even think about the baby’s name. I know you know.

But when the baby’s name was revealed my first thought was that there couldn’t be a more perfect one, as she was born on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, and she was named … Lourdes. Lourdes Marie Talbot. If anyone needed Mother Mary to be extra close, it’s this tiny baby and her mama and her whole family, and I could not imagine a more perfect name.

I can barely think about baby Lourdes, can barely imagine what it must be like to be in her mama’s shoes right now. I’ve been checking the blog for updates so that I can keep praying and rejoice with them when the tide turns, but at the same time I feel like I’m peeking at the posts out of the corner of my eye, hoping to get the gist without being consumed by the sadness. I know you know.

Added to the baby’s situation is that Lindsay’s mom is being treated for cancer. It’s too much for me to think about, really, so I’ve been praying to Our Lady of Lourdes and Bl. Matt Talbot and Fr. Emil Kapaun for their intercession, as Lindsay requested. It seems there was some progress, and then some sliding back. Please join me in praying for this tiny baby and her sick grandma and her beautiful family so full of love and faith.

Reading round-up

January 15, 2015January 15, 2015 sanctanomina Birth announcement, Famous Catholics, Personal stories, Reading Round-up Catholic baby names, Danielle Bean, Personal stories, Swistle

When I was first having my babies, Danielle Bean was the mama of Catholic mom bloggers. She hasn’t blogged in ages — she’s now the editor of Catholic Digest, and an author and TV talk show host (!), and her kids aren’t babies anymore — but her writing helped me through those first few rough years of trying to figure out motherhood, and a lot of what she wrote is still fresh in my mind. Like this article, which I was thinking about the other day and decided to see if I could find: What’s In a Name?

Also, this post of mine was inspired by a reader’s naming dilemma on Swistle’s blog — the mom has given an update with the baby’s name, head on over to see what the new baby brother of Haven, Lark, and Tusker is named!

Saintly names

August 22, 2014August 25, 2014 sanctanomina Birth announcement, Personal stories, Uncategorized Dave Grohl, Pete Wentz, Sonny Corleone

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):

The Italian names Santa (female), and Santo (male) and Santino (male) (does Santino ring a bell? Perhaps with the nickname Sonny? Maybe with the last name Corleone?)

Santos (male), Spanish for “saints”

Eren (male), which means “saint, holy person” in Turkish

Toussaint (male), French for “all saints”

Naomhan (with an accent over the second “a”) (male), said to be derived from the Irish “naomh,” which means “saint” (Nevan is an anglicization common in Ireland, and Niven in Scotland)

There’s also a whole bunch of names that mean “Saint So-and-so,” including:

Malcolm (male, follower of St. Columba)

Malone (male, descendant of a follower of St. John)

Seymour (male, St. Maurus)

Sinclair (male, St. Clair)

Santiago (male, St. James)

Telmo (male, St. Elmo)

Do you know any other names that have “saint” in the meaning? Do you know anyone in real life with any of these names?

Famous Catholics: Campos-Duffy

August 10, 2014August 23, 2014 sanctanomina Birth announcement, Famous Catholics, Personal stories, Uncategorized Campos-Duffy

Ok, so I don’t know a whole heckuva lot about Rachel Campos-Duffy and her husband Sean. I do know:
— They met on MTV’s Road Rules All Stars in 1998
— Sean’s a congressman (Wisconsin’s seventh district)
— He’s one of eleven children
— They gave their children super duper Catholic names: