Birth announcement

Birth announcement: Marigold Azélie!

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I posted a request for prayers for a family in the wake of the stillbirth of their beautiful baby, Zita Marie-Catherine, a while ago, and I was so very happy for them when the mama, Kara, let me know this past fall that they were expecting another baby! Now I’m thrilled to share that their baby girl has arrived and been given the amazing name … Marigold Azélie!

Kara writes,

“Well, our newest baby GIRL arrived at 7:49am on November 8th. She weighed 8 lbs 14oz. And we named her. . .

Marigold Azélie!
(We’re using the ah-ZAY-lee pronunciation.)

As you know, I was sort of set on using an Italian first name, but your consultation made me realize I cared more about the story behind the name than the nationality. So here’s the story:

[Hubby] and I were pretty settled on a boy name, but struggled with one if the baby was a girl. After three girls, I felt like we had used up our most-favorite options. Sometime in late August I had tossed out the name “Marigold” (which I was reminded of in your book!) as a name we could use in honor of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, not thinking he would go for it. I was right, he wasn’t keen on it. So I moved on. Then in mid-September a friend threw me a shower and one of the cards I received was a vintage print of the marigold flower. I went home and jokingly told [hubby] it was a sign that if we had a girl we should name her Marigold. Of course, he rolled his eyes. Fast forward a week or two and one night I was complaining about something pregnancy related and he responded with, “Well, would it make you feel better to know that Marigold is now in my top three names for girls?” Um, what?? His change of heart was due to the fact that the Diocese of Des Moines’ feast day is August 22nd, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. Due to his job and it being a big year for the diocese with the ordination of a new bishop, he thought it was very fitting. We also liked that a nickname is Mary because it’s a family name (his grandma Mary turned 90 two days before Marigold was born). By early October it became a slight frontrunner for us, but it also felt very “different” given the fact that all the other kids’ names are straight saint names. Then when I was 38 weeks pregnant I came across more info on the marigold, its meaning and its relation to Mary [in an article by Br. John M. Samaha, S.M., on the University of Dayton’s web site] … I also discovered that the marigold is the flower for October, making me convinced that if we had a girl she was going to be born in October. Ha!“

One bit that particularly moved this mama in that article linked to above was the following:

“Sometimes described as ‘the flower of grief’, the marigold actually weeps on occasion. Droplets gather in the flower during the night and drip off like tears when it opens in the morning. This characteristic moved Shakespeare to write in A Winter’s Tale:

“The Marygold that goes to bed with the sun, / And with him rises weeping.”

These flowers primarily convey the message “I will comfort your grieving heart”.

Grief mixed with joy, poverty linked with abundance of good gifts — that is the marigold’s reflection of the lady for whom she is named.”

How beautiful!! Kara continues,

“For me personally, besides the grief aspect, Marigold’s name also is connected to Zita in that although Zita was due Aug. 24th, I had hoped she would be born on Aug. 22nd. I had thought it would be fitting that since Zita was named after an Empress/Queen, she’d share a feast day with the Queen of Heaven. So this is a way for me to honor Zita without making it feel so heavy.

Azélie is obviously for St. Marie-Azélie, but kind of surprised me in that it only came to us right before baby’s due date. For the past 18 months I was SET on using Clairvaux for a middle name, but [hubby] kind of liked it better for a boy middle name. One day I was thinking about Marie-Azélie, her own child losses and her motherhood, realizing that in the past year I’ve understood more fully what it means to be a mother and have worked harder than ever before at becoming a better one. A few days later my sis-in-law sent me a quote from a book she was reading on Marie-Azélie’s life and that’s what sealed the deal …

So many people have commented on the beauty of Marigold’s name, young and old alike! Many have added that they’ve never heard of it, but my favorite was a little old retired priest who said, “Lady Edith has a Marigold!” Haha.

Of course my Gabriel was hoping for a boy, so when he came to the hospital and discovered he had yet another sister he immediately asked, “What’s her name?” in a way that was holding out hope it was something he liked. When we said it was Marigold he crinkled his nose with an “ugh.” He admits he likes it now, though! The kids call her “Mare,” “Marigoldie” and “Marigoldilocks.” 🙂 [Hubby] and I use Mary from time to time, but I’m careful because I never want the full Marigold to get lost — it’s too beautiful!“

Isn’t this such a wonderful story?? I love that they were able to find a name that connects to their little Zita without, as Kara said, “making it feel so heavy.” This is just so lovely, all around!

Congratulations to Kara and her husband and big siblings Gabriel Gerard, Cecilia Immaculée, Gemma Thérèse (and Zita Marie-Catherine in heaven), and happy birthday Baby Marigold!!

Marigold Azélie with her family ❤ (Photo credit: Laura Wills Photography)

(In the top left picture, she’s laying on the Sacred Heart blanket from Be A Heart)

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 — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Magnus Craig!

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I posted a consultation for Amy’s fourth baby back in October — the third consultation I had the privilege of doing for her and her hubby, after having done one for their second baby (and his birth announcement) and their third baby (and her birth announcement). Now I’m delighted to share that her baby BOY has arrived and been given the handsome name … Magnus Craig!

Amy writes,

“No overly complex name story or meaning for this one, like the others. We just liked it best.

We still didn’t really have any solid name ideas when we arrived at the hospital (I was induced). After he was born I couldn’t shake the Magnus idea. I stayed quiet about it and asked my husband his ideas. He replied that one had come to mind and had a look like — I think you know what it is and I bet it’s what you are thinking too, even though I think he said something like “You might not like this”. But yep, we acknowledged that we were both thinking Magnus. We still tried to think of others, testing them to see if anything else fit but quickly discarded that. We were too drawn to/ stuck on Magnus. We had almost used it for Kane and it was just still with us.

So then came the task of the middle/second name. I liked the flow of James Magus best and I would love to honor my wonderful father, as we did my mom in Molly and I felt we already honored his dad in Kane. But … we decided that we really wanted to call him Magnus and thus it really should be in the first name slot to do so — instead of going by the middle again like Kane does, because that can be a pain, although works for his situation as ‘the second’. Marty had kept throwing out the idea of Craig as a middle the whole pregnancy and was pretty stuck on it. So Magnus James or Magnus Craig or Magnus __? <– probably another one syllable name, we tried like every one on a one syllable boy name list … Magnus Craig won out because it just flowed the best of all and Marty had wanted it all along. I gave it to him, as I felt I got the first name I wanted. So I ended up I feeling like we both Named him and I named the last 2 while he named the first 2.

He might have nick name potential with Mag or maybe Mack from the initials MC — I think of like last names McIntosh. Kristy has taken to calling him Maggie, one of your girl suggestions haha, which always makes us cringe and correct her because it’s a girl name, sigh.

I like the uniqueness of his name and reactions we get with it. I suddenly notice it around now and love it. It really does fit him and our family well. ♥️”

I loved reading all of this!! I love that Amy said they just liked Magnus Craig best — that’s perfect!! I’m so interested in the nicknames too — Mag and Mack
are both great (the Maggie bit made me laugh! I can totally see that! It’s so hard not to add an -ee sound onto the end of babies’ names!).

Congratulations to Amy and her hubby and big sibs Kristy, Kane, and Molly, and happy birthday Baby Magnus!!

Magnus Craig with his family ❤

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 — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Reading round-up, birth announcement edition

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I have a backlog of birth announcements from public figures in the Catholic online/social media world that I’ve been wanting to share, so here they are! Happy Friday! (If I’ve forgotten anyone, please let me know! There are also a couple that I’m not totally sure are okay to post publicly — if you’re one of them, please let me know!)

I posted a consultation for Kendra from Catholic All Year back in May, and you’ve probably all seen that her baby was born in September — a gorgeous baby girl named … Barbara Josephine!

I did a private consultation for Lindsay from Just Love Prints late last year, and was delighted when she shared the birth of her baby just after Christmas — a lovely little lady named … Lillian Joy “Lilly”!

I posted a birth announcement for the fourth baby of Katrina from Rose Harrington Art a couple years ago, and she recently shared the birth of her fifth baby on Instagram — a beautiful baby girl named … Liliane Cruz “Lily”!

I posted about the naming of the children of my favorite football player, Philip Rivers, a few years ago (thanks to his lovely wife!), and then a birth announcement for their eighth baby not that long after; they’ve since had another baby — a darling daughter named … Anna! (Beautiful story and picture of the whole family [minus the baby] here.)

The Hanson (MMMBop) middle brother Taylor’s wife Natalie is a name lover like us, and has written about naming their babies on Nameberry here (first four) and here (no. 5); she had baby no. 6 a year ago — a handsome little dude named … Claude Indiana Emmanuel “Indy”! She shared the name story on Nameberry here. (Note: I know they’re not Catholic. I hope Natalie doesn’t mind me including her here!)

I love following Anna and Gabe Liesemeyer from In Honor of Design on Instagram, and couldn’t wait to see what they named their sixth baby! I wasn’t disappointed! They welcomed a sweet little Miss who they named … Chiara Maris!

Leah Darrow was a contestant on America’s Next Top Model and is now an amazing Catholic evangelist! She shared an amazing video on Instagram FROM HER HOSPITAL BED AS SHE LABORED that she’d made in response to Michelle Williams’ recent Golden Globes speech about how she wouldn’t have been able to have the life she has without having had an abortion; like an hour later Leah posted the picture of her brand new baby (!!!), a bouncing baby boy named … Valor Joseph!

Congratulations to all the parents and siblings, and happy birthday Barbara, Lilly, Lily, Anna, Indy, Chiara, and Valor!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

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 — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Michael Gabriel! (And a nickname question)

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I posted a consultation for girl names for Dana and her hubby back in October, but they ended up having a boy! Dana let me know that they’ve named him after his dad — the so angelic … Michael Gabriel!

She writes,

“Just wanted to let you know that we gave birth to our baby boy on Wednesday, Jan 22, the national day of prayer for the unborn. We did name him Michael Gabriel, after his father 😀 7 lbs, 3 oz and almost 21″ long. So far the transition from one to two seems to be going well! So we weren’t able to use any of the beautiful suggestions for girl names this time, but hopefully we’ll have many more opportunities!“

Michael Gabriel is such a handsome, heavy-hitting combo!! And I, too, love the significance of a baby born on the national day of prayer for the unborn!

Dana had another question, which you all can help with:

“One little dilemma I thought I’d ask you about… So my husband goes by Mikey, his dad goes by Mike. My husband really wants to call our son Mikey, too, but I think it is too confusing to have two Mikeys running around, haha! I’d like to call him Gabe, and I think he looks like a Gabe 😉 But my husband isn’t keen on it now. So even though it was easy to name him, we still haven’t decided what to actually call him! Of course we could use Michael or Gabriel, but we both really like nicknames. Another friend suggested, ‘Mick,’ any other ideas? No worries if not- just thought I’d ask!“

Of course I have some ideas! 😀 I can certainly see how two Mikeys can be confusing! There is a precedent for it — it’s not for nothing that Seniors and Juniors are sometimes known as “Big Dan” and “Little Dan,” for example, so Big Mikey and Little Mikey could be cute, but if Dana’s not feeling it, maybe:

— I’ve sometimes suggested Miles or Milo as nicknames for Michael, both because of the “Mil” being contained in “Michael,” and because behindthenamesays that, while the origin of Miles is unknown for sure, it’s been associated with the Latin miles, meaning “soldier,” for a long time. I love a “soldier” nickname for Michael — the warrior angel! Additionally, both Miles/Myles and Milo have been used in Ireland as anglicizations of the old Irish name Maolmhuire, which means “servant of the Virgin Mary” — a legit Marian name for a boy! My only hesitation with Miles is that it’s got similar letters to big sister’s name, Mary Elise … but since she always goes by Elise, it’s practically no issue at all, right? (Unless it bothers them, in which case maybe Milo would be better?)

— Maybe Mitch? Behindthename says Mitchell is derived from Michael, and with the first three letters of Michael being “Mich,” Mitch definitely seems doable.

— Maybe a different nickname for Gabriel? I’ve seen Gib and Gil, both of which I love.

— Maybe a mash-up nickname for Michael Gabriel? Like … Mel? Hm. Maybe this idea doesn’t work so well with Michael Gabriel.

— Maybe Junior? Or a name that nods to him being a Junior/the Second? I did a quick search for nicknames for babies that are The Second and saw Twain, Dewey (like for the French “deux”), and Chip (like “chip off the old block”). Or a name for a Third, since both Dana’s husband and his dad are Michael? Like Trip, Tripper, Trey, Tres/Trace.

— Or a nickname unrelated to his name? Like Buddy?

I don’t mind Mick — I have an uncle named Michael whose family has called him Mick and Mickey (though he’s Mike to the rest of the world). One thing to be aware of is that Mick has a history of being used as a derogatory term for the Irish, but that same link includes a list of men who have gone by Mick (including Mick Jagger) so it can definitely work! There’s also Mickey Mantle (a pretty great example) (his given name was actually Mickey!) and Mickey Mouse (which may or may not be an appealing example of the name).

What other ideas do all of you have?

Congratulations to Dana and her husband and big sister Elise, and happy birthday Baby Michael!!

Michael Gabriel with his parents and big sister ❤

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 — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Bosco Anthony!

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A mama for whom I’ve had the privilege of doing two private consultations (one a few years ago, as well as a birth announcement for that baby, and one a few months ago) has let me know she and her husband have welcomed a son and given him the fantastic name … Bosco Anthony!

She writes,

“We have a baby boy, who we named Bosco Anthony. Although you had great suggestions for other boy names, it kind of solidified for my husband that Bosco was his favorite. I still had some reservations, but he convinced me and now I think it fits our little guy very well. Most people are unfamiliar with the name, and either have a reaction like “huh” or they think it’s cute and original. Occasionally people (usually men) think it’s awesome.

In the end we chose Anthony mostly because it sounded good as a full name, Bosco Anthony. I worried it is too Italian (he’s only 1/8 Italian) but I think the English-ness of [our last name] balances it out. He’s our first child without a family connection to the middle name, but probably like most people from a Catholic family, I have a small handful of instances where St. Anthony helped either myself or a relative find an important lost object in a way that was maybe not miraculous but certainly amazing. I’ve always appreciated St. Anthony, and I like that this baby is named for two solid saints.”

I love his name!! I’m so delighted that they ended up going with Bosco, and I love it paired with Anthony! Great job!!

Congratulations to the proud parents and big siblings Penelope, Leo, and Adelaide, and happy birthday Baby Bosco!!

Bosco Anthony with his big sisters and brother ❤

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 — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Perrin Fae!

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I posted a consultation for Kortnee from Studio Senn back in September, and she’s let me know her baby girl has arrived! She and her husband gave her the gorgeous name … Perrin Fae!

Kortnee writes,

“We welcomed baby girl last Friday and I thought I would follow up to let you know what we decided on for a name!

We landed on Perrin Fae! While we both loved Peregrine for awhile (and feel very called to ask his intercession these days as we know so many who could use his prayers), we ultimately decided maybe it wasn’t the right fit for our naming style. However, we still really liked the nickname she would have had and decided that was a good way to honor Saint Peregrine and give her a namesake. We used the traditional spelling you mentioned. Even though it’s masculine historically, if feels feminine to me since I know a woman with that name.

The boys are smitten with her and no less than a dozen times a day I have to peel Becket away from her.

Thank you for helping us think through this naming process! It was much harder this time around!“

I love Perrin Fae!! What a gorgeous name that fits in perfectly with this family’s naming style!!

Congratulations to Kortnee and her hubby and big brothers Fulton and Becket, and happy birthday Baby Perrin!!

Perrin Fae with her big brothers ❤

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 — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Lincoln David!

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I posted an emergency consultation last night for Meredith from Daily Divine Mercy and Catholic Sticker Club — her baby was on his way and they weren’t sure about his name! She has let me know that he’s arrived and been given the so-handsome combo … Lincoln David!

If you remember, Lincoln David had been their chosen name until Meredith’s hubby started having second thoughts, which is when she reached out to me. She writes,

“You might think I’m crazy for what I’m about to say, but I wanted to see what he looked like before we committed to Lincoln … [The names from the consultation hit] on ALL of my favs, [hubby] is just really picky. Ultimately I’m just grateful we agreed. I’d be sad if we didn’t have any more boys and I missed out on Lincoln.”

Isn’t that perfect?? I told her that being sad at the idea of never being able to use Lincoln is a perfect litmus test for whether a particular name is the right one or not. And coming to an agreement with her husband is so great! I know I always feel like that’s the pinnacle of naming for me — I love when my husband and I finally agree on a name.

Another fun bit about this name is that Meredith really wanted a Christmas connection with the middle name, and liked that David had that … and today is the “Key of David” O Antiphon — so her little guy was born on the Key of David Eve! So great! (I wrote more about O Antiphon names here.)

Thank you to those who left ideas for Meredith in her eleventh hour!

Congratulations to the happy parents and big sibs Jackson/Jack, Theodore/Teddy, Clara, and William/Will, and happy birthday Baby Lincoln!!

Lincoln David with his mama and two of his big sibs ❤

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 — a perfect🎄Christmas gift🎄 for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Penny Annalise Mariae!

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Theresa (who wrote an amazing review of my book for Epic Pew!) shared her older kids’ names with me a couple of years ago, and I loved them so much I did a Name Story post about them! We’ve actually had many fun conversations about names — including for the baby she recently gave birth to! I’m excited to share that Theresa and her hubby welcomed a baby girl, to whom they gave the swoony name … Penny Annalise Mariae!

Theresa writes,

“On November 13, our little girl, Penny Annalise Mariae, was born. I know we had talked about her name here and there throughout my pregnancy (and you were so generous in offering some ideas for a boy name when we could not settle!) and I’ve previously shared her big sister’s and brother’s name stories with you, so I wanted to share her name story with you! It’s a long one, so I’ll take it name by name.

Penny– When we began, we liked the name Penelope with the nickname Penny. We actually had a completely different set of middles to go with Penelope, Penelope Chiara Lucy, which altogether means “weaver of illustrious light”. I had wanted Mary Stella Maris to be our next daughter’s patroness anyway, so this was a lovely coincidence! Then I was curious to see if there are any saint Penelopes. There aren’t, but there is a St. Irene of Thessalonica whose birth name was Penelope. This is where even more coincidences start coming into play. One of my middle names is Irene for my Italian grandma and, though I’m sure if she was named for a saint it would be St. Irene of Rome, I thought this was an incredible connection for the three of us. (Similarly, I had heard my daughter Ruby’s name on a TV show and fell in love with it; there is a story that my great-grandma heard Irene on a radio program and fell in love with it. I really like that both of my girls have these cool connections to my Gram, with whom I was close).

Ok, so, Penelope nicknamed Penny. The day before we found out gender, we were talking about boy names and realized that we both thought the girl name should just be Penny. We really only like nicknames if we’re going to use the given name and the nickname fairly equally and we knew that we’d be calling this baby Penny 90% of the time. So we switched Penelope to Penny and came up with her two middles (more on that in a bit!). More coincidences presented themselves.

Way back when I was 16, a friend gave me a little penny bank (they were one of those $1 add ons from Claire’s) that had this poem on it: “Place a penny in the slot, close your eyes and wish a lot. Your Prince Charming you’ll receive, if in your heart, you believe.” I started collecting pennies and saving them from that moment on, but instead of just making a wish on them, I’d say a prayer for my future husband and for my own vocation discernment before placing each penny in the bank. Ten years later, my husband and I married and I gave him all of the pennies I had been praying on and saving. We were able to go out to a nice dinner on all the pennies I saved! And that has proved a sort of foundation of prayer and devotion for our marriage. Since pennies played a big role in the young life of our marriage, it was nice to be able to reflect that in our daughter’s name.

But there’s more! My mom’s favorite band was The Beatles who has the song “Penny Lane”. My favorite band is Hanson who has the song “Penny & Me”. My mom has been gone for almost 12 years now and so this shared connection is really special to me. (I also realize that Taylor and Natalie Hanson, fantastic namers that they are, have a daughter Penelope who goes by Penny. Just a coincidence! I didn’t remember until after we had chosen the name.) Also, my best friend Jackie and I became best friends in 7th grade because of a mutual love of Hanson, so I feel like Penny is a nice nod to our friendship, also. Penny is also two syllables like my other kids’ names and ends in the “ee” sound like her sister.

Annalise– There are lots of Ann(e)/as and Elizabeths on my and my husband’s family trees (including me, my sister, my mom, both of my grandmas, my aunt/godmother, another aunt, and one of my great-grandmas), so this is a nice little nod to family. My second middle name is Anne and my daughter Ruby’s is Anastasia, so I also like that we’re keeping An- names going (my mom’s and her mom’s middle names are also Anne). We had considered Annalise for a first name and then revisited it when we changed Penelope to Penny and it fit! It’s also a nod to my maid of honor, Anna, who is now a religious sister, and to another good friend of mine Anna Elizabeth. The “L” in there as a form of Elizabeth was actually really important to me, too. My grandma Irene didn’t have a middle name. When she was confirmed, she took St. Elizabeth and decided to make it her middle name; however, she wanted to be different from “all the other Elizabeths” and so spelled it Lizbeth. She was a firecracker! The L was also important to me because I have other special people in my life whose names begin with L- both of my sisters-in-law have middle names beginning with L, my MOH’s religious name is Sr. Luisa Grace, my grandma Irene’s dad was Louis, my aunt Linda, I had an “aunt” Louise, and some others. I also really like that I basically get a two-for-one name with Annalise! Gotta get as many names in as possible!

Mariae– Last but not least (but a little more succinct)! We wanted a form of Mary in her name, just like big sis has Mae. Originally, we were going to go with Marie for my mother-in-law’s middle name, but it just didn’t feel right to me. I remembered Mariae is the Latin form of Mary (and I think I read it on your blog somewhere once?) and I really liked that and finally convinced my husband it wasn’t too weird lol! It has a little more pizzazz than Marie and then gives everyone their own form of Mary. AND it rhymes with Mae and also my maiden name Bey. Turns out there are a lot of people in our families with Marian names- big sis (Mae), one of my sisters-in-law (Maria), my mother-in-law (Marie), and two of my great-grandmothers (Mary and Marie), and also some cousins!

So, this name not only fits this individual child while keeping her unique and her own person, but it gives so many wonderful nods and connections to people and saints that we love. Between her name and her sister’s name, I think we’ve covered 90% of the females in our life in some way! This is important to me as I like names for our children with lots of meaning but that also give the child a unique identity.”

I mean. Aren’t these amazing names with so many amazing layers of meaning?? I love the saving-pennies-praying-for-future-husband/vocation story so much, how incredible is that anyway, never mind naming their daughter Penny! The connections with so many of the beloved women in Theresa’s family and life and of course Our Lady are tremendous, I was blown away by each detail as I read this from Theresa. And I’m so charmed by siblings Ruby, Peter, and Penny — what a great trio!

Congratulations to Theresa and her husband and big siblings, and happy birthday Baby Penny!!

Penny Annalise Mariae with her big sister and brother ❤

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 — a perfect🎄Christmas gift🎄 for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Maria Therese (nn Maite)!

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Mandi from A Blog About Miscarriage has been a cheerleader for Sancta Nomina from the beginning, and I have turned to her and her blog again and again for help with ministering to moms who have miscarried, including helping to name the babies. Since her own many losses were the catalyst for her blog and ministry, I’m extra happy every time I can share her baby news! I had the great privilege of doing a consultation for her second living baby (and birth announcement) as well as one for her third living baby (and birth announcement), and now I’m excited to share that she’s had her fourth — a baby girl given the so-beautiful name … Maria Therese nicknamed Maite!

Mandi writes,

“Maria Therese was born on November 26 in the midst of a snowstorm that left 19.8” of snow! She is named after the Mother of God and David’s two grandmothers, who were both named Mary, and St. Therese of Lisieux. I call her Maite (pronounced my-tay), a traditional Spanish nickname for girls named Maria Teresa. Her biggest sister and my parents have been calling her Mimi and big brother calls her “fluffy”.

Her name was really easy to choose and we knew we would name our next girl (if we were so blessed) Maria Therese long before we were even pregnant with her. Maria continues our trend of girls names that end in “ia” and it was about time to name a little lady after Our Lady. We started saying a daily rosary as a family earlier this year and both my husband and I have strong devotions to the Blessed Mother (David to Our Lady of Fatima and I to Our Lady of Guadalupe). We chose her name day to be January 1st, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which is a Holy Day of Obligation and our oldest’s baptism day. I love that Therese has a connection to my middle name and my oldest’s middle name, Rose, since St Therese of Lisieux is the “Little Flower” and often associated with roses.

Interestingly, we didn’t find out the sex before birth and our chosen boy’s name was Joseph. I always felt a bit silly when asked about names saying the baby was either Joseph or Maria- the two most quintessential Catholic names! We often got little chuckles when we told people. It just lined up that way this time, Joseph has been our planned boys name for our last two pregnancies (and if we have another baby will be the boy’s name again, we always carry name choices forward to the next baby).”

What an awesome name story!! You know I’m crazy for Marian names, and Maite has long been a favorite of mine (I love Mimi too, but Fluffy is definitely a contender for my favorite here! 😂). I love that they chose a name day for Maite as well! This is just perfection, all around!

Congratulations to Mandi and her husband and big sibs Lucia, David (Davey), and Cecilia (Cici), and happy birthday Baby Maria Therese!!

Maria Therese “Maite” with her big siblings ❤

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 — a perfect🎄Christmas gift🎄 for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Alden Edward!

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Happy feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! Our priest’s name is Juanito, and he has a great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe — I only recently remembered that Our Lady called Juan Diego “Juanito” and “Juan Dieguito.” So sweet and affectionate! I’ll have to ask him if that’s his religious name or his given name. Either way, I love it!

Speaking of Marian names, I posted a consultation for Jess and her husband back in October for their baby boy — I’m so happy to share that Jess has let me know their little guy has arrived and been given the amazing name with amazing initials … Alden Edward V___! I never include last name info in the post title or name announcement, but it’s particularly meaningful here because his monogram is the Marian AVE (aVe)! ❤ ❤ ❤

Jess writes,

“I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving. We had a lot to be thankful for this year. I really appreciate your consultation. We narrowed the names down to Edward, Alden, and Roland. Our daughter was strongly advocating for Edward so she could call her brother Teddy Bear. The birth mom decided to meet me for lunch prior to the delivery. When she asked what we planned to name the baby, I told her the options and she had a very positive reaction to Alden. We named our son Alden Edward after her input. Big sis calls Alden his name, Teddy Bear, and Toots (because he farts a lot). We’re smitten. Thanks again!“

(Toots!! 😂😂😂)

Alden Edward is so handsome! And you know I love the aVe monogram!! What a wonderful holiday season for this family!!

Congratulations to Jess and her husband and big sister Josephine Jean, and happy birthday Baby Alden!!

Alden Edward with big sister Josephine Jean ❤

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 — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!