Housekeeping

Year in review: 2022 (can’t keep Sancta Nomina down!)

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Happy New Year’s Eve!! Happy day before the feast of Mary, Mother of God!! 🎉🎉🎉

I woke up this morning to the news that Pope Benedict died early today — on the last day of 2022, during the octave of Christmas, on the eve of a major Marian feast day, on a day when the whole world commemorates the end of a discrete amount of time and anticipates what comes next — this all seems a perfect day for his time here on earth to come to an end! As the Vatican News article Farewell to Benedict XVI: ‘Humble worker in vineyard of the Lord’ put it, “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has returned to the Father’s House.” Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May in rest in peace. Amen.

As far as my own year in review:

I love doing these posts — I’ve done one every year since I started the blog! You can check them all out here:

I read through them again and again not infrequently — what a gift Sancta Nomina has been for me, and it seems like it’s been so for many of you! As far as 2022 went:

  • Theresa kept the blog going! I posted 19 consultations that she had done, and I know she did private ones as well. One of the public ones was for twins, which is always fun, and one had me chuckling all over again when I reread it yesterday — she was tasked with finding names that ideally represented the parents’ love of punk rock, Doctor Who, and Catholicism! I love that so much! It’s *SO* Sancta Nomina!!

  • I had the great honor of posting 17 birth announcements for the wonderfully named Benedict Jozef, Is@@c Cill!@n, Pia Maris, Lawrence David Joseph, Retta Joy, Annunziata Lucille, Eloise Josephine, Agnes Marie-Josephine, Paschal Joseph, Isabel Martha, Margaret Lily, Mirren Therese and Brigid Evelyn (those twins mentioned above!), Clement Kolbe, W1ll@ R0s3, Louis Sebastian, Clement Joshua Samuel, and Pia Susan. Two Clements! Two Pias! All of these names are so swoony!!

As I included in my Year In Review post last year, one of the things I felt was a failure of mine during 2021 was that I wasn’t able to make my annual St. Anne pilgrimage to thank her for her patronage and intercession. But then, I had the immense blessing of being able to post this on Instagram last January:

Can you believe it?? So amazing!! Then, in April of this year I posted this:

I mean, really. St. Anne has always kept us close! She loves us so much. 💗💗💗

Finally, a Big Thing that happened was that I achieved my 2 millionth hit at the beginning of December!

As I’m posting this, I’m currently at 2,013,494. Amazing. Thank you all for visiting!!

And that’s Sancta Nomina’s 2022! You can continue to find me on Instagram (especially) and Facebook (occasionally) and not at all on Twitter (though my account still exists and my posts still automatically post there) nor Pinterest (also still exists, though I’ve given it up entirely), as well as here on the blog. And my book continues to be one of the greatest things I’ve ever done! I’m endlessly thrilled that I have a book of Marian names to my credit, and I use it *all the time*! In fact, my copy is falling apart — I must get a new one!!

I thank you all, as always, for making this little space of the internet the sweet, cozy, wholesome, fun place it is! Many many prayers and blessings to you all in the New Year!!

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!

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Namespotting, Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday/St. Nicholas Day, and St. Andrew

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Just a couple fun things for you on this day after Thanksgiving:

Over the past couple of days I’ve seen Pete used as a nickname for Preston and Tas used as a nickname for Timothy. I thought those were so fun! I love creative nicknaming, especially when the nickname offers a familiar option for a more unusual given name or for a name that doesn’t have a natural nickname (like Pete for Preston), or when it spices up a common and familiar given name (like Tas for Timothy).

Simcha Fisher had a thread on her Facebook about musical name options — there were some great ideas in the comments! I keep thinking about how perfect Clare Annette is!

And a reminder about the importance of pronouncing others’ names correctly. This is not always easy! But the effort matters. Many of my students have names with unexpected/unfamiliar/difficult-for-my-ear pronunciations and I’ve loved the opportunity to learn about different naming choices and styles, as well as names from other cultures, and the fact that the way that I pronounce consonants/vowels/consonant-vowel clusters as a person for whom American English is my first language can’t necessarily be transferred to every name I come across.

When you’re all doing your Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday/St. Nicholas Day shopping, I just wanted to offer two friendly reminders:

  • My book of Marian names is perfect for anyone who loves names of our faith, whether they’re expecting or not! It’s available at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy Gift Shop (ShopMercy.org) and at Amazon as well (not affiliate links). (If you know any pre-teen/teen girls who like to make name lists, like I always did and so many of you have shared that you did as well, I know they would love my book!)

  • A baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself is always a fun gift to offer expecting parents! I can email you a gift certificate for you to print out for either a Mini Consultation ($25) or an Ordinary Consultation ($50) (descriptions here). If you’d like one, email me at sanctanomina at gmail dot com and I’ll send you an invoice.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Advent starts on Sunday — my house is so excited! Here is a compilation of my Advent and Christmas name posts (also includes some interesting ways to honor an Andrew — so many fun ideas!). And speaking of Andrew, the St. Andrew Novena starts on Nov. 30, which is one of my favorites — read more about it in my CatholicMom article here. Happy Friday!

Fun news on a wonderful feast day!

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Happy Monday everyone!

Today is the feast of both Sts. Ignatius of Antioch and Margaret Mary Alacoque and I’m having goosebumps like crazy over here because I’ve recently been wanting to do a certain thing, but wasn’t sure it was a wise decision given all we have going on in my house, but also that maybe I have a little more time this semester than I have for the past year and a half, so maybe my feeling is a little nudge from heaven that I should do this thing I want to do, which is something I’ve been missing …

So I’d basically decided to do the thing, and was thinking I might do it today, but then thought maybe that was rash and I should chill out a little and just plan on doing it sometime this week, and so I thought I’d look to see what feast days are happening this week because I love timing things for a feast day, and it’s very clear that TODAY is the day! Because — and I know you’ll all appreciate this both for its own sake and also because it’s so connected to baby naming — Ignatius is the name my husband and I gave the baby we miscarried after St. Ignatius of Antioch specifically (his writings on the Eucharist were instrumental in bringing my husband into the Church and he took it as his Confirmation name), and Margaret Mary was the middle name I’d decided on for my last baby if he’d been a girl after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (and also St. Rita, St. Gerard, and Our Lady — all in one name! — and St. M. M. Alacoque herself because of her devotion to the Sacred Heart — “Margaret Mary” checked all the boxes!) — I don’t know how I missed that they both have the same feast day! So yes, today’s Saints are CLEARLY a sign that today is the day to do the thing!

And what is this thing?? I just wanted to let you all know that I am available for consultations again! Theresa has been doing an amazing job for you all, and she’s going to continue doing an amazing job — if you want a consultation from her, please email her directly at TheresaZoeWrites at gmail dot com as you’ve been doing! If you’d like a consultation from me, you can email me at sanctanomina at gmail dot com. Payment details remain the same for both Theresa and me. Please note that if Theresa or I have too many to handle, we’ll share with each other (letting you know ahead of time if that’s the case). I have room for one consultation a week and not too much wiggle room for rush jobs (like if your due date is next week! I’d love to be able to help but I don’t have that flexibility at the moment) — if you email me with a consultation request, I’ll let you know when I can send you my thoughts/ideas/suggestions, so you can decide if it’s too far out.

I really thought that my time doing consultations may have finished, but this fall I’ve been feeling more and more that my big life change of going back to work two summers ago has finally started to just feel like daily life. Like having a new baby! The upheaval eventually calms down. I look forward to hearing from any of you who might like a consultation from me, and I hope you have a wonderful Monday and feast day, and a great week!

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!

Sancta Nomina Update

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Happy feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein! (And my second son’s 16th birthday!) And yesterday was the feast of St. Dominic! Such a great week!!

I’m sorry to have to say out loud what you’ve probably all been suspecting anyway, which is that, very very unfortunately, I just can’t give any dependable time these days to our sweet corner of the internet here. I have had such good intentions of trying to get back to it in between semesters, but life is just in a weird place right now and I feel like my battery is constantly blinking “Low, Low, Low.” Two things of note are that we’re moving my oldest into his dorm in a couple of weeks, and I’ve had the great privilege over the last couple of months of watching my baby nephew a couple/few days a week for my sister and brother-in-law. He’s right next to me right now, as a matter of fact, blowing raspberries at me while I type and his cousins (my boys) run crazy around him! So I’ve got college on one end, babyhood on the other, all my in-between boys, and my students as well — I’m so blessed to have such an up-close front-row seat to the next generation! I pray all the time that God will keep them safe and close to Him, and that they all use their incredible gifts and talents to be lights in the world. Please keep us all in your prayers!

I have an auto-reply on my email now directing you to Theresa with any questions and for all your consultation needs. I’ve been so grateful for Theresa — I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: she’s been keeping Sancta Nomina up and running! And when I was lamenting to her recently that I don’t have the time to give to Sancta Nomina that I want to, she said, “Live your life that you’re being called to right now!” and if that isn’t the actual point, I don’t know what is. Please keep Theresa and her family in your prayers!

On the feast of St. Anne last month, I prayed for all of you and your intentions! I continue to think of you all often, and when I do, I say a Hail Mary for you. I’ve been so grateful for Sancta Nomina — what an incredible gift and blessing it’s been to me to have been able to spend so much time immersed in the beautiful names of our faith, to have connected with so many families trying so hard to bring their children up in the faith, and to have been invited into so many couples’ name conversations — Sancta Nomina has been a “thin place” for me, where heaven has felt extra close. And then also to have my beloved book‘s very existence be due almost entirely to Sancta Nomina! I’m humbled by the incredible gifts God has given me through my funny little interest in names.

Anyway! This isn’t goodbye — I have a few consultations from Theresa that I’m going to try to schedule all today so that they post one a week for the next few weeks, and my interest in names has recently seemed to be perfect for a particular academic/professional pursuit that God seems to be pointing me toward within my job — I’d love to keep you all in the loop about that if it were to come to pass. In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the summer! May God bless you all!

I’m not currently doing consultations, but Theresa Zoe Williams is available to help you! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

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!

Bad news/good news, and an amazing, ancient namey quote!

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Good morning everyone! Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sunday — I included Sunday (like this baby‘s gorgeous name) and the French word for it, Dimanche (it’s a name!), in my book of Marian names in honor of this title! (There’s a bit more info here about including Sunday, or the idea of Sunday — especially specific Sundays — in a name as well.)

I have some bad news to share: I won’t be able to resume doing baby name consultations this summer as I’d hoped. I needed these last couple of weeks to prepare to do so but was thrown a curve ball in the form of some nasty viruses (the one we all know about, and another of the “normal” variety that has nevertheless leveled some of us) that have left me with only enough energy to take care of our family’s basic needs. And my job starts up again in a couple of weeks, just after my oldest graduates high school, and also, if you don’t think that having your oldest graduate high school and having a growing pile of supplies for his dorm room looking at you every time you walk through the house saps you of all your energy (emotional, mental, physical, you name it), I’m here to tell you — it does!! At least for this mama!! Oh my, I just can’t even believe we’re at this point. I’m ecstatic and devastated, so excited and so sad, both/and, truly. My boy is amazing, and the world he’s in now and the world he’s entering are both so blessed to have him.

All that said, good news is: Theresa is still helping me out with consultations! Email her directly to find out her availability and set one up. Also, I’m certainly not abandoning the blog altogether. I have a bunch of backlogged birth announcements I will be posting this summer, hopefully starting this week. But don’t hold me to that! I really can’t be counted on for much at all at the moment, but as always, my intentions are good and I love you all.

I will leave you with this quote, which I thought was amazing! Have any of you come across this before?

“From Antisthenes in the fourth century B.C., who asserted that the beginning of all instruction is the study of names …”*

Isn’t that amazing? I’d never heard of Antisthenes, but he’s on my list to delve into more deeply. So cool!

Have a great Wednesday!!

* Alvarez-Altman, Grace. “A Methodology for Literary Onomastics: An Analytical Guide for Studying Names in Literature.” In Alvarez-Altman, Grace and Frederick M. Burelbach, eds. Names in Literature: Essays from Literary Onomastics Studies. University Press of America, Inc. Boston. 1987. Pp. 1-9. (Affiliate link, though it’s currently unavailable — I had to request it from the library.)

I’m not currently doing consultations, but Theresa Zoe Williams is available to help you! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

For help with Marian names, my book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Year in review: 2021 (new blessings)

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Happy 2022 everyone! Happy Feast of Mary, Mother of God!!

While I’m inclined to say that I hope that 2022 is better than 2021 because of the shadow of this horrible pandemic (both in terms of physical, mental, and economic health, and also in terms of the toll its taken on so many of our relationships with loved ones) and because of the other difficult and troubling things that have happened nationally and worldwide (when I started writing this, I was particularly thinking about the wildfires in Colorado — I know there are several of you that live there, please know that I’m praying for you!), I also look back on the past year and am blown away by the blessings God has showered down on me. I’m sure you all have your own stories of His 2021 goodness!

For me, one of the very biggest blessings was the thing that caused me to go on hiatus from the blog and baby name consulting back in June — I got a job! A job that I have literally been praying for for years! I think you all know that I’ve done *very part-time* freelance writing and editing for years, in and amongst having babies, and of course this beautiful space right here brought with it my ministry of naming and baby name consultations (such a dream!!), and more writing opportunities (CatholicMom and Nameberry, and of course my beautiful book of Marian names [my non-baby magnum opus!]), but I knew there would come a time when I would need a steadier and more reliable source of income, and I suspected that it would coincide with my older boys going to college. Then, last spring, a posting came through my email from the job alert emails I’ve been signed up for for years, and it was as close to the perfect situation as I could have hoped for. It was as a Professional Writing Tutor at a local college, which I applied for and was hired for, and it has turned out to be *even more perfect* than I thought it would be. It works perfectly with our family schedule and with the needs of all of my children, with all of their ages and activities. It has had a particularly positive impact in various ways on my oldest boy, who will be going to college in the fall, and will do so for his brothers when their college time comes as well. It’s required some creative planning and rearranging in terms of my daily mom logistics, but mostly it’s caused barely a blip for our collective family peace and health, even for my littlest guy, for which I couldn’t be more thankful. And it’s work I really love, with students that I’ve totally fallen for, in an environment that I find inspiring as a writer and a lifelong student/pursuer of truth. God is so good. So good!

So! Now that I’ve had almost six months under my belt of this new phase of my motherhood, I think I can dip my toe back into baby name consultations. At least — I really want to! So I’m going to use the month of January to see how I do with it. I have to warn that if I find it too overwhelming, I’ll have to pull back again, and with that possibility in mind, I’m offering only five consultation openings right now. I’m going to do it first come, first served — email me at sanctanomina@gmail.com to claim one of the spots, and then I’ll send you the link to the PayPal button (after posting this, I’m logging off until tomorrow, so unfortunately I can’t promise you an immediate reply). If you’re not one of the first five, don’t worry — Sancta Nomina’s other baby name consultant, Theresa Zoe Williams, can help! I am so grateful to her for picking up where I left off in terms of helping any of you who are struggling with giving your beautiful babies names that are meaningful to our faith. You’ve all kept her busy! I’ve posted 13 of her consultations since the summer, which is so great. In fact, if you want to purchase a consultation with her instead of me, that’s totally fine and wonderful! Simply purchase one using the PayPal buttons and then email her directly at  TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com with your namey details. (Do note that the buy-my-book-get-a-discounted-consultation deal only applies to consultations I do.)

As if a major hiatus and the addition of a new baby name consultant weren’t enough for one year, look what else happened at Sancta Nomina in 2021!

  • I posted 12 birth announcements: Thea Noelle, Astrid Beatrice, Isla Frances, Matthias Daniel, Leo Nicholas, Caroline Grace, Gemma Theadora, James Patrick Albert, Calista Eucharistica, Lawrence Stephen, twins Leo Bessette and Gregory Augustin, and Roman Gabriel Charles. Children are such treasures, and I feel the same way about beautiful faith-y names — these are all so gorgeous!

Not too bad for a year in which I was mostly gone for a full half of it!

One thing I’m very disappointed that I wasn’t able to work out this year was my annual pilgrimage to a St. Anne shrine in order to thank her for her patronage — I fully intended to, but my job started just when I normally would have planned such a trip. I kept hoping I’d be able to figure it out, but I underestimated how knackered I’d be with my outside-the-house job (you know what I mean? It’s a special kind of exhaustion that happens when daily life takes on a new look, even when the new look is all good. Like having a baby!). Hmm … now that I think about it, though 2021 is over, there’s still time before my next blogiversary … so really, if I can get it done between now and then, it still counts for this past year, right? Right? Right! Okay. That’s now a New Year’s Resolution — I’ll keep you posted!

Also, though it passed with no announcement or fanfare, this past June marked my SEVENTH blogiversary! Seven is a special number to me, both because of its biblical holiness, and because of my seven boys. Also, I started the blog when my now-seven-year-old was a baby. Seven seven seven! I don’t get crazy about numbers, but I admit this felt extra meaningful to me. I’ll further admit that I wondered if, with my seventh blogiversary and concurrent getting of a new job, that God was allowing me to understand that my time at Sancta Nomina had run its course. But I’ve prayed quite a bit about it and I don’t think I’m done here — not yet anyway. Even just going through the last year’s posts to write this, and the actual writing of it itself, has provided peace, inspiration, and a connection with heaven and the blessing of welcoming babies into the world — things that I have always loved about Sancta Nomina. You all and this space are the best. ❤

Going forward, I’ll probably continue posting a lot less on social media — the connection between Facebook and the blog got glitchy a while ago, so my posts don’t automatically post over there anymore, and I’ve pulled way back from Facebook in general, so likely there won’t be much over there Sancta Nomina-wise (unless I figure out the problem); I deleted the Twitter app from my phone a while ago and haven’t checked at all since (though my posts should still be posting automatically there); Instagram remains my favorite platform, so if you see me on any socials, it’ll likely be there (@ sanctanomina). I often encounter some namey thing that I know no one else in the world will understand or appreciate the way you guys will — between the blog and Instagram, I hope to keep sharing what I discover!

And that’s 2021 in review! I always love pulling together these bird’s eye snapshots of the blog over the past year — you can read the others here:

We shared a lot of great times! I’m looking forward to 2022 with hope and trust, and I pray for the same for you as well! God bless you all!

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

Year in review: 2020 (better than expected)

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Happy feast (a day late) of Mary, the Mother of God!! And Happy New Year!! Have we ever been so happy to see a new year?!!

Last year was certainly the year of Bad Things. So much suffering, and none of us untouched, though many of us were scourged more than others.

As I started to go back through my posts from 2020, I wondered if this was going to be a bummer of a post — was there anything good that came out of this past year? I was quickly reminded that, yes!, there was so much good that came out of this past year: all your beautiful babies! Sancta Nomina exists for babies and their families — it was such a joy to be surrounded by the hope and love of each of you as I reread your stories. What a beautiful way to begin this new year! I know you’ll love to do so as well:

  • I did 66 baby name consultations in 2020, 25 of which I was given permission to post! You can find them (and all previous consultation posts) here.
  • I posted birth announcements for 40 babies! (All birth announcements can be found here.) Welcome again to Perrin Fae, Bosco Anthony, Michael Gabriel, Barbara Josephine, Lillian Joy, Liliane Cruz, Anna, Claude Indiana Emmanuel, Chiara Maris, Valor Joseph, Magnus Craig, Marigold Azélie, Lolek Augustine, Felicity Colette, Levi Nathaniel, Jeffery Sherwood, Charlotte Avery Katherine, Thérèse Lourdes, Noah Anthony, Benedict Campion Marie, Evangeline Truth, Elanor Josephine, Felix Owen, Sojourn Hyssop Arise, Magdalene Anne, Arthur Paul, Michael Augustine, Iris Miriam, Bernadette Frances, Henry Kapaun, Aurelia-Rose Celeste, Titus Joseph, Magdalen Gianna, Tristan Raphael, Oskar Karl Wolfgang, William Daniel, Judah Abraham, Ann Margaret, Philip Charles, and Agnes Therese Marie! Some of our favorite public Catholic personalities and businesses are represented in this list of new babies, including Studio Senn, Catholic All Year, Just Love Prints, Rose Harrington Art, Philip Rivers, In Honor of Design, Leah Darrow, Camp Patton, and Trials of Faith (I love supporting all of you who are doing your part to be light in the world!). Some of these babies join older siblings who had previously been celebrated on the blog — it’s such fun to see families grow! I love welcoming new families as well — thank you for sharing your baby joy!

The hardships of the past year weren’t absent from the blog, however. I wrote specifically about the wretched virus a couple of times:

I shared resources for continuing the fight to overcome racial injustice:

And I wrote about the sad life of Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) and the sad deaths of Kobe and Gianna Bryant and their co-passengers.

In the business-as-usual category, I shared some thoughts on the 2019 name data that was finally released by the Social Security Administration after a several-months-long delay. I was so grateful to be able to take my annual St. Anne pilgrimage to thank her for her care for us all. I posted some Fun Friday questions:

I did some name spotlights:

I shared these name stories:

I welcomed one “celebrity guest”:

And I pulled together these meaty posts:

I continued writing for CatholicMom.com:

And Nameberry:

I again offered my now-annual and super-popular (thank you!!) Black Friday/Cyber Monday baby name consultation deals, and instituted the Consultation-for-Book deal, which will continue indefinitely!

One weird thing that happened is that WordPress did some sort of site redesign that has affected my ability to see comments on posts as they come in — by the time I realized this a few months ago, I’d already received a whole bunch of comments, and as anyone who has ever emailed me has likely encountered, when I have a backlog of something (emails, comments) it takes me a looong time to get caught up. I’m still not caught up on post comments — I’m at least a couple months behind. I’m so sorry! I’ve always loved the conversation on here in the comments, and I’m always writing, “Catch up on blog comments” on my daily to-do list. I’ll keep plugging away!

For 2021: It’s the Year of St. Joseph! I can’t wait to see all the babies named for our good St. Joseph! And I have some new ideas for Sancta Nomina that I think you’ll love! Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of months, and in the meantime, I hope you continue to enjoy the content that we all love: consultations and birth announcements and I’m always happy to receive name stories about the beautiful ways you’ve reflected our faith in your children’s names, whether you’ve had a consultation or not!

As always, my every-year word for Sancta Nomina is gratitude: for all of you, for this beautiful ministry I’ve been allowed to have, for the joy and hope your babies and the names for our faith provide, and for the love God has for each one of us. ❤ ❤ ❤

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

Year in review: 2019 (scrabbling back)

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Happy New Year’s Eve everyone!! 🎉🎉🎉

I look forward to doing my Year in Review posts every New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day — it’s SO FUN to look back on all that was accomplished in the last year!

I’m describing 2019 as the year of “scrabbling back,” since much of it was devoted to healing physically and mentally from the baby’s birth in September 2018, which meant my efforts on the blog were slow and erratic, especially in the beginning. Worse, I had to keep putting off returning to baby name consultations — I knew you all understood, but it was so painful to me to know there were mamas (mostly, but papas too!) who were hoping for help naming their sweet babies, and I couldn’t do so! But I gained steam as the year drew to a close — take a look!:

Henry James
Felicity Victoria Kathleen
Michael Dominic
Greer Eileen
Ev@nd3r H@wth0rn (alt characters used for privacy)
Christian Gabriel
Noelle Katherine
Perpetua Carolyn
Bridget Marie
Reina Grace
Basil Anthony Philip
Christopher Rex called Rex
Basil Grace
Linus John
Helena Faustina James
Clement Joseph
Lucy Adelaide
Peter Joseph
Sunday Josephine
Hildegard Edna Marie
Abigail Violet
Genevieve Immaculee Grace
Solan Peter and Magdalen Anne
Helena Mary
Cecily Germaine
Cl3m3nt Mich@el
Theodore Luke
Rosemary Ruth
Ariston Blaise
Finnian Agustin
Benedict Reid
Elizabeth Ríonach called Liesel
Alden Edward
Maria Therese called Maite
Penny Annalise Mariae
Lincoln David

Speaking of St. Anne, she’s been our patroness since almost the beginning, and this year I also dedicated Sancta Nomina (blog + social media + all associated work) to Our Lady — I should have thought to do so before!

What a year it’s been! I am, as always, so grateful for this little space, and for all of you. I love how wholesome and good it is here — it is such a great antidote to all the bologna, isn’t it? I know 2020’s going to be an amazing year! The word I got for 2020  by Jen Fulwiler’s Word of the Year Generator was THRIVE*, which seems perfect following a year of “scrabbling back”! I hope you’re looking forward with as much hope and joy as I am! Happy Eve of the Feast of Mary, Mother of God!!**

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

*Be sure to try out her Saint Name Generator as well! (I got Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati!)

**Don’t forget Jan. 1 is a holy day of obligation!

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!

Christmas gift certificates can be redeemed starting today!

sanctanomina Housekeeping

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope you all had a happy, holy day! And happy feast (today) of St. Stephen, the first martyr!

Just a reminder that those of you who purchased Christmas gift certificates with my Black Friday special can redeem them starting today!

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!

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sanctanomina Housekeeping

I signed up for WordAds a while ago to generate a little income from the blog, but I’ve heard from a few of you recently about issues with the ads (inappropriate ads, cluttered posts that make them difficult to read, etc.) and I’ve decided to cancel the ads — they didn’t bring in enough to justify the distractions and I dearly want the content here to bless you readers and help you and your families. And I don’t want the consultation posts to suffer either — I know the parents look forward to your feedback! If any of you were put off from commenting on Amy’s consultation on Monday because of the ads, please take a fresh look!

Hopefully you all have a better experience here going forward! ❤ ❤ ❤

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!