Naming in the time of coronavirus

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I forgot to share here the latest piece I wrote for Nameberry, from a few weeks ago: Babies Named Corona Are No Joke. It was fascinating to research the various disaster-inspired names that were bestowed on babies in the last century, and, as noted, we’re already seeing the coronavirus pandemic inspiring baby names.

If I were naming a baby born during the pandemic or whose existence was inspired by it (whether because of the Stay at Home orders, or because of reordered priorities in light of this encounter with widescale grief and death, etc.), I think I’d like to nod to the difficulties in some way, though I think I’d probably be inclined to stick more to Saints I might have asked for intercession, and/or (God forbid) the name(s) of any loved one(s) that might have been badly affected or tragically lost, or the names of associated heroes (family/friend heroes or public heroes). What about you? If you’re expecting a baby during this time, or think you might in the near future, are you considering including some connection to the coronavirus in the baby’s name? If so, how do you think you would do so? On the flip side, are any of you abhorred by this idea?


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!

Talking naming at Nameberry, and book endorsements

screenshot-06.26.18I have a fun, chatty piece up at Nameberry on naming this baby! Baby Name Challenge: Naming a 7th boy!

Man! It is a challenge! We haven’t made a huge amount of progress since Abby’s consultation for us! I’m 27 weeks today, so we still have time, but I know how fast that time’s going to fly! I think the deadline of, you know, BIRTH will really help us choose … I’ve always worked better with a deadline … I think I’m hung up on trying to find the *perfect* name, which just looks different to my husband than it does to me. It’s not any different than it was with the other boys, but I admit I do feel extra pressure to get it exactly right this time. As if we didn’t the other times! (We did!)

In book news, I wanted to share some of the endorsements it received with you — I think they sell the book as well as or better than I ever could. I’m so grateful for them and humbled by them! Here are the first two pages:

Maker:L,Date:2017-8-19,Ver:5,Lens:Kan03,Act:Kan02,E-Y

Maker:L,Date:2017-8-19,Ver:5,Lens:Kan03,Act:Kan02,E-Y

I’ll share the rest of them with you in subsequent posts, a couple pages at a time. If I could also prevail upon any of you who have bought the book to leave a review on Amazon, I would be ever so grateful! Have a great Tuesday!


My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady, is now available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon! It’s a perfect for expectant mamas, baby showers, and just because. 🙂 

New post up at Nameberry!

I’ve got a post up at Nameberry today on Marian names! Marian Names Way Beyond Mary, Marie and Maria!

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(Nameberry co-founder Linda Rosenkrantz gave my book a wonderful endorsement, chose this beautiful picture for the post, and has just generally been wonderful and supportive, I’m so grateful to her!)


My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady, is now available to order from ShopMercy.org (it ships free through May 12!) and Amazon! It’s a perfect Mother’s Day gift, as well as for baby showers and just because. If you feel moved to leave a review on Amazon, it would be greatly appreciated. 🙂 ❤

New post up at Nameberry!

I have a new post up at Nameberry today! Some Surprising Surnames to Consider: From Ames to Wilkie.

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I had a lot of fun putting together this post — as you’ll read, it was the result of research I spent last winter doing, and I have a bunch more topics to write about from that same research! The book I refer to, A Dictionary of English Surnames by P.H. Reaney and R.M. Wilson, is a treasure trove of interesting tidbits about surnames used in England over the last ten centuries (I wrote a little about it here).

I’m interested to hear what you think about the post, and whether you would consider or have considered any of the surnames as first names for your own children!

New Nameberry article about “hiding” names

I have a new article up at Nameberry today! How to Hide a Problematic Name.

nameberry-screen-shot-07.19.17I got the idea for it during the Damian/Damien conversation of April and May and the Beretta conversation of June and July (sounds so monumental!). I was just thinking about how so many of us have names we love that we might be scared to use, for whatever reason, and I was thinking about reclaiming names, and thought it would be fun and helpful to put together some ideas for how to both use the name you love and avoid the negativity (either for yourself or for your child as he/she moves through the world with the name).

I’ll be interested to see what you all think of it!

New Nameberry post up!

A piece I wrote for Nameberry posted earlier this week, with a new angle on the topic of name regret: Baby Name Remorse: Helping Your Children Love Their Names (Avoiding name regret, junior version).

I’m sure many (most?) of us would be upset if any of our children decided they didn’t like the names so lovingly and carefully chosen for them, so I wanted to come up with some strategies that might help avoid that. I’d love to know what you think of my ideas! If any of you have experiences with this — not liking the name your parents gave you, or if your kids have let you know they don’t like their names — I’d love to hear that too!

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New articles up at CatholicMom and Nameberry

My recent post about the alleged lack of naming after women and moms inspired me to write two different articles on different aspects of the conversation — one for Catholic Mom and one for Nameberry. Both are now up! Check out Gender inequality in naming? at Catholic Mom and Why So Few Girl Juniors? at Nameberry. I’d love to hear your thoughts on both articles!

 

 

 

Article on saints’ names up at Nameberry today! And that St. Anne!

I have a new piece up at Nameberry today! Usually I try to stick to low to zero Cathtasticalness in my Nameberry pieces, but Pam asked me if I’d write an article on cool and unusual saints’ names, which was awesome of her and exciting for me, and I’m really pleased with how it came out: Best Cool, Unusual Saints’ Names.

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(It goes without saying, of course, that I don’t actually think these are the*only* best cool, unusual saints’ names — there’s an invisible “Some of the” before “best” in that title.)

And that image! Pam chose it — a peg doll of St. Zelie! — and included the bit at the bottom about the SaintAnneStudio on Etsy — can it be mere coincidence that she chose a shop named after St. Anne without any knowledge that St. Anne is our patroness?? That St. Anne! Up to lots of good!! 😄❤😄❤😄❤

Speaking of St. Anne … my second blogiversary is Monday (I know! What!) and we all (my hubs and I and the kids and my brother-in-law) are taking a mini pilgrimage to a St. Anne’s Shrine on Sunday (different one than we visited last year), during which I’ll be thanking her for her intercession and patronage, and praying for all of you and your intentions! If you’d like to send me your intentions, whether in the comments below or via email (sanctanomina@gmail.com), I’d love to take them with me. This will be a mighty efficacious trip, since “traveling with the kids” is no where on my Things I Love About Motherhood list, so you can be assured the graces will be a-raining down upon you! 😁

I’d love to hear what you think about my Nameberry piece, and don’t forget to send me your intentions!

New Nameberry article up!

I know I’ve told you all a hundred times before, but you make this blog. Without you guys, it would just be my personal online name file folder with all the tidbits I want to keep together in one place, but with you — Sancta Nomina sings!

Yet another example of your invaluable input is my latest piece up at Nameberry: Baby Names Quandary: Use it now or bank a name you love?

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The comments you left on this consultation (Felix now or Felicity later?) and this post on whether or not you reserve names for later use and this post on naming regret informed the article, and I think a lot of parents will benefit from our collective wisdom. So thank you again! ❤

Sancta Nomina around the web, and Happy Easter!

My March column at CatholicMom.com posted last Wednesday, and I’m only now getting a chance to let you all know! As you’ll read, it was inspired by the fact that search terms having to do with nicknames for Victor bring people to my blog more than any other search term, except for those specifically looking for the blog (e.g., “sancta nomina blog”). I still find that pretty amazing!

You might remember that I’d done a consultation last year for nicknames for Victor for Theresa of Zelie & Co./Happy Nest Home Goods fame, so I re-tooled it a little for CatholicMom and I’m delighted I was able to have it post right before Easter as, to me, Victor is all Jesus and His triumph over death: Celebrating Jesus’ Easter Victory By Name

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And today, I have a new article up at Nameberry, which was greatly helped by the comments you all left on this post! Check it out: How Star Athletes Influence Baby Names

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With that, I’m signing off until next week, when I’ll post the Monday consultation as usual (for one of our most regular readers! So exciting!). I’ll remember you all in my prayers over the next few somber and celebratory days, and I hope you all have a very blessed Holy Week and a wonderfully Happy Easter!! ❤ ❤ ❤