Naming nitty gritty

Backing into a patron saint

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This topic is one of my very favorites,  because I frequently come across families who chose names they love for their children but later regretted not having figured out a patron saint connected to their names, whether because they hadn’t really thought about the saint thing or because they’d had a later conversion/reversion/strengthening of their faith. I’ve seen some real suffering because of this! And I really really love being able to put a mama’s mind at ease. I wrote about the idea of “backing into a patron saint” in my CatholicMom article “Finding your patron saint (or being found),” but I wanted to share with you a real-life example from one of you wonderful readers. She writes,

“I’m wondering if you can help me with a “reverse” consultation. I’m Catholic, but didn’t necessarily prioritize choosing a Saint’s name for my first two children. My Catholic faith has grown a lot recently and I’m a little sad that I didn’t intentionally give my son a Saint’s name. My first born daughter’s [middle name is] Marie. Marie is my middle name, and while that was the main reason we gave it to her, I’m happy that it also honors Mary. My son’s name is Flynn Carlson. Flynn is my husband’s grandmother’s maiden name and Carlson is my maiden name. My husband … loves anything and everything Irish. When we found the name Flynn in a baby name book he fell in love and had to have it. I’m one of four girls, so my maiden name will not be carried on by anyone in my family, so I really wanted to give my maiden name as a middle name to my son.

I’d love for my son to have a Saint that is associated with his name, if possible. I know that a patron Saint doesn’t have to be associated with a name and I realize that ideally the qualities of a Saint should inspire parents to choose a name rather than trying to match a Saint to a name after the fact. St. Patrick is an obvious choice for a patron Saint, as Flynn is an Irish surname, but my husband’s middle name is Patrick and we may end up using that name as a middle name for a future son if we are so blessed. I’ve also always had a connection to St. Francis, and have always sung the prayer of St. Francis to my son to put him to sleep. I would have had a hard time naming a boy Francis, so even though I’m inspired by him, the name didn’t really stand a chance. Is it horrible that I’ve told myself that since Flynn and Francis both start with F, I can make a case that St. Francis is his patron Saint?

Anyway, I thought I’d just propose a challenge to you to see if you could come up with any Saints that might be associated with his name (Flynn Carlson). I think you have more expertise in this area than I do, and it would be fun to see what you come up with (if anything – I’m prepared if this is too strange of a request).”

It’s not a strange request at all, and I’m so delighted to offer my thoughts.

Flynn Carlson is SUCH a handsome combo!! I looked up Flynn first, which behindthename.com said means “descendant of Flann,” so I looked up Flann and it’s said to mean “red.” Another of my resources, Dictionary of Patron Saints’ Names, picks up on this meaning in offering a patron for Flynn—it points to St. Rufus, which means “red haired,” of which there are many, as well as a person in the New Testament.

But my favorite idea for a patron for Flynn Carlson is based on his middle name. It means “son of Carl/Charles,” and there are some great Saints by that name! My personal favoriteis St. John Paul II, whose given name at birth was Karol—the Polish form of Charles/Carl. But I think this mama (who has German ancestry) might love Bl. Karl, Emperor of Austria. I know Austria doesn’t equal Germany, but they’re so close I’m hoping it might hit her just right! I read about him just recently after Theresa mentioned in a comment  and love him—he lived recently enough that there’s a photo of him, which I actually posted on my Instagram recently. There’s also St. Charles Borromeo, who’s awesome, and a few others, some of whom are known as Carl/Carlo. If my maiden name was Carlson, I would be so excited to use it for a son, knowing that it would have both family and saintly connections!

I also really love the connection this mama has already made between Flynn and Francis — I think that’s lovely, especially since she’s always sung the Prayer of St. Francis to him. It’s kind of like St. Francis chose Flynn!

If any of you are struggling with a similar issue, please feel free to email me! Every little one should have a patron saint! ❤

Names for the Glorious Mysteries

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It’s Easter Tuesday!! Hallelujah and hurrah!! ❤ 😀 ❤

It’s the perfect Tuesday to continue the Mysteries of the Rosary series with a post about names for the Glorious Mysteries! If you remember, last week I posted about Sorrowful Mystery Names, and you were all so great with your comments! Lots of good ideas there!

These are the Glorious Mysteries (read more here) (and here’s how to pray the Rosary):

The Resurrection of Our Lord
The Ascension into Heaven
The Descent of the Holy Spirit
The Assumption of Mary
The Coronation of Mary

Names associated with the Glorious Mysteries might include:

Girls

Assumpta, Assunta, Asunción — a traditional girl’s name referring to the Assumption

Anastasia — means “resurrection”

Corona — means “crown,” for Our Lady’s Crowning

Dominica, Dominique — from Dominic, which is from Latin for “of the Lord,” and was traditionally given to a baby born on a Sunday

Evangeline — means “good news”

Gloria, Glory — the glory of Easter! And the Glorious Mysteries!

Jemima — means “dove,” for the Holy Spirit

Magdalene/a, Madel(e)ine — for Mary Magdalene, who was the first to see the Risen Christ

Mary, etc. — any of the Mary names would be a perfect nod to the Marian mysteries

Paloma — means “dove”

Pascale, Pascaline, Pasqualina — means “related to Easter”

Regina — means “queen,” for the Crowning of Our Lady

Renata, Renée — means “reborn”

Salome — one of the women who discovered the tomb was empty

Vida, Vita — means “life”

 

Boys

Aidan — from a name meaning “fire,” for the Holy Spirit’s tongues of fire

Ambrose — means “immortal”

Cináed (often anglicized as Kenneth) — means “born of fire”

Colum, Columba — means “dove,” for the Holy Spirit

Dominic — see Dominica, Dominique above

Emmaus — Jesus met Cleopas and another on the road to Emmaus after the Resurrection (so like Emmett!)

Ignatius — connected to the Latin ignis, which means “fire”

Jonah — means “dove”

Paschal, Pascal, Pascoe — see Pascale, Pascaline, Pasqualina above

Renatus, René — see Renata, Renee above

Stephen — means “crowned”! How great is Stephen as a nod to Our Queen!

Vitus, Vitale/y — see Vida, Vita above

 

What others can you add to this list? (The Holy Spirit names came from this post; I only included the ones that seemed particularly connected to the Descent of the Holy Spirit.)

+ Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let us praise and exalt him above all forever. +

Names for the Sorrowful Mysteries

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A few weeks ago Shelby suggested a post on names for the Mysteries of the Rosary, which I loved right away — what a great idea! So every Tuesday for the next four weeks, I’m going to post on a particular set of Mysteries, starting today with the Sorrowful Mysteries, which is so apt for Holy Week, and also for yesterday’s attacks in Brussels. Suffering Jesus, help us.

In case you need a refresher, these are the Sorrowful Mysteries (all referring to Jesus’ Passion and Death) (read more here):

The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging at the Pillar
The Crowing with Thorns
The Carrying of the Cross
The Crucifixion

And here’s how to pray the Rosary.

Shelby and Mary-Agnes both offered some ideas, and I’ve spent the last couple weeks jotting down some more as I thought of them — there are a good few!

Girls

Cruz — cruz is Spanish for “cross” and refers to the Cross of the Crucifixion; used for boys and girls

Dolores — Spanish for “sorrows,” traditionally used for Our Lady of Sorrows (María de los Dolores) and here could refer to both her and to the Sorrowful Mysteries, or to the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) — the name for the path in Jerusalem Jesus walked on his way to the Crucifixion

Gethsemane — the name of the garden where Jesus suffered His Agony; behindthename lists it as a female name

Magdalen(e/a), Maddelana, Madeleine/Madeline — Mary Magdalene was at the foot of the Cross

Maricruz — a Spanish contraction of María and Cruz

Mary — Our Lady was at the foot of the Cross

Olivia, Olive — for the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (an olive grove); the nickname Via for Olivia would bring in an added nod to the Via Dolorosa (see Dolores above)

Pilar — a Spanish girl’s name meaning “pillar,” which can be a nod to the Scourging at the Pillar (it’s a Marian name referring to the unrelated title María del Pilar — Our Lady of the Pillar, from a Spanish apparition)

Regina — meaning “queen” (or perhaps “royalty” would be the better sense here) because of the Crowning with Thorns

Ruby — “red,” for Jesus’ Blood poured out for us in His Passion and Death

Scarlett — same as Ruby

Veronica — she wiped Jesus’ Face during the Carrying of the Cross

 

Boys

Cruz — cruz is Spanish for “cross” and refers to the Cross of the Crucifixion; used for boys and girls

Cyrene — Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry His Cross

Dismas — the name traditionally given to the repentant thief crucified next to Jesus

John — John the Beloved Disciple was at the foot of the Cross with Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene

Oliver — see Olivia/Olive above

Rex, Regis — meaning “king” because of the Crowing with Thorns; see Regina above

Simon — see Cyrene above

Tristan — often considered to mean “sad” because of its similarity to Latin tristis (sad)

 

What others can you add to this list?

+ For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. +

 

 

Okay to name a baby after a Servant of God?

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I received an email from a worried mama about wanting to use the name Léonie, after St. Therese’s sister Servant of God Léonie Martin, but she’d heard that we’re not supposed to name a baby after a Servant of God because it’s celebrating someone who isn’t yet a saint or blessed.

After prayer and study, I’d say that it’s totally fine to name after a Servant of God. The Church has no requirements regarding naming any more, other than that the names chosen must not be “foreign to Christian sentiment” (Canon 855). She still has a preference for names being given after Saints (no. 2156), but since there’s no requirement of that, it follows that there’s no rule against naming for a Servant of God. Indeed, there’s no rule against naming after anyone (except some of those discussed on the blog last week, like Lucifer, for example, because the name is “foreign to Christian sentiment”). I think of all the babies named after family members and friends and celebrities and athletes — as long as their names aren’t foreign to Christian sensibility, there’s no issue at all. Especially since many (most?) names can trace back to a Saint anyway! For this particular example, it might be helpful to know that there’s a Bl. Marie Leonie Paradis who predated Leonie Martin by just a little bit, and any of the Sts. Leo can serve as patron as well, so the name Leonie itself is no problem whatsoever. I suppose it’s always wise to remember that because a Servant of God hasn’t yet been fully researched, there might still be unsavory elements that show themselves that would prevent him or her from moving on in the canonization process — that could be hard for a little namesake, and a back-up saint (like Bl. Marie Leonie Paradis) might be good idea from that perspective as well.

Bottom line, in answer to this question: As far as I can tell, there’s no problem naming a child after a Servant of God.

In doing research though, it became clear that it’s probably important to discuss what’s okay in terms of venerating a Servant of God, and whether naming a baby after a SOG counts as veneration and if so, is it still okay.

First, according to the Catholic Dictionary the definition of veneration when used in regards to the saints is:

“Honor paid to the saints who, by their intercession and example and in their possession of God, minister to human sanctification, helping the faithful grow in Christian virtue.”

There’s a difference between public and private veneration. For example, the web site for the cause for the canonization of Ven. Fr. Michael McGivney explains,

“Several members of the Father McGivney Guild have asked about the possibility of developing a Father McGivney holy hour that could be celebrated before the exposed Blessed Sacrament.

The norms of the Church in this matter are very clear. Eucharistic holy hours are to be encouraged but, when praying before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, all prayers should be directed to Christ, who is present in the sacred host. The Church does not permit us to pray to Father McGivney in our public worship.

You will note that all the prayer cards you receive from the Guild are directed to God, not to Father McGivney. We are humbly asking God to hear our petition for the canonization of Father McGivney. Only at a later stage, with the permission of the Church, can we publicly address Father McGivney in prayer.”

The Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center points out that,

“Beatified persons are called Blesseds. They may receive the veneration of the faithful within certain limits set by the Church, but may not be venerated in an organized public manner throughout the whole Church.“

EWTN points out in its explanation of the canonization process that,

“Blesseds may receive public veneration at the local or regional level, usually restricted to those dioceses or religious institutes closely associated with the person’s life. “Public veneration” in this use of the term doesn’t mean that it is done in public; rather,that it is an act done by the clergy, or delegated laity, in the name of the Church (Mass, Divine Office, images in churches etc.), even if done in private. On the other hand, “private veneration” means veneration by individuals or groups acting in their own name, even if done “in public.” While the Church restricts the public venration [sic] of Blesseds, Catholics are free to privately venerate them.”

And while this private v. public veneration has so far focused just on Blesseds and beyond, I did find this, from “Servants of God” by Wilhelm Schamoni in The Irish Monthly, September 1947; published by the Irish Jesuit Province and available here:

“The individual Christian is quite at liberty to venerate as saints those Christians of whose holiness he is convinced. On the other hand, the Church permits official veneration, that is veneration in public worship, only after ecclesiastical inquiry.”

Based on all that, I feel confident in thinking private veneration of a Servant of God is okay. Is naming a baby after a SOG a form of veneration? I think it could probably go either way. If veneration is honor, than any kind of honor naming could be considered veneration — I think non-Catholics would probably heartily disagree with that, since (1) they freely name after people in the Bible and (2) I think most of them are horrified by the word “venerate” used for anyone but God. Based just on that, perhaps naming isn’t a form of veneration? On the other hand, based on what Wilhelm Schamoni says in the last quote I provide above, veneration could extend to one’s grandmother or parish priest if of their “holiness he is convinced,” so maybe honor naming *is* a form of private veneration, which seems acceptable.

Do you all agree? Are any of you familiar with other resources that discuss veneration/naming in honor of Servants of God? Are there any Servants of God you feel particularly close to? (I love Elisabeth Leseur.) Would you name a baby after any of them, or have you?

 

 

Eleanor: Take 37

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I feel like I’ve posted about Eleanor more than enough: first that it’s not related Helen, despite everyone’s hopes that it is; then, that it might be related to Helen after all; then, Sara (DMNES expert) said it’s actually unlikely to be related to Helen … this name! It’s being kind of a pain!

Lisa emailed me today with a pretty great piece of info though:

“… a couple of weeks ago I was reading about Bl. Archangela Girlani (had never heard of her except from the book I’m reading- The Incorruptibles) whose birth name was Eleanor (I also saw it spelled Elanor) … I was thinking maybe that could be a saint association if people are looking for one — sort of like how St. Teresa Benedicta and Edith Stein are both used/ kind of interchangeable or JPII and Karol? She’s not a modern saint but in the book I’m reading it was mentioned that they exhumed her remains again in the 1960s and her body was still incorrupt — definitely a stretch but it’s a little bit of a modern connection.”

Yes yes yes! I love it! I would absolutely agree that Eleanor can have Bl. Archangela as a patron! (Side note: Archangela! Love it!)

I feel like there are some that would still really love the Eleanor-Helen connection, and I’m still feeling like it’s possible (not in a “yes, they’re etymologically related” way, but more a “it’s not uncommon to find Eleanor used in honor of a Helen” kind of way), but for those who just love Eleanor and want a saintly connection and might have previously looked to Helen because it seemed the obvious choice, Bl. Archangela might be really perfect!

Thanks to Lisa for this great tidbit! (Also? I LOVE The Incorruptibles! I used to pore over it in utter fascination when I was growing up. Catholics have the coolest stuff.)

My weirdo namey mind strikes again

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I know that some of you do this, I’m sure of it (right? right?), but I also know that it’s really weird, and I think you all are the only ones I can tell that might appreciate it!

I’ve been musing on the names Benjamin and Gwendolyn  for a while (since the Fountains of Carrots podcast, because Haley has a Benjamin and a Gwen) and how cool it is that they have the exact same number of syllables and rhythm and a rhyming first syllable and ending syllable but are completely different otherwise. I really love that kind of thing — names that are totally different but have a connecting thread. A real-life example that I love is someone I know whose kids are A!dan, Laur3n, and Mad3lyn — I love that all of them have the same sound at the end of their names, but spelled three different ways (-an, -en, -yn). The latter two are twins, and I think they’re names are awesomely matched in terms of each seeming very much their own but subtly connected through that last syllable at the same time.

Anyway, whenever I think of two names that I think really go well together for specific reasons — like syllables+rhythm+similar-sounding beginning and/or ending syllables — I like to try to think of a third, to make a nice group of three. It’s one of the reasons I loved so much the imaginary triplets post of a while back.

So yes, I have spent a ridiculous amount of my free mental energy thinking of the perfect name to go with the hypothetical sibling set of Benjamin and Gwendolyn. And then … I got it:

Hendrickson.

Benjamin, Gwendolyn, and Hendrickson.

It’s beyond weird how much satisfaction it’s given me to consider these three names together.

 

Pope told parents to name their daughters after Mary?

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Whew! My head is spinning after yesterday’s post! You all had so many good thoughts! I do want to let you know that my computer (or WordPress?) has been acting up recently and I can’t always interact with the comments the way I want to — sometimes I’m not able to “like” them in the notifications, sometimes I miss them completely … just this morning I started writing down all the posts that had new comments so I could go back to each one to like all the comments (since the notifications thing wasn’t working) and decided I just can’t — it would take me all morning! But I love each one of your comments, I love all the feedback, I love that this blog is exactly what I hoped it would be when I started it — a searchable database of Catholic name info. You’re all the best! ❤

I also have some more thoughts on yesterday’s post, but I think I need to sit with it all for a while more and organize my thoughts. Stay tuned!

So this is the post I was going to post yesterday before I got sidetracked by Abby’s post. I was doing some name research the other day (you don’t say) ( 😉 ), chatting with some family members about family names, and one of my cousins said she thought, in reference to the many Marys in our family of a certain age (mostly born in the 40s, though there are a bunch of older relatives named Mary as well), that the Pope had told parents to name their daughters after Mary.

You know me, I was immediately like a prairie dog up on my hind legs, totally alert. How interesting! I’d never heard of such a thing — and I assume whatever truth there is to it, if any, is surely not an official statement but perhaps an informal comment, or perhaps something like, “Mary is a wonderful role model for your daughters” which got mistranslated into, “Name your daughters after Mary.” So I took to the internet, searching mostly for anything similar attributed to Pope Pius XII, who was Pope right when the women we were talking about were born and named (1939-1958), and who was pretty Marian, what with his Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and his definition of the dogma of the Assumption, but wasn’t able to find anything. My history-teacher friend and suggested maybe it was the local bishop and not the Pope, so I looked for info about him — also very devoted to Our Lady — but couldn’t find anything like what I was looking for. A priest friend suggested maybe Pope Benedict XV, who was Pope from 1914 to 1922 and who both instituted the old Code of Canon Law (1917), which said that Catholic parents must give their babies saints’ names and if a baby didn’t have a saint’s name the priest was to give one at baptism, and also authorized the Feast of Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces, so he was namey *and* Marian, and I could see that being the source of this belief. But again, I wasn’t able to find anything official (I did find this interesting article while searching, which talks about naming requirements and practices among different groups, including Catholics. It’s not accurate Catholic-wise, but an interesting read nonetheless).

I also found this article, which says that “For very many years the Catholic Church in Ireland would not baptise a child unless the name chosen was that of a saint or, in the case of a girl, was a version of Mary,” but it doesn’t cite any official source — I’m thinking like any kind of Church documents or regulations that were actually written down and not just unwritten local custom. (Written local custom would be fine!)

Have any of you heard this idea before? Can you shed any light on all this?

Names “foreign to Christian sentiment”

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I had a different post in mind for today — I was actually almost done writing it — when I read today’s Baby Name of the Day over at Appellation Mountain: Lucifer. I had some thoughts that I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to share, so here we are!

I thought Abby did a great job with the post, providing lots of info about the name Lucifer’s place in history, religion, and current pop culture. Lucifer does have a beautiful meaning, and my 11yo was actually asking me recently about it, the fact that its meaning of “light bearer” or similar is full of faith significance, so why can’t we use it? I explained to him that the Church teaches that babies must not be given names which are “foreign to Christian sentiment.” No matter what Lucifer means, it is the deepest depth of all names that are “foreign to Christian sentiment.” There’s just no getting around that one.

My son and I went on to talk more about such things, and I told him that I thought the list of names that are “foreign to Christian sentiment” was one of those things that changes with time and culture — like Adolf (who’s in the news today for other reasons, oh my). At one time it would have been totally fine to use for Catholic babies — it’s a saint’s name, and before WWII had a decent amount of use so a lot of us probably have Adolfs in our family trees, but now I would definitely consider it to be “foreign to Christian sentiment.” Do you agree? I don’t feel that way about its variants though — Adalwolf, Adolphus, Adolfo are all far enough removed from Hitler in my mind that I wouldn’t think twice if I heard of a baby named those names. For my time and culture (21st century English-speaking northeast America), I don’t think Adalwolf, Adolphus, and Adolfo are “foreign to Christian sentiment.” But is Hitler known as Adolfo amongst those who speak Italian? Do Italians have the same reaction of fear and horror when they hear Adolfo as I do when I hear Adolf? If so, perhaps Adolfo is a name “foreign to Christian sentiment” to them in their time and culture. And maybe one day it will all change again, when some amazing Adolf comes along — perhaps a great saint — and the passage of time and the brilliance of the new Adolf will dim our recollections of Hitler’s evil.

Interestingly, the thought that “perhaps … the passage of time and the brilliance of the new Adolf will dim our recollections of Hitler’s evil” is, I think, definitely something to be feared happening to the name Lucifer. It’s got a great meaning; it’s got a current appearance/sound with the Luc- beginning and its similar rhythm to Christopher (which, interestingly, has a similar meaning: “Christ bearer”); it’s sort of exotic because it’s unusual and edgy because of its associations, which are the kind of characteristics that are catnip to certain modern-day parents. Like the parent from this comment from last year who wanted to name his daughter Lilith *because of* the dark associations. If one of the 14 boys who were named Lucifer last year were to become a saint, I could see the name quickly becoming a possibility, even among parents of faith. Would that be a good thing? Names matter, and saying the name of the devil repeatedly and without worry seems very worrisome indeed. I would imagine a holy person who was given that name at birth would change his name, and then he’d be St. So-and-So. (And then people like me would research the heck out of all names associated with him so as to have lots of options for naming a baby after him, including his birth name. Oh dear.)

Anyway. I’ve said a million times and written that for me, “The intention behind the bestowing of the name can be as important — or more so — than the name’s actual origin or meaning or other specifics.” I hold really firm and fast to that notion — except in this case. In this case, intention is altogether completely trumped by the “other specifics.” I say again, and Abby agreed: Lucifer is not an okay name for a baby.

What other names can you think of besides Lucifer, Adolf, and Lilith that would be on the “foreign to Christian sentiment” list?

 

Guilty pleasure names

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Charlotte from To Harriet Louise mentioned her list of “guilty pleasure names” the other day and now I’m dying to know what they are! And yours too!

By “guilty pleasure” I mean names you kinda really love even though, for whatever reason, you could never see yourself actually choosing them for your own children. Mine include:

Maple
Tennyson
Gulliver
Jetta
Roisin
Jemima
Tarcisius
Sander

I know there’s a bunch more — I’ll add in the comments as I think of them. Let me hear what you have! I bet I’ll be adding to my own list after reading yours. 🙂

(Also — the Jennifer Fulwiler show went really well yesterday!! I was so nervous but once we started talking it was so fine. She’s a great host — she really directed the conversation and there weren’t any awkward pauses … she had great thoughts and questions … and I think she liked my ideas for her! If I make it into her highlights podcast, I’ll definitely post it when it’s available!)

Naming regret

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I’ve heard from some of you about using or not using a name you wished you hadn’t/had for one of your children (and I posted a little about it here), but I’ve been thinking about naming regret recently — specifically, how do you move on from it? Does the less-than-perfect name you chose become a name you like because it’s associated with your beloved baby? Does the beloved name you didn’t choose fade into the background as you fall in love with the name you gave your baby?

Would you/have you ever considered changing the baby’s name after having already named him/her?

If any of you have experienced this, I’d love to hear your thoughts, and whether there’s any advice you might offer someone who’s having a hard time with their child’s name, whether soon after birth or even years later.