Fun Friday Question: How do you pronounce Therese?

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Happy Friday, everyone!

I posed a question on Twitter a few years ago, which I then posted about on the blog, regarding the pronunciation of Lisieux specifically and your thoughts on pronunciation of Saints’ names with non-English origins more broadly — an interesting discussion ensued! A little more heated than what I usually see on Sancta Nomina! But here I am to dip my toe back in the controversial-pronunciations water to ask:

How do *you* pronounced Therese?

I would say the three pronunciations I usually hear are ter-EZ, ter-AYZ, and teh-REESE. I might even consider ter-EZ and ter-AYZ to be variants of the same pronunciation. Do you agree? Would you add any?

As a follow-up, what are your thoughts on the accents? Do you say Thérèse differently than Therese? Have you given Thérèse/Therese to your daughter, and if so, is there more you can say about pronunciation and accents vs. no accents?

I don’t want anyone to feel self-conscious about the way they say the name or what their thoughts are on accents, so please everyone, be sensitive!

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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Birth announcement: Heidi Rose!

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I posted a consultation for Elise and her husband back in January, and I’m delighted to share that the baby has arrived — a sweet little girl with the absolutely beautiful name … Heidi Rose!

Elise writes,

“So our little GIRL was born on 3/13/23 after a quick labor (we were admitted for about an hour before she was born). We named her Heidi Rose. A few weeks before she was born my husband came home from work and said “What about Heidi if the baby is a girl?” We had tossed that name around briefly with Felicity — we liked the alliteration — but clearly didn’t go with it at the time. When he mentioned it, I of course went to various sites and found it was very close in popularity to Felicity (380s) and fit the recognizable/uncommon angle we were going for. Then I had gone back to your recommendations and realized Heidi is a NN for Adelheid (German variation of Adelaide — one of your suggestions). When she was born we felt Heidi fit better than Lucy (we tossed Florence out of the mix about the same time Heidi got thrown in) so Heidi Rose she was named. Plus we can still use a G name if we go for baby #3 in the future to continue the alphabet 😂 Thank you again!“

I am absolutely in love with the name Heidi Rose! So lovely!

Congratulations to Elise and her hubby and big sister Felicity Hope, and happy birthday Baby Heidi!!

Heidi Rose and her big sister Felicity Hope

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!

Baby name consultation: Easter/rosary name ideas for a baby boy

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Sara and her husband are expecting their fourth baby, a little boy! This little guy joins big sibs:

Adelaide Karen Noel (“Goes by Adelaide. Adelaide for St Adelaide, Karen is husband’s mother,my sister, and a nod to my mother and great grandmother, and she was born Dec 22. I also like that Noel is a mystery of the rosary and a long time friend of mine“)

(In heaven) Frances Xavier Fiat (“for Mother Cabrini, Mary, and the Rosary“)

Benedict Stanley Thomas (“Goes by Benny, Benedetto, and Detto. Benedict for St. Benedict of Nursia, Stanley is my father and Stanley Rother is cool, Thomas for multiple grandfathers and also Thomas More. Also born December. I like to think that Benedict is connected to the rosary because it means Blessed“)

Sara’s children’s names are absolutely stunning! I could imagine parents finding names like Karen and Stanley somewhat challenging to incorporate into the names of children born today (though I have seen Stanley popping up here and there — Bl. Stanley Rother has done wonders for the name, and my husband and I considered it ourselves), but both Adelaide Karen Noel and Benedict Stanley Thomas are amazing — both of the full combos done in such a way that the more dated names are given a new sparkle and create a pleasantly unexpected part of the whole. I’m terribly impressed! And Frances Xavier Fiat, oh my. What a perfect name for a baby in heaven. It’s not often that I’m surprised by names, but I found an element of surprise in all three of Sara’s babies’ names — such a joy for name lovers!

Sara writes,

“Hello! I have been a fan of your blog for a few years now but I think we may need some extra help with baby #4. Nothing we have come up with has stuck 100%, and so I feel like we are reverting to second-favorite names and it would be cool to have a name we are sold on! Maybe we could grow into loving a name, but I’d like to pick your brain! I am also due in the Easter octave so running out of time for us to come up with something on our own.

Constraints: 

  • [Our last name] totally sounds like a first name. People never get my husband’s name right, since his first name is actually a surname … and it has led to his being mislabeled in college applications, background checks, and even the ER. So if we can pick a boy name that really sounds like a first name that would help. 
  • I was Sara in the 90’s and it always seemed that I wasn’t the Sarah someone was yelling for. So I’d like to avoid super popular names, and if they’re obvious to spell that’s also a bonus (I tell people I respond to both Sara and Sarah xp)
  • My family has a tradition of 2 middle names, so that gives us both more options and more decisions to make!
  • We accidentally have a bit of an ABC theme? So if we lean into that, a C or D name would be cool. Or now is our chance to break out of it!
  • We like nickname options and also having cool long names that we can just use. 
  • Husband is adamant that first name must be a saint. Fictional saints or heroes do not count (couldn’t sell him on Caspian).”

Additionally,

“Mary and Joseph are our confirmation saints, thusly our family patron is the Holy Family. 

We are pretty much American mutts, but have a bit of Norwegian and Irish Heritage. My suggestions to use some French names have not met with any success. 

Here’s our short list and top picks currently that just don’t seem to be landing 100%:

  • Joseph (“amazingly, no one else has used this in our parish. We do have one friend in our community due at the same time who will have a Joseph James IV. Neither of us really love Joey, but Jojo or Joe would be ok. Have felt like St Joseph has been stalking me so he definitely needs to be honored somehow, and husband has a strong devotion to him. Worried this might be too common“)
  • Mark (“must be one of the middle names for husband’s late father“)
  • Vincent (“for Easter. Would love more Easter options“)
  • Abraham (“can a baby pull that off?“)
  • Dominic (“rosary connection but not a current devotion to St Dominic“)
  • Isaiah (“maybe too common“)
  • Theodore (“maybe too common“)

So we have been bouncing between Dominic Mark Joseph or Joseph Mark Vincent. Neither one feels like a home run. Would love some thoughts and suggestions!“

So much of what Sara said resonated with me and I definitely tried to keep it all in mind: not wanting to feel like they’re “reverting to second-favorite names”; their last name sounding like a first name and her husband’s challenges with his own first name paired with his last name; Sara’s own “super popular” name; possibly wanting but maybe not wanting a C or D name; “cool long names” with nickname options; “Fictional saints or heroes do not count” (this one made me laugh! But I also get it. But I also love Caspian!); that they would “love more Easter options”; and the fact that all of their other kids have a connection to the rosary in their names.

I generally like to start by offering my thoughts on the names the parents are considering, in case they’re helpful:

  • Joseph (Joseph Mark Vincent): I have quite a few thoughts about Joseph as a first name for Sara’s baby! First, I love that he’s Dad’s Confirmation Saint and that he has a strong devotion to St. Joseph. Beautiful! Based only on that, I agree with Sara that “he definitely needs to be honored somehow,” and the addition of her feeling that St. Joseph “has been stalking” her seals the deal! All that said, I do feel like the style of the name Joseph isn’t quite where this couple’s style preferences lie, as Sara noted that she worried it “might be too common” and she feels like they’re “reverting to second-favorite names.” Sara mentioned issues with the nickname possibilities, which could be key. Jojo is adorable and Joe is as solid as they come; some other possibilities include Sepp, Seppel, and Zef, which are inspired by international variants and diminutives of Joseph. I’d also posted once about variants of Joseph from A Dictionary of English Surnames and loved that Jessop is one, which makes me think that Jess might be doable as a Joseph nickname (I looove Jess for a boy). They could also consider Jay, which is easy for any “J” name. Joseph Vincent Mark is a very handsome combo! I also think (similar to the thinking of the possibility that breaking their A, B theme now, instead of leaning into the alphabet with a C or D name) that breaking their current pattern of less-common names with a more-common, but equally faithy, name will help them have more options going forward rather than less.
  • Mark (middle name only): Great middle!
  • Vincent: Did you all know that until I read Sara’s email, I had never known nor looked into what Vincent means?! “To conquer” is a great, meaningful name for an Easter baby! Per Sara’s request for more Easter options, I included more below.
  • Abraham: I know of two little Abrahams — a five-year-old and an eight-year-old — so I can confidently say that, yes, a baby can pull it off! The five-year-old is “Catholic influencer” Grace Patton’s son, and he goes by Abe — I LOVE Abe!! The eight-year-old is a new friend of my own eight-year-old’s, and I’ve learned that he always went by Abe or the full Abraham, but never liked it because the kids at his old school would call him “Abraham Lincoln” (not sure why this is bad?? Kids!), so here at our school he goes by AJ (his full name is also Abraham James, like Abe Patton’s), which is also a possibility for Sara’s baby (Abraham Joseph Mark, maybe?).
  • Dominic: I love Dominic! Definitely a perfect name for the brother of Benedict! The rosary connection is spot-on, too. Not having a current devotion isn’t a dealbreaker, either! Sara and her hubby can cultivate one, and indeed I think sometimes Saints call to us through our taste in names.
  • Isaiah: Sara had mentioned popularity with Joseph, which I addressed above, so my thoughts are similar here — if they love it, use it! I did want to look at the rankings for the names that they like and those that they’ve used, to have an accurate overall view of the popularity of their ideas:

— Isaiah: 56

— Adelaide: 263

— Benedict: 991

— Joseph: 28

— Vincent: 117

— Abraham: 202

— Dominic: 99

— Theodore: 10

Indeed, the names that Sara worried might be too popular (Joseph, Isaiah, Theodore) are very popular (Theodore at number 10! These are the 2021 numbers, which are the most recent available from the Social Security Administration). Even Dominic is top 100, and Vincent not too far behind at 117. I get her hesitancy! But I’ll reiterate that I think they’ll be happier using a name they love, even if it’s popular. (I’m not forgetting that Sara said none of names that they’re considering are really feeling like “the one,” so I know popularity isn’t the only issue!)

  • Theodore: See my comments above re: Isaiah

While reading the list of names Sara and her husband are considering, I had several ideas that seemed “like” the ones they like, but just different enough that they might find them to be just right. I’ve never done an “Instead of … what about” list in a consultation before, but it seemed right to do so for this family! So:

  • Instead of Vincent, what about Victor? It has that great meaning that’s so perfect for Easter! And its SSA ranking is 209, which is closer to what they like than Vincent’s 117. My post on nicknames for Victor remains, to this day, one of my most popular.
  • Instead of Abraham, what about Abel? Popularity-wise, it’s a little *more* popular at no. 196, vs. Abraham’s 202, but might feel more baby-friendly to Sara? And can still take the fantastic Abe as a nickname! This mama has an Abel, if you’d like to read about one in real life (click on the link for the fifth baby’s birth announcement to see all her boys’ names).
  • Instead of Isaiah, what about Isaias? It’s the Latin form of Isaiah and far less popular at no. 489 vs. Isaiah’s 56. I also thought Tobiah/Tobias/Tobit or Elias (Latin form of Elijah, which blows my mind that it’s no. 4!) might scratch this itch. (Rankings: Tobiah’s not in the top 1000; Tobias 277; Tobit not in the top 1000; Elias 48.)
  • Instead of Theodore, what about Thaddeus? It’s thought they may be related, and can both take the nickname Ted(dy) (I know a Thaddeus who goes by Ted), but Thaddeus is no. 820 vs. Theodore’s 10. I wrote once about how there are some names that seem very similar but tend to be somewhat polarizing, with people pretty certainly preferring one over the other, and Theodore/Thaddeus was one of the pairs I included, but I thought I’d take the chance! Thaddeus has the nickname possibilities of Thad (I knew a Thaddeus called Thad once, and on “The Chosen” Thaddeus is called Thad sometimes), and also Tad/Taddy — I think Taddy is the most adorable name for a little guy!
  • Instead of Caspian, what about Campion? St. Edmund Campion is real, and amazing! Also, Campion means “champion,” so it can have that nice meaning for Easter that Vincent and Victor share. Cam and Cap are adorable nickname options, and Campion isn’t even in the top 1000, being given to only 5 baby boys in 2021! (** I realized after I sent the consultation to Sara that Campion breaks the rule of “no surnames as first names” but I’m leaving it here in case it’s helpful to any of you readers. **)

So those are five new ideas, but they felt a little bit like cheating, since I’m thinking of them as twists on the names they were already considering, so I came up with a bunch more. I did consult the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link), but leaned as much on trying to find Easter names, C or D names, and more uncommon Saintly names in general. These are my additional ideas:

(1) Paschal nn Pax

This was my very first idea for this family, which I scribbled down as I was reading Sara’s email the first time, before I had done any research. Paschal means “Easter” — so perfect for an Easter baby! It’s also a Papal name and Saintly name, and I really love that it can take the nickname Pax, which in and of itself is amazing because it’s Latin for “peace.” Gah! So fab!! (I also quite like Joseph Paschal Mark, and the possibility of the nickname JP, which gives it a St. John Paul II vibe as well!) Neither Paschal nor Pascal are in the top 1000.

(2) Clement

Clement seems like a great option for this family for a few reasons: it’s a C name; it means “merciful,” which is great for a baby born near Divine Mercy Sunday; it’s a great Papal and Saintly name (my favorite is my parish’s patron, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer); and the little Abraham I mentioned above (Grace Patton’s son) also has a brother named Clement (and a brother named Theodore!)! The only real nickname option is Clem, which is not to everyone’s taste; this family intended to call their Clement Joshua Samuel “CJ,” which is another option. Here’s another Clement-with-no-nickname. Clement isn’t in the top 1000.

(3) Cosmas

Thinking of Catholicky Catholic C- names, Cosmas came to mind! With the C names, I like that Sara’s son would share initials with his dad, and Cosmas doesn’t have that surname-as-first name thing, so it should be a little easier, right? Cosmas isn’t in the top 1000.

(4) Damian, Damien nn Danny or Denny

How could I suggest Cosmas without Damian? I actually think Damian is more their speed than Cosmas, and fits in nicely with Adelaide and Benedict. I love the spelling Damien too, and the different spellings bring different people to mind, for me: Damian is St. Damian, brother of St. Cosmas; Damien is St. Damien de Veuster (also known as St. Joseph de Veuster), the leper priest. Both wonderful! (Here are all the holy Damians/Damiens.) Damian is no. 113 and Damien is no. 280. These were on my own list and I thought Danny would work nicely as a nickname for Damian and Denny for Damien. Also, see this amazingly named sib set that includes a Damien!

(5) Gabriel

I’m writing this on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, so Gabriel is on my mind — which I also love for this family! An Annunciation name is great for a baby born near Easter (very “full circle” feeling), and I also consider Gabriel to be a rosary name, since the Annunciation is the First Joyful Mystery. Its nickname Gabe rhymes with Abraham’s Abe, too, which might mean that Sara and her hubby will like it! Gabriel is no. 38.

(6) Nicodemus

I started to venture farther afield for these last two ideas, and for this one — Nicodemus — I almost put it as an “Instead of Dominic, what about Nicodemus?” idea. I decided not to since Sara said that the appeal of Dominic was the rosary, which Nicodemus doesn’t have, but I’ve always loved the person of Nicodemus in the Bible (he’s considered a Saint too!) and I’ve always loved his name. And Nico is such a great nickname! (Dominic can take Nico as a nickname as well.) It’s really perfect for an Easter baby, too. Nicodemus isn’t in the top 1000.

(7) Joachim

My last idea is the name I could never convince my husband of, try as I might! I absolutely love the name Joachim, and since Sara said Norwegian is part of their family heritage, I thought I’d offer that I really leaned on its relative popularity in the Scandinavian countries when pitching to my husband, as he’s half Norwegian! (It didn’t work, alas.) Tradition holds that it’s the name of Our Lady’s dad, and while it can take the Joe nicknames (which I might normally suggest, except that St. Joseph is such a dear friend to Sara and her husband, so his name really needs to be used), I always wanted to use the nickname Jake (which *almost* convinced my husband, because he loves the nickname Jake too). I spotlighted the name here, which has a lot of great info. Joachim isn’t in the top 1000.

Besides these ideas, I also wanted to offer some names that are specifically tied to the rosary in case they’re helpful for this baby or in the future. I wrote a book of Marian names, and many of the entries were because of their connection to the rosary, including Leo (for Pope Leo XIII who has been called “The Pope of the Rosary”; Leo is also the name of many Saints); Louis and Montfort for St. Louis de Montfort who wrote The Secret of the Rosary (affiliate link) (Monty as a nickname for Montfort!); Peyton for Ven. Patrick Peyton, known as “The Rosary Priest”; and Pius, for Pope St. Pius V “who asked Christendom to pray for the Rosary for protection against the Muslims in the Battle of Lepanto” and then established the feast of Our Lady of Victory on Oct. 7 — which has become the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (another reason that Victor could be great!). (Pio is the Italian variant of Pius, which could add an extra great layer for St. Pio!)

I also looked through the posts I did on names for the Mysteries of the Rosary and though I didn’t include Pierce and Simeon in my post on the Joyful Mysteries, they’re connected to the Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple (because it was then that Simeon prophesied that Mary’s heart would be pierced with a sword), so you they can be thought of as rosary names … and from my post on the Sorrowful Mysteries there’s Simon (from Simon of Cyrene), Dismas (the repentant thief), and Rex (meaning “king”) and are related to the Carrying of the Cross, the Crucifixion, and the Crowning with Thorns, respectively. Not everyone likes to give names with sorrowful or difficult stories to their babies (I wrote more about that here), but others find spiritual comfort and power in doing so, so it made sense to include these, just in case! (Here are my posts on the Luminous Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries as well; be sure to read the comments for more ideas!)

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of siblings-on-earth Adelaide and Benedict?

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!

Birth announcement: Calvin Francis!

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Today is the feast of my church’s patron Saint, St. Clement Mary Hofbauer! He was pretty amazing! St. Clement, pray for us all today.  🙏🙏🙏

I did a private consultation recently for Jody and her husband for their second baby, and I’m excited to share that the baby has arrived — a boy! They gave him the super handsome name … Calvin Francis!

Jody writes,

“Calvin Francis arrived early this morning, a couple of days before our scheduled c-section. He is the sweetest little guy and was such a welcomed surprise as we both felt like this was another girl.”

I know they plan to call him Cal, which is one of my favorite nicknames. Such a good-guy nickname! So friendly!

Congratulations to Jody and her hubby and big sister Matilda/Tilly, and happy birthday Baby Calvin!!

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!

Baby name consultation: Looking for faithy, literary name for baby boy no. 5 due on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima

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Zach and Laurel are expecting their sixth baby — their fifth boy! Little man joins big siblings:

Samuel Philip nn Sam (“We chose Samuel for the OT prophet, the character Sam Hamilton in East of Eden, and Samwise Gamgee from LOTR”)

Charles Richard nn Charley (“We chose Charles for St. Charles Borromeo, Charlemagne, and because we really wanted to use Richard as a middle and needed a good pairing“)

Penelope Joan nn Nellie (“We chose Penelope because Zach was reading The Odyssey at the time, and Joan for St. Joan of Arc and as a variation of Janet, her maternal grandmother. I liked the pairing of the patient, wise Penelope with the zealous, active faith of Joan“)

Martin Ambrose called Martin “never Marty!” (“Martin is Laurel’s grandmother’s maiden name, so it checks the family box as well as paying homage to St. Martin of Tours“)

John Henry Benedict called John Henry “so far” (“John Henry Newman was important to Zach’s conversion to Catholicism, and we both joined the church during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI“)

What a fantastic bunch of names!! You know I was rubbing my hands together with happiness over diving into this “dilemma”!

Considerations that are important to Zach (who gave this consultation to Laurel for Valentine’s Day! 😍🥰) and Laurel include:

  • One strong saint name (first or middle)
  • Not unique, but not common
  • Historical and/or literary connections

Names they both like include:

  • William (“(Shakespeare!) but it’s SO popular right now, and we’re already pushing it with royal family connections“)
  • Arthur

Family name possibilities include:

  • Grandma Michelle Kay
  • Family name O’Meara

Other considerations:

  • Due date is May 13th (Our Lady of Fatima)

Girl names they’ve discussed include Antonia, Ariadne, Evangeline, Genevieve, Gwendolyn(e), Imogen(e), Josephine, Julia(nna), Marian(ne), Marina, Miranda, Pearl, Salome, Sylvia, Diana, Talitha, Tatiana.

This was so fun to work on! I love the names Zach and Laurel chose for their older kids, and I love offering new ideas for them to consider for this baby boy. As you know, I like to start by offering my thoughts on the names the parents are considering, in case they’re helpful:

  • William: You’ll all be interested in the conversation my husband and I had about this name on behalf of Zach and Laurel! I was asking him if he got an overwhelmingly “royal” feel from Samuel, Charles, Martin, and John Henry, given that Zach said that they’re “already pushing it with royal family connections” in regards to William. He agreed with me that there isn’t too much of a “royal family” feel, so I was about to include that here — that I thought William would be just fine and no need to worry — but then I gave my husband the fuller context and he was like, “Oh, right, Charles and William, yeah that would bother me too.” So there’s that! However, I still think that when you have a bunch of other kids with non-royal-family names, the association is much diluted. Also, I think Charley and Will would move the association even farther away; Charley and Liam or Billy even more so. If I had to decide if I thought it was overly problematic or not, I would say *not*. But of course, this is a decision only Zach and Laurel can make!

I also wanted to discuss popularity, since they’d mentioned it’s a concern regarding William. I looked up the popularity of their children’s names for 2021 — the most recent year of available data — and was interested to discover:

  • Samuel no. 23
  • Charles no. 50
  • Martin no. 302
  • Penelope no. 23
  • John no. 27
  • Henry no. 9

Look how consistent the Samuel, Penelope, and John numbers are! Wow! Charles at no. 50 is a bit misleading for their Charley, since the Charles-es nicknamed Charley/Charlie are joined by the girls named Charlotte who may be called Charlie/Charley and the little ones with Charlie/Charley as a given name — I would venture to say that family of names is more like Samuel/Penelope/John in terms of true popularity, which adds to their consistency. Henry is in William territory, being in the top ten, but John Henry as a couplet decreases the popularity, and indeed, William is its own animal given that itself is at no. 6 and its nickname/variant Liam is at no. 1. What I was really shocked by is Martin! No. 302! I looked at the names surrounding it to see if there might be any ideas there for Zach and Laurel, and none of them were their style! Derek, Jensen, Muhammad, and Daxton were close matches popularity-wise! That’s crazy! Martin is certainly NOT an outlier style-wise in their kiddos’ names — it’s just a great example of how popularity can be misleading and should very rarely be the overriding factor (at least in my opinion, and of course there are always exceptions).

  • Arthur: I love that Arthur taps into the British + royal feel that they like without having the potentially problematic royal family connections! I’m guessing they’d probably go with the full Arthur on an everyday basis rather than Artie (both because they don’t care for Marty, and because if their Martin ever did go by Marty, they’d have the rhyming Marty and Artie), but if they were interested in a nickname, I’ve seen Bear used, as a nod to Arthur’s meaning. I think that’s so cute for a little guy and I can easily see it on a grown man as well.

As for new ideas, I looked up the names they’ve used and those they like in the Baby Name Wizard book (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. It’s becoming a bit outdated, but I mostly still find it to be really helpful. I also considered literary names/connections (including this post I did on Catholic literary names; be sure to read the comments too!), their last name (which is a noun), and certainly the faith!

Also, I want to make a strong case for Michael as a middle name! Of all the grandparents, Grandma Michelle is the only one who doesn’t yet have a namesake, and the male equivalent, Michael, would work perfectly. I’ve also connected Miles and Milo to Michael before (this post discusses it a little), so maybe one of those could work as a nod to Grandma Michelle?

Alternately, with Kay being her middle name, they could consider Kay itself! Sir Kay was one of the Knights of the Round Table — it was a masculine name back then, possibly from the Welsh name Cai (which they could also consider), and perhaps ultimately from the name Gaius — there are a bunch of Saints named Gaius! (Read more about the masculine history of the name Kay here.) There is, certainly, the issue that Kay will likely be read as feminine by most, if not all, of the people they know, so I might recommend pairing it with an ultra-masculine name. Like Gunnar. Or Maverick. Haha!

If they don’t like Michael or Kay as nods to Grandma Michelle but they like the idea of naming the baby after her somehow, and since they’ve already done a “twist” on another grandparent’s name with Joan for Janet, I think a strong K middle name could do nicely! My two favorite ideas for this family are Karol and Kolbe. Karol is St. John Paul II’s birth name, and he has a particular and amazing connection to Fatima, which would make it extra meaningful for a baby due on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. One possible issue for Zach and Laurel is that Karol is the Polish form of Charles, but even I, with my extreme name nerdiness, wouldn’t at all mind a repeat of the name in this case — it’s a different form, it’s clearly tied to one particular person, who is a different person than the men they’ve already honored with Charley’s name, and the particular person tied to Karol is specifically and powerfully tied to the baby’s due date. If Karol felt too feminine, they could also consider Karl, which is also a variant and therefore can honor St. JP2 as well.

The other name, Kolbe, is recognizable to Catholics as the surname of St. Maximilian Kolbe, one of my very favorites. I know many families that have chosen Kolbe as a first name for their sons, but that isn’t this family’s style at all as far as I can tell. But Kolbe as a middle name seems just right! Both Karol and Kolbe would give their son the middle initial K., which is an exact match for Grandma Michelle’s middle initial.

Okay! Now that I’ve been very pushy about middle name ideas, on to my new ideas! Based on everything I wrote above, these are my ideas for Zach and Laurel’s fifth baby boy:

(1) Francis

As soon as I saw the baby’s due date, I thought of Francis! Francisco certainly isn’t their style, but Francis seems a perfect fit with their other boys. Frankie is absolutely adorable for a little guy, and Frank is solid and handsome for a man. I’ve also suggested Finn as a nickname for Francis to several families — I don’t think that’s this family’s style, but I thought I’d mention it just in case. Francis Michael, Francis Karol, and Francis Kolbe are all amazing. (I might stay away from Kay as a possible middle for Francis, since many people are confused by the male Francis vs. the female Frances and may think they gave their boy two girl names.)

(2) Lewis or Louis

My preference here is Lewis, with C.S. Lewis as inspiration as well as the fact that Lewis is a medieval English form of Louis, so it can take any of the Sts. Louis as patron, and there’s also the Welsh martyr St. David Lewis. (I first heard about St. David Lewis from this reader of mine, who named her one-of-many-boys Lewis — her love for the name and reasons for choosing it are inspiring!) I also thought Zach and Laurel could think of Lewis as being connected to Servant of God Sr. Lucia of Fatima, which would be another nice tie-in to the baby’s due date. I love Lewis Michael, Lewis Karol, and Lewis Kolbe.

Louis would also be great, and can take all the same connections, but I thought that since they’re hesitant about Charles and William, Louis might have a similar difficulty for them.

(3) Laurence

Another L name that I actually love (LOVE!) for them is Laurence, inspired by Laurel’s name! Laurence is a great, saintly name which, as I understand it, is the original spelling (Lawrence is a newer variant, but also a great one, and I’d be find with this too!). Since this family is literarily inclined, they might be interested in Laurie as a nickname, like the character in Little Women (this family recently had a little Lawrence and they’re calling him Laurie!). Or, because of that same character, I think Teddy could work as a nickname! I actually did a post a while back for a mama who’d decided on Lawrence Kolbe for her son (AMAZING COMBO!!) but was looking for a non-Larry nickname, and a few that I thought could also work here include Rory, Lenz, and — perhaps perfect for a Fatima-due-date baby — Lolek, which is a Polish diminutive of Karol and what St. John Paul II went by as a child. (I particularly like Lolek as a nickname for Laurence Kolbe or Laurence with another K middle name.) (Here’s a birth announcement for another little Lawrence, in case they need some more convincing. 😊) (Also, I wonder what they would think of Laurence O’Meara? I love this too!) (Ooh — would Leo work as a nickname for Laurence O’Meara?? This was a last-minute idea as I was finishing up this consultation … I’m kind of loving it!!)

(4) Gilbert 

At first, I really, really loved Gilbert for this baby! Gilbert is G.K. Chesterton and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables, and it’s the name of several Saints, and the nickname Gil is one of my very very favorites ever … but then I thought about Gilbert with their last name, which also starts with a hard G, and thought it’s likely they won’t like it. But am I wrong? I hope I’m wrong! Some people really dislike alliteration in naming, but I tend to love it — alliterative names are distinctive, and can have a superhero feel (a la Peter Parker). Gilbert Michael is especially handsome to me.

(5) Gerard

A G- name that they might like better because it has the soft G sound that isn’t repeated by the initial sound of their last name is Gerard. So saintly! So traditional! Gerry/Jerry is the traditional nickname, but I posted a birth announcement for a little Gerhardt (German variant of Gerard) whose family intended to call him Hart. I think that could work for Gerard! Or perhaps even better, Hardy as a nickname for Gerard! (The elements in Gerard are ger + hart.) Hart and Hardy are so cool. But is Hardy to similar to Henry? They might also like that I have a native Irish friend named Gerard but he says it more like Jared. Indeed, it seems the “British English” pronunciation puts the stress on the first syllable (they also do that with Bernard, saying BER-ned instead of ber-NARD). I like that pronunciation a lot! It would take a commitment on their part to correct people every time, but if they’re up for it, it could be perfect for them!

(6) Victor

I wanted to include at least one V name for Zach and Laurel to consider, since this baby is their fifth boy and it’s fun to nod to that with a V name! I like Victor for them a lot — it’s a great name that I always think of as being a Jesus name (I even wrote an article about it for CatholicMom.com several years ago). Funny enough, as I mentioned in that article, the original post I did on my blog about nicknames for Victor remains one of my most popular posts, even after all these years. And Victor was no. 209 in 2021, which is more similar to Martin’s popularity than their other children’s names. What do we think of Victor Michael? It’s such a handsome combo, but is it too “Michael Vick”?

(7) Tobit, Theodore

Finally, I wanted to include at least one name that shares Penelope’s style. It’s very common for parents to have a different taste in names for their boys than for their girls! Totally fine! But my favorite is when there’s some crossover. My favorite idea for this family as a style match for Penelope was Tobias until I remembered that Tobias is on their no-go list. So then I thought maybe Tobit? Also a very cool name!

Another that’s similar in style to Penelope, and perhaps an even better fit for a brother for their older boys than Tobit, is Theodore. I’d mentioned Teddy above as a possible nickname for Laurence because of Laurie in Little Women — he was called Teddy because his name was actually Theodore Lawrence — I would love that combo for this baby (I’d prefer the Theodore Laurence spelling to mirror Mom’s name). Theo is also a great nickname for Theodore! The more I think about it, the more I think Theodore nn Theo might be perfect for this baby.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of Samuel/Sam, Charles/Charley, Penelope/Nellie, Martin, and John Henry?

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!

Baby name consultation: Lots of hopes and considerations for baby no. 3’s name

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , , , , ,

Happy Monday, everyone! Today’s the feast of St. Colette, who is a great Saint for our Sancta Nomina community because she is, according to this source, patroness of women seeking to conceive, expectant mothers, and sick children; there’s a fuller account of her life here. And her name! 😍😍😍 I think Colette is just gorgeous, and while I would use it as is, I also love that she’s also known as Nicolette, which opens up more possibilities for parents who might like to name their daughter after her. Enjoy today’s consultation! And I hope you all have a great week!

Zoey and her husband are expecting their third baby — a little green bean (gender unknown)! 🌱 This little babe joins big brothers:

Austin Thomas (“Austin is my husband’s middle name and Thomas was a family name from both of our paternal grandfathers. We’ve also given him Thomas Aquinas as his patron (until he wants to choose his own) because he is SO inquisitive especially about the faith. His nickname is Austino/Stino which happened totally organically as I was initially opposed to nicknames but it turns out we are indeed a nickname kind of family, they’re so fun.”)

Elijah James (“This was so easy to pick. I just knew my next boy would be Eli and we loved having a long and short form option + power house project. James because as a convert I loveeeeee the book of James, did you know at the reformation the Calvinists tried to remove the book of James? It’s VERY Catholic and was huge in my conversion. He goes by both Elijah and Eli.”)

I love Austin and Elijah/Eli as brothers, and I love the explanation behind each one! (Also: “I was initially opposed to nicknames but it turns out we are indeed a nickname kind of family, they’re so fun” — sing it, sister!! 😂)

Zoey writes,

“So this time around we (should I say I) am struggling. I can Not turn my brain off and try ink of baby names all day… I need to clear this brain space! So far everything I’ve pitched my husband “likes” but nothing has been the one! I’ve been trying to narrow down what our “style” is and feel like the third baby really solidifies that so maybe that’s why I feel so strongly about the name we choose this time around. I’d like to say I don’t like “popular names” but then look at my boys names and I just stuck my foot in my mouth. But this time around I would like to go less common, which I find easier to do with girls than boys for some reason. I don’t love super traditional names and don’t feel like they have to have a direct saint association… but do like to have a meaning behind the name.”

Names they’re considering for girls include:

Hallie Josephine — “Hallie as a namesake for ‘Harold’ from its nn Hal. Harold is strong in both our families and Josephine was my husband’s great grandmothers middles name + St. Joseph. And I love the double barrel nickname of Hallie Jo.”

Blythe Emily — “Emily was first name of aforementioned grandmother. And Blythe.. not totally sure how I came about this but I like that it’s fairly uncommon and feminine without all the frills. I originally liked Blair but this feels softer especially with our last name.”

Helena (heh-LAY-na) — “my husband actually through this one out so I’ve got to cling to that! I also really like nn Laina. Maybe Helena Zoe or Audrey Helena (my name is Audrey Zoe, and mamas should get juniors too!).”

Scarlett nn Scottie — “but my husband isn’t too keen. Also I’m due 4/25 so technically after the Easter octave but would consider eater-ish names) like Scarlett referring to the precious blood or paschal for boy… you get my drift. We like a good name story, strong association to give the kids some roots as they grow up!“

Miriam — “my husband will only offer Miriam as a girls name… he keeps coming back to it no matter what I suggest. I honestly hate it. Is there a compromise in there from the style of names I like and Miriam? I feel Like they couldn’t be more different!“

And names for boys: 

John Luke — “would be first and middle but I’d really like to call him the full name. My husbands family is very Italian so he would likely get nicknamed the Italian form Gianluca. I love this but it also feels kind of plain… thoughts?“

Alexander Rhodes — “I am not sure how I found the name Rhodes but I have not been able to put it down! … I love that subtle nod to the rosary… sending our prayers up to Mary to be presented to Jesus as a beautiful rose bouquet. Finding a first name with it has been a little hard but I’m loving the idea of Alexander (nn Xander) and that his name would, in a way, make the chi(X)Rho Symbol as a dedication to Christ.”

And — “Other names we’ve thrown around for first or middle are Ambrose, Matthew, Montfort (nn Monte), Xavier, Adam…” 

Middle names are important to Zoey as well:

“For middle name considerations, we like anything biblical (as you can tell!) my husband loves the rosary (I’m working on it!) and divine mercy. His confirmation Saint is Francis, mine is Zelie Martin although I’m not sure I’d like to use that name at all since I’d prefer to use Zoe. (Z-oh pronunciation). Some other middle names we like if not a saint/biblical name would be Soliven (our dear priest friend who just moved parishes! He married us, confirmed me, and baptized both our kids), Rhodes as I mentioned, Woodrow/Woodruff/woods (my husband’s dad’s name). For girls, as mentioned Emily, Josephine, Audrey, Zoe (Z-oh), Laree, Naomi, Amaris, Lea, Marriott (yes like the hotel, my grandmother’s maiden name, pronounced Mary-et like Chariot) or Therese (I don’t love the full version but would consider a variant, maybe Reese? It’s a mix of my husband’s mom’s name Renee Therese).” 

Names they can’t use (including variants):

William 

Louis/Louie 

Andrew 

Anthony 

Joseph 

Michael 

Nicolas 

Elizabeth 

K/Catherine

Finally, Zoey notes,

“The other challenge is we have A LOT of catholic friends with large families or growing families and a lot of the “mainstream” catholic names (think Benedict, Blaise, Kolbe, Caeli, etc) are “taken” by them so we are challenged to be a bit more creative, which is fun but can be hard.”

No surprise that I really enjoyed reading Zoey’s “dilemma” — I do enjoy the struggle of trying to narrow down a couple’s style and I tend to agree with her that “the third baby really solidifies that” … that said, though, I hate for anyone to feel like “rules” like that are binding and you can never wriggle out from under them. You know? Baby naming should be fun! And if losing some rules helps it to feel more fun, I’m all for that! But of course, I do like stylistic consistency! I have some thoughts on what I think Zoey’s boy style is, which I’ll include in my list of “official” suggestions below. Also, how she said she’d like to go “less common” this time and that she finds it easier to do with girls than for boys is very, very common, so I encouraged her not to worry! I also love her criteria of “not super traditional” plus “don’t feel like they have to have a direct saint association” plus “meaning behind the name.” Those are great! Also that she thinks they’d like a nickname option. Oh, also no forms of Therese/a or Mary/Maria (not wrong at all!); no names ending in -ana; no cutesy names — must age well. Also prefer not repeating initials. Whew!

Okay, before getting into my list of official suggestions, I thought I’d offer my thoughts on the names they’re currently considering, in case they’re helpful (some are not mentioned above because they were included in subsequent emails):

  • Hallie Josephine: Hallie is such a great way to honor a Harold! I also know someone who named her son Hap (just Hap) because it’s also a nickname for Harold — maybe Hap would work for this family for a boy?
  • Blythe Emily: I never, ever see Blythe on parents’ lists — so fun to see it here!
  • Blair: I like Blair, too!
  • Marriott: I LOVE this as a middle name!! It’s in my book because it derives from Mary!! I personally love it for both a girl and a boy, so cool!
  • Helena nn Laina: A beautiful option! A nice connection here is that St. Faustina (of Divine Mercy fame) was named Helena at birth! Zoey included the Divine Mercy as a devotion that’s important to her and her husband, so this would be very meaningful from that perspective.
  • Audrey and Zoe as first names or middle names: I’m absolutely with Zoey that mamas should get juniors!! I like both Helena Zoe and Audrey Helena.
  • Scarlett nn Scottie: ah-MAZ-ing!! I love love the name Scarlett but could never figure out a great nickname — Zoey has totally done it! Scottie is adorable! And Scarlett for the Precious Blood is just wonderful.
  • Naomi: When I saw Naomi as a possible middle name, my first thought was that I’d love that as a first name option for this family — and then Zoey included it in a later email as a first name contender! It has a very “Miriam” feel to me without, of course, being Miriam — this might do the trick!
  • Jules for a girl: An interesting option! This actually makes me think of their boy style a lot — I wonder if they would consider it for a boy?
  • Julia Reese: Julia Reese is a stunning combo! Zoey worries that Julia sounds a lot like Elijah, which I can definitely see.
  • John Luke: I love John Luke, but I do know what Zoey means about it feeling plain. I think calling him by both names would “solve” that — John Luke as a combo makes both John and Luke feel less plain. I know a little Gianluca who is called the full Gianluca all the time, so this feels natural to me!
  • Alexander Rhodes: I love all their meaning behind this!! Another name they might like to consider is the male name Royce, which actually means “rose” (I included it in my book!) — I really like Royce for them in place of Rhodes, if they want to have a more explicitly “rose” name for the rosary.
  • Ambrose, Matthew, Montfort (Monte), Xavier, Adam: I love all these! Monte is really fun, I think that’s my favorite of these for this family.
  • Lucas Gabriel: Love this, yes! Luke and Lucas both feel like a really good first name option as a brother to Austin and Elijah. And Gabriel is one of my favorite names ever!
  • Conrad Jude (Thaddeus): LOVE this too!! My husband and I considered Conrad with Cord as a nickname (how cool is that?? AND they could think of it as a rosary connection if they wanted, since the string part of the rosary is often referred to as a cord!). And I had Jude on my list of official suggestions for this baby before even seeing that they had Jude on their list! I would love to see them consider it as a first name!

Regarding Zoey’s husband’s love of Miriam: I wonder if they’ve considered Marriott as a first name? Miriam and Marriott sound very similar to my ear when I say them out loud, and they both are variants of Mary … maybe Hubby would be okay with that? Especially if they pair it with a super Old Testament middle name, like Marriott Zipporah or Marriott Keziah or Marriot Esther? They could even use Miri as a nickname for Marriott? Or Mimi! Another idea I had was Marriott Emilia — I love the rhythm; Emilia can be for Grandma Emily and can also be sort of a Divine Mercy name in the sense that Emilia was the name of Pope John Paul II’s mom and he was huge into Divine Mercy (his mom’s cause for canonization is open!).

Now on to my new ideas! I tried really hard to stick to all their rules, but I’m pretty sure one or two of the girl names might strike Zoey as possibly too cutesy, but I wanted to leave them on in case I’m wrong, and/or in case they might like to consider them as a middle name for Marriott as a first (if Zoey can bring herself and her hubby around to that idea). I went through the Baby Name Wizard book (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and I looked at past posts I did on names for Divine Mercy and Easter (Sorrowful Mysteries and Glorious Mysteries) and the Sacred Heart (because of Zoey’s comment about Scarlett and the Precious Blood), and some gut-feeling ideas as well — based on all that, these are my ideas:

Girl

(1) Faith

Their boy name style has a “country/western” feel to me, and Scarlett fits into that as well, and Faith is listed in the BNW as fitting into that vibe as well — I love the name Faith! It’s simple and obviously faith-y, uncommon and sweet. I knew a Faith when I was growing up, and I always loved her name, as well as the nickname Faithy. Faith Marriott works beautifully!

(2) Greer

As soon as I read that Zoey likes both Blythe and Blair, I immediately thought of Brynn! Unfortunately there isn’t any obvious faithy connection (despite their being a St. Brynoth and a St. Brynach), but it made me think of Greer because I know a Brynn who has a sister named Greer, and Greer struck me as a great suggestion! It derives from the name Gregory, which is where the faith connection can come (either a St. Gregory, or St. Maria Goretti, since Goretti also derives from Gregory), and I think it sound fine with Marriott!

(3) Rebecca/Rebekah nn Ruby (also Romy?)

I thought quite a bit about how to work with Zoey’s husband’s love of Miriam and marry it with Zoey’s taste, and I thought Rebecca/Rebekah with the nickname Ruby might do the trick. Like Miriam, Rebecca is an Old Testament name (which the spelling Rebekah really hammers home), and years ago I saw a birth announcement for a baby Rebecca nicknamed Ruby and I felt like my whole life was made — I LOVED that so much!! I think Ruby is just darling, and it can have the Precious Blood connection Zoey mentioned with Scarlett as well. (I actually spotlighted Ruby here, with some other ideas of how to get to it.) Thinking about Rebecca/Rebekah Marriott, though, also made me kind of love the idea of Romy as a nickname for that combo — the R part from Rebecca/Rebekah, the M part from Marriott — maybe they’d like that better? Romy is sweet too.

(4) Ivy

When I’m looking up names in the BNW, I always pay attention to names that are listed as style matches for more than one of the names on the parents’ list, and Ivy was a big one! It’s listed as similar to Eli and Zoe, as well as Scarlett and Xavier! It’s an entry in my book because of its Marian connection, and Ivy Marriott sounds pretty amazing.

(5) Willow/Willa

I looked through the Country/Western section of the BNW for inspiration, and was interested to see Willodean in there — because Zoey had mentioned Easter as a possible inspiration for this baby’s name because of her due date, I’d already been thinking of Easter-related names, and Willow and Willa are two of them! More specifically, they refer to Palm Sunday, but I think that’s close enough for what they’re thinking? I spotlighted them both and explained the connection here.

Some other girl names that came up in my research that intrigued me but I didn’t end up putting in my “official” list of first name ideas (but wanted to include here just in case, and/or also as middle name ideas) include Mercedes (it means “mercies” and can take Sadie as a nickname, which I thought was perfect for this family!), Mercy itself (I know a couple little girls named Mercy!), and Chesed (Old Testament term referring to “mercy” — read more in this comment. Amazing!).

Boy

(1) Caleb

As mentioned earlier, I felt like their boy name style can have a country/western feel, and taking into account their affinity for biblical names as well, I thought Caleb was perfect! The nickname Cal is one of my favorites, I love it. Kobe and Colby were listed as similar to names Zoey likes, which made me want to suggest Kolbe, but then she’d specifically mentioned Kolbe as one they can’t use! But Caleb has similar sounds and rhythm, so I do quite like it for this baby.

(2) Casey

I looove Casey!! Casey was in the list of Country/Western names, and Bl. Solanus Casey is one of my favorites, Casey + Bl. Solanus made me think Casey Soliven would be a cool name for this baby! There was also a family I did a consultation for who loved Bl. Solanus but preferred Case instead of the full Casey, so that was the given name they went with — I could see that working for this family too.

(3) Becket

Funny enough, I got to Becket from Bennett, since Bennett is a medieval short form of Benedict like Austin is a medieval short form of Augustine, so they always make me think of each other, but I didn’t think Bennett was quite their style (and also that might have seemed a little matchy?) but then Bennett also makes me think of Becket and I thought yes! Becket! St. Thomas a Becket is an awesome patron.

(4) Garrett

I think Garrett is such a great name — I think it definitely fits with their boys, and can also derive from Gerard, which gives it an awesome faith connection.

(5) Hardy

I’ve suggested Hardy a few times to families over the years and no one’s bitten, so maybe I’m out of touch regarding this name, but I think it’s awesome! It can be a sort of virtue-esque name in the sense of “bold, brave” and also “healthy” AND it can be related to Gerard! (Check it out here and here.) It was the name of a boy in a movie I saw when I was little and I always loved it. (I would also consider it to be an excellent nickname for Gerard, but I don’t think Gerard is this family’s style. Also, there’s this birth announcement I posted for a little Gerhardt [German form of Gerard] who goes by the nickname Hart — I love that too!!)

(6) Jessop

I’ll be interested to see what Zoey and her hubs think of this idea! It’s a variant of Joseph based on pronunciation of the name from mid-sixteenth-century England, and it definitely feels sort of country/western, so I love that it takes Austin’s medieval connection and Eli’s biblical connection (and both of their possibly country/western feel) and adds an authentic St. Joseph connection! I also love the nickname Jess for a boy (love love!). I think this could be amazing! (I included it in my post on names for St. Joseph.)

Some other boy ideas I had included Jasper (one of the Three Kings has traditionally been known by the Casper name family, which includes Gaspar and Jasper), Paxton (inspired by Xander and Xavier and also “pax” means “peace” in Latin — an awesome, faithy connection!), and Jesse (country/western + biblical), but I liked my other ideas better. But I wanted to mention these just in case!

And those are all my ideas for this family! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Austin and Elijah/Eli?

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!

Baby name consultation: “Easily recognizable but not common name” needed for Felicity’s baby brother or sister

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

Happy Monday, everyone! There are some great feast days today: St. Marianne Cope, who was from Syracuse, NY, which is just a couple hours from me; the Espousal of the Virgin Mary (how beautiful!); and Abel the Patriarch (at least one Sancta Nomina family as an Abel!), among others. We also have a snow day here — my boys are outside building snowmen and forts as I type this and my mom sent over some brownies, which we’ll have when the boys come in. And now I’m sharing a baby name consultation with you! What a nice day! 🙂

Elise and her husband are expecting baby number two — a little green bean 🌱 (gender unknown)! This wee babe joins big sister:

Felicity Hope

Isn’t that just so beautiful??

Elise writes,

“We aren’t finding out the baby’s gender until birth (we did the same with my daughter). Our daughter’s name is Felicity Hope. She was born screaming and sputtering and I remember distinctly saying to my husband ‘but she’s so mad — Felicity means happiness!’ when he suggested Felicity. But it is 100% perfect for her as she has been the sweetest and most happy-go-lucky girl since. We can’t imagine her with any other name. We like that it is a recognizable name but not common. I also love that she gets to hear her name in mass on occasion 🙂

We feel like we hit the jackpot on her name and are in a bit of a conundrum with this next baby. We are hoping for a name that again is easily recognizable but not common. One of my pet peeves growing up was getting called ‘Elsie’ so hopefully we can avoid a name that would be easily mispronounced as well. We both come from large families (I’m one of 5 with a close extended family and my husband is one of 12) so that makes it tricky for repeat names. 

Whatever first name we go with we are certain 100% that if we have a boy his middle name will be Wayne (after my father). My due date is 3/22 — which is right around 3/19 St Joseph’s feast day which will be the 9th anniversary of my father’s death. 

It’s funny because the top boy names we had while pregnant with Felicity are still on our list but our new frontrunner is Gilbert. It seems to fit with our recognizable yet not common name. (funny fact which we noticed when hanging stockings is that thus far our family members, including our dogs, have the beginning initials of B (bear), C (Copper), D (Daniel), E (Elise) and F (Felicity) and our last name [begins with an H] — so G (Gilbert) would be the next letter in the sequence) 

Here’s a list of names we considered for Felicity if she had been a boy/ names we have been considering:

Arthur — we have since had a nephew named Archer born so maybe too close 

Ephram 

Edmund — I still really like this one Edward is a family name on my side and Edsko is a family name on my husband’s so this is like a compromised variation 

Dominic 

Ambrose — my husband isn’t a fan so likely not

Our girl list (some are names we considered for Felicity others are newer ones) 

Florence — right now this seems to be our favorite. But we didn’t know if having two F girls would be too much/ too similar. We call Felicity Flissy and I’m thinking we would likely nn Florence to something like Flora (though I think Wren would be cute too). 

Ester

Lucy — this is also a favorite and almost was Felicity’s name however it’s a little too popular we feel. I think it’s a cute name (also part of the canon) so maybe a variation? Had considered something like Lucinda but not sure. I liked the nn Lulu so could work with Lucy or a name similar

Lillian — Lily would fit with St Joseph’s feast day but again maybe too common of a name 

Iris — a new one my husband likes but I’m not 100% on board yet 

Middle name likely Rose (same as mine) or Ann (family name on both sides) 

Names we like but probably wouldn’t use: 

James — though not really loving this like we had 

Gideon — my husband doesn’t care for this much

Rilian — from Chronicles of Narnia though may be too out there

I liked Josephine — a nod to St Joseph if baby was born on 3/19 — though it is a middle name of a niece and I’m not sure the parents would be fans of us using it as a first name 

Camille — my husband isn’t a fan of this anymore

Eloise — I liked it bc it’s similar to my name but it’s been pretty popular lately and my husband has a nickname mental block

Cora — love this name but my husband not so much

Vera — I like this one but same as above“

I love all this! I, too, love that Felicity is “a recognizable name but not common” and I totally get that Elise and her hubby feel like they “hit the jackpot on her name”! I also love Felicity paired with Hope — unexpected and beautiful! Great, great job!!

As for the names they’ve discussed/are considering, here are my thoughts, in case they’re helpful:

  • How meaningful that Elise is due right near St. Joseph’s feast day, which is also the anniversary of her dad’s passing! I’m guessing Joseph Wayne isn’t their favorite idea, but I love all the significance that combo would hold … If they like that idea but it’s not feeling sparkly enough for them, maybe an unusual nickname for Joseph? OR — even better — I found some cool, unusual variants that I’m including in my list of official suggestions below!
  • Gilbert: Ahhh I love that this is their top boy name!! Of course I love Gilbert Blythe and G.K. Chesterton, and it’s definitely a “recognizable yet not common” name. It also swings their whole vibe to a distinctly British one in my mind, which I love! I also love that a G name would be the next in their sequence — those kinds of patterns are so fun if they can work out!
  • Arthur: This feels very similar to Gilbert to me, nice.
  • Ephram: This is one of those names I have a hard time pinning down … it has kind of a sophisticated feel to me, which goes along with the British vibe.
  • Edmund: I like the idea of trying to come up with a compromise name between Edward from Elise’s side and Edsko from hubby’s, and Edmund seems great.
  • Dominic: Elise didn’t comment on it, so I’m thinking it’s not a favorite? I do love it though! Felicity and Dominic are a pretty amazing pair.
  • Ambrose: I love that Ambrose fits with their British-y feel and also with the Catholicky Catholic side! And really, Edmund and Dominic do too.
  • Florence: I was surprised that Florence is their top name! It’s a great name, but I would have thought of it as having a different feel than Felicity. That doesn’t have to be a problem though! I’d much rather they choose names they love! I like Flora a lot — in fact, I would have thought of Flora as Felicity’s sister quicker than Florence. Wren is cute too! As for the two F’s, I wouldn’t worry about that — I would say three in a row makes a pattern that might be weird to break, but otherwise no big deal.
  • Ester: Est(h)er reminds me of Ephram with its Old Testament-ness, and I’ve always loved that Esther was a queen — so nice for a little girl!
  • Lucy: Ohh yes, I love Lucy for this family! I wonder if they’ve considered Lucia as a longer name? Or, since Elise mentioned Eloise, one of my favorite offbeat ideas to get to Lucy is Louisa with the nickname Lucy — maybe that? Felicity and Louisa, Flissy and Lucy?
  • Lillian: The Lily names were what my mind went to as well when Elise mentioned being due near the feast of St. Joseph, but they certainly are popular. Lilia is a variant I don’t see too much, if that helps. Also, any of the Lucy names could work as a nod to St. Joseph because of his title Light of the Patriarchs!
  • Iris: I’m so interested that Elise’s husband likes this but that she isn’t sure yet! In my experience, husbands don’t tend to be the ones that like fresher, less expected options! Grace Patton has an Iris, if that helps.
  • Middle names of Rose and Ann: Lovely.
  • James: For some reason, James feels very British to me! I can totally see them liking it.
  • Gideon: Gideon has long been a favorite of mine! Funny, though, that they have both Gilbert and Gideon on their list — when the actor who played Gilbert Blythe died in 2015, I posted about the nickname Gil and since Gilbert isn’t my personal style, I’d come up with other ideas to get to Gil — Gideon Louis was a combo I liked!
  • Rilian: Gilbert, Gideon, Rilian, and Lillian are kind of all swirling around a similar sound family, so it makes sense to me that Elise and her hubby like them all. If William wasn’t so very familiar, I wonder if they would like it? What about Maximilian? I have another idea below in my list of official suggestions that’s inspired by these three as well.
  • Camille: I’d love for both parents to love the name they choose, so if either of them aren’t on board with a name, I’d definitely shelve it for now.
  • Eloise: See my comments above re: Lucy.
  • Cora, Vera: These are great names, and since Elise likes them but hubby doesn’t, I included some ideas below inspired by them that might do the trick instead.

So I think they have a lot of great ideas!! But of course I can always come up with more. 😉

You might have seen from other recent consultations I posted that my trusty Baby Name Wizard is seeming increasingly out of date, but I did look up the names Elise and her hubs like in it to be sure I was on the right path. I also took a look at a few posts I’d done and one that was done for me that I thought might have some good ideas for this family:

This post I did on names to honor St. Joseph

This spotlight on a family who has Gilbert on their list for a boy

This birth announcement for a British-American family who has similar taste in names to this family I think

This consultation Abby from Appellation Mountain did for me when I was pregnant with my youngest, as I myself love boy names with vowel clusters like Gideon and Rilian.

Based on all that, these are my new ideas for Felicity’s new baby:

Girl

(1) Gemma

My hands-down number-one idea for this baby if a girl is Gemma! It’s saintly (St. Gemma Galgani), with a very British feel (there are a bunch of British actresses named Gemma, weirdly!), and it starts with G! I mean, come on!! And with its G being a soft G, they can easily follow it with Gilbert in the future without it feeling like too many G’s. I absolutely love Gemma for Felicity’s sister, and Gemma Rose is to die for.

(2) Clara, Claire, Corinna

These are all names that I thought might scratch the “Cora” itch in a way that Elise’s husband will like better! Clara and Claire came to mind immediately because of their shortness and beginning with C; Clara especially seems like a good fit since it also ends in -a like Cora. But then I thought maybe Corinna would be even better, even though it’s longer, as Cora can be a nickname for it! I like all of these as Felicity’s sister.

(3) Verity

Like Corinna for Cora, this the name that I thought might be a good substitute for Vera! I think Verity is such a cool name — it’s got an old fashioned feel while also holding new interest for today’s parents (one inspiration I’ve seen is the character of Verity in “Poldark,” which also gives it a nice U.K. feel). It means “truth,” which is fantastic. One possible negative is that it has the same ending as Felicity … but is that any different than Florence have the same beginning? Only Elise and her husband know how comfortable they’d feel with that!

(4) Juliet

I almost always suggest Juliet as a sister for Felicity! They’re style matches per the BNW, and additionally for this family, Juliet has that vowel-cluster-thing that they seem to like! I did a spotlight on Juliet here, including nickname ideas and saintly connections.

(5) Adelaide

Adelaide struck me as having the same description Elise gave for Felicity and Gilbert: recognizable but not common. It’s such a pretty name — I think it has a similarly feminine feel as Felicity, and its possible nickname Ada gives me an old timey feel, a little like Florence, Ester, and Gilbert.

Boy

(1) Gabriel, Gareth (or Garrett), Grant

I wanted to start my boy name ideas with some G options, like I did for girl names. Gabriel is one of my very favorites, so I had to suggest it! Gareth is probably a closer fit for this family’s style, as I think it feels particularly British; Garrett sounds similar to Gareth and has the added connection of deriving from Gerard (saintly connection alert!). Finally, I’ve seen Grant considered by several families who like/have used the name Felicity. One family considered it a nod to the “grant us peace” part of the Mass, which I thought was so cool.

(2) Jessop

This is the idea I had for St. Joseph that I mentioned above! In my post on names for St. Joseph, I included an entry from A Dictionary of English Surnames (affiliate link) for Jessop, Jessopp, Jessope, Jessup, Jessep, all of which reflect a pronunciation of Joseph from mid-sixteenth century England. I LOVE discovering that kind of info!! I know that Jessop (or whatever spelling) might not be quite right for this family, but then again — maybe it hits exactly the right note!

(3) Simon

When I think of British-feeling names for boys, Simon is almost always my first thought. I actually really love it for this family! It’s bookish and handsome and biblical, so great. I considered suggesting Simeon as well, since it has that vowel cluster, but I’m feeling like Simon is more their speed.

(4) Benedict

I was inspired to add Benedict to this list for two reasons: Dominic on their list of names they’re considering, and Benedict Cumberbatch for the British connection! Benedict is such a fantastic option for anyone loving a saintly + British vibe, and its medieval short form Bennett, which can also serve as a nickname, seems very similar in feel to Felicity in my opinion.

(5) Julian

If only Julian started with a G, I’d feel like this might be the perfect boy name for Elise and her hubby! It’s got a vowel cluster and it can have a British vibe — the only downfall is that if they use Julian for a boy, they can’t use Juliet for a girl, and I like Juliet for them more than I like Julian for them (but their opinion is the one that matters!).

(Bonus) Caspian, Tobias, Mathias

Finally, I wanted to add these names as a bonus, because I wasn’t sure they were exactly right, but maybe they are, and they’re all awesome. Caspian is so cool and has the Rilian feel while being a little more mainstream I think, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to make it one of my five main suggestions. And Tobias and Mathias I think could both be exactly right! But I suggested them both to Elise’s sister-in-law in a consultation I did for her a while ago, and I didn’t want Elise to think I was just repeating info! I also wanted to offer some other vowel-cluster names that I had on my own list, as noted in my consultation by Abby from Appellation Mountain: Joachim, Campion, Jeremiah, Elliott, and Damien.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little sister or brother of Felicity Hope?

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!

Some great name articles

sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty , , , , ,

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday, day of Our Lady!

I just read three articles on Laura Wattenberg (the Baby Name Wizard)’s site that I thought were great and wanted to share:

In Search of Antique African-American Names

The 2022 Name of the Year is Volodymyr

Lessons in Naming from American Sign Language

I learned something from each of them that I hadn’t previously known, really well done. Have a great rest of the weekend!

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!

Baby name consultation: Name needed for rosary-loving family’s baby boy!

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , ,

Happy New Year, everyone!! Don’t miss my Year In Review post that I put up the other day!

Julia and her husband are expecting their sixth living baby — their second boy! He joins big siblings:

Alice Katharine (“My maternal grandmother’s name was Alice, my mother is Katharine.”)

+Rose Francis (miscarriage) (“Wanted to name Rose due to St. Therese novena answer to prayer and Francis [male version due to St. Francis de Sales feast day that day, and not knowing baby’s gender].”)

+John Paul (miscarriage) (“Was thinking of the name Henry before we learned of baby’s death, but it was the Nativity of John the Baptist and we liked the name John anyway [John the Evangelist too!], as well as JPII, Hubby’s brother is Paul and the paternal grandfather.”)

Annemarie Elizabeth (“I liked Marian names and Hubby liked Ann. My middle name is Elizabeth.”)

Charles Anthony (“He is adopted.  His birth mom named him Charlie, we changed it to Charles officially but call him Charlie.  Anthony is Hubby’s dad’s name and Hubby’s middle name.”)

Veronica Leigh (“We just like St. Veronica, have a friend Veronica who’s awesome, My grandfather was Vernon [kind of a stretch], My dad’s middle name is Lee.”)

Clare Susan (“St. Clare/devotion to the Eucharist during Covid, great simple name, Hubby’s mother is Susan.”)

Such great names, right?? I really love all the family connections — each of the combinations they chose is lovely, and I love that their Charlie’s name fits in so nicely and that he has Julia’s hubby’s middle name and Grandpa’s first name. I also think Veronica as a nod to Vernon isn’t a stretch at all! Very clever!!

Julia writes,

“This is a baby boy!  We are liking Dominic, Michael, Joseph (but only for a middle name) … And… We love the rosary 🥰”

They also like Nicholas, but can’t use it.

I love their list for a boy! Dominic, Michael, Joseph, and Nicholas are all wonderful, strong names, and Julia’s added comment about loving the rosary is just perfect — Dominic and Michael particularly make me think of the rosary because of St. Dominic’s connection (tradition holds that Our Lady gave him the rosary and charged him with its promulgation) and because the Prayer of St. Michael is often said at the end of it. I’m glad she included that Joseph is only in consideration for a middle name, and that they like Nicholas but can’t use it — they both give me an extra sense of the kinds of names they like.

In terms of coming up with new ideas for this family, I found their love of the rosary to be particularly helpful — it sent me right to the book of Marian names I wrote, as many of the names I included were because of particular connections to the rosary. I also looked up the names Julia and her husband have already used and those they like in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. It’s increasingly becoming out of date and the author doesn’t show signs of doing a new edition, but I did actually find it helpful in cross checking the ideas I had for this family. I also couldn’t help but notice that Dominic, Michael, and Nicholas all have a strong CK sound and Dominic and Nicholas both specifically contain “Nic” — that all gives me a sense of the sounds that might appeal to Julia and her hubby in a name. Based on all that, these are my ideas for this baby boy:

(1) Patrick

My first and favorite idea for this family is Patrick. I think it’s a great fit with their other kids’ names, it has the strong CK sound they seem to like, and Ven. Patrick Peyton is referred to as “The Rosary Priest” in Fr. Calloway’s book Champions of the Rosary (affiliate link). As I wrote in my book, “He started the Family Rosary Crusade in the 1940s, which was an international Rosary apostolate, and ‘organized rosary events in more than 40 countries, gathering over 28 million people to pray the rosary’ — all stemming from his love for Our Lady.” Patrick seems to tick all their boxes! Pat and Paddy are traditional nicknames (I know a little Paddy and it’s the darlingest nickname on a little guy!), I love Pack and Packy (I’m a big fan of offbeat nicknames!), and I’ve even seen Trick and Rick/Ricky.

(2) Benedict

Benedict is mostly inspired by Dominic, which I admit is a name I was a little surprised to see on their list (except for the rosary connection) — Dominic has a heavier feel to me than their other kids’ names (with the exception of Veronica — Veronica and Dominic are quite well matched in my mind). Benedict has a similar feel to Dominic and Veronica, and has the great, friendly nickname Ben that mimics the great, friendly feel of Charlie (and I think they could even use Nick/Nicky as a nickname for Benedict if they wanted to!). And it’s got a rosary connection! As I wrote in my book, “Mary is called benedicta in the Latin form of the Hail Mary. Additionally, Fr. Calloway called Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI ‘The Theologian of the Rosary’ in his book Champions of the Rosary.”

(3) Leo

Leo diverges from the sounds of Dominic/Michael/Nicholas/Patrick/Benedict that I think they really like, but I can see it being a natural fit with their children nonetheless, and, of course, it’s got a rosary connection! Pope Leo XIII is called “The Pope of the Rosary” in Fr. Calloway’s book because he dedicated October to the rosary and inserted the title “Queen of the Mostly Holy Rosary” into the Litany of Loreto, among other rosary-focused things.

(Bonus) Zechariah or Zachary

I put these names in the “bonus” spot since I don’t think they fit this family’s style as well as Patrick, Benedict, and Leo (either the more biblical feeling Zechariah nor its more familiar variant Zachary), but they *do* fit into the sounds Julia and her husband seem to like (the strong “CK” thing) and they bring to mind, for me, the second Joyful Mystery of the Rosary — The Visitation, because of Zechariah’s role in naming John the Baptist, which provides a nice rosary connection. So I wanted to include it just in case!

And those are my ideas for this family! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the baby brother of Alice, Annemarie, Charles, Veronica, and Clare?

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!

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

sanctanomina Housekeeping

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!