Baby name consultant: Tori Spelling’s No. 5

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I know, you’re all thinking, “I thought she was on a consultation hiatus!” and I am — still plugging away — but when my sister-in-law texted me the other day that actress Tori Spelling is expecting her fifth baby, I perked right up like a prairie dog (does that image make sense to you? You know how prairie dogs sort of stand up, like they’re on alert? That’s what I always picture myself doing when I hear that someone’s expecting a baby! 😂😂😂) because I looooooove Tori Spelling’s name taste AND I’ve had ideas for her for ages! So it’s taking me like five minutes to put together this post. (I’m hoping to get back on the new-consultation train soon!)

Her older kiddos are:

Liam Aaron
Stella Doreen
Hattie Margaret
Finn Davey

I love the Irish feel of her boys’ names; I love the old-fashioned chic of the girls’ names — Stella’s currently at a peak of popularity, but the last time it was similarly popular was the early 1900s, which is when Hattie was most popular (and they were at similar rankings back then); I love that they all incorporate family names (Aaron is Tori’s dad, Doreen is her mother-in-law, Davey is Tori’s own middle name and a family surname if I remember correctly, and I don’t remember what connection Margaret has); I love how they all go really well with big brother Jack (from her husband’s first marriage). Seriously, she’s done a great job.

My SIL encouraged me to post about it, and then I read Tori Spelling Has Been Great at Baby Names but Now She’s Stumped (baby’s gender is as yet unknown), so here we are!

That article suggested Owen for them, which I think is a fantastic suggestion — I think it’s a great name for Jack, Liam, and Finn’s brother, both style-wise and popularity-wise. I’m not as much a fan of their suggestion of Charlotte — gorgeous name, but it doesn’t feel quite right to me for them. I really wanted to suggest both Greta and Daisy — Greta because it has the same old Hollywood feel I get from the combo “Stella Doreen” especially (like Greta Garbo), and Daisy because it’s sweet and nicknamey like Hattie — but since they’re both variants of Margaret (Hattie’s middle name) I thought they weren’t the best suggestions (though if she chose either one I’d be delighted!). Instead, this is what I think would be great if they had a baby girl:

(1) Mabel

Mabel was one of the top names of the first decade of the 1900s and currently has a similar popularity arc as Stella and Hattie. Such a sweet name!

(2) Georgia

Like Mabel, Georgia also has a similarity popularity path to Stella and Hattie, both in the early 1900s and currently. It’s sweet for a little girl and sophisticated for a woman.

(3) Ruby

Ditto all of my comments on Mabel and Georgia for Ruby! It’s got the right profile all around for this family.

(4) Greer

Greer is the only name that’s off, popularity wise, from the others — it’s actually never been in the top 1000 — but 1940s actress Greer Garson inspired me.

I’m sure Tori doesn’t need middle name ideas, since I’m sure she has more in her family tree that would be great, but I was particularly loving the idea of Eleanor as a middle, for what it’s worth.

For boys, I was as much inspired by their Irishy theme (perfect with last name McDermott) as I was with their four-letter theme (which Owen fits in with perfectly):

(1) Milo

Jack, Liam, Finn, and Milo seem like an awesome set to me! (Or Miles, if they don’t mind losing the four-letter thing).

(2) Bram

Ages ago — like ten years ago — on BabyCenter there was a name poll for a family who had three boys already: Jack, Finn, and Bram. Ohhh my, I loved that set — so much so that I remember it all these years later! So I’m suggesting Bram. Love it.

(3) Declan

I think Declan most closely matches the popularity arc of Jack, Liam, and Finn as a set. It’s a great name!

(4) Connor

Connor is most like Jack in its popularity — pretty steady at about the middle of the top 100 — and it’s amazing with McDermott.

If I had to choose a middle name, I’d probably consider either Dean (unless it’s Jack’s middle name) or Patrick.

I’d love to hear your ideas for the Spelling-McDermott family!

Baby name consultant: Mom likes “weird,” meaningful names for no. 6

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Maria and her husband are expecting their sixth baby — a little girl! Little Miss joins big sibs:

Rose Gianna (“she’s named after my husbands grandmother, but St. Rose of Lima was the first saint of the America’s [thus first child] and I wanted her to be a strong woman and selfless, like St. Gianna. Her confirmation saint is St. Joan of Arc, again with a strong female Saint“)

Sofia Magdalena (“Sofia is wisdom and Magdalene was the Apostle to the Apostles and the penitent woman. I wanted her to be full of wisdom and be a voice to the world, and again she hast chosen St. Teresa of Calcutta for her confirmation Saint in a couple of years“)

Gemma Anastasia (“pronounced Hemma and the Spanish version of Anastasia, I’m Hispanic and the “G” is a “H” sound; St. Gemma Galgani was a beautiful girl and for my third daughter I wanted her name to be queenly and beautiful“)

Sebastian David (“he is the beautiful Roman soldier and boy king. He likes to be referred to as the King 🙂 “)

Thaddeus Jacob (“my grandmother has a devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus and literally translated Thaddeus is “to God” and then he is the beloved son, the second born“)

I love every single one of these combinations!! Such a great bunch of names, and so meaningful, each one!

Maria shared that she’s had trouble conceiving because of some health issues, but with this baby has this wonderful story:

“2 weeks before my positive pregnancy test, I sat in Adoration crying and asking God to please let me get better soon so I could have a baby. I read through 1 Samuel and the Canticle of Hannah and I made a silly promise that whenever He deemed it time for me to have another baby, the middle name would be Samuel or Hannah. Lo and behold 2 weeks later two lines show up. I feel like I’ve been given a miracle and when I announced it on FB I did so with this verse:

1 Samuel 1:15-20

15 But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman sorely troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD.
16 Do not regard your maidservant as a base woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.”
17 Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have made to him.”
18 And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer sad.
19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ra’mah. And Elka’nah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her;
20 and in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the LORD.”“

So beautiful, right? I just love stories like this! And I don’t think it’s a silly promise at all — I think it’s lovely to thank God in such a beautiful way.

The two names that Maria and her hubs have talked about are:

Lorelei Hannah
Ruth Hannah

And if the baby had been a boy, they were considering Beckett Samuel.

Additionally,

“I like to have my children’s names to mean something or instill in them virtues through their patron saints … I have very romantic notions about names and I love to have stories behind them … I like weird names, last names (for boys mostly) Old Testament names or names with special meaning to the situation.”

“Weird names” are right up my alley, so you know I totally rubbed my hands together delightedly and my mind started clicking!

I did find Hannah somewhat challenging to work with in terms of pairing it with a first name in a pleasing combo, but I think I came up with some good ideas.

Lorelei and Ruth are both great ideas for a baby girl! I was pretty surprised by Lorelei, just because it doesn’t have a saintly connection and all Maria’s other kiddos’ first names do, but of course the first name doesn’t have to be a saint’s name. I really like the flow and sound of Lorelei Hannah. Ruth is so sweet, and Ruthie is one of my favorite nicknames, lovely! I did wonder if Rose and Ruth are too similar, being that they both start with R and have four letters? And their middle names both contain Anna? But with Rose at the beginning of a large family and Ruth at the end, it probably doesn’t matter much at all.

You all know that I almost always start a consultation by looking up the names the parents have used and those they like/are considering in the Baby Name Wizard as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. Using that research and my own mental files, taking into account that Maria likes “weird” names 😀 , these are my ideas for this family:

(1) Araceli
As soon as Maria said she’s Hispanic I started thinking of the Spanish names I know that might suit, especially those that don’t end in -a (as I don’t think ends-in-a names have a great flow with Hannah), and Araceli is one of my favorites. It comes from the Latin for “altar” and “heaven” and refers to Our Lady as the Altar of Heaven. So beautiful, right? Marian names are my favorite! .

(2) Damaris
Damaris is actually a style match for Thaddeus, and it’s also on the list of Latina names in the BNW, so it seemed a spot-on suggestion. It’s the name of a woman in the New Testament who was converted by Paul, and Lindsay at the blog My Child I Love You and her family use it to mean “of/belonging to Mary,” which I just love. There’s a Food Network chef named Damaris Phillips who pronounces it da-MARE-is, but I know DAM-a-ris is also acceptable.

(3) Caeli
Caeli can be said CHAY-lee (which is how it’s said in Church Latin) or KAY-lee, and means “heaven” (same as in the “celi” part of Araceli); it’s most recognizable I think as part of the Marian title Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven).

(4) Penelope
Penelope is a style match for Lorelei, and I love how it sounds with Hannah. For a long time there wasn’t any faith connection, but in September 2015 Pope Francis made Ersilia Penelope Frey a Venerable!

(5) Ruby, Scarlett
I’m listing these two together because their faith connection is similar — I discussed Ruby here and both Ruby and Scarlett here and here. I love how Ruby Hannah and Scarlett Hannah sound, and Scarlett was also a style math for Beckett.

(6) Verity
Verity means “truth” and is an awesome name for a little Catholic girl. It also flows really well with Hannah.

(7) Felicity
I almost didn’t include Felicity because I didn’t think it was weird/unusual enough, but I ultimately decided to because of how well it goes with Hannah in my opinion. It means “happiness,” which is an awesome meaning for a little one, and it goes especially well with Maria’s conception story. St. Felicity is great too.

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for Rose, Sofia, Gemma, Sebastian, and Thaddeus’ little sister?

Name thieves

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Reader Anna posted a story to my Facebook wall today — one of Abby’s Name Sage posts on Nameberry that had gotten quite a bit of feedback: Baby Name Theft? Sibling rivalry over a name.

This is the issue:

“I have always loved the name Josephine, called Josie or Jo. My sister likes it, too. She doesn’t have kids yet, but really wants them. To be considerate, I asked if she was okay with us using Josephine for this baby. She said it was fine.

My husband and I decided to use the name. [Their older daughter] calls her sister Josephine, and we’ve been referring to the baby by name, though we haven’t officially announced it.

Just recently, my sister told me that she’d changed her mind, and she wants to keep Josephine for herself. Now she’s not speaking to me.

We don’t want to change the name. It fits for many personal reasons, and it’s the name we both love. Yet now when I hear it, I feel frustrated and sad.”

Oof! So maddening! So unfair! So ridiculous! I’m certain all of us can understand the mama’s perspective (who’s actually pregnant, actually expecting an actual baby who actually needs an actual name in the actual near future), but I’m sure even the most laid-back among us can imagine the sister’s perspective as well. What a dilemma!

I love that the expecting parents showed consideration and asked the sister for her permission (for lack of a better word) — we did this also with one of our boys. I hate that the sister said okay, and then changed her mind after the decision was already made. I hate that the sister isn’t speaking to the mom. I hate that the once-beloved, perfect name now evokes anger, frustration, and sadness.

I posted once about naming “dibs” and included a bunch of links that I thought were useful. Given that we add the element of faith to our name discussions, I think we might all agree that relationships are, objectively, more important than names? This is something I try to keep in mind myself, though I know I’m more laid back about this particular issue than a lot of other namiacs. I also feel like we can all intellectually agree that no one owns a particular name, so the idea of “name theft” is somewhat misleading. There are also a zillion other names (and Abby had some awesome suggestions for this couple). I also don’t at all mind the idea of first cousins having the same name, and I think I would love the challenge of coming up with different nicknames.

But. I also know that this can be a hugely emotional topic (especially for emotional pregnant ladies! I’m sacrificing my body, my hormones, my sleep, and my comfort for this baby, let me have my name!), which can override any objective understandings of anything. And relationships are more important than names, but it doesn’t sound like the sister in this situation agrees, and it’s hard to have a good relationship with someone who refuses to play by loving-relationship rules, and who insists on behaving in a way that feels traitorous, petty, and selfish (and I can see how both the sister and the mama could feel this way about the other). But then we’re supposed to rise above and do the right thing regardless. Gah! What a mess.

My dibs post is almost two years old, so let’s revisit it — what are your thoughts/reactions to the Nameberry post? Any personal stories you’d like to share?

Prayers please, and a name reveal

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Do you all remember Sylvia of this consultation and this birth announcement? She blogs at Tales from the Mommy Trenches, and I just discovered that not only is she pregnant with her fifth beautiful baby — another girl! — but also that her sweet baby has a congenital heart defect and Down Syndrome (that post about receiving the results of the blood test that said the baby does indeed have DS was titled “Joy” ♥♥♥).

If you read the above links, you likely saw that Sylvia and her husband have named the baby, and I could not think of a better name:

“We will still be following our family tradition of calling her by her middle name, and her middle name is Regina. She is named after the Queen of Heaven, and I have dedicated her to Our Lady. Scott and I decided that her first name will be Matilde, named after my mother and grandmother. Matilde means “brave in battle,” so it seemed appropriate. It is good to have a name so that I can start praying for her by name.”

A perfect addition to sisters Gloria Ruth, Victoria Rose, Elena Wren, and Sylvia Rhea!

I’m sure this beautiful family would appreciate any prayers you can offer for them and for little Regina! 🙏🙏🙏

New article up at CatholicMom!

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My October column posted today! Check it out: Reclaim the Name.

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I drew heavily from my Reclaim the name post of a while ago in putting together the ten names I listed in the article that I’d like to see be reclaimed, and though there were quite a lot to choose from, I focused on the most Catholicky Catholic ones. A couple of the names actually *are* well used — just that I hear some people have a hard time getting past particular associations that I would love to see overridden. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the ten I chose, and any others you would add!

Birth announcement: Rosalee Maewyn!

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The mama from this consultation sort of sneakily snuck in a little comment on the post today sharing that she’s had her baby! Her little girl has been given the goooorgeous name … Rosalee Maewyn!

What an amazingly beautiful combo! I’m extra excited too that Rosalie was one of my suggestions — I’m so delighted it was a helpful idea!

If you remember, this sweet girl is Baby No. 11 and her parents didn’t want her name to repeat any of her siblings’ initials — I’m so impressed at how well they’ve done! She joins big sibs:

David Zachary
Caleb Daniel
Jesse Robert
Ethan Wyatt
Kathryn Cecilia
Aaron Mathias
Tobias Xavier
Bridget Darling
Phoebe Noelle
Levi Thaddeus

Such a handsome bunch of names! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Rosalee!! (Be sure to check our her adorable little face over on her mama’s blog!)

Baby name consultant: Mary, music, and ends-in-a

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Mary Dove and her husband Gerry are expecting their seventh baby, a little girl! This little lady joins big sibs:

Maria Paloma (“which is Mary Dove in Spanish, she goes by Paloma“)
Isabella Maria (“goes by Bella, Bellita, Izzy“)
Juliana Marie (“Jules, Juice Cup, Julie Dear“)
Nicholas Matthias (“Nick, Nicko, even Nicodemus which I almost wish we named him because I have come to love it, he was named after Gerry’s Confirmation name, since he didn’t want a Jr.”)
Dominic Karl (“Dom, Domo and Domodemus; Karl is after my dad, Dom was almost Donovan but Dominic felt right“)
Augustine Raphael (“Gus, Gusto, Auggie; Raphael after Gerry’s dad“)

Just an amazing bunch of names! (And those nicknames! “Juice Cup”! 😀 ) I love them all, but I especially love that Maria Paloma has her mom’s exact name, just translated into Spanish — particularly interesting in light of our conversation about girls named after their moms the other day. (Also, the fact that Gerry “didn’ want a Jr.” makes it sound like Mary Dove would have been okay with that — further evidence for the idea that many of the boy Juniors are Mom’s idea!)

Mary Dove shared lots of fun namey info:

“I’ll start with me, since my own name needs some explaining. My name is Mary Donovan Z. My mom nicknamed me Mary Dove (like Mary Beth or Mary Jo) and it stuck. My family and close friends call me Mary Dove or Dove. I am part Irish/Scottish and German. My husband’s name is Gerry (Gerald) Micheal, he is European Spanish/Mexican and English/German. I like to have names that reflect family heritage and also the person’s appearance

A couple of things we do with our kid’s names, the girls have a Marian name in their names and the first name ends in the letter a because it flows with our last name (but having a name ending in A is not an absolute). 2 of our kids have blue eyes and freckles and burn in the sun (yup, that’s the Irish) and the other 4 have various light skin tones but tan and have green/grey/hazel eyes. 3 are slender and 3 are stocky (aren’t genes cool!!)

The boys have middle names that are family names. We also use nicknames a lot.”

I just died over Mary Donovan –> Mary Dove or just Dove. So great!

Regarding names for their Little Miss,

“[W]e will probably use Monica, as that is a family name and though not Marian, I think I might count it as Marian-ish. Gerry is partial to Felicity. I kinda like Pia (because I love Padre Pio). I prefer actual saint names but have considered the names Hope and Grace, too … [also] perhaps a variation on Bridget [after Mary Dove’s sister] … we are a bit of a musical family and was wondering about musical type names. My sisters and I had an a cappella singing group as teens and I play (though not really much now) the harp, Scottish bagpipes, and piano. My girls all play piano and each a string instrument (cello, violin and viola) my husband is learning guitar and Ukulele! (How cute is that? If you have older kids, the Ukulele is the cutest little instrument and quite easy to learn!) I like the name Cecelia but that seems to be the quintessential Catholic music name and plus I have a friend whose daughter is named Cecelia. Are there any other musical names out there??“

And a name that Mary Dove really likes but can’t use as it’s the name of her niece:

Anneliese

Alrighty, I’m going to jump right in with a few quick thoughts about the names Mary Dove and her hubs are currently considering: I love Monica, and I’m interested in her Marian-ish idea — I assume she means because it’s the name of a holy mother? I admit I’ve never heard that argument given before for the name Monica! But if her name calls Our Lady to mind for them, who am I to say it’s not Marian-ish!

I love the name Felicity, and I wondered what they’d both think of Felicita? It’s a legit variation (Italian) and retains their ends-in-a pattern. And speaking of Felicity/Felicita, of course I always think of Perpetua too, and I’ve heard of several little girls recently named Perpetua who go by the nickname Pia, which is a name Mary Dove said she likes — maybe they’d like to consider that as a way to use Pia, and it could also be a nod to St. Pio? Also, Our Lady is described as “pia” in the Salve Regina, so it can be a Marian name too. Maybe Monica Pia? And then they get a Marian name, their St. Pio name, and Monica all in one? (Though Mary Dove’s clever Juliana heard “onomatopoeia” when she heard Monica Pia — deal breaker? Or kinda cool?)

Before I get to my other ideas, I have to say I’m a bit stumped about the music question! I looked up patron saints of music, as there are usually several saints for each category/condition/etc., but there was only one listed besides Cecilia — St. Arnulf of Soissons, which didn’t strike me as terribly inspiring (though he himself is pretty awesome). I did see that a Frisian (from Wikipedia: “The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. The Frisian languages are the closest living language group to English languages“) variant is Anne, used for both girls and boys and said AH-nah, so I thought maybe Ana or Anna would work as a nod to St. Arnulf? Or are they too close to Anneliese?

I looked up patron saints of singers and had a little more success: St. Andrew the Apostle, King David, and St. Gregory the Great (Gregorian Chant is named after him) are all patrons of singers. Of those, Andrea would fit in well with the other girls’ names (and it’s a style match for Monica!), and I’ve seen Andra and Andrina as well. Greer is used as a feminine form of Gregory — it’s from a Scottish surname derived from Gregory, which is a nice nod to Mary Dove’s Scottish heritage. I don’t think it would work as a first name for this family, but maybe as a middle?

I had the most luck with “saints who were singers” — there are a lot of them (the full list here); these were three of my favorite ideas for them:
— Bl. Anne Pelras (that “Anne” again!)
— Bl. Chiara Badano (looooove Chiara for this family! It’s Italian instead of Spanish, but ends in -a and is so lovely, like the other girls)
— Bl. Marie-Gabrielle Trezel (Gabriela would be a perfect fit!)

And then I had the idea of Aria — as it refers to “song” or “melody” in Italian, and ends in -a, and is beautiful — and looked to see if there was a holy Aria, and there is! St. Aria of Rome! (The Game of Thrones character Arya Stark, said the same is Aria, is good to be aware of though, as some might think the name was inspired by her.)

Okay! I did a full round of research for girl names, where “research” means, as you all know, looking up all the names they’ve used and those they like/are considering in the Baby Name Wizard, which is an awesome resource as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I also went through my own mental files, and here’s what I came up with:

(1) Jacinta
Bl. Hyacinth-Marie Cormier is one of the blesseds who was a singer, and Jacinta — which I’d already had on my list for them! — is a feminine variant of Hyacinth (and actually Hyacinth can be used as a female name as well — see the Pioneer Woman’s best friend Hyacinth). I’d say it jah-SIN-tah, the English way, and I assume Mary Dove’s Juliana is said with an English J? But they could also do hah-SEEN-tah, it’s gorgeous either way. And it’s also Marian-ish, since Bl. Jacinta Marto was one of the Fatima children.

(2) Lilia, Liliana, Lilli
Lilies are associated with Our Lady, and so the Lily names are Marian. Lilia’s one of my very favorite variants, and Liliana’s another (and is actually a style match for Juliana — but maybe two names ending in -ana is too much?). Lili and Lilli are German variants that are specifically diminutives of Elisabeth (as Lily is a traditional nickname for Elizabeth), which is cool, but like with Juliana/Liliana, are any of the Elizabeth variants too much with sister Isabella? I think no, since one could choose a Lily name just because of the flower or Our Lady without any intention of connecting to Elizabeth. (Lillian is also a style match for Isabella, and Lily for Bella).

(3) Magdalena
I love this variant of Mary Magdalene’s name — it ends in -a like the other girls’ names, and has the beautiful nickname options Maggie (which has an Irish feel), Maddy, and Lena.

(4) Victoria, Veronica (or Cora?)
Victoria is a style match for several of their names — Juliana, Nicholas, and Sebastian — and I’ve recently been loving it as a nod to Our Lady of Victory. I’ve also seen the nickname idea Cora for it recently, which not only makes Victoria feel a bit fresher, but can also be a nod to either the Immaculate Heart of Mary or the Sacred Heart of Jesus (“cor” in Latin means “heart”). It made me think of Veronica, which is another gorgeous V name and a great saintly connection. I actually think Cora could also work as a nickname for Veronica, as well as Vee and Via (but not the Nic- names, of course, because of Nicholas. The traditional Ronnie feels a little dated to me, but if they like it that’s another nickname option). I’m also loving just Cora, as a given name!

(5) Natalia
Natalia also did quite well for them in my research, being similar in style to Juliana, Nicholas, Dominic, and Sebastian. I love the name Natalia, and I think Nat, Natty, Talia, Tally, Nia, and Lia are all sweet.

(6) Britta, Breda/Brida
My last girl idea for this baby girl is Britta, 100% inspired by Mary Dove’s sister Bridget, as Britta is a variant of it (and it ends in -a!). I love Britta, and another awesome tidbit is that it’s a style match for Pia! I’ve also seen Breda and Brida as variants/anglicizations of the Irish Bríd, which I believe is said “breed” and is an Irish contracted form of Brighid, which is of course a variant of Bridget.

And those are all my thoughts/ideas for this baby girl! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for this beautiful family?

Prayers please!

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A mama I did a consultation for has let me know her baby has been born, and while I haven’t yet secured permission from her to post the birth announcement, she did tell me she’d like prayers for her baby:

“[The baby] was diagnosed with a heart defect this week.  Could you please ask your readers to include him in their prayers, that the hole in his heart would close naturally and that he wouldn’t need surgery?“

Please keep this little guy and his mama and the rest of his family in your prayers!

Naming after women

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I spent a few minutes in the Baby Name Wizard discussion forums this morning as I ate my breakfast, and saw a comment containing a sentiment that I see with some regularity over there and that kind of irks me every time I see it:

“I think it’s totally lovely to honor a mother with a name for a change (I know lots of men who name their sons after themselves, either as juniors outright or using variant forms or middle names, but very few women who do so).”

I don’t even disagree with the comment! I know it’s more common for a dad to have a son named after himself than for a mom to have a daughter named after herself. And the commenter herself is one I highly respect, as her thoughts are *always* well balanced and fair. But I feel testy and defensive when I see things like “honor a mother with a name for a change” and “lots of men who name their sons after themselves” — probably because I feel like it’s a tentacle of a whole “down with the patriarchy!” thought process that usually includes the “old men in white hats in Rome.” Blah.

Anyway, my contrarian Rome-loving self immediately thought of lots of examples, old and new, of people (babies and olders) being named after women. My mom, for one example, was half named for her mom (I saw “half” because her mom’s name was Anne, and my grandfather wanted to name my mom Anne — imagine that! A man! Wanting to name his baby girl after his beloved wife! But my grandmother wanted to name her one of the names-of-the-day: Susan. So they compromised with Susanne). My sister has my mom’s name as one of her middle names. My paternal grandfather was given his mom’s maiden name as a first name. Before I had so many boys, I’d always planned to work one or more elements of my name into one or more of my daughters’ names.

Moving farther afield from moms naming daughters after themselves, my youngest son’s first name is for my mother-in-law and his middle name for my mom. Julianamama shared that she knows a dad with a great devotion to St. Margaret who named his son Garrett after her! (I died when I read that! Brilliant!)

I’ve done two posts (On my bookshelf: A Dictionary of English Surnames and Girl names turned surnames) highlighting how various surnames are originally metronymics (identifying a person by his or her mother), or diminutives of female first names that became surnames, or perhaps arising from religious devotion to a female saint — like Marriot (from Mary), Ebbetts (from Isabel), Scollas (from Scholastica, specifically for St. Scholastica, according to Reaney & Wilson), and Emmett (from Emma). All of these would be fine and interesting for a child to be named, and they’re all feminine in origin (even if the parents don’t realize it or it wasn’t their intent). And I did a couple posts on current men religious who took their Mother Mary’s name as part of their new religious names: Eleven new Dominican priests and Men Who Love Mary: MFVA (a whole Order of men who take Mary as part of their new name! And one had Therese as well!), never mind all the male saints with Mary in their names: St. Clement Mary/Maria Hofbauer (depending on what you’re reading), St. Maximilian Mary/Maria Kolbe, St. Anthony Mary Claret, St. Jean Marie Vianney, St. Josemaria Escriva … who else?

I’d love to know what stories you all have of moms naming their daughters or sons after themselves or similar family stories, and whether you know any Brothers or Priests with female saints’ names, or boys who have taken a female saint’s name for a Confirmation name. It’s not all oppression, people. (I’m done ranting now. 🙂 )

 

 

Spotlight on: Benedict/a

sanctanomina Spotlight , ,

I haven’t done one of these in ages and it feels goooood to work on one! 😀

One of you dear readers asked me for a spotlight on Benedicta a while ago, so I thought it would be best to add in Benedict as well, as Benedict is the “originating name” in the sense that it was a name first, and then the female variant arose. (Withycombe says that Benedicta is, “Probably as a rule simply a f. form of Benedictus, the man’s name, though there are one or two obscure saints Benedicta.”)

Benedict/a’s meaning rocks: “blessed.” So great, right?! And for us, it also means “any of the Sts. Benedict, and/or the Benedictine Order (especially for those who have a Benedict spirituality), and/or our dear Papa Benny — Pope Emeritus Benedict XIV (aka B16 because we Catholics are cool like that, giving our popes hip nicks. 😀 ).”

Speaking of hip … this image of St. Benedict always kills me, he looks so cool, like he’s just wearing his hoodie, hanging out with friends, like (Catholic nerd alert!) your favorite young seminarian or director of campus ministry. 😀 I hope it isn’t disrespectful to say so! It’s my favorite image of him, and if I ever have a Benedict, I’ll get this icon for him.

st_benedict_of_norcia
Hoping it’s okay that I’m including this screen grab — I’ve seen this image all over the internet and only tonight discovered who wrote it — great job, Br. Claude Lane! I got it from Mount Angel Abbey’s web site.

I know some people have a hard time moving past the Benedict Arnold association that, unfortunately, continues to cling stubbornly to the name, but fortunately that’s only an American problem, and Pope Benedict, Benedict Cumberbatch, and time have all helped to dilute it, and will continue to do so I’m sure.

Benedicta suffers from no such problematic association, as far as I’m aware, and Simcha Fisher’s little Benedicta Maribel — called Benny exclusively and swoonily — is a tremendous example of how such a big name can work on a beautiful little girl.

As far as nicknames go for Benedict, there’s Ben and Benny, and I’ve suggested Bede as a nickname for it, and I’ve recently been loving the idea of Boon(e) as a nickname for it too, if you want something a little offbeat — it means “good,” a similar meaning to Benedict, which just adds to its possible use as a nickname for Benedict in my opinion (Abby did a post on Boone not too long ago, which I loved). I’ve also seen Ned (and Neddy!) — seriously adorable! Benito is a Spanish variant (though … is the Mussolini connection still too strong?) and Benedetto an Italian variant, and I think some of the other foreign variants could really work as nicknames or given names too, like Bendt/Bent (Danish), Bence (Hungarian), and Bento (Portuguese).

For Benedicta, there’s of course Benny and I think Betty, Neddy/Nettie, and even Becka could work. (Which makes me think — Beck could work as a nickname for Benedict too! Fun!) I could see Bonnie working for a girl as well. Benita is a Spanish form and Benedetta an Italian form (and Bettina its diminutive). Pretty!

I can’t not mention also Bennett/Bennet/Benett/Benet/Bennitt — medieval variants of Benedict that can be a little easier to bear while still retaining the saintliness of the name. Withycombe even says that those same variants were used for girls as late as the end of the 17th century! She also says that the surnames Benn and Benson were derived from Benedict, which provide further ideas.

All in all, I think Benedict and Benedicta are great names, very usable. I’d love to hear from any of you who have a Benedict/a or know any — do they like their name? Do they go by a nickname and if so, what is it?