Birth announcement: Owen Francis!

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I posted a consultation for Katie and her husband back in June, and she’s let me know that her little green bean has arrived — a handsome little boy named … Owen Francis!

Katie writes,

“Hi Kate!

I wanted to let you know our sweet baby boy was born June 28 at 12:58 pm via repeat c-section. He was 8lbs 7 oz. and 20.5 inches long. He is just the sweetest baby and we are all completely in love. He is my calmest, sleepiest baby by far. I guess he knows his role as #3. He’s simply going to have to be able to go with the flow.

As for names, we never could decide prior to his birth. I had a list and once we got back to my room we pulled out the list and started talking. We ended up deciding on Owen Francis for his name. I had been drawn to Francis as a middle name for a while. I have always loved the prayer of St. Francis Assisi and my hope is that Owen will be an instrument of peace in our family, because he is joining two wild and crazy older siblings! So far he is living up to his name.

As for Owen, you had mentioned St. Nicholas Owen several times recently and it was sticking with me. I’ve always liked it and even though it is more popular than I normally like, I don’t actually know any little Owens and have only taught 1 in 10 years! We also thought Owen was a good fit with Asher and Margo.

So, I want to thank you for your help, even though we didn’t use your specific suggestions for us, you inspired us all the same!“

Yaaassssssss for St. Nicholas Owen!! Wooo!! And the combo Owen Francis is so great, I just love it!!

Congratulations to Katie and her husband and big sibs Asher and Margot, and happy birthday Baby Owen!!

Owen Francis

Birth announcement: Margaret Anne Sonia!

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A mama I did a private consultation let me know her little girl has arrived and been given the beautifully significant name … Margaret Anne Sonia!

She writes,

“Just thought I would let you know that our baby was born on the 16th of July (Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel).

We decided to name her Margaret Anne Sonia and her eight siblings are thrilled to have another little sister.”

What a beautiful day to be born, and what a beautiful name!! (I happen to know that Sonia is for the mama’s late beloved grandmother). This sweet girl joins big sibs:

Elizabeth Rose
Zachariah Thomas
Heather Gianna
Peter Michael (twin)
John Paul Joseph (twin)
Samuel Lewis
Mary Jo (Mary Georgina)
Sarah Joy

Such a wonderfully named family!! Nice job, Mom and Dad!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Margaret!! (Look at these great pictures!!)

Margaret Anne Sonia with her family

Birth announcement: Anastasia Therese!

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A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know her little girl has arrived and been given the beautiful name … Anastasia Therese!

She writes,

“Hi Kate! I wanted to update you that we had a GIRL! We decided to name her Anastasia Therese. As soon as she was born, she looked just like an Anastasia to both of us. We’re pronouncing it ah na sta SEE uh. Thanks for your help!! :)”

I love love love the combo Anastasia Therese, so lovely and full of significance!! She joins some equally amazingly named big siblings, who are pictured with her in the photo below (their names are in the caption). Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Anastasia!!

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Anastasia Therese and her brothers and sisters. Left to right: Lucia Agnese, Antonio Diego, Caterina Maria (holding Anastasia), Ignacio Jose, and Perpetua Beatriz

Birth announcement: Lucie Christine!

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Buckle up guys, I have a bunch of birth announcements to share this week! 😍🎉😍🎉😍🎉

First up, I posted a consultation for Colleen and her husband back in May, and Colleen’s let me know that their wee one has arrived — a sweet little girl with the beautiful name … Lucie Christine!

Colleen writes,

“Wanted to send over that our little girl was born yesterday afternoon! … Lucie Christine!

As pregnancy got closer and closer to the end, hubby and I both really felt grandmotherly pulls, so he was thinking of Margaret Alice a lot for his grandma Alice, while my Grannie, Evelyn Ruth, had me pulling for Lucie Ruth.

Since we weren’t settled on a name til we got time with her, we narrowed down to Lucie after a little while, but couldn’t settle for a middle name until we had a clearer picture of her whole arrival story and she stabilized.
 
My mom, Christine, has a history of super fast births and not feeling birth pain (I know, be jealous, of 4 kids her longest labor was 2 hours). I arrived at the hospital at 3pm thinking i was in for a long evening and …Lucie was here by 4:15pm. And she was a whopping 8lbs 12oz at 37 weeks!
 
My mom also has a lovely singing voice and miss Lucie’s breathing, while not exactly a good thing, kept being called “singing” by every nurse, doc, and us.
 
So. Lucie Christine. A grandmotherly pull because of HER grandmother, not either of OURS. We’re over the moon!“

SUCH a great story!! And SO exciting they used one of the names I’d suggested!! 😀 And her sensitive little Angie won’t have to feel left out because she has a new little sister with a name ending in the “ee” sound! And I love Christine, both for its family significance and for it’s French-ness, just beautiful all around. (Also, totally jealous of Grandma Christine. “Super fast births and not feeling birth pain” — wha??)

Colleen has asked for prayers for her little Lucie,

“It was a very fast birth and our green bean little girl turned out to need some interventions for low blood sugar and some slight trouble breathing. She didn’t get to room with me last night, and I’m hoping for the next nursery report to be one that she can be with me soon, even if we have some extra rules to follow.”

And another update,

“Lucie is still in the NICU, very steady but docs won’t let her go unless her body keeps her sugar levels up, so prayers for continued good tests would be great! She’s the sweetest thing :)”

And finally, a cuh-RAZY+awesome twist to the story:

“Also, a friend just sent me this…I got goosebumps. We don’t subscribe to the Magnificat, but apparently the communion reflection for yesterday (when we named Lucie) was right on target.

She asked if that’s where we got the name. Crazy!“

Screenshot_20160718-151459

Amazing right?!!

Congratulations to Colleen and her husband and big sibs Hanna, Angele, Nadia, and Leo, and happy birthday Baby Lucie!! (And please don’t forget to pray for her!)

Lucie Christine with her mom and dad

 

Baby name consultant: Boy and girl names needed for Baby No. 4

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Kate and her husband are expecting their fourth baby, a little green bean (=gender unknown)! 🌱😄

Their older kiddos are:

Nicholas Augustine
Dominic Gregory (nicked Dommie)
Magdalen Philippa (“I love Philippa, but [hubs] did not like it as a first name“)

Faaaabulous names, right?? I love how heavy hitting each one is — serious saintliness going on with each one! I also love how they’re all similar length — longish first names, longish middle names.

Kate writes,

“[Regarding Dominic’s name] I basically had my heart set on this name … In order to reach a compromise on this name, I had to promise my husband that if there is another Thomas/Tomas would be somewhere in the name … As you can see, we have a bit of a 3-syllable pattern … I am at a loss for names for this baby. I really love our kids’ names and nothing is sticking out for me.”

Names her husband likes that she doesn’t care for include:

Ambrose
Nathaniel
Amanda
Jennifer
Isidora

Name that Kate likes (but is alliterative with their last name, so she’s not sure about it):

Rita

Names that they can’t use for one reason or another:

Gabriel/la
Isabella
Christopher
Emily
Joseph
Jacob
Theresa

Okay, before I get to my ideas/suggestions, I just want to say that since they have a Dominic nicked Dommie, I’d be careful of using T(h)omas as a first name (unless they don’t mind brothers Dommie and Tommy) (I love the nickname Dommie btw, so cute!). I do love T(h)omas as a middle name for them, very handsome and goes with so many names!

Re: Rita R___, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Some people really like alliteration, and it’s certainly memorable, while others worry that it sounds too comic bookish, but in both instances I think it’s the parents that worry — I don’t think others would bat an eyelash at it. I really wanted to suggest to Margaret with Rita as a nickname, since Rita is originally a diminutive of Margaret/Margarita, but I think Margaret and Magdalen are too similar.

Okay! So I came up with a few ideas for each gender, using my trusty Baby Name Wizard (as you all know it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity) and my own mental files:

Girl
(1) Zita
Zita was originally inspired by the fact that Kate likes Rita but isn’t sure about the alliteration of Rita R___ (I scribbled it down for her when I was first reading her email), and then I discovered that it’s a style match for Philippa! Zita rhymes with Rita but has the spunky Z for an initial. I’ve long been familiar with St. Zita of Lucca, who’s a great patron for a little girl, but I’ve more recently learned about Servant of God, Empress Zita, who was an amazing lady! She was recent enough that there are photos of her (I posted one on IG not too long ago), and her husband is Bl. Karl, Emperor. So cool!

(2) Caroline
Caroline is a style match for Nicholas, and I love it for this family. It can call to mind loads of saints (my favorite is St. John Paul II; I also love St. Charles Borromeo and Bl. Karl above; others here), and it’s got all sorts of feminine sophistication.

(3) Gemma
I was really interested by how Kate said she loves Philippa (I do too) but her hubs wouldn’t go for it for a first name (mine wouldn’t either), so I paid a lot of attention to the names that were listed as similar to it (Philippa’s not actually included in the BNW so I went to Nymbler — you plug in up to six names and it offers boy and girl names that are similar; it’s by the same lady who wrote the BNW). Gemma was one of them, and I think it’s a great option for this family — St. Gemma Galgani is a beautiful saint!

(4) Veronica
Veronica is a style match for Nicholas, Magdalen, and Philippa — how great is that?! I love that it’s got biblical ties like Magdalen, and is similarly long and feminine, such a gorgeous name.

(5) Seraphina or Serafina et al.
Isidora on Kate’s hubby’s list struck me as so different from the other names he likes, and when I looked it up I discovered Isadora is listed as a match for Magdalen! Another match they share is Seraphina/Serafina, which is a personal favorite of mine. It refers to the angels, so it can be an angelic name (which is great) or I think it can also be considered a Marian name (after Our Lady Queen of the Angels).

I have “et al.” after Serafina because there are a few names that are really similar in style to Magdalen and Seraph/fina that Kate and her hubs might like … I chose Seraph/fina because it was explicitly listed as also similar to Isidora (and I love finding names both husband and wife can agree on), but these are also names I think they might like: Christiana, Evangeline, Genevieve, Vivienne, Philomena.

Boy
(1) Matthew, Matthias, or Mat(t)eo
Matthew is a style match for Nicholas and Jennifer, and Matthias is a match for Magdalen and Philippa, so I love the idea of a Matthew name for them. Mat(t)eo’s another great one.

(2) Benjamin
Benjamin! Such a great name! It’s a match for Nicholas, Nathaniel, Philippa, and Matthew, and it’s biblical like Magdalen, I loooove Benjamin! And can you beat the amazing nickname Ben?

(3) Sebastian
Sebastian is totally the style of Augustine, Dominic, Gregory, and Magdalen — super heavy hitting, ultra Catholicky Catholic. It’s got great nickname options (Seb/Sebby, Bash, Baz) and every boy I know loves the image of him with the arrows sticking out of him! Haha! He’s also the patron saint of athletes, and my athlete brothers love him for that.

(4) C(h)ristian
I love the name Christian — I love how explicit it is, but also how normal at the same time … Christian’s also always struck me as a cool guy name, in a good way! I love the Spanish spelling Cristian as well. I personally think of it as different enough from Christopher that even though Christopher is on the “no list” I wouldn’t consider C(h)ristian off limits, but I’d understand if Kate disagrees.

(5) Alexander
Finally, the big daddy of them all: Alexander. It’s saintly and papal, and a style match for Nicholas, Dominic, Gregory, Thomas and Tomas both, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Matthew and Matthias both, Christian, Sebastian, Magdalen, Caroline, Veronica, Seraphina, Evangeline, Genevieve … wow. Wow! It has some great nickname options too: Alex, Xander, Sander, among others. A great name!

And those are all my ideas for Kate and her husband! What do you all think? What would you suggest for a little brother or sister to Nicholas, Dominic, and Magdalen? I think Kate and her hubs might be particularly interested in more three-syllable names, as I didn’t focus on that as much.

Sibling Project: T(h)eresa

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I’m really really enjoying working on the Sibling Project, and I hope you’re all finding it interesting and/or helpful! We’ve done Kateri and John Paul so far, and today’s post is thanks to Laura’s suggestion of Theresa, which she explains so well:

“The [Baby Name Wizard] books suggestions tend to miss the Catholic rationale behind some of my favorite names. I was always horrified by the sibling suggestions for Theresa which I think is such a great name. I think a family using Theresa now is more likely to be a Catholic family rather than one that likes the names from mid-century.”

I actually think there’s an added problem as well — in the BNW, there’s only an entry for Teresa, with Theresa listed as an alternate spelling (which it is, of course, but I *think* people pick one spelling over the other for reasons that are related to favorite saints as well as stylistic preference and sometimes cultural/language considerations, which makes a difference).

The following names are listed as style matches for Teresa:

Girls: Cynthia, Pamela, Suzanne, Deborah, Colleen, Anita, Nina, Kathryn

Boys: Allen, Douglas, Russell, Mark, Paul, Stephen, Gregory, Philip

Just like Laura said, there’s a lot of mid-century going on there. I don’t disagree with Kathryn, Mark, Paul, Stephen, Gregory, and Philip because of the saintliness, but I do think T(h)eresa’s style/feel from our perspective is more well rounded.

What do you all think? Do you see a difference between Teresa and Theresa? Which do you prefer and why? Do you know any T(h)eresas (especially little ones, like younger than … 15?), and if so, what are their siblings’ names? Do they go by a nickname? Do you know why their parents chose the spelling they did? Do you hear different pronunciations (ter-EE-sah vs. ter-AY-sah, for example)?

I’m not totally sure how I’ll handle this entry on the SibPro page, being that it’s really for two names that I think might have different feels — maybe two different entries? We’ll see how it goes … if I have to post an addendum or follow-up questions next week I will. (I considered adding Therese in here too, but I don’t think the entry in the Baby Name Wizard is that far off, so I may not do an entry for it.)

Some more fun things (St. Anne, sibsets, books)

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First, our reader Shelby sent me this amazing photo:

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With this note,

“Recently went to Vienna and went to a string concert at St. Anne Church. Their tabernacle was kind of unique and it says Anna at the top (picture attached). The website shows a nice picture of their St. Anne statue. www.annakirche.at

Made me think of Sancta Nomina and how in many European churches the patron saints name or statue is right on the altar. St. Stephen’s in Budapest is particularly impressive. En.bazilika.biz“

Can you see it there? “Anna” in the middle of the rays? So cool!

While we were on vacation in my parents’ lake cabin last week, I came across old issues (like over ten years old, yes we are that kind of family) of the Franciscan University alumni magazine with these great sibsets shared in the “Class Notes” section:

J0hn
Mary
Rach3l
Th0mas
Jac0b
Sarah
Clar3
(I was particularly impressed that they have a Mary, Sarah, and Clar3, as I think we’ve talked before about whether or not these names are too similar for sisters? I think they’re great here)

M0lly
P3t3r
Nathan
Abby
W!ll!am
J0hn Paul (new info for the John Paul entry on the Sibling Project page!)

M!chael
R3g!na
D0min!c G!les (both names given — could this mean it’s a double name?? 😍)
Gabr!3l
Mar!a Ver0n!ca (ditto D0min!c G!les)

I’ve also wanted to do a couple book reviews recently, but I’m just not getting to them and I want to alert you to them in case you’d like to know about them. First is African Saints, African Stories: 40 Holy Men and Women by Camille Lewis Brown, Ph.D. It was an interesting mixture of saints that I’d forgotten were/don’t think of as having been (or were likely, though not known for sure) African, like Sts. Augustine, Perpetua, and Felicity, as well as those I do know, like Sts. Josephine Bakhita and Charles Lwanga and Companions and Bl. Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. There are several also listed as “Saints in Waiting” — those of African descent who led exemplary lives and may someday be canonized — and one of them particularly caught my eye today for a totally different reason. Sr. Thea Bowman took the name Thea upon entering the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration for its meaning, “of God,” and in honor of her dad, Theon. Theon! Anyone who’s familiar with the horrible character Theon in Game of Thrones will be as interested to see this tidbit as I was.

Another book, which I’d gotten for myself for Mother’s Day 😁 is The Name Therapist: How Growing Up with My Odd Name Taught Me Everything You Need to Know about Yours by Duana Taha, author of the Duana Names column at Lainey Gossip. It was really sort of half memoir about growing up with an unusual name, and half textbook teaching the reader all the namey things Duana’s learned and her opinions on it all, all of which goes back to the particular ways her life/interests/perspectives have been shaped by having been given an unusual name. I enjoyed it! It was definitely the most unusual “name book” I’ve ever read. Sort of like all the commentary of the Baby Name Wizard and another of my favorites (because of the commentary), Puffy, Xena, Quentin, Uma: And 10000 Other Names for Your New Millennium Baby, without any of the name lists.

Finally, I got Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints by Colleen Swaim with my preteen and his quickly-growing brothers in mind, and though I’ve put it where I know they’ll see it and be likely to pick it up (the, ahem, bathroom), I haven’t yet asked them what they think of it. I’ll get back to you when I do!

That’s all for now, folks! 😀

Yummy tidbits, and a new page

sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty, Naming resources ,

Thank you all for your responses on FB to my earlier request for prayers for a mama in labor, and for all of you who prayed for her! You’re all wonderful! As soon as I have an update and am given the go-ahead to share it, I will.

As a special summer vacation treat for myself 😄 I’ve been reading through all of Swistle’s birth announcement posts. I’ve been doing it for weeks now and I’m on page 44 — going back to 2010 and 2011! As a side note, it’s really interesting to read which names were still considered kind of weird back then that are used regularly now (of course I’m blanking now on even one example … maybe Penelope?), but what I really wanted to post here were the couple that really jumped out to me as amazing or interesting. Like this sibset:

Baby Boy Finchlee, Brother to Wilhelmina, Calista, Zachariah, Theodore, and Philippa. They go by Willa and Calla (twins, love!), Zak, Ted, and Pippa. The name they ended up choosing for their little boy is PERFECT, beyond perfect, I’m dying over it! 👍👐👌 You just have to read the whole post to get the whole story and all the elements!

I love this one too, because of the first paragraph:

“Our son is named Giovanni Paolo. I know- Italian overload- but his name has significant meaning to us. He was named after Pope John Paul II who wrote extensively on marriages and families and really inspired my husband and I in our Catholic faith, which is really important to us. I am not tied to sticking with Italian names; we were just attracted to name his Giovanni Paolo instead of John Paul, since John Paul just seemed too ordinary to us. We absolutely love his name, and call him G for short.”

(They didn’t continue the Catholic theme though.)

I also liked the idea in this one of Caia as a nickname for Caterina. Kinda cool! (Swistle did not agree — she’s distinctly anti-unusual nicknames and even usual ones — she even fusses about Ellie not being a traditional nickname for Elizabeth!)

This is actually a good opportunity to tell you about yet another new page I’ve recently started, somewhat inspired by my reading of the old Swistle posts — it’s the Helpful naming tips and info tab up at the top, and I’ve been slowly adding in there comments from here and posts from here and elsewhere that I think are helpful when naming a baby in general, and a Catholic baby in particular. It’s definitely a long-term, ongoing project, and will hopefully be of use to you all!

I’m sure I’ll have more to share from Swistle’s archives as I keep working through, stay tuned! 😀

 

Prayers please!

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One of our dear readers has asked me to ask you all to pray for her — labor has stalled and she’s being induced. She’d also really like to be able to sleep, so if you could include that in your prayers that would be great! ❤ 🙏

Baby name consultant: Benedict Arnold or Robert E. Lee?

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This week’s consultation is a bit different, in that the mama who wrote to me had specific questions about two names she and her husband are considering for their son. She writes,

“My husband and I are down to two names for our second boy but see potential issues with both. The first is Benedict Joseph for Pope Benedict. The second is Robert Edward for my paternal grandfather and my father in law. We worry that because we live in the Washington DC area, both names could cause issues because of Benedict Arnold and Robert E. Lee. Obviously Robert Edward wouldn’t be a big deal if it wasn’t for our last name that sounds similar to Lee.

Are we just being crazy? I should probably mention that my husband, my father in law, and I all obtained degrees in Political Science with varying emphases on American history and law.”

Interesting questions, right?

Objectively, I love both names — saintly, handsome, really great. Regarding the Benedict Arnold conundrum — I don’t know! I know some might make the connection and have a problem with it, but in my world Benedict Cumberbatch and Pope Benedict are the two overriding associations.

Regarding Robert E. Lee, I would never think of Robert E. Lee if I were to hear of Robert LastNameThatSoundsSimilarToLee (no mention of middle initial). But maybe I would if I heard Robert E. LastName? Even so, that association wouldn’t bother me one bit, since Robert E. Lee is so far away from any potential baby name inspiration on my part. But in this mama’s world of American history and law and her geographic location? It’s a great question! I really wanted to post this dilemma in order to get feedback from all of you!

Another thought I’m having is Bennett instead of Benedict — Bennett is a medieval form of Benedict, so they would be able to honor the man in a less politically charged way and still use the nickname Ben. Or Robert Benedict, which is so handsome, and I think solves all their problems above and below.

I do have some other thoughts though, that the mama didn’t ask for but I feel is my duty as a name consultant to point out! So sorry in advance! I loooove Pope Benedict so much and I love to see babies named after him! But I find that middle names for Benedict are kind of hard, as the initials can be problematic and I do feel like I have to point them out to parents, just so they know what they’re getting into. BJ and BF have sexual connotations; BM has toilet associations; and BO has body odor associations (though I had a friend BJ in high school and I don’t remember anyone teasing him about his name, so if they don’t mind it and just own it, it could be just fine. I definitely want to hear all your thoughts on this issue as well!). BR however is a great combo — maybe Benedict Robert could work instead? Or Benedict Edward?

So, to recap, my two heartiest suggestions are Benedict Robert/Edward and Robert Benedict. 🙂 Robert B. LastName is especially great to me — they get our Pope Emeritus in there without any Benedict Arnold associations, they retain a family connection with Robert (and I’ve seen Ned as a nickname for Benedict, and it’s also a traditional nickname for Edward, so maaayyyybeee they could spin it that Benedict is for Ratzinger AND Grandpa Edward? I know that’s a big stretch), and there would be no Robert E. Lee issues.

Or use Joseph to honor Benedict instead, in either the first or middle spots? Robert Joseph? Joseph Robert?

What advice do you all have for this family?