Angelic names

Baby name consultation: Short, soft but strong names with good meaning for baby boy

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Happy feast of St. Mary Magdalene! Here‘s an article I wrote a few years ago in celebration of her feast day in which I offer some of the ways that she has popped up throughout history.

Today’s consultation is for Hannah and her husband who are expecting baby no. 2 — a little boy! Little Mister joins big sister:

Rafaella (“We named our daughter Rafaella and call her both Ella and her given name. Rafael is a family name on my side of the family, and it ended up that we found out she’s a girl on the heavenly birthday [not her official feast day but the day she died] of the only female St. Rafaela in the Church – St. Rafaela Porras Ayllón. It was one of our top two names and then it ended up that God already knew she was a Rafaella.”)

Isn’t that an amazing story?? And such a beautiful name!!

Hannah writes,

“Right now we have two names we are thinking of choosing between, Leo Dominic and Peter Ambrose. I think we both like Dominic as a middle name for Peter too. Both names are ones that were not on our radar as possible baby boy names with our first pregnancy, and were not names we were considering when we found out this one is a boy. 

After finding out, my husband had a dream that our son was 6 months old and we were still throwing out possible names to name him. One of those names was Leo. The morning after his dream, and before he even told me about it, the name Leo popped into my head. 

The name Peter came to me just before I became pregnant, or it could have been within the first week before I knew I was. I had never considered it as a possible name for us before.

I like the name, but I don’t like the nicknames for it. 

At the moment, it doesn’t seem we’ll have a name for our son until we meet him when he’s born … but it would be nice to have it narrowed down beforehand.

I am looking to see if there are other names we should be considering. Especially if they’re shorter and have good meanings behind them. It is also a plus if they can’t easily be nicknamed.

One of the top boy names we had last time was Dominic, but after finding out we’re having a son, it doesn’t feel right for this little boy.

Sebastian, Jacob, Gabriel, and Theodore are other names we have tossed around. We like Sebastian but it’s a bit long. We love Jacob but I’m not a fan of the meaning. We like Gabriel, but I don’t like any of the nicknames. It’s also another archangel name. We both do like Theodore with the nickname Theo.

It seems our naming style for a boy is a bit different than for a girl. Top names for a girl were Serafina, Evangeline, Magdalena, and Agnes. Agnes being the only one out of the ordinary in that list!

Our top names for this boy turned into Leo, Peter, and Jacob. We do like that they are shorter. I like that they sound softer like our daughter’s name, and also strong.”

Names they can’t use include (though Hannah particularly loves Andrew nn Drew, Benjamin, and James):

  • Andrew
  • Jonathan
  • Stephen
  • David
  • Timothy
  • Michael
  • James
  • Thomas
  • Benjamin
  • Nathan
  • Charles
  • Daniel
  • Robert
  • Patrick

This was fun to work on! I loved reading about Hannah’s husband’s dream and that she was thinking about the name Leo even before her hubby told her about it! Leo certainly has all the things they’re looking for: shorter, good meaning, not easily nicknamed (though it might be helpful to know that I have a bunch of Leos in my family and while the younger generations are able to enforce the full Leo, the olders tend to go by Lee!), and I think it goes great with big sister Rafaella. Leo Dominic is a really handsome combo!

Peter is also a great name! I especially like it paired with a more unexpected middle name like Ambrose; I also quite like Peter Dominic. I have a friend whose son is Peter Damian, after Doctor of the Church St. Peter Damian, which I’ve always thought was a cool combo. That said, Peter does seem less well suited than Leo, based on the fact that it’s not a shorter name (though technically does have the same number of syllables as Leo), it’s easily nicknamed (and Hannah doesn’t like the nicknames), and it doesn’t have that “biblical-ish name dream” story that Leo has … I wonder if they might like the variant Pier, either as an unexpected nickname for Peter, or as a given name? Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati is the inspiration here, and though his devotees tend to get upset about people using Pier to honor him, since he went by Giorgio in life, I wouldn’t let that stop this anyone who was interested in using Pier — we use parts and variants of Saints’ names all the time to honor them (e.g., Charles and Lolek for St. John Paul II).

In addition to Leo and Peter, they have a great list of possibilities! I thought I’d offer my thoughts on them, in case they’re helpful:

  • Dominic: While I love Dominic — it’s one of my very favorites! — I’m not too disappointed that they’re not really considering it for a first name for this baby, since I think siblings Rafaella and Dominic come across as having a heavy ethnic feel — Italian-ish or Spanish, Latinate of some kind. That doesn’t have to be a problem! I actually really love it when families lean into their heritage when naming their babies! But I didn’t see any evidence in Hannah’s email or in her last name to suggest that she or her husband have heritage of that nature? Again, that doesn’t have to be a problem — Catholic parents often choose names of beloved Saints outside of their own family heritage! I love that we have such a wide pool of names to choose from! But it might make them feel boxed in to use Dominic after Rafaella — siblings Rafaella, Dominic, and Jacob sound a little jarring, for example. (Again, that doesn’t have to be a problem! There’s no reason they can’t choose names that sound jarring together, and honestly, many people wouldn’t even notice! I just want to be sure I share all the thoughts that I think are relevant.)
  • Sebastian: Sebastian is long! It’s got lots of fun nicknames like Seb, Sebby, Bastian, and Bash; my kids also have a friend Sebastian who goes by Baz. But if they’re trying to stay away from nicknames, Sebastian probably isn’t the right name for them!
  • Jacob: Though Jacob was buried in the list of names Hannah and her husband have discussed, later on in her email Hannah said that Leo, Peter, and Jacob are their top frontrunners. I love the name Jacob! Like with Peter, I like the idea of an unexpected middle name for Jacob, since it’s such a familiar name. Also, I know they prefer not to use a nickname, but I think Jake is one of the very best! So friendly yet strong. (As a side note, Hannah said James is a name she likes, though they can’t use it because it’s a cousin’s name — I just wanted to point out that Jacob and James are the same name! Jacob is the Hebrew and James is the Latin.)
  • Gabriel: Gabriel is one of my very favorite boy names ever! However, with big sister Rafaella I like it better as a middle for this family, at least for this baby immediately following Rafaella (never the heavy Archangel influence!). Peter Gabriel would be great if the music association doesn’t bother them! A name that I thought might be able to take Gabriel’s place on their list is Gideon — there isn’t a natural nickname for it (though I’ve been partial to something like Gideon Louis with the nickname Gil) and he’s a huge hero in the Old Testament.
  • Theodore: I’m not surprised Hannah and her hubby like Theodore and Theo, since Leo is high on their list! Based on their preference for shorter names that don’t nickname easily, I would say Leo is a better fit for them, however, I also have a friend who recently named her son Theo (not Theodore), so that’s an option, too. Also, I think it’s the kind of thing where they can use either Leo or Theo(dore), not both, so they’ll want to give some thought to which one they like better, or which one they’d be sorrier to lose.
  • Even though they can’t use Andrew/Drew, Benjamin, and James, I’m glad Hannah mentioned that she loves them, as they gave me extra information to use in my research.
  • I’m also glad she mentioned the names on their girl list! Serafina, Evangeline, and Magdalena all have a similar feel to Rafaella in my mind; Agnes is a little surprising, but I’m seeing it more and more. Though it’s very common for parents to prefer different styles of name for their girls versus their boys, I think there’s also usually a sense of not wanting the two styles to clash, so it was helpful to see what they’re thinking for a future daughter.

Alright! On to new ideas! I did my usual research 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. I also paid special attention to names that are shorter, have good meaning, and aren’t easily nicknamed, as well as names that I thought fit their preference for “soft but strong.” Based on all that, these are names that I think Hannah and her husband might like:

(1) Joachim nn Jake

Okay, despite the fact that they’d prefer not to nickname, I just had to mention this idea! I absolutely love the name Joachim and tried to convince my husband of it through several of our boys. Not only is this the name we honor Our Lady’s father under, but I had thought that the nickname Jake really “made” this idea! (We couldn’t use Joe.) Since they love Jacob, I thought I’d throw that out there.

(2) Caleb

Jacob was a big inspiration behind this idea, too, as Caleb is a style match for it and I often see that parents who like Jacob also like Caleb. Caleb is one of the sweetest, softest boy names I know! While it’s generally considered to derive from the Hebrew word for “dog,” which isn’t the greatest meaning, there’s also a theory that it could mean “whole, all of” plus “heart,” which is wonderful. Even the dog meaning isn’t bad — St. Dominic is known as the hound of heaven, so Caleb Dominic could actually be very meaningful to anyone with a Dominican sensibility!

(3) Bennett

Since they can’t use Benjamin, there’s a good bet they can’t use Bennett, either, because of the shared Ben nickname, but if there was a chance they could use Bennett, I think they might like it! It’s a medieval diminutive of Benedict, so it’s got great faith connections, and I think it has that softer feel they’re looking for.

(4) Matthias

I was excited to see that Matthias is a style match for a bunch of names they like, first and foremost Rafaella! It’s also a match for Dominic, Serafina, and Evangeline — that’s amazing to me! It’s one of my favorite biblical names, and I often think of it as having Catholic character because Matthias was chosen by the apostles — the first “Church council”?? 😉— to replace Judas.

(5) Milo or Miles

Milo is a style match for Leo and another name I think they’d probably like to consider if they didn’t already have Ella: Elliott. I have always loved Milo’s amazing meaning: “devotee of the Virgin Mary” via an Old Irish name with that meaning that Milo has traditionally been used as the anglicized version of (Maelmhuire). I also think Milo has a softer feel while still being squarely masculine. However, I worry that Milo might take Leo and Theo out of the running, so the variant Miles might appeal to them more — it shares the same Marian meaning as Milo, as it, too, has traditionally been used as the anglicized form of Maelmhuire. Miles can also take the added meaning of “soldier” as the Latin for soldier is miles. Very cool for a little boy!

(6) Oliver

Oliver showed up so much in my research for this baby! It’s a style match for Leo, Sebastian, Theodore, and Madeline (standing in for Magdalena, which doesn’t have its own entry in the BNW; Madeline’s matches have often seemed to me to be similar to what Magdalena’s might be); additionally, I know a little Oliver who has brothers named Benjamin and James, so it definitely seems like a name Hannah and her husband would like! I would also definitely put it in the “softer” category.

(7) Simon

This is another match for Leo, and one that I would consider “softer.” I know of two little boys named Simon Peter — maybe that’s how they can work Peter in? As a middle name for Simon? (For what it’s worth, both little Simon Peters I know use it as a double first name!)

(8) Tobias, Tobiah

Tobias is a match for Dominic and Evangeline — it’s always fun for me to see a name that is a match for both boy names and girl names on parents’ lists! It’s the Greek form of Tobiah, which they might also like — the “ah” ending gives it a softer feel. Tobias and Tobiah mean “Yahweh is good,” which is great!

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for Rafaella/Ella’s little brother?

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: James Rafael!

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Good Tuesday morning! Here is another in my quest to get caught up on the births of Sancta Nomina babies!

Sylvia is a longtime member of the Sancta Nomina community — I posted a consultation and birth announcement for her fourth baby, and a name reveal and request for prayers and updated name reveal and request for prayers for her fifth baby, and a birth announcement for her sixth baby (the first boy after five girls!), and today I have the great pleasure of sharing that Sylvia and her husband welcomed another little boy! And gave him the fantastic name … James Rafael!

Sylvia writes,

“His name is James Rafael. James is a family name on Scott’s side as well as he is named for the Apostle James (the Great). Rafael is after the Archangel Rafael (he goes by Rafa). Rafael means ‘God heals,’ which felt fitting since God healed my womb enough for him to be my seventh uneventful C section. We spelled it the Spanish way as a nod to my Cuban heritage. There was a beautiful street in Havana where my Abuela lived called San Rafael.”

Isn’t that great?! So handsome! All of Sylvia’s children have a middle name that starts with the R sound, and they all go by their middle names, so James Rafael goes by Rafael or, as Sylvia noted, Rafa (so sweet!). Such a fun naming style!

Congratulations to Sylvia and her husband and big sibs Ruth, Rose, Wren, Rhea, Regina, and Rex, and happy belated birthday Rafael!!

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: Strongly saintly+Marian names for baby no. 4

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Please keep in your prayers the family of longtime Sancta Nomina friend Rosie from A Blog for My Mom — her two month old baby girl, Margaret Mary, died a few days ago. There are efforts to support the family, if you are willing and able — links are included in this post.

Here’s the latest consultation from Theresa Zoe Williams:

Mama Lucy writes in:

“I am pregnant with our 4th child. Praise God! This babe is due in February 2022. We are not yet sure what gender this baby is, and I’m out 100% sure we will find out before birth! Our names for a boy and girl were set before we were even married, but the third was debated (mostly only by me ha!) until I saw her face.”

This baby will join big siblings:

  • Michael Dominic
  • Clara Marie-Therese
  • Gianna Marie-Rose

She writes:

“Our girls have the Marie- _____  middle so that each one would be sure to have a Marian name. We kind of stole it from Louie and Zelie Martin. We also like that they will always share that even if their last name changes down the road. We have unintentionally gone with Italian saints for the girls first names so far, and I’d like to break from that so to not get too stuck on it. It’s not that we only like Italian names. Those just happened to feel right.

If we have another boy we’d like another strong saint first name (St. Michael) and a nod to Mary with the middle (st. Dominic spreading the rosary). Michael’s initials are MDW just like my husband’s and his father’s. I do love the name Jackson though and would love a baby Jack, maybe you could help find a saint connection? 

The only other non-canonized saint on our (very long) list is Anna Mae. This was my paternal grandmother’s name, and I love It but we have a lot of short a sound in or girls and the “Anna” in Gianna already. Am I overthinking? Names do not have to be canonized saints but we’d love a connection to our faith. Virtues, places, etc. I LOVE nicknames. Our first two mostly go by their first names but Gianna goes by Gigi, Geeg, and Geeger, and my husband and I both Love that she has multiple nicknames. We’ve discussed having a Lily Marie-Catherine and calling her Lily-Cate in the past. I also have a devotion to the miraculous medal. Catherine Laboure is another Catherine I’d love to honor. Like I said though, so many Catherine’s in the family already.”

Names they cannot use:

  • Caroline
  • Louie
  • Catherine (“So many variations in our family, but my confirmation saint was Catherine of Alexandria and I‘d love to honor her somehow“)

Names they like but don’t feel like the one:

  • Joseph
  • Peter 
  • Benedict
  • Karol (“as a middle“) 
  • George (“if Gianna was a boy she was going to be George Karol, two saints we love + GK for GK Chesterton who is one of my husband’s favorite authors“)  
  • Bosco (“nicknamed Bo“) 
  • Augustine (“I love Gus and Auggie!“) 
  • Sebastian (“Bash! I saw on this blog and loved!“) 
  • Jackson/Jack
  • Zelie
  • Beatrice (“my husband loves that a girl named Beatrice is what inspired Dante’s writings“) 
  • Anna Mae
  • Vianney (“I love St. John Vianney but we don’t like John, but again with that short a sound/ann“) 
  • Felicity (“husband is not a huge fan, I need nickname suggestions“)
  • Lily
  • Alice 

So first, I thought I’d give some thoughts on names they said they like but don’t feel like “the one”.

Joseph– Great, strong name, especially in this year of St. Joseph. Has a built-in Marian connection, too! Lots of great nickname potential here, too, including Joe, Joey, Joss, and Seph.

Peter– Another great, strong name literally meaning “rock”. Doesn’t get more solid than that! I love this name because it has so many faith and pop culture connections but is still fairly underused. I love the nickname Pete, too.

Benedict– I see a pope theme emerging! Another really great, strong name with lots of nickname potential. If they named their son Benedict Joseph, they could also call him Banjo, like a slur of Ben Joe. (Someday, someone will take me up on this and it will be glorious!)

Karol– They said they like this in the middle spot and, with their other kids, I agree. Pope St. John Paul II had a huge and very public Marian devotion, which is wonderful. Karol is also the Polish form of Charles, meaning “army, warrior” which is super cool for a kid of the faith. I love all the connections here.

George– On the rise but still fairly uncommon. I love this name. Nicknames here can be Georgie, Geo, Jory, or, a little bit of a stretch, Rory.

Bosco– This veers a little bit from their strong names for boys in that it’s not traditional or classic but is still very strong and is a trendy surname name. I think this is a really cute name, especially with nickname Bo, and St. John Bosco is a lovely patron.

Augustine– Can’t go wrong with this one, although it’s not a classic name but it is still very strong. I LOVE the nickname Gus and Auggie is super cute, too. Fun fact, this name means “exalted, venerable” which is cool considering St. Augustine is a Church Father and a Doctor of the Church.

Sebastian– Love this name and it has been growing in popularity. This would bridge the gap between their son’s name and their daughters’ names really well, too. I LOVE the nickname Bash! It just reminds me so much of a little boy.

Jackson/Jack– Super popular and trendy but because they’re such good, strong, classic names! They asked for a faith connection for these. Jack is a diminutive of John and Jacob (through the French Jacques) so any saint John, Jacob, or James (Jacob and James are etymologically the same name) can be patron! Lots and lots to choose from! Jackson could mean “follower or devotee of [insert patron saint John, Jacob, or James]” which is a cool connection. Jack has also come into being a slang term for a man which could then relate it to the Italian Guido and there’s a super cool Servant of God Guido Shaffer who could be patron. He was a Brazilian doctor, seminarian, and surfer, and has been proposed as the eventual patron saint of surfing.

Zelie– Super on-trend, rising Catholic name. I absolutely adore this name. It’s got the cool Z beginning and the lovely -ee sound ending. St. Zelie was also amazing and this brings them away from the Italian saints like they said they wanted

Beatrice– One of those clunky cool old names coming back. This is another Italian name, though, but just so lovely and I don’t think it has a very immediate Italian connection. It means “voyager, traveller” which is what we’re doing in this life. In this way, it could be a cool nod to St. Therese who said, “The world’s thy ship and not thy home.” There’s a St. Beatrice of Rome and several other Blessed Beatrices.

Anna Mae– I love this combo and I don’t think Anna is too close to Gianna. The one thing for consideration here is that Mae is a form of Mary, so they’d have to figure out a different way to do their Marie- middle name. Maybe Anna-Mae in the middle and a different first?

Vianney– This was super unexpected! St. John Vianney is a lovely patron but I just didn’t expect this for a girl! They could do nicknames Vi or Annie with this name for her, too.

Felicity– Great name that’s rising in popularity. They were wondering about nicknames for this so I’m assuming they thought of Lissy and didn’t like it. Flick and Flicka are two unexpected nicknames and a Hungarian diminutive is Zita (I know this is also an Italian name and might defeat their trying to get away from Italian names rule). Another nickname could be the literal “Happy”, which is the meaning of the name or “Lucky” which is another meaning of the name.

Lily Marie-Catherine nn Lily-Cate– Oh my goodness! I read this and I just felt like this is “the one” for them! It checks all of their boxes! It moves them away from Italian saints, gets their love of Catherine in there, stays the course with all of their girls having Marie- middle names, and has a lovely nickname! I really think this one is it for them.

Alice– Another clunky cool old name making its way back. I like this for them and with their other children. It’s a short form of Adelaide and there are a couple Sts. Alice or Adelaide to take patronage from.

On to new suggestions! Let’s start with the boys first.

(1) Joachim/n

This uncommon names means “Yahweh establishes” and is the name of Mary’s father. I think they might like this best in the middle but it does shorten to Joe, which is an especially cute nickname in this year of St. Joseph. Their love for Karol made me think they might like this name. It’s still strong, just not classic, and gives them more leeway in naming any future children. It opens up their style a bit without going completely left field. Again, though, I think they may like this in the middle best.

(2) Gabriel

It doesn’t get much more Marian and classic, strong than this name! It means “God is my strong man”. Gabriel was the archangel at the Annunciation and is also the name of St. Gabriel Possenti of Our Lady of Sorrows, giving it a double Marian punch. This would mean that two of their sons would have the same names as Archangels, though.

(3) Luke

St. Luke wrote the most Marian Gospel, which is what gives this name its Marian connection. It’s simple, sweet, and classic. I don’t think they could go wrong with this name and it fits so nicely with all of their other children.

(4) Thaddeus

He was the apostle also known as Jude and the name means “heart”. The nickname Thad is adorable, too! Likewise, an unofficial suggestion is Theodore. I think they may like this one for the same reasons and it has lots of nickname potential like Theo, Ted, and Teddy.

(5) Gerard

I always think of this name as a Marian name since he is the patron saint of expectant mothers. It’s classic, underused, and strong. I really love this name for them. It has a ton of nickname potential like G/Jerry, G/Jer, or, starting to stretch it a bit, Gordo or Rory.

Now for girls. This one was a little harder for me because their tastes lean Italian but they wanted to get away from that. I cast my net really wide for these suggestions and I think they’ll like what I’ve thought up.

(1) Alexandria

I thought of this one because of their love for St. Catherine of Alexandria. It gets one of their Catherine names in without using Catherine and is more unexpected. There’s TONS of nickname potential here: Alex, Ana, Ria, Alexa, Lexi, and even Alix or Alice! This name has the flourish like their other girls’ names without being an Italian name, which I think is something they’ll appreciate.

(2) Sophie

It’s a French name! And it means “wisdom”. There are lots of Sts. Sophia to take patronage from and I thought it would be cool to use a French name to honor an Italian saint, like they’ve done before. However, there’s also the French Bl. Madeleine Sophie Barat for patronage!

(3) Zoe

A Greek name and saint! St. Zoe of Pamphylia was a mother who lived in the 3rd century and watched her whole family be tortured and martyred. She’s an incredible, little-known saint. Zoe was also the birth name of St. Catherine Laboure. This name came to me because of their love of Zelie, it’s got all the same things going for it, plus it’s the Greek word for the spiritual life.

(4) Madeleine

Another French name! It’s the French form of Magdalen, so she could take her patronage there. St. Mary Magdalen also accompanied Mary to the cross, so it’s a solid Marian name, too. There’s also St. Madeleine Sophie Barat. Sophie Marie-Madeleine or Zoe Marie-Madeleine are just so swoony to me!

(5) Charlotte

I took their love of the name Karol and kind of ran with it. I thought they might like the feminine, French form Charlotte. There are lots of Venerable Charlottes, most of them martyred in the French Revolution. One other stood out to me, though, Ven. Marie-Charlotte Dupouy Bordes founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of Mary, making it a Marian name in another way.

These are my thoughts. What does everyone else think?

I’m currently on hiatus from doing consultations, but Theresa Zoe Williams is available to help you! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

During my hiatus, please don’t forget about 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) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Tristan Raphael!

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I posted a consultation for Nicole and her husband Brenden back in August for their tie-breaking fifth baby — a boy! — and Nicole has let me know her little guy has arrived! They gave him the tremendous name … Tristan Raphael!

Nicole writes,

“He’s here, he’s here!

We kept his name Tristan but went with Raphael as his middle because our family has experienced amazing healing by taking the leap of faith we took by relocating last fall.

Tristan Raphael Flynn arrived on 10/12/20 @ 1:22 pm weighing 7 lb 1.6 oz.”

Nicole had commented on the consultation post, sharing that Tristan was a name she loved, and she’d separately told me of some combos she was thinking of with Tristan, so I’m so thrilled that she and her hubby went with it! And I love Raphael as the middle name: Tristan Raphael is such a handsome combination!

Congratulations to Nicole and Brenden and big sibs Faith, Seth, Veronica, and Kieran, and happy birthday Baby Tristan!!

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 an affiliate link) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Birth announcement: Michael Augustine!

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I did a private consultation for Abby and her husband earlier in the spring, and Abby’s let me know their little guy has arrived and been given the amazing name … Michael Augustine!

Abby writes,

“We welcomed Michael Augustine on 5/28. Your consultation gave us the push we needed to go ahead and give him the name we felt most connected to even if Michael is more common than we wanted. We were seeing St. Michael everywhere and hearing Augustine quotes in homilies and it just felt like the Lord was saying this is his name. We loved your idea of using Milo as a nickname, since my husband wasn’t sold on it as a first name it was nice to have the option of Milo, Michael, or Mikey. However, so far he really seems to be a Michael, that’s what everyone has been calling him and it really does suit him. His 2 year old brother is calling him Mikey occasionally and we are ok with that, and maybe as he grows a nickname will stick. Because our kids wouldn’t be able to visit us in the hospital due to Covid-19 restrictions we told them his name ahead of time which we’ve never done before and they were so excited. It really was special for them to feel like they played a part in naming their baby brother. We are just hoping we haven’t sent a precedent that they get a vote if we are blessed with more children! Thank you for you help.”

I’m thrilled that Abby and her hubby ended up choosing the name they really wanted, despite its popularity! And for any of you in a similar situation, I always love the idea of an unexpected nickname for a more common name if popularity issues are a problem (and vice versa: a more familiar nickname for a more uncommon name can be easier on an everyday basis). I also love hearing that this little guy has been showing himself to be a Michael, sometimes we can plan for nicknames and sometimes we can’t!

It was also so interesting to read about how they shared the baby’s names with their older kids before he was born because of the Covid-19 restrictions, and how they’re hoping they haven’t set a precedent that will cause issues in the future! I like their approach this time.

Congratulations to Abby and her husband and big sibs Henry James, Lillian Teresa, and Noah Benjamin, and happy birthday Baby Michael!!

Michael Augustine with his big brother ❤️

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Michael Gabriel! (And a nickname question)

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I posted a consultation for girl names for Dana and her hubby back in October, but they ended up having a boy! Dana let me know that they’ve named him after his dad — the so angelic … Michael Gabriel!

She writes,

“Just wanted to let you know that we gave birth to our baby boy on Wednesday, Jan 22, the national day of prayer for the unborn. We did name him Michael Gabriel, after his father 😀 7 lbs, 3 oz and almost 21″ long. So far the transition from one to two seems to be going well! So we weren’t able to use any of the beautiful suggestions for girl names this time, but hopefully we’ll have many more opportunities!“

Michael Gabriel is such a handsome, heavy-hitting combo!! And I, too, love the significance of a baby born on the national day of prayer for the unborn!

Dana had another question, which you all can help with:

“One little dilemma I thought I’d ask you about… So my husband goes by Mikey, his dad goes by Mike. My husband really wants to call our son Mikey, too, but I think it is too confusing to have two Mikeys running around, haha! I’d like to call him Gabe, and I think he looks like a Gabe 😉 But my husband isn’t keen on it now. So even though it was easy to name him, we still haven’t decided what to actually call him! Of course we could use Michael or Gabriel, but we both really like nicknames. Another friend suggested, ‘Mick,’ any other ideas? No worries if not- just thought I’d ask!“

Of course I have some ideas! 😀 I can certainly see how two Mikeys can be confusing! There is a precedent for it — it’s not for nothing that Seniors and Juniors are sometimes known as “Big Dan” and “Little Dan,” for example, so Big Mikey and Little Mikey could be cute, but if Dana’s not feeling it, maybe:

— I’ve sometimes suggested Miles or Milo as nicknames for Michael, both because of the “Mil” being contained in “Michael,” and because behindthenamesays that, while the origin of Miles is unknown for sure, it’s been associated with the Latin miles, meaning “soldier,” for a long time. I love a “soldier” nickname for Michael — the warrior angel! Additionally, both Miles/Myles and Milo have been used in Ireland as anglicizations of the old Irish name Maolmhuire, which means “servant of the Virgin Mary” — a legit Marian name for a boy! My only hesitation with Miles is that it’s got similar letters to big sister’s name, Mary Elise … but since she always goes by Elise, it’s practically no issue at all, right? (Unless it bothers them, in which case maybe Milo would be better?)

— Maybe Mitch? Behindthename says Mitchell is derived from Michael, and with the first three letters of Michael being “Mich,” Mitch definitely seems doable.

— Maybe a different nickname for Gabriel? I’ve seen Gib and Gil, both of which I love.

— Maybe a mash-up nickname for Michael Gabriel? Like … Mel? Hm. Maybe this idea doesn’t work so well with Michael Gabriel.

— Maybe Junior? Or a name that nods to him being a Junior/the Second? I did a quick search for nicknames for babies that are The Second and saw Twain, Dewey (like for the French “deux”), and Chip (like “chip off the old block”). Or a name for a Third, since both Dana’s husband and his dad are Michael? Like Trip, Tripper, Trey, Tres/Trace.

— Or a nickname unrelated to his name? Like Buddy?

I don’t mind Mick — I have an uncle named Michael whose family has called him Mick and Mickey (though he’s Mike to the rest of the world). One thing to be aware of is that Mick has a history of being used as a derogatory term for the Irish, but that same link includes a list of men who have gone by Mick (including Mick Jagger) so it can definitely work! There’s also Mickey Mantle (a pretty great example) (his given name was actually Mickey!) and Mickey Mouse (which may or may not be an appealing example of the name).

What other ideas do all of you have?

Congratulations to Dana and her husband and big sister Elise, and happy birthday Baby Michael!!

Michael Gabriel with his parents and big sister ❤

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Michael Dominic!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , , ,

I posted a consultation for Vanessa and her husband two years ago this month, when they were hoping to add to their family via adoption. Vanessa let me know that they were able to bring home a long-hoped-for baby this past summer — a boy! They gave him the saintly, handsome name … Michael Dominic!

Vanessa writes,

“This email is a long time coming…I don’t know where the last few months have gone! On July 6, our sweet Michael Dominic came home to us. We are grateful and overjoyed to have a new baby in the house — thanks be to God! So how did we decide on the name?

We ended up throwing out some of our ‘rules’ as his name seemed to ‘just happen.’ Rule #1 — a name that cannot nickname easily — Michael almost immediately becomes Mike at some point in life to most Michael’s but we’ll just call him Michael within the family and hope we can keep it going. As he gets older, I guess he’ll decide! We loved the link to St. Michael the Archangel and we pray that prayer daily. It turns out St. Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of the sick and we learned that AFTER we decided on his name. This seemed appropriate & affirmed the name to us because Michael was born with a significant kidney issue that will need to be followed and could potentially lead to a kidney transplant. For now, Michael is doing well and we’re grateful for that but any prayers your readers could spare would be greatly appreciated!

Also, Michael was a name that originally we’d only considered as a middle name, if at all. But for some reason for THIS child, Michael was the first name that came into my mind when I got the first call from our social worker. When I told my husband about the call, he immediately said, “Maybe this baby should be Michael David” (his name is David!). After a few days of thinking about that name, he suggested Michael Dominic — since we love the rosary and St. Dominic was entrusted with the rosary by Our Lady… it seemed to just fit. Plus as my husband said, “I think he should have his own name.”

I also thought Michael flowed well with Nicholas, John, Mark and Mary. I especially love that the last three children begin with M! Not sure why, but it fits for me!!

So it stuck. Once we thought about it a few days (and this seems to happen to us with each child), we couldn’t get excited about any other name. And we only had 10 days from that first call until the day he came home! Our other children were absolutely thrilled to have a new baby. We waited to tell them until the night before and they nearly didn’t go to sleep! We all drove together to pick him up and it was a beautiful and memorable day.

On another note, our 4 other children loved the name Dominic and even called him Dominic for the first week or two. It was funny because many of our friends and neighbors were confused about what his name was! When they’d speak to our children, they’d refer to him as Dominic! We didn’t correct the children and we knew they’d eventually get it right — of course they did! I wonder if you or any of your readers have had any situations like that!“

I loved every detail of this story! Doesn’t Vanessa’s joy just flow out of her email? I love the combo Michael Dominic and all the significance it has for Vanessa and her hubs!

I’m interested, too, in Vanessa’s question: whether or not any of you have had the experience of your other children calling the baby by a different name than the intended call name? The only experience we had that was sort of similar is when we intended the baby to be called exclusively by a nickname, but the older boys called him by his first name for a while after birth. I’d love to hear about your experiences with this!

Please also keep Michael in your prayers, in regards to his kidney issue.

Congratulations to Mom and Dad and big siblings Nicholas, John, Mark, and Mary, and happy birthday Baby Michael!!

(Some of these photos are from Michael’s homecoming day! ❤ )

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Michael Dominic with his family ❤

Celebrity guest: Quad mom Justina

sanctanomina Personal stories, Real-life naming , , , ,

I don’t remember how I came across Justina, but I think it was on Twitter … I swooned over “Setting the world on fire, Catherine of Siena style” in her Twitter bio as well as her marriage/NFP/pro-life posts, so I already knew she was my kinda girl, and then when I was clicking around as you do when you “meet” someone new online, I checked out her and her husband Matt’s wedding photos and honeymoon photos, which are like from a magazine (both the photos and the subjects — stunning couple!), and then I discovered she was expecting quadruplets (!!!!). Well. I was immediately smitten with this beautiful mama, and followed her on Instagram to keep up with her journey, and when she had the babies I just died over how precious they are.

And their names! So amazing! Of course I had to ask her if she would mind sharing their story, and she graciously agreed, and I’m so delighted to share it with all of you today! So without further ado … ((drumroll)) … read all about the Kopp Quad Squad!

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Kate: Quadruplets are a big deal! Would you mind sharing your reaction to finding out you were expecting four babies? Especially after previously losing a baby? Is there anything else about your story you’d like to share?

Justina: Quads ARE a big deal! After losing our first baby, Francis Jude, to an early miscarriage just seven weeks into our marriage, we went through a season of unexplained secondary infertility, most likely due to PCOS. After a few months of working with my doctor, we found ourselves very pregnant! The chances of this were less than 0.3%. I’ve heard estimates as low as 1 in 700,000! At that first ultrasound at 6 weeks, Matt and I were nervous about an ectopic pregnancy because I had been feeling sharp, specific pain. At the beginning of the ultrasound, I thought I saw four gestational sacs, but I didn’t want to say anything and assumed I was wrong. When we saw the first baby’s heartbeat, we both cried with joy because we had never seen that before with our Francis. Then the sonographer chuckled and labeled that baby, Baby A. Next came Baby B. We got so excited about twins! Then, the sonographer found Baby C, and we laughed and made jokes about how I would grow a third arm during the pregnancy to accommodate triplets. The sonographer took a look at the fourth gestational sac, and it was empty. Strangely, we felt peace and I thought about how that little saint would join Francis in heaven. Our doctor stepped in to take a peak, and I noted that we hadn’t gotten a photo of Baby C, and as she went back for that, Baby D appeared in the fourth sac! QUADS! We just LAUGHED! There is nothing else to do by laugh in that situation! Don’t worry, though; two days later, everything hit us and we panicked a bit.

Kate: Did you know the genders ahead of time, or were you surprised (and therefore have to pick eight names)?

Justina: We found out the genders at 16 weeks. We had enough surprises for that pregnancy, so we chose to find out. I refused to brainstorm names for all the possible gender combinations, so we really didn’t talk about names until we knew what we were having.

Kate: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the particular challenges of picking names for four babies!

Justina: Four names was hard, but not as hard as it would have been for us if we were having more girls! I could name boys for days, no problem. That girl name, though… that was the challenge. For the past five years or so, I’ve kept a running list of boy names and girl names that I liked. When it came to naming our daughter, I looked at that list and hated every name I saw! For a while, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to find one we liked!

Kate: Could you list your babies’ names, and tell us how you and your hubby choose them? Were there particular saints you wanted to honor, for example? Are there layers of meaning to each name other than the obvious? (E.g., family names, that kind of thing.) Any other place you looked to for inspiration? (If you named your baby in heaven, I’d love to hear about him or her as well, but I understand if you’d prefer to keep it private.)

Justina:

Cora Immaculée – We knew we wanted our little girl to have a Marian name, but we didn’t want Mary, Marie, Maria, etc. This little lady had a bright spot on her heart in her early ultrasounds, so that brought name Cora, which means “heart” or “maiden.” Immaculée is a nod to Our Lady. Together, her name means “Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Raphael Gerard – St. Raphael is actually both Matt’s and my confirmation saint! Matt picked him because he’s the patron saint of travelers, and I picked him because he’s the patron saint of physicians (I had my eye on a career in medicine) and because my parents named my miscarried siblings Raphael. The real kicker is that St. Raphael is the patron saint of singles and happy meetings. So, here we are. Happily met with a lot of babies. The name means “God has healed,” a fitting name for a pregnancy after a miscarriage. Gerard was a last minute switch from Blaise. The babies were born on the feast of St. Gerard, the patron saint of expectant mothers. We call him Raph (rhymes with calf).

Theodore Ambrose – Theodore is the name of Matt’s late maternal grandfather, and both Theodore and Ambrose are family names on my side. Theodore means “God’s gift,” which is kind of funny because Matt’s name also means “gift of God.” Sts. Theodore and Ambrose are saints that we both admire, too. St. Theodore was a martyr and one of the “soldier saints.” St. Ambrose played a huge part in St. Augustine’s conversion, served the poor, and stood up against heresies of his time. These two saints together represented the unique calling we have as Catholics in this age, to defend our faith bravely and pray for conversion of hearts. We call this little guy Theo.

Benedict Peter – We both came up with this name on our own and brought it to each other one night. When we studied in Rome, we both got to read at papal Masses with Pope Benedict XVI, and I think I *might* be B16’s biggest fan. St. Benedict is also a saint we admire, and we love that the name means “blessed.” Peter was also my dad’s name. He passed away 9.5 years ago, and I wanted to honor him without taking away an opportunity for my younger siblings to use the name as a first name when then have children of their own someday. St. Peter is also the saint that just gets me, as we are both Sanguine/Choleric. We call our sweet boy Ben.

Francis Jude – Our little saint is named after St. Francis and St. Jude. St. Francis is a saint that I grew close to during my semester in Rome, and on our honeymoon we spent a few days in Assisi. We felt such joy and peace during our time there, and it stands out for both of us as such a special time in those early days of our marriage. St. Jude was picked because he is the patron saint of impossible causes, and gosh, did things feel impossible after losing our first baby. Both of these saints are October saints, which is when we lost our sweet babe. Francis can also be Frances, as we do not know the gender of our saint.

Ultimately, we wanted our children to have strong, traditional, and timeless names. We love what we picked for our kiddos. They are all fraternal, so we wanted them to have names that could stand alone if they were not quadruplets, too.

Aren’t these names ah-MAZ-ing??!! And every single detail of the naming is so perfect!!

Be sure also to check out Justina’s blog, Love Multiplied, whose first post (which she purposely put up this past Sunday on the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade 💕) tells more about finding out they were expecting quadruplets, and their meeting with the perinatologist. Such a great witness!

Thank you thank you to Justina for sharing her family’s wonderful story with us!! Check out how big and happy these beautiful babies are!!

Cora Immaculée, Raphael Gerard, Theodore Ambrose, Benedict Peter

(Cora, Raph, Theo, and Ben)

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Birth announcement: Gabriel John!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , , , ,

Remember that mama of this past weekend, who I asked you all to pray for because she was in labor? That was our dear reader Laura, who has agonized over so many great boy names since she found out her first ultrasound, which seemed to indicate she was having a girl, was actually wrong. Her wee man has been born and named and I’m beyond delighted to announce: Gabriel John!

Laura writes,

“Everything went awesome!  We named him Gabriel John. Up till the last few days I was still throwing around Peter, Gabriel, Henry, Leo and Jude. In he end I knew I wanted to keep our Biblical boy theme. But Peter was still in contention even during my labor. With him coming on a Saturday, the Marian Gabriel seemed like the perfect fit.

As for his middle name all pregnancy I had felt so comforted by the letters of St John and my father-in-law’s name is John. With it being Father’s Day weekend, using John seems even more perfect. While I don’t find the flow perfect, I’m excited to add St John as an intercessor for our family!“

Sooo wonderful!! I have such a soft spot for Gabriel and the nickname Gabe, which I’ve seen Laura reference during her deliberations. I’d love to list her older kiddos’ names (Gabriel’s #7!), but I forgot to ask if I could and I don’t want to delay this announcement any longer. So I’ll leave it to Laura to leave them in the comments if she’d like. I will say that Gabriel is her fifth boy, and all her boys have New Testament names.

Updated to add: Laura said I could list the others’ names!

Paul
Clare
Mark
Katharine
James
Andrew

So great, right?!

Congratulations to Laura and her husband and all the big brothers and sisters, and happy birthday Baby Gabriel!!

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Gabriel John

Names for the Joyful Mysteries

sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty , , , , , ,

Yesterday was one of my very favorite feast days and the first of the Joyful Mysteries, which makes today the perfect Tuesday to post names associated with them! And also, Dwija’s little Helen was discharged from the NICU yesterday and is home with her family, happy and thriving. Joy all around!!

Today’s post is a continuation of my Mysteries of the Rosary series, having already done names for the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, and your comments have been invaluable — keep them coming!

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

The Annunciation by Gabriel to Mary (yesterday’s feast!)
The Visitation of Mary to Her Cousin Elizabeth
The Nativity of Jesus
The Presentation of the Baby Jesus in the Temple
The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

Names associated with the Joyful Mysteries might include:

Girls

Angela, Angeline, Angelica, Archangela, Angel — the angel names all point to St. Gabriel

Annunziata — an Italian name referring to the Annunciation

Annunciación — a Spanish name referring to the Annunciation

Christina, Christine, Christiane/a, Kristin, etc. — the Christ- names refer to Jesus in the last three Mysteries

Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elise, Elisa, Eliza, etc. — for St. Elizabeth, Our Lady’s cousin

Emmanuelle, Emmanuella — for Jesus, especially in the Nativity

Felicity, Felicitas — means “happiness,” for the Joyful Mysteries

Fiat — for Our Lady’s agreement to what Gabriel announced (“let it be done”); Amy suggested Fiat recently, and suggested the particular first name-middle name combo Marian Fiat

Gabrielle, Gabriela — for St. Gabriel

Jane, Joan, Jo(h)anna — for St. John the Baptist, who leapt in his mother’s womb for joy at being in the presence of his Unborn Savior

Josephine, Josefa — for good St. Joseph

Joy, Gioia — means “joy” in English and Italian, respectively

Joyce — behindthename says it originally came from a name meaning “lord,” and that its more recent popularity may be related to its similarity to the Middle English word for “to rejoice.” “Lord” or “rejoicing” — it’s all good for a Joyful Mysteries name!

Mary, Maria, Marie, etc. — for Our Lady, of course

Natalie, Natalia — literally refers to Christmas Day

Noel, Noelle — French for “Christmas”

Presentación — a Spanish name referring to the Presentation

Seraphina, Serafina, Seraphine — refers to the angels (specifically the seraphim, but I think the angelic meaning is what most people think of)

 

 

Boys

Angelo, Angel — see the Angel names above

Annunziato — see Annunziata above

Baptista, Baptiste, Battista, Bautista — alone or in combination with a John name, for St. John the Baptist (these are all listed as masculine by behindthename, but they could easily be used for girls as well, as I don’t think they come across as masculine [or at least not exclusively so] in America)

Christian, Christopher — see the Christ- names above

Emmanuel — see Emmanuelle above

Felix — see Felicity above

Gabriel — of course!

Jesús — it’s not considered reverent to use the name of Jesus in English, but it is in Spanish

John — for St. John the Baptist

Joseph — see Josephine above

Noel — see Noel above

Ryan — means “little king,” which especially calls to mind the Baby Jesus

Seraphim — see Seraphina above

What others can you add to this list? (There are lots more Christmas names, which I’ve posted about a few times — I just included the ones here that seemed particular to what I think of when I’m meditating on the Mystery of the Nativity.)

+ My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. +