Biblical names

Baby name consultation: Cajun heritage + Bl. Stanley Rother inspo for baby no. 6

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Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the mamas! I went on retreat last weekend at Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, also known as the Shrine of the North American Martyrs, and remembered all of you — the Sancta Nomina community — in my prayers. ❤️💐

As you all likely know, every year, right before Mother’s Day, the Social Security Administration releases the name stats from the previous year. Such fun for name lovers! The first thing people look at is the Top Ten for both girls and boys, and interestingly, there were no new additions or subtractions from the girl list (one moved up, two moved down, all others remained unchanged), while there was one addition to the boy list (Mateo) and one subtraction (Benjamin). For more — lots more! — be sure to check out Abby’s posts over at Appellation Mountain!

Today’s consultation is for a couple expecting their sixth baby! While they’re Team Green, they have a girl name picked, so they need help with a boy’s name, since, if this baby is a boy, it will be their fifth boy in a row! This little one joins big sibs:

Eleanor Eileen (“Eileen was [mama] Miranda’s paternal grandmother’s name, and we liked the way that Eleanor sounded with it … [Miranda] was a new convert to Catholicism and had little relationship to the saints at the time, so a patron saint didn’t even occur to me. We retroactively made St. Helen her patron – I know now that the Eleanor/Eileen connection to Helen is debatable, but she formed a close relationship with St. Helen before I learned that, so it stuck. 🙂 I also had already fallen in love with the name before I knew that Eleanor & Eileen were technically the same name, but she truly has been a ‘light light’ in our lives and in our family.”)

Mackie John (“Mackie was Miranda’s paternal grandfather’s nickname, he passed away while we were in an ultrasound. His given name was Morgan Matthew, but he only ever went by Mackie. John is the name of a beloved uncle on Miranda’s mom’s side, and St. John the Evangelist is his patron.”)

Samuel Luke (“Miranda was studying Samuel for her master’s degree in theology while pregnant and fell in love with his response to God’s calling. Luke was my maternal grandfather’s middle name. He and I were very close when I was younger. St. Luke the Evangelist is his patron.”)

Marc Paul Raphael (Marc Paul is a double first name; “Marc is Miranda’s dad’s name and he spells it with a “c,” but St. Mark the Evangelist is his name patron. Paul references a few people: Miranda lost her other grandfather during this pregnancy, whose brother was Paul. Fr. Paul is a priest who was assigned to the parish in which Miranda & her family joined the church. He remained our pastor for almost the next 10 years- marrying us, baptizing our first three children, and loving on our family in a beautiful and influential way. Raphael was to honor St. Raphael: Samuel woke up one day paralyzed from the waist down in March of 2020 (right before lockdown). The doctors were struggling to diagnose him but settled on  Guillain Barre, which could have potentially killed him. Miranda and I prayed to St. Raphael for healing and guidance and after two days in the hospital Sam woke up asking to go for a walk around the hospital. His reflexes returned to normal! The doctors changed his diagnosis to acute cerebellum ataxia which is a swelling of the brain stem that can cause leg paralysis but does not necessarily cause permanent damage. Thankfully Sam was back to normal in a few weeks.”)

Rocco Matthew (“We fell in love with St. Rocco during the pandemic. We had no idea that we would need his intercession so badly (more on that below). Matthew served several purposes: it rounded out our four gospel writers as patrons, it honored Miranda’s Uncle Matt who passed in 2019, and finally, honored Miranda’s cousin who passed away 2 days before Rocco’s birth. She was already hospitalized due to complications when she received the news of his illness and quick passing.”)

I really loved reading through the explanations Bryan and Miranda gave of each of their children’s names! I think their choice of St. Helen for their Eleanor Eileen’s patron is perfect and fitting, and I love how they said she’s been a “light light” in their lives and family, how lovely! Eleanor Eileen really is a stunning combo. As for Eleanor and Eileen technically being the same name, I kind of love that they didn’t know that until after they named their daughter, because I love saying the combo out loud! Also, people name their babies things like Anna Grace and Jacob James all the time with no issue because most people just don’t know, so it’s really fine! (I know people with both of these combos: Anna means “grace,” and Jacob and James are two variants of the same name.) Mackie is such a cool name — I love the connection to Miranda’s grandfather! I just finished a consultation for another family to whom I suggested Samuel for the same reason this couple loves it, it is a great name and a great story! Marc and Paul have great connections, and that Raphael story about Samuel, wow!! And Rocco’s story — you’ll be as amazed as I was when you read it below! (Be warned that his story involves potentially difficult medical information for sensitive readers.)

Miranda writes,

“I tend to use the names of loved ones, so I am not really sure that we have a ‘style,’ per se. My dad’s side of the family is Cajun and full of beautiful, unique names that Bryan isn’t always so keen on. 🙂 My cousin mentioned above was named after my great-grandfather, Sampre’ (pronounced like ‘sam-pray’). Sampre’ and my great-grandmother, Philomene … had 11 kids and my dad is one of 7, so there is no shortage of Cajun names to pull from.

We also, obviously love to honor saints with whom we have formed relationships. This time, we would love to honor Blessed Stanley Rother. Rocco was born at 32 weeks. He was healthy, but after one week, he developed a disease called Nectrotizing Enterocolitis. He was rushed to emergency surgery the following day, but we were told the unimaginable: to prepare to say goodbye. They predicted we may have 24-48 hours left with him. The infection had killed most of his large intestine, which was then removed, but his small intestine & stomach were still infected (The surgeon had never seen NEC affect a stomach and did not think it was survivable). We laid our prayers at the feet of St. Rocco, patron of infectious diseases, and St. Matthew, the patron of our tiny baby. We begged Blessed Stanley for a miracle. We baptized our baby at one week and one day in his NICU room. The kind priest reminded us to have hope, but it was so hard after hearing the opinions of the different doctors. However, our God is loving and merciful, and we received our miracle! Rocco is alive and thriving! He no longer even has a colostomy bag. He is a miracle through and through and continues to astound us and his medical team.”

Wow, wow, wow!

“If we have a daughter, we are considering either Dorothy Francis or Dorothy Ann Francis. Dorothy was my maternal grandmother’s name, and Francis is Blessed Stanley’s middle name. I like the double name Dorothy Ann & the nickname Dottie Ann, because what Southern woman doesn’t love a double name? 🙂

For a son, however, we are not as sure. Stanley has the added benefit of being my father-in-law’s middle name. I am drawn to Sebastian. He is certainly a powerful saint! I like Sebastian Stanley, but then, he would be the only of our boys to not have a biblical name. Perhaps a double name: Sebastian James Stanley, but that may be clunky. James is a family name, and I don’t love Stanley as a first name simply due to the popularity of the cup.”

Okay, so I have to interject here and tell you this hilarious thing: when Miranda mentioned “the cup,” I immediately assumed she meant the hockey trophy! My husband and I had considered Stanley for our youngest, so I wrote to them, “Funny enough, the Stanley Cup wasn’t once mentioned in our conversations — is it really that much of an association for you and your family/friends/community?” DEAR READERS. I realized only just now this moment, putting together this post, almost two weeks after sending them my thoughts/ideas/suggestions, that they meant the popular drinking cup! 🤣🤦‍♀️

Back to this lovely couple! Some names they like and are considering include:

  • Sebastian
  • Stanley
  • Francis
  • James
  • Sampre’
  • Jude
  • Raymond (family name)
  • Dominic
  • Damien
  • Peter
  • Benedict

Names they can’t use because of nephews:

  • Christopher
  • Jonathan
  • Ross
  • Anthony

Alrighty! First off, I loved reading about Miranda’s Cajun heritage! I’d never heard Sampre’ before, so I did a little digging and it seems to be related to St. Peter (I found a surname Sampere that is connected to San Pere) — if that is, indeed, the connection, Peter on their list could be an honor name for the Sampre’s in their lives. Also, as much as I love an unusual/unexpected name, especially with family connections, especially with faith connections (if the Peter connection is true), I would hesitate over Sampre’ because of their Samuel — having the same first three letters for two different sons would be kind of weird, no? Maybe they’d both be okay with it in the middle spot? If so, I wonder if they would consider it to fulfill their desire for a biblical name, since it seems to be related to Peter?

I love both Dorothy Francis and Dorothy Ann Francis, and Dottie Ann is adorable! I love a double name, too, and have always loved how well Southerners do them!

Regarding the other names on their list:

  • Sebastian: Sebastian is a great name, and his story tends to be one that boys love (at least my boys!) — the arrows sticking in him in his images are always a (boy) crowd pleaser! Haha! I like Sebastian James, and I certainly think Sebastian James Stanley can work, but like Miranda said, it is long.
  • Stanley: Bl. Stanley Rother is a fantastic holy man to name their baby after! I was reading more about him for this consultation and was moved, again, as always, by his story. I do like that Stanley is Bryan’s Dad’s middle name — it’s always fun when a name can pull double duty! My husband really liked the name Stanley for our youngest, and he wasn’t even aware of Bl. Stanley! He really likes the nickname Stan! ((This here is where I assured them that the hockey reference isn’t that big a deal! But now, let’s talk about the drinking cup — would that be a dealbreaker to any of you right now?))
  • James: I’m moving James up because it could be the answer to their dilemma! Miranda said she feels “drawn to” Sebastian and she also wants to honor Bl. Stanley, but she’s worried that Sebastian Stanley doesn’t have a biblical name; James is a biblical name and a family name, but Sebastian James Stanley is clunky … I think Sebastian James could be the solution, because the mission Bl. Stanley served at in Guatamala, and where he was martyred, is Santiago Atitlan — Santiago means St. James! Wow!
  • Francis: I’m having trouble moving on from the perfection of Sebastian James! But of course Francis is lovely, and a nice non-cup nod to Bl. Stanley.
  • Jude, Raymond, Dominic, Damien: All of these are great names! I’m glad they included them, to give me a good sense of their taste, but it does seem like unless they change their desire to use Sebastian and to honor Bl. Stanley, these likely won’t be used.
  • Benedict: I pulled Benedict out because, with its meaning of “blessed,” they could consider this another way to honor Bl. Stanley without using any of his actual names.

So even though I think this couple has absolutely nailed the name possibilities for their baby if they have a boy, I can always come up with more ideas! 😀 I used the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) as I always do, as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and I also did some research on Cajun Saints, just to see if there was any inspiration there. Based on that, these are my additional ideas for this family:

(1) Shepherd, Rother

My first ideas here are other ways to honor Bl. Stanley. I was so moved to read in that account of his life that I linked to above that he insisted on returning to Guatemala even after safely escaping because “the shepherd cannot run.” Shepherd could be a great nod to him because of that, and you could even possibly think of it as a biblical name because the word “shepherd” appears in the bible so frequently, and of course has the extra amazing layer of referring to Jesus, too! Shep is a really great nickname, I’ve always liked it.

Rother is just another option — I know a family who named their son Rother after Bl. Stanley.

(2) Charles

When I was looking to see if there are any Cajun Saints, I came across a story they’re probably already familiar with: that of Servant of God Charlene Richards. Because of her, I thought they might like to add Charles to their list — not only does it have a nice Cajun connection because of her, but there are so many Sts. Charles to choose from as patron, including Pope St. John Paul II (birth name Karol), Bl. Karl of Austria, and St. Charles Borromeo.

(3) August(e), Augustine

Another Cajun Catholic whose cause for canonization has been opened is Servant of God Auguste “Nonco” Pelafigue. August, Auguste, and Augustine are all wonderful names that they might like to consider; Augustine especially has a similar feel to the heavier Dominic and Benedict on their current list.

(4) Xavier

These last two were results of my research in the Baby Name Wizard — they’re style matches for Dominic and Damien. Xavier is such a fun name — X is an amazing initial! St. Francis Xavier is amazing patron, as well.

(5) Tristan

I have always loved that Tristan can have a Marian connection via the title Our Lady of Sorrows! I know some people see the connection to sadness as a negative, but I don’t — this post by Theresa on my blog addresses it beautifully, especially this quote about the Catholic view of sorrow: “It is hope, instead of despair, in the face of tragedy. It is fortitude in the face of upset and chaos. It is trust in the midst of darkness. And it is gratitude in the midst of hardship.” That reminds me of their stories of their Samuel and Rocco!

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for a family with Cajun heritage and a love of Bl. Stanley Rother if their baby is a little brother for Eleanor, Mackie, Samuel, Marc Paul, and Rocco?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation 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: Baby no. 7 after six boys!

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Happy belated feast of the Epiphany! And today is a new-to-me feast day: Our Lady of Prompt Succor! I’m very familiar with Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Succor), and now OL of Prompt Succor — she’s such an immediate and everlasting help, that Mother of ours!

Today’s consultation is a tender one as it’s for a mama who’s expecting a baby after losing her previous youngest to a tragic accident. I think you’ll be as moved and inspired by this family’s story as I am! (I also wanted to give a little heads-up to anyone who might not be up for an emotional story today, which I totally get — sometimes [especially when I was pregnant] I just can’t spend the day crying, you know?)

First off, the name info: Jill and her husband, who are expecting their seventh born baby, a little green bean (=gender unknown🌱)! This little one joins big sibs:

Graham Stephen (“Graham is my maiden name. In addition to being my husband’s middle name, Stephen is also his father’s first name“)

Lucas Patrick (“We call him Lucas and Luke. I always loved the name Lucas. Patrick is Tim’s uncle, who he lived with a bit in college and thinks highly of. St. Patrick’s was also our church at the time. St. Patrick has been a favorite Saint of many of our kids over the years“)

Raymond Browning (“We call him Raymond and Ray. Ray is Tim’s maternal grandpa. Rae is also Tim’s mother’s middle name. We didn’t know it when we named him but St. Raymond Nonnatus is the patron of expectant mothers and midwives because he miraculously survived his mother dying in childbirth. I have spent my entire nursing career in the NICU and Women’s Services so learning this felt very divinely orchestrated to me. Browning is my father’s middle name [and his father’s and grandfather’s]“)

Titus John (“We came across the name Titus when we were pregnant with Raymond and searching for Catholic or Biblical boys names. We chuckled a bit about it because it felt so… I don’t know… Roman, but it stuck with us. By the time Titus was born, I loved the book of Titus and I felt sure we were supposed to use the name for him. It fits him well. It’s fun that he shares a feast day with his dad. During this time, I had also fallen in love with the Apostle John, the one whom Jesus loved and couldn’t imagine not naming one of my boys after him“)

Leo Joachim (“The only baby who’s gender we knew was Raymond’s. So, we’re pregnant with baby #5 and already have 4 boys. I had zero idea what we were going to name this baby if he was a boy … Titus’ name had felt so divinely orchestrated that throughout pregnancy #5 I prayed that God would make it obvious to me what we were supposed to name this baby. Occasionally I would suggest boy names that I thought were ‘okay’ and Tim would say, ‘meh.’ Tim suggested Leo over and over again. Leo is his maternal great-grandfather. I knew a few toddler Leos at our church so I thought the name would be too common and didn’t really want to use it. The morning Leo was born, after we moved into our post-partum room, we started trying to name him. My mom was on the way with our boys and we joked that if we didn’t name him by the time she arrived, she would name him. I had a list of about 10 boy names that I thought were okay and Tim didn’t like any of them. He still wanted Leo. I said, ‘Well, let’s just see who the saint of the day is. Maybe it will be someone we haven’t thought of yet. Maybe it will spark a name we haven’t thought of yet.’ I pulled it up and started laughing out loud. Pope Saint Leo the Great. I said yes to Leo right then but in case I needed more reassurance God sent more. My sister in law sent me an e-mail with a reflection from the day and said, ‘Leo would be a great name!’ Then, my co-worker, who isn’t Catholic, and didn’t know what we had named him, went to the gift shop to buy me something before she came to our room to see us. [She was on the lactation team with me.] She brought us a stuffed Lion. [Leo stems from the Latin word for lion.] It was settled. We liked Leo Joachim and Leo Joseph. [Joe is my father’s name.] I am always a fan of different names so since Tim was up for the name Joachim, I picked that. In addition to being a great name for Mary’s father, Joachim is also a family name on Tim’s paternal side.”)

(Sorry, I just have to interrupt to say JOACHIM!! And also, how about this story of allllll the signs that Leo was clearly the right name for this baby??!! 😍😍😍)

Augustine Joseph (“When we were pregnant with baby #6, I felt like Titus was a bit of an outlier, as far as being a name from the earlier years of Christianity. So, I was looking at names from the Roman Canon and the earlier saints. Tim’s sister and brother in law had lost a baby at 19 weeks who they named Gus [Augustine James]. St. Augustine of Hippo fit my search for older saints. I asked them how they would feel if we used it and they said they’d be honored. We weren’t settled on it by any means when we asked them but I don’t remember much about the rest of our name considerations or discussions. Born in January of the year of St. Joseph, we named him Augustine Joseph. I mentioned earlier, Joe is also my dad’s name [and his father’s and grandfather’s]. Augustine went by his full name but also Gus, Gus Gus, Gustin, and Auggie. At 18 months old, he choked on a sandwich and after I did CPR on him he was declared brain dead two days later. Saint Augustine of Hippo’s writings occur constantly which I see as a beautiful way God would frequently remind me of my saintly son and his patron saint. We like to say St. Gus, pray for us! Or Saint Augustine Joseph, pray for us. My sister in law and brother in law had not buried their Gus yet because they couldn’t find a spot that felt right (they live far from family). So, we buried the two of them next to each other in the baby section of our Catholic cemetery. It’s great because I can visit, pray at, decorate and care for Augustine James’ grave as I do Augustine Joseph’s. There are more details on some of the many ways God has worked miracles through Gus’ short life and death at https://breezybreastfeeding.com/how-to-grow-your-yes-to-god/ and in some of the links I placed in that article.”)

What a cross this family has been asked to bear! What a blessing that they’ve been given so many comforting signs like the frequent occurrence of the writings of St. Augustine and the miracles Jill’s been able to see come about through the loss of their beautiful boy.

“Throughout these babies, we’ve also had four miscarriages named John, Sammy, Josephine, and Gemma.”

This family has experienced so much loss! It’s always a privilege for me to work with families on choosing names for their babies, and I was feeling that privilege extra much when I was working on this. I’m so grateful for all the ways God uses my funny little interest in names to help others!

Jill continues,

“My favorite names are ones that people have heard of but are not common. Augustine was a bit tricky for me because so many people pronounced it like the town in Florida instead of like the saint. If they pronounced it like the town in Florida, then they would often think he was a girl because of the Christine-like ending. Though I care less about people being able to pronounce my kid’s name over the years and am open to more obscure Saints and Biblical names. 

Tim’s preferences lean more toward common names … He’s grown a lot though to consider many other names but he still learns more toward common names than I do. If a name is listed in the top 10, I consider that a negative but we still have used some common names I love. And my oldest ended up having three Grahams in his grade at our parish so you never know! If we had named him Luke like we originally planned, he’d be the only one. As it is, our Lucas is one of many (maybe 6) Lukes in his grade at our parish.”

Names they’re considering for a girl include:

  • Clara (“always our front-runner, we visited Assisi after Gus died and I fell in love with St. Clare. I used to think she was too intimidating to name a child after. Who can live up to Saint Clare?! While we were in Assisi, I realized she simply said yes to God and his plan for her. His plan for me will look different. But my goal is to say yes to his plan for me, however it looks, and I pray that my kids will say yes to God’s plan for them. I love the tweak of Clara. We live in a town with an active, Catholic, homeschooling community which means there are a lot of Clares. Clara is definitely not uncommon either. Clara Faye has been our front-runner. Leena Faye was my paternal grandmother’s name, though she went by Faye. My maternal grandmother’s name was Marjorie May and we have also considered May for many girl middle names“)

  • Cecilia (“I had a dream last year that we were pregnant with twin girls named Clara and Cecilia and I have loved the name Cecilia ever since. Our Cathedral is Saint Cecilia’s. Our parish, St. Wenceslaus, has St. Cecilia in stained glass in the chapel where we have daily Mass. I love to sing. Though I don’t have the talent or training to share it outside my home and Mass, my kids know that I may break into song at any moment. I have a few kids who insist we use Marie as a middle name for our first girl, since we used dad’s middle name for our first boy. I do think Cecilia Marie is beautiful“)

  • Ivy (“I just read my boys the story of Holly and Ivy. I loved this book as a kid and even though it’s about a little girl and a doll, my boys were very engaged with it. I loved the name and I checked your Marian naming book afterwards to see if Ivy was in there. I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful writing about Ivy in there and her roots to Our Lady of Sorrows. I was first introduced to our Lady of Sorrows years ago when my friend had a 16 week miscarriage [actually two friends on the same day at 16 weeks]. My friend was reluctant to invite Our Lady of Sorrows into her life but Our Lady pursued her and my friend finally gave in. She now has a beautiful devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. I was able to witness this process of hers so when Augustine died, I knew I wanted to learn about Our Lady of Sorrows. When Tim and I went to Italy after Augustine died, the one thing I had in mind to look for was an Our Lady of Sorrows Rosary. We were in Orvieto, Italy on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, and they have a powerful statue in their church of Mary holding Jesus after he was taken down from the cross. Our priest, who walked with us through all the Gus things, gave a homily about Mary’s thoughts while she stood at the foot of the cross. His contemplations about Mary’s thoughts were identical to my conversation with God throughout Gus’s last brain function test. Then I realized that my thoughts, prayer, and mindset during his last test (the one that would declare him legally brain dead or not) was not of my own making but a gift from Our Lord or from his mother. The next day, a fellow pilgrim said she had something for me. She said, ‘I didn’t mean to bring this to Italy, but I found it in my pocket. It’s an Our Lady of Sorrows Rosary that I made years ago. The colors remind me of the church we were at yesterday, in Orvieto, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, and I feel like you’re supposed to have it.’ I still chuckle at her words. I replied, Yes! I think I am supposed to have it! ;)”)

And names they’re considering for boys include:

“We are strongly considering the name Augustine for a middle name.”

  • Daniel (“love the old testament Daniel“)

  • Nicholas (“Tim has never been a huge fan but I’ve always come back to this one as a possibility“)

  • Simon

  • Anthony (“My maternal uncle’s name. His story wasn’t unlike St. Augustine’s. From reluctant to great disciple of Jesus. He died about ten years ago in his early 50’s. Naming a child after my Uncle Tony would be great but I’ve never loved the names Anthony or Tony. I do like AJ“)

I really love the names Jill and her hubby have given their kiddos! I’m so glad her husband came around on Graham — I think it’s so fantastic when Mom’s maiden name is doable for a first name! Lucas, Raymond (“Raymond Browning” is such a great combo!), Titus, Leo (I love all the signs from heaven that his name should be Leo!), and Augustine are all wonderful, too, and I love how they have a fairly eclectic group of names — it allows them to do pretty much anything they want going forward since they’re not tied to any one style.

And of course you all must know how absolutely STARRY EYED I am over Leo’s middle name!! I LOVE Joachim!! It’s so cool that it’s a family name on Jill’s husband’s side! That’s so awesome!

The names they gave their miscarried babies are also wonderful. I’m interested by their reusage of names — John and Josephine as first names, and John and Joseph for middle names, as well as the possibility of using Augustine as a middle name for this baby. In my experience, it’s a rare practice, but not unheard of, and can really create lovely connections between your children. We named the baby I miscarried sixteen years ago Ignatius, and my 15yo — the boy born ten months after I lost Ignatius — was just Confirmed and chose Ignatius as his Confirmation name, in large part because of that baby. It’s given me more joy than I would have thought to think of my baby in heaven and my son on earth sharing a special connection through their name.

Okay, I’ll start by offering my thoughts on the names they’re considering for this baby, in case they’re helpful:

  • Clara: I love it, it’s a beautiful, saintly name and has long been a favorite of theirs, never mind Jill’s meaningful realization about St. Clare. Clara Faye is lovely! To me, this is the name to beat.
  • Cecilia: The song in Jill’s voice (no pun intended, haha!) when she wrote about Cecilia would totally have put it at the top of my list for them if it wasn’t for Clara! Twins Clara and Cecilia would be perfect; otherwise, Cecilia is my favorite name for a second girl for this family.
  • Marie as a middle name: I’m with Jill’s kids — I love the idea of using Marie as their first girl’s middle name since they used Hubby’s middle name for their first boy! I’m also wondering what they’d think of Marie as a first name?
  • Ivy: This is such a sweet name! I love the connection to Our Lady of Sorrows, too, and was so interested to read Jill’s connection to her. What a cool story about the lady who gave her the Our Lady of Sorrows rosary!! This post on my blog about Theresa’s devotion to OL of Sorrows is a good one to link to here — I love this quote especially regarding the Catholic view of sorrow: “It is hope, instead of despair, in the face of tragedy. It is fortitude in the face of upset and chaos. It is trust in the midst of darkness. And it is gratitude in the midst of hardship.”
  • Daniel: Jill’s love for the Old Testament Daniel inspired one of my name ideas below! Also, a more familiar name like Daniel would pair really nicely with a middle name like Augustine.
  • Nicholas: You’ll see in my Appellation Mountain consultation that Nicholas was a name my husband and I talked about a LOT! We could never figure out how to make each of us comfortable with it … we talked about the nickname Cole (or even as a given name), and the variant/short form Colin is a style match for this family according to my research; I love the nickname Nico and the similar formal names Nikolai and Nicodemus (Nicodemus is another name I pushed for with my husband! It was always a hard no from him!).
  • Simon: I love it! It’s a big style match for this family per my research.
  • Simeon: I love Simeon, too!
  • Anthony: I feel similarly to Jill about Anthony — a great name and a great Saint, but I can see why it doesn’t appeal to her. I saw Antonia in my research for them (style match for Cecilia) — I wonder if they would be interested in flipping the honor of Uncle Tony from a boy to a girl? Antonia would be a pretty middle name; I also have a friend Antoinette and am often struck by how pretty and feminine her name is. It would be really nice as a middle for a short first name — Ivy Antoinette maybe? (Not Marie Antoinette!) Or Marie Antonia? The an-to-NEE-ah pronunciation would have a nice flow with Marie.

Okay, on to new ideas! I really love working on challenging consultations, which I consider this one to be because of Jill and her hubby having already named so many boys. It was fun to try to come up with ideas that I thought fit their style while not being names they’ve already used or considered or are on their “no” list! But no worries — I can always come up with more ideas! So as mentioned, I did my usual research in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link), but I also had some ideas of my own that I added to the list for gut-feeling reasons (which aren’t always on point, but sometimes are). I was reluctant to add any that are in my Mary names book, since Jill’s already familiar with it and I feel like she would have included ideas from it on her own list (besides Ivy and Simeon) if they appealed, but sometimes making a strong argument for a name gives it a sparkle it didn’t have before, so there are a few on my list below that are also in my book.

Girl

(1) Susanna, Annabel(le)

When I read that Jill loves the Old Testament Daniel, I immediately thought of Susanna, who is a virtuous woman in the Book of Daniel and saved by Daniel from death due to a false accusation. There’s also a Susanna in the New Testament who had been healed by Jesus and accompanied Him on his journeys and provided for Him. And there’s St. Susanna, whose feast day is the same as St. Clare! This is in my book of Marian names because it means both “rose” and “lily” in Hebrew (one in ancient Hebrew, one in modern Hebrew).

Annabel/Annabelle is also in my book, and Susanna made me think of it, as well as the fact that Anna and Hannah are both style matches for this family per the BNW. Annabelle is also a style match for Juliet! It’s a variant of Amabilis, which is part of the Marian title Mater Amabilis. So pretty!

(2) Phoebe

I never would have come up with Phoebe on my own for this family, but I was so interested to see it listed as a match for both Graham and Titus — I thought that was too cool to ignore! One of my fave Catholic mamas, Grace Patton, has a Phoebe — see all her kids’ names here; here and here and here and here are other families that have a Phoebe in case you’d like to see what a Phoebe’s siblings are named.

(3) Elise or Eliza (or the full Elizabeth/Elisabeth)

Elise is a match for Graham and Simon, and Eliza for Clara and Cecilia — that’s pretty amazing! They could use the full Elizabeth (or the spelling Elisabeth) to use either of those, or bestow one of the shorter forms as the given name.

(4) Lydia

Lydia also did quite well in my research, being listed as a match for Titus, Simon, and Simeon. I’ve always loved that Lydia in the bible was a seller of purple cloth, which means a little Lydia has her very own color!

(5) Natalie/Natalia

Natalie is a match for both Nicholas and Anthony, and it’s also in my book of Marian names because of Our Lady’s role in Jesus’ Nativity (Natalie refers to Christmas), as well as that word being attached to her through her own Nativity. Natalia feels like a more current version and closer in style to Clara and Cecilia. Natalie and Natalia are both pretty!

Boy

(1) Benjamin, Bennett, Benedict

I think one of these is my favorite idea for this baby if a boy! Benjamin is a style match for Lucas, Daniel, and Nicholas, and the nickname Ben is in the same friendly category as Ray, Leo, and Gus. Additionally, Jill and her hubby have two biblically named boys so far and four that aren’t, so it would be cool to loop in another biblical name.

That said, however, Bennett is really appealing to me — it’s a match for Juliet and as soon as I saw it I thought Yes! It just felt right, and the fact that it’s a medieval short form of Benedict made it seem extra cool. (Interesting to note that Austin is a medieval short form of Augustine.) I also feel like Bennett Augustine is an easier combo than some of the longer options, like Benjamin or Benedict.

Which, of course, brings me to Benedict. It’s got the same heavy “monastery” feel as Augustine, and Ben lightens it up just like Gus does for Augustine. You’ll see in the Appellation Mountain consultation I really wanted Benedict as a first name for my youngest! We couldn’t use the nickname Ben, but I really liked Bear. (Hubby was a no.)

(2) Dominic

Dominic is inspired by Augustine and Benedict (I always think of those three names as the “monastery” names). Nic(k) and Nico can be nicknames for Dominic! Maybe that’s how they can work in Jill’s affinity for Nicholas?

(3) Zechariah

Zachary is a match for Nicholas, but that didn’t feel quite right to me. It did make me think of Zechariah, though, which I love because of his connection to St. Elizabeth and further to the Visitation. Zeke is my favorite nickname for it, which feels a lot like Ray and Gus to me! (That “old man” vibe, which is so cozy and sweet!)

(4) Oscar or Owen

I’m not convinced that Oscar is a good fit here, but the BNW says differently! It’s a match for August (standing in for Augustine, which doesn’t have its own entry), Gus, and Clara, and I know of three sweet little boys with the name: here and here (Oscar) and here (Oskar).

Another O name that showed up in my research is Owen, which is a match for Lucas and Ivy, and my nephew Leo’s little brother is Owen. Also, St. Nicholas Owen is one of my faves! I’m not sure how that fits in with Nicholas on their list, but I needed to mention it!

(5) Tristan

Finally, Jill’s devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows made me think of Tristan. I love the name anyway, but knowing of its connection to the word “sad” — and therefore to Our Lady of Sorrows — gives it a really nice and unexpected faith connection. (I’m a big fan of “unexpected” in naming!)

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Graham, Lucas, Raymond, Titus, Leo, and Augustine?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, my book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Stephen Scott!

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I posted a consultation for Kathryn and her hubby for their fifth baby last spring, and I’m delighted to share that their baby has arrived — a little boy given the fantastic name … Stephen Scott!

Kathryn writes,

“Hi, Kate! A few weeks late but wanted to let you know our precious Stephen Scott was born in October!

As you know, Scott Hahn was instrumental in my conversion to Catholicism so I really wanted to honor him with this baby’s name! When I was considering Scott as a first name, there was something you said in your consult ‘the J/J/S/S pattern is very pleasing’ which led me to search out all the Biblical ‘S’ names so we could have that first initial pattern, but also maintain our Biblical/Saintly theme for first names (which you also helped me realize I wanted to do!)

After re-reading the story of St. Stephen in Acts, I was so moved by his great faith & just knew that name was the one!

St. Stephen, pray for us!“

Isn’t that a great name story?! I think Stephen Scott is absolutely wonderful, and I still do feel like brothers James, John, Samuel, and Stephen have a very pleasing pattern with the J/J/S/S — I love it! And I really love the combo Stephen Scott — it sounds great together, and I’m so glad Kathryn was able to work Scott Hahn’s name into her baby’s name in a way that was peaceful to her. A success all around!!

Congratulations to Kathryn and her husband and big sibs James, John, Samuel, and Emilia, and happy birthday Baby Stephen!!

(His blanket! 🥰🥰🥰)

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation 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: Some really fun name rules (hopes) for baby no. 5

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Happy All Hallow’s Eve’s Eve, everyone!

Today’s consultation is for a little green bean (= gender unknown🌱) due on Holy Thursday — the family’s fifth baby. Before sharing big siblings’ names, you should know that Mama Tricia wrote, “We love all our children to have a family name, patron Saint, and title of Mary in their name” — I’m amazed at how well she and her hubby did especially with the title of Mary! Check out these beautiful names:

Noah Samuel William (“Our Lady Queen of Patriarchs is the Marian title, St. William is patron, Samuel is the family name“) 

Maria Joy (“Marie is heavy family name, Joy is a play on her dad’s name Roy. Patron Saint is Maria Goretti and Our Lady Cause of Our Joy“)

Adam James (“Adam was the middle name of my brother who died as an infant, patron St. James the greater. My husband proposed on his feast day and hiking the Camino was a really moving experience for me. Title of Mary is Our Lady Queen of Apostles“)

Martha Lily (“Martha is my grandmother’s name and confirmation Saint. Lily is a name I’ve always loved and St. Joseph is my husband’s confirmation Saint. Her patrons are St. Martha and St. Joseph, and Our Lady Most Pure“)

What do you think of these names?? Aren’t the Marian title just amazing?? I love them all!!

I also want to point out, in case it’s helpful to anyone who might be considering these names for their own babies, that Maria goes by Mia sometimes within the family, and Martha goes by Millie sometimes within the family, as a mashup of Martha and Lily. I love those!

Tricia continues,

“Holy Thursday is my favorite liturgy — I was so happy to hear it would be our new child’s due date. There are so many feasts around that time too! I am open to naming the child something related to the day they are born, if indeed they come on the Annunciation, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter!” 

Names they can’t use include:

  • Aubrey 
  • Clark
  • Cecilia 
  • Juliette 
  • Miles 


Names they like for girls:

  • Agnes (“esp for an Easter girl“)
  • Dolores (“esp for a Good Friday girl, probably call her Della, but my husband doesn’t like it“)
  • Anna 
  • Monica 
  • Catharine “Kate”
  • Greta 
  • “I love Matilda and Gloria, but my husband says no“
  • “He likes Avila and Zelie, beautiful names but I’m worried about everyone always mispronouncing“

Girl middle names:

  • Felicity 
  • Sage (“seat of wisdom“) 
  • Pieta (“esp for Good Friday“) 
  • Ann (“my middle name“) 
  • June (“my mom’s middle name, maybe Immaculate Heart as title of Mary“) 
  • Fiat (“if bday is March 25?“) 

Names they like for boys:

  • Gabriel (“esp for March 25 bday“) 
  • John (“prob front runner, his dad’s name, lots of great Saints, James and John were brothers“) 
  • Luke (“I have always loved Our Lady of Częstochowa“)
  • Judah 
  • David 
  • Ambrose “Bo”
  • Maybe Pascal “Cal” (“for a Holy Thursday boy“) 

Also, some family names that could work include:

  • Theresa June (“my mom“)
  • Krista Lynn (“his mom“)
  • Gregory Michael (“my late father who I love so dearly, definitely think of honoring him but my brother is also a Greg and my nephew is Miles Gregory after him …”) 
  • John Samuel (“his dad“)

Tricia also wrote,

“I’d love more ideas especially with possible holy day birthdays, maybe what your favorites are?” 

Just to reiterate, in case you didn’t catch my enthusiasm above (!), I am just really impressed with how Tricia and her hubby worked a family name, a patron Saint, and a title of Mary into each of their children’s names. I love “Queen of Patriarchs” for Noah; Adam James is very handsome, and I love the family connection to Tricia’s brother; I’m also kind of blown away by their girls’ names: Maria Joy and Martha Lily are unexpected combinations to me, and I LOVE them! So lovely!

I wanted to offer some thoughts on the names they like, in case they find them helpful:

  • Agnes: Considering Noah, Maria, and Adam, I wouldn’t have thought of Tricia as liking “old lady” names (said with the utmost respect), but then with Martha, Agnes makes sense to me! Because of the baby being due on Holy Thursday, I thought of how one of you readers once told me you like the combo “Agnes Daisy” because it sounds like “Agnus Dei” — I thought it might be the perfect idea for this family! Daisy is a traditional nickname for Margaret, which derives from the Latin word for “pearl” (margarita), but its French form, Marguerite, is the same as the French word for the daisy flower (hence the traditional nickname Daisy). So there are a few layers of meaning in the middle name Daisy! It could work as the “title of Mary” element: as I wrote in my book of Marian names,

“The common daisy flower (Bellis perennis) has also been known as Mary’s flower or Mary-Loves, and the oxeye daisy (chrysanthemum leucanthemum) has also been known as Mary’s Star.”

Additionally, since Daisy is connected to Margaret, and Margaret means “pearl,” Tricia might also like this bit from the “Pearl” entry in my book:

“Though Pearl is a variant of Margaret, since Margaret means “pearl” (Latin: margarita), Pearl can take its place as a Marian name through the fact that Our Lady is referred to as ‘Pearl of Virgins’ in the Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.”

The connection to Our Lady of Sorrows can also be appropriate for this baby based on the due date, since the last four are connected to Jesus’ Passion and Death (The Meeting of Jesus and Mary along the Way of the Cross; the Crucifixion, where Mary stands at the foot of the cross; the Descent from the Cross, where Mary receives the dead body of Jesus in her arms; the Burial of Jesus).

  • Dolores: this is in keeping with the older feel of Martha and Agnes, and Tricia’s planned nickname of Della is darling! That said, I’m a big fan of finding names that both mom and dad like, so my advice would be for them to shelve this one for now since her hubby doesn’t like it (though it is perfect for a Good Friday baby!)
  • Anna: I love the name Anna! It’s one of my very favorites BUT — they already have Adam, and I’m going to propose some additional A names below that I like better for them than Anna, so my vote is to either cross Anna off the list entirely, or consider a related/soundalike/nickname-connected name like Susanna or Hannah. I have seven boys, and for all of them, if they’d been a girl, our chosen name was Susanna. We intended to use Anna for a nickname, which Tricia and her hubby might like as well! Hannah is another great option — it’s the same name as Anna etymologically-speaking, and gives them a different initial from Adam with nearly the same sound as Anna; it can also honor Tricia as an Ann name, since Ann is her middle name. I like that both Susanna and Hannah are Old Testament names like Noah and Adam, too.
  • Monica: Monica also has that older feel, and I do love it, but I’m also thinking of their Maria and Martha and how adding Monica to the mix is really M-heavy.
  • Catharine/Kate: How could I not love this name, with my own name being Katherine/Kate?! It’s a great option, and so timeless — it fits right in with the older names Tricia likes, and Kate is specifically a style match for Adam.
  • Greta: This was one of the reasons I thought of Daisy as a middle name for Agnes! I love Greta — it’s one of my favorites of the Margaret names, and it, too, has that older feel. I gave a lot of thought to how Tricia could honor her dad, Gregory Michael, and I think she could consider Greta to be for him, given that they both begin with “Gre.” If she did something like Greta Michaela or Greta Michelle, that could really hammer home the point.
  • Matilda and Gloria: Tricia’s style is so clear!
  • Avila and Zelie: I see these names a lot with the families I work with — I think of them as “new favorites” among Catholic families, while still being traditional names with solid, saintly history and usage. If Tricia’s concern is solely related to pronunciation, I would be inclined to advise her not to worry too much about that — Zelie especially is becoming more and more common (I wrote about it several years ago; as an added data point, my 9yo has a girl in his class named Xaylie). It is true that the names Tricia likes are ones that generally won’t be mispronounced, so I can see why the possibility of mispronunciations might bother her. At the same time, so many “normal” names have the possibility of being mispronounced — Madeline and Caroline can be said to rhyme with “lynn” or “line”; I’ve seen some people think Sean is pronounced like “seen”; even Maria is said like Mariah sometimes in England — and I always tell parents to just be firm and consistent with correcting people and teach their children to be as well.
  • The middle name ideas: I love all of these! I find it especially fun to discover that someone has a middle name that’s unexpected, which these parents have done with Joy and Lily, and their middle name list is similar! To me, unexpected middle names are the ones that don’t follow the traditional path of names like Marie, Rose, and Grace, which have been incredibly common for girls (for a reason — they’re incredibly beautiful!). I also like when currently popular first names are used as middle names, like they did with Martha Lily. That particular point made me think to suggest Sophie or Sophia as an addition to their middle name list, since, like Sage, they also mean “wisdom.”
  • Gabriel: Because Tricia doesn’t like the possibility of mispronounced names, I feel like I have to share that I know a Gabriel who frequently has to deal with people (doctor offices, for example) thinking his name is pronounced like “Gabrielle” (which I know is legit as the Spanish pronunciation, but he uses the English pronunciation and lives in a predominantly English-speaking area). I’m always surprised by that — I would never have thought that Gabriel was a difficult or unfamiliar name, given that it’s biblical and all! I would imagine this would be a dealbreaker for Tricia, so my suggestion is to make it a middle name. I particularly like it with John — John Gabriel is so handsome! Especially for a March 25 baby, like she said.
  • John: I think of John as one of those names that can take a bigger/more unusual/out-there middle name, which, as I’ve mentioned a few times already, I love! Johnny and Jack are great nickname options, too.
  • Luke: I love how Marian Luke is, not only his connection to the various images of Our Lady with the Child Jesus (Our Lady of Częstochowa as Tricia mentioned; Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a particular devotion of the Redemptorist Order, which founded my parish; etc.), but also that his gospel is the most Marian and contains her beautiful Magnificat.
  • Judah: I do love Judah — the sound, the “h” on the end, all of it — BUT I do think that its similarity to Judas might be a little too much for a Holy Week baby? Especially Holy Thursday?
  • David: I loved discovering that “Tower of David” is one of Our Lady’s titles! David also fits in really nicely with the Old Testament-ness of Noah and Adam. My older boys have a friend who has always gone by Davy, even now as a high school junior — I love, love Davy! So sweet!
  • Ambrose/Bo: You are speaking my language! We had Ambrose on our list of possibilities, and coming up with nickname ideas was one of my favorite things. Bo was definitely one of them! I also thought of Sam, Bram, and Brody (especially if paired with a “D” middle name, like Ambrose David). However, Tricia and her husband have a definitely style going on with their older kids, and the more unusual names on their list seem better suited to middle names I think. Again, I’ll go back to John: John Ambrose is incredible! They could even still do Bo as a nickname if they want (one of my boys goes exclusively by a nickname of his middle name and it hasn’t been a problem at all).
  • Pascal/Cal: Another awesome name that was on my own list! And I LOVE Cal! John Pascal (or similar) would be my preference for this family for the reasons I mentioned above, and would be really great for an Easter baby.

Tricia also gave a list of family members they’d like to honor if possible — I had a couple thoughts that I thought might be helpful:

  • Theresa June: I love both Theresa and June! They’d both be lovely for a girl. Junia is a biblical name — I wonder if that would appeal to Tricia in honor of her mom?
  • Krista Lynn: I was thinking that Kristopher could be a great middle name to honor Tricia’s mother-in-law! Maybe John Kristopher?
  • Gregory Michael: I had mentioned Greta above as a possible way to nod to Tricia’s dad; I also wanted to point out that the name Greer is derived from Gregory. I don’t think Greer is this family’s style, but maybe as a middle name?
  • John Samuel: John as a first or middle is great!

Okay, on to new ideas! I did my usual research, looking up in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) the names they’ve already used and those they like as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I also considered details of Holy Thursday that might offer some inspiration. Based on all that, these are my ideas:

Girl

(1) Abigail

Abigail is a style match for this family according to the BNW, but what originally inspired me to add it to the list was that Holy Thursday is when Jesus instituted the priesthood, and Abby is similar to Abbey and Abbott, which can be considered priest-y!

(2) Olive

Olive has that “older” feel of so many of the names Tricia likes, and was also inspired by Jesus going to the Mount of Olives on Holy Thursday night.

(3) Carmel or Carmen

These names were my attempt at finding a name similar to Avila and Zelie but without the pronunciation issues that Tricia’s worried about. Carmel is a holy place name like Avila, and has, to me, an “older generation” feel (I know an older lady named Carmel); Carmen is a variant of Carmel, if they prefer that form more. A bonus is that these names can be related to Holy Thursday, too! They mean “garden,” which calls to mind Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. I really like this idea for them.

(4) Mandy

This is inspired by Holy Thursday’s alternate and old name of Maundy Thursday; “Maundy” derives from the word mandatum and refers to Jesus’ words from Holy Thursday: “I give you a new commandment.” Mandy can be a reasonable nod to it, right? Mandy is one of those sweet nicknames that always feels so affectionate to me! I have a friend named Mary Angeline who goes by Mandy — I would love to suggest that here, except that they have a Maria already! Amanda is the most familiar way to get Mandy, and means “beloved,” which is fantastic; it also doesn’t start with M, which is something I’m trying to stay away from because of Maria and Martha. In the style of Mary Angeline, maybe something like … Amata Nadine? Angela Madeline? (Or Madelynn, incorporating Tricia’s mother-in-law’s name?) This could be fun to work with!

(5) Elizabeth

I love that Elizabeth has the biblical connection that the other kids have, and the Visitation is one of my favorite Marian feasts. I also thought Tricia might like the nickname Ella, since she has Della as a nickname idea for Dolores (which I love!).

Boy

(1) Andrew

Andrew is a style match per the BNW, but I also consider it (and other An- names, like Anson and Anthony) to be a possible way of honoring an Ann (St. Ann, and/or, in this case, Tricia because it’s her middle name), which I think makes this a really strong choice for them!

(2) Benjamin

I was very influenced by the fact that Noah and Adam have Old Testament names, so when I saw Benjamin listed as a style match, I thought it was a great choice! I think Ben is one of the friendliest nicknames.

(3) Nathan or Nathanael/Nathaniel

Nate was the inspiration here — it was listed as a style match for this family — and I like both Nathan and Nathaniel as the formal name for it. Using Nate as a nickname would probably knock Catharine/Kate out of the running for the future, but maybe that’s a chance they’d like to take? Nathan is shorter like Noah and Adam, and I love what I consider to be the Old Testament feel of Nathanael/Nathaniel (it feels weighty like Abraham and Melchizedek and Solomon). Nathanael has the added benefit of being an alternate name of the apostle Bartholomew, who of course was at the Last Supper — a nice Holy Thursday connection.

(4) Caleb

Caleb sounds like a natural brother for Noah and Adam, and it can take the nickname Cal, which they already have on their list for Pascal!

(5) Oliver

Finally, Oliver, which I’m including for the same reasons as Olive above. It’s one of the sweetest names, and I love that it can have a Holy Thursday connection via the Mount of Olives.

Tricia said she’d “love more ideas especially with possible holy day birthdays, maybe what [my] favorites are,” so I went through the feast days from two weeks before her due date to two weeks after, and these jumped out as me as possible ideas, either as a first or a middle:

March 14: Eve, for Bl. Eve of Liège and Our Lady (the “New Eve”)

March 15: Clement or Clementine for St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (my parish’s patron and one of my favorites) and Our Lady (“O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary”); Peter or Pascal for Bl. Peter Pasquale

March 17: Patrick, for St. Patrick

March 18: Clement, Clementine, or Mercy for Our Lady of Mercy

March 19: Joseph, for St. Joseph

March 20: Lucy for St. Photina of Rome, the name traditionally given to the Samaritan woman (Photina means “light” and so does Lucy)

March 28: Kristopher for Bl. Christopher Wharton and Tricia’s mother-in-law

March 29: Agnes for Bl. Agnes of Chatillon (she’s also celebrated the day before by the Cistercians)

March 30: Irene for St. Irene of Rome

March 31: Benjamin for St. Benjamin the Deacon

April 1: Sofia or Zofia for Bl. Zofia Czeska-Maciejowska

April 7: John for St. John Baptist de La Salle

April 8: Julia for St. Julia Billiart

April 11: Helen for Bl. Elena Guerra

This is not an exhaustive list of holy ones with feast days during that four-week period, just ones that jumped out at me. If you’d like to look through them yourself, start here and go forward day by day.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little sister or brother of Noah, Maria, Adam, and Martha?

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here.

For help with Marian names, my book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links). It’s perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!

Birth announcement: Remember Ocean Terebinth!

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Happy Tuesday, everyone! Here’s another belated birth announcement for a Sancta Nomina baby!

Longtime readers will remember Katheryn’s and her husband’s amazing taste in names as evidenced by the names they chose for their children: the first four explained here, and birth announcements here, here, and here. I’m excited to share that they’ve since welcomed another baby girl, to whom they gave the incredible name … Remember Ocean Terebinth!

Katheryn writes,

“I absolutely love her name, and love it more and more as she grows. We went back and forth for awhile on her name and were originally going to name her Ocean Memorare but one day my husband said, ‘I actually like Remember better than Memorare, and as a first name.’ When he said that it just clicked! I went ahead and copied what I put on Instagram for you. 

REMEMBER ‘Zakar’ is the Hebrew word used in the Old Testament for when God remembers. Instead of meaning to recall something forgotten, like we commonly use the word, it means to bring someone to mind and act on their behalf; to take action on a promise. Every instance where God is said to remember someone it involves an action. When Hannah (1 Samuel 1:19-20) and Rachel (Genesis 30:22) finally conceived after many years of infertility, it says that God remembered them and they conceived. 

Remember is also after the Memorare prayer ‘to remember,’ a prayer that has special meaning to us in our infertility journey. It is also in honor of the year of the Eucharist: ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ (Luke 22:19)

OCEAN is after Our Lady Star of the Sea and the ocean of divine mercy. 

TEREBINTH is her botanical name since all our daughters have one. The terebinth tree is a landmark tree because it grows huge and alone instead of in groves.  It is a tree that grows slowly but has a wood that is so strong it is almost indestructible. It remains green even in times of drought and can even regrow from its stump after being cut down. In the Bible David fought and defeated Goliath in The Valley of the Terebinth.  It was under a terebinth tree that the three visitors came to Abraham and told him that Sarah would finally conceive a son and be holding him within a year. It was also under a terebinth tree that Gideon was called by God to be a great warrior. The terebinth tree is a symbol of strength so her patron saint is St. Joseph under his title ‘St. Joseph most strong.’

She is our remembrance of God’s faithfulness and His intimate Abba love for us, that He is a Father who sees and remembers us by keeping His promises to our hearts in His best timing and way. The miracle of her life is a landmark of faith that we can return to when we need to be reminded of Whose we are and what He can do.”

Aren’t the different elements of Remember’s name amazing?! I’ve come to expect no less from Katheryn and her husband — each of their kiddos’ names are so deep with meaning and connections to our faith.

Congratulations to Katheryn and her hubby and big sibs Verity, Gethsemane, Bosco, Hyacinth, Exodus, Zephyr, and Sojourn, and happy belated birthday Remember!!

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!

Fun Friday Question: Surprisingly biblical and non-biblical-biblical names?

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What a weird post title, right?

In considering the name Veronica for this family’s consultation, I argued that it would be a great bridge name between their sons’ biblical names and their daughter’s non-biblical name because of the fact that it’s *not* biblical, because it doesn’t appear in the bible, but at the same time it *is*, in a certain sense, biblical, because the person it refers to is in the bible. A non-biblical biblical name! Or Bible-adjacent?

It got me thinking about others, because there are others! Other names that don’t appear in the bible but the people they refer to do, just like Veronica. Like:

Caspar/Casper/Gaspar/Jasper, Melchior, and Balthazar (names traditionally given to the Three Wise Men)

That got me thinking about names that don’t sound biblical (in the sense that their non-biblical associations are so overpowering that their biblical-ness might even be a surprising discovery):

Alexander (Mark 15:21, Acts 4:6, Acts 19:33, 1 Timothy 1:20, 2 Timothy 4:14)

Julia (Romans 16:15)

Nicholas (Acts 6:5)

Do you agree that Alexander, Julia, and Nicholas don’t come across as biblical? Can you think of other names like Veronica and those of the Magi that refer to people in the bible but who aren’t actually named in the bible?

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: Unexpected eponym for baby no. 5 (and name reveal for baby no. 4!)

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I posted a consultation Theresa did for Kathryn and her hubby for their fourth baby, and it’s exciting to both share the name they chose and post this new consultation for their fifth baby!! This little one joins big sibs:

James Elijah

John Isaiah

Samuel Robert

And …

“We ended up naming [baby no. 4] Emilia Gianna (after JP2’s mom and my confirmation Saint, Gianna Molla) and love her name so much!!!“

Isn’t Emilia Gianna so beautiful?! Emilia was one of Theresa’s suggestions, so perfect! James, John, Samuel, and Emilia are such an attractive, solid, saintly group! I love their middle names too, each combo is so great!

Kathryn writes,

“We are needing help with a name for baby #5! We don’t know gender. … For this baby, I just have to incorporate Scott as either a first or middle name if it’s a boy. I am a convert, and Scott Hahn’s books/CDs/podcasts are truly the reason why I am Catholic, why I love being Catholic, and why I have learned to defend the Catholic faith to protestant friends so well! That said, my husband and I are having a difference of opinion on whether Scott should be the first or middle name! If we use Scott as a first name, we need a STRONG saintly or Biblical middle name, such as Scott Augustine or Scott Joseph. My husband is pretty set on naming a boy Peter Scott, but I worry because we already have a James and a John that if we named our 4th son Peter, our 3rd son Samuel might feel left out as not being one of the ‘super apostle’ names! Maybe this concern is silly though. Please help me! Any other awesome suggestions on the way we can use Scott??

For a girl, Hubby and I are both pretty in love with the name Anna (from the Gospel of Luke, and also a nod to Saint Anne). It goes so well with her sister Emilia, but we’re really struggling to find the perfect middle name! 

Some ideas we love but don’t feel like are ‘the one’:

  • Anna Catherine 
  • Anna Clare
  • Anna Maria/Marie
  • Anna Therese
  • Anna Grace

Veronica was also one of the girl name suggestions Theresa gave me for Emilia, and I LOVE the name Veronica (but [there are some issues with the nickname Ronnie and their last name] which was why we ended up naming our 1st daughter Emilia…Vera is cute though…any other good nicknames for Veronica?!)

That said, Veronica Anne is definitely on the table provided we could find a better nickname option for Veronica! 

Open to other options with Anna or Anne as a middle name, as well, just want to incorporate that name somewhere!“

This was so fun! In all my years of doing these consultations and in all the conversations I’ve had with Sancta Nomina families, this is the first time I’ve encountered a desire to nod to Dr. Hahn, despite the fact that many, many people have come to the Church through his writings! My own husband is a convert, and I asked him to read Rome Sweet Home (affiliate link) when we were first dating; so many of Dr. Hahn’s other books played a role in his ultimate conversion ten years later as well.

*** Name fact of the day: “namesake” is used to refer a person named after someone (e.g., my oldest son is named after my father-in-law, so he is my FIL’s namesake). “Eponym” is the person after whom someone is named (so my FIL is my son’s eponym). I wanted a name for an eponym for years, not knowing until somewhat recently that the word “eponym” exists! So perfect! ***

I love Kathryn’s thought that Scott as a first name needs a “STRONG saintly or Biblical middle name”! Scott Augustine and Scott Joseph are both really handsome. Peter Scott is also very handsome! I do understand her concerns though about Samuel not being one of the “super apostle” names — her concerns aren’t silly at all, those concerns are part of wanting to give one’s baby the best name possible, and concerns like those are important to people who care about these things! I’d worry about it too! And I’m hoping I can help come up with an idea that both Kathryn and her husband feel peaceful about (even if it’s just reassuring them about ideas that they’ve already discussed).

That said, I can almost guarantee that their Samuel will likely not ever give it even two thoughts (unless they make a big thing out of it, which I’m sure they wouldn’t), nor will anyone else (except maybe the odd crazy-namer, like me, and only if they were to actively sit and think about all their kids’ names, which is unlikely). So funny, right? These concerns seem SO IMPORTANT when naming our babies, and later on they don’t seem very important at all (at least in my experience). My personal example is that six of my boys have a biblical name as either a first name or a middle name, and I *agonized* over the fact that one of them doesn’t have a biblical name in either spot! But when it came time to name him, saintly and family concerns overrode my desire to keep the loose biblical theme going, and no one has ever mentioned it! None of my boys have ever noticed, including the one without a biblical name! Peter Scott would be a fine addition to this family if Kathryn and her hubby came to an agreement on it, and maybe they will! But I would love to see them decide on a name they both equally love. I included new ideas on how to incorporate Scott below in my list of “official” suggestions.

First though, I want to say that I love both Scott Augustine and Scott Joseph! I actually quite like the idea of James, John, Samuel, and Scott as brothers — the J/J/S/S pattern is very pleasing and makes Scott seem a natural part of the set. That said, Scott is a different style than the others, and not because of biblical vs. non-biblical (though of course there is that), but because it doesn’t have that obvious faith connection. I mean, WE know it does because of Dr. Hahn, and there are some holy people that can be used as patron for a little Scott, like Bl. Maurus (William) Scott (who is actually great in light of Dr. Hahn’s role here, because he “was converted to the truths of Catholicism by reading Catholic literature”) and any of the Scottish Saints (since the name Scott in origin refers to a person from Scotland or one who speaks Scottish Gaelic), but your regular person that you run into out in the world won’t know that. Does it even matter though? It’s up to Kathryn and her hubby to decide! For that reason, I’d probably lean more towards the idea of using it as a middle name. I love Joseph for them, even though it would make this baby their third J-named son; because this baby is separated from James and John by two non-J-named children, I think it would be fine.

I also did some research into Dr. Hahn to see if anything showed itself as a possibility and discovered that his given name is Scott Walker Hahn. Walker made me think of Walsingham, which is a place in England and part of a Marian title: Our Lady of Walsingham. Would Scott Walsingham appeal? (I actually tried to convince my husband of Walsingham as a first name for our youngest son with the nickname Walt!) (He was not convinced. Haha!)

I, too, love Anna!! For all of our boys, the girl name we’d decided on was Susanna and we intended to use Anna as her nickname. It’s one of my very favorites! I love the list of ideas Kathryn and her hubs came up with for a middle name — they all sound lovely with Anna! One thought on Therese is that in the research I did on Scott Hahn, I read in this article that “one of the saints who [has] helped him the most in his everyday life” is St. Therese. If they were open to using this baby’s name as a nod to Scott Hahn regardless of gender, that could be a good way to do it! (Or Anna Scott, for that matter! Maybe that’s too far outside their comfort zone? I would totally understand if so! Hmmm … this makes me think of another idea that might be too crazy for them, but could also be awesome: a family I did a consultation for recently was thinking of Scarlett with the nickname Scottie, which I thought was adorable … I think Scarlett could be a legit way to honor a Scott in a daughter’s name because of the beginning S, ending -tt, and the “a” within … I offered possible faith connections to the name Ruby in this post because of its meaning of “red,” like a nod to the Precious Blood, the Wounds of Crucifixion, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, all of which could totally work for Scarlett … with those beautiful meanings in mind and also the possibility of Scarlett nodding to Scott, maybe they’d like to consider Anna Scarlett? If they love it, I think it could be stunning! If they don’t, I totally get it, it’s a more adventurous idea.)

I also noted from the consultation Theresa did that Kathryn liked Rachel and Victoria, which I like with Anna: Anna Rachel and Anna Victoria are both quite nice. Anna Victoria seems particularly well-matched with sister Emilia Gianna because of having a similar rhythm. And really, I love all of their middle name ideas for a first name as well, since Kathryn said they’re open to other options with Anna or Anne as a middle name! Catherine Anne, Clare Anna, Maria Anna or Marianna or Annamaria, Therese Anna, and Grace Anna are all lovely. I have other ideas below …

I love Veronica too! It’s a fantastic “bridge” name for this family because of the boys all having biblical names (so far) and Emilia not having one — Veronica *isn’t* biblical, in the sense that the name doesn’t appear in the bible, but it *is* biblical because the person that we call Veronica is in the bible. A non-biblical biblical name! It can bridge their biblical names (James, John, Samuel, Peter, Anna) with their non-biblical names (Emilia and Scott). Fantastic! I wouldn’t worry about anyone calling her Ronnie unless they decide to call her Ronnie — as long as they choose another nickname and are firm and consistent about it, that will be what everyone calls her! If they like Vera, awesome! Others are Nica, Nicky/Nikki, Via, Vivi, and Vicky.

Okay! Now on to new suggestions! In addition to the Scott Hahn research I did, I also looked up the names they’ve already used and those they like/are considering 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. For girls, I was mainly looking for middle names for Anna; for boys, I was looking for heavy-hitting Catholicky Catholic names that would be a good balance to Scott’s more secular feel:

Girl

(1) Karoline/Caroline

While Anna as a first name paired with a middle name that ends in A has that really gorgeous, ultra-feminine feel that goes so nicely with sister Emilia Gianna, I also really like the rhythm of a combo like Anna Catherine. I immediately thought of Karoline when reading Kathryn’s list, and was pleased to see that Caroline is a style match for Amelia (standing in for Emilia, as Emilia doesn’t have its own entry). The Karoline spelling is obviously a nod to St. John Paul II to anyone who knows, as his birth name was Karol (the Polish form of Charles); the Caroline spelling can also nod to him if they’d like it to, and is just as lovely and classic as Catherine (I did a post on patron Saints for Caroline et al. here).

(2) Lillian

Elizabeth is a style match for basically all the names Kathryn and her husband have used and like, and Anna Elizabeth *can* work, but (1) Anna ending in A and Elizabeth starting with the same sound isn’t everyone’s favorite transition (maybe they don’t mind it though?) and (2) because it’s such a style match, maybe they’d like to save Elizabeth for the future? So I thought an Elizabeth variant might be nice, especially if it’s not an obvious Elizabeth variant, and Lillian seemed perfect! Behind the Name says Lillian likely originated as a diminutive of Elizabeth, and I love how it sounds with Anna. Our Lady’s Mom and her cousin in one name!

(3) Juliet(te)

Julia is also a huge style match for this family, but I don’t really see them considering it for the future for some reason, and I felt like Anna Julia is a little too sing-songy (if they disagree and love it, awesome!), but I love how Anna Juliet/Juliette sounds! I did a post on saintly connections for Juliet(te) here (also, Julia is biblical, so Juliet(te) is a diminutive of a biblical name).

(4) Colette

I was trying to think of other names that I thought went well with Anna that have a nice saintly connection, and I thought of a friend of mine who named her daughter Maria Colette — I have always loved that combo, and I thought Anna Colette sounds equally as gorgeous! St. Colette is a patron of expectant mothers, which I love.

(5) Seraphina/Serafina

Like with Julia, Sarah is a huge match for Kathryn and her hubby’s style, but also like with Julia I don’t really see them wanting to use it in the future, so I thought maybe a spin on it would be nice with Anna. Seraphina/Serafina refers to the angels, specifically the seraphim, and is such a beautiful name. Anna Seraphina is so pretty!

Boy

(1) Karol or Charles

As noted, for boys, I tried to think of other examples of “STRONG saintly or Biblical” names to go with Scott, and Karol came to mind first because of JP2. Karol is a variant of Charles, which could also be nice. Scott Karol and Charles Scott are both great.

(2) Benedict or Benjamin

In my Scott Hahn research, I also consulted this page of authors that were instrumental in his own conversion, one of whom was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict). Benedict is definitely one of those heavy-hitting names! Benedict Scott and Scott Benedict sound great together.

Benedict made me think of Benjamin, which could also be great for this family! It’s Old Testament like Samuel (so there wouldn’t be any possibility of Samuel feeling left out!), and I really love how Benjamin Scott sounds.

(3) Maximilian

In that first web site that I consulted, Dr. Hahn included St. Maximilian Kolbe as one of the Saints that have been most helpful to him — Maximilian absolutely belongs on this list of obviously holy names!

(4) Gregory

Most of the boy name style matches in my research were ones that I’m sure they’ve already considered like Thomas, William, and Paul. Great names, all! But Gregory jumped out to me as possibly being more like what they’re looking for — it has always struck me as a really Catholic name because of the big-deal Gregorys like Pope St. Gregory the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzen, and others.

(5) Francis

In the article about Scott Hahn’s book of Saints and Angels, he tells the story of a time when his son was close to death and he felt very clearly the presence of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, and Mother Mary. Francis Scott sounded so great to me and it took me a minute to realize it’s because of Francis Scott Key! Regardless, I still think Francis Scott would be really nice, and Scott Francis as well.

(6) Josemaria, Irenaeus

These last two are names of Saints that Dr. Hahn has been particularly affected by, and their names are so over-the-top amazing and saintly that Scott would be very nicely balanced out. I totally understand if they’re way too far outside of this family’s comfort zone! And I definitely think they’d go best in the middle name spot. Scott Josemaria and Scott Irenaeus are pretty amazing, and of the two, I think Scott Irenaeus has the best flow.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What middle name would you suggest for Anna and what name would you pair with Scott for the little brother or sister of James, John, Samuel, and Emilia?

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!

Holy Saturday name thoughts

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I wanted to pop on here quickly to say Happy Easter to you all! I hope it’s a beautiful, holy day for you and your family!

And since I’m here … 😏 … I had two name thoughts to share:

One is about the Marian name Soledad (often seen as a given name as María de la Soledad, and Marisol — as a nickname or a given name — is from María de la Soledad. The journalist and former CNN host Soledad O’Brien’s given name is María de la Soledad). It’s the ultimate Holy Saturday name! As I wrote in my book of Marian names (not affiliate link):

“This beautiful Spanish name means ‘solitude,’ and comes from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de Soledad (‘Our Lady of Solitude’), which refers to the solitude of Our Lady while Jesus was in the tomb.”

Isn’t that amazing! I always think of this name on this day, and I love being reminded that it’s a day of solitude.

And speaking of “ultimate” names, I was very struck this Lent by how one of the ultimate biblical names for boys is Simon! There’s Simon Peter, Simon the Zealot, Simon of Cyrene, Simon the father of Judas Iscariot, and Simon who is included in the list of Jesus’ brothers* in Mt 13:55 and Mk 6:3, as well as others in both the Old and New Testaments. It’s a variant of Simeon, which is also well represented! Wow! (I would include John and Joseph as ultimate biblical boy names as well, just based on numbers — what others would you add?) (Of course, Mary for girls!)

“See” you next week!

* I don’t want my blog to ever be a source of confusion for anyone, so if you’re not aware of Catholic teaching regarding Jesus’ brothers, be sure to read it in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (numbers 499-500) and an article that fleshes it out more fully here. (TL;DR: they aren’t the sons of Mary, who the Church teaches was “ever virgin.” That means “always.”)

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: Saintly, possibly Marian name needed for baby no. 5!

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Happy Monday, everyone! Enjoy this week’s consultation by Theresa Zoe Williams!

Mama Sarah writes in for help naming her fifth child, a little green bean. Baby will join big siblings:

Liam Henry

Josephine Elizabeth

Isaac David

Naomi Evangeline

She says:

“Always a fan of Saint names, especially saints who had a special love for Mary.

Plus James (grandpa), Patrick (husband’s patron saint), Alice (an aunt who passed away this year). I feel kinda funny taking names from a country that we have no heritage from… but that is not an absolute. Our backgrounds are from Poland, Germany, Ireland, England, France, and Omaha Indian. We like names that have a good nickname too.”

So many fun things to consider!

Names they like but aren’t sold on:

“Boys- Maximilian (after St. Maximilian Kolbe), James, Felix, Patrick, Ezra. Leaning towards Maximilian James or Felix James. Looking for more options…

Girls- Gianna Catherine (both saints with feast days near my due date, plus I have a special place for St Catherine of Sienna), Veronica Catherine, Zita Rose, Viviana Therese, Annalice Catherine. Open to other options, just haven’t had anything really stick out as a winner.”

I love so many of these names.

Names they can’t use:

“Pretty much have crossed off any top 10 names and anything difficult to spell or not phonetic.”

Additionally, they cannot use:

  • Matthew
  • Joshua
  • Benjamin
  • Michael
  • Samuel
  • Benedict
  • Luke
  • Noah
  • Cameron
  • Caleb
  • Ryan
  • Cyrus
  • Thomas
  • Blaise
  • Peter
  • Simon
  • Abigail
  • Rachel
  • Julianna
  • Audrey
  • Ruth
  • Zoe
  • Kathleen

On to names!

First, about the names they like but aren’t totally feeling.

Maximilian — I love this name for them. I love that it’s Polish and connected to a very Marian saint. It goes so well with their other kids, too. I especially love Maximilian James.

Felix — I love that this is their other frontrunner right now. Goes great with their other kids and has the bonus of meaning “happy” which is just such a bright, fun meaning for a kid. Felix James is incredibly handsome.

James — I like this in the middle spot for them and I love that it’s an honor name. I really feel like
this has to be their son’s middle name if they have a boy. It’s just so loaded with goodness for
them.

Patrick — Great, solid name that goes well with the other kids. I love that it honors dad in a different way. You just cannot go wrong with a little Patrick.

Ezra — I wasn’t expecting to see this on their list and I’m so glad it is! It’s fun and unique but still fits in with the other kids. I can see why this doesn’t feel like “the one” though.

Gianna- I was surprised to see this on their list because it’s so different from their other girls’ names. That’s not a bad thing! It would definitely widen their taste. I felt this way about most of the names on their girl list, actually. Gianna Catherine is a beautiful name and I love the connection to saints’ feasts near Sarah’s due date and her love of St. Catherine of Siena.

Veronica — Great name, surprised to see it on their list, think it goes well with their other girls. I
love the nickname Vera for this name, too. Veronica Catherine is so chic.

Zita Rose — Completely and utterly surprised by this name in a good way. They’re actually a little more daring than their other kids’ names and facts Sarah gave me imply!

Viviana Therese — Beautiful name. I love this expanded version of classic Vivian and gives their taste in names a much more romance language vibe than their current kids. It fits right in and yet expands their taste at the same time.

Annalice — At first I was confused by this spelling of Anneliese but then realized the “Alice” portion is to honor their aunt who passed. I love this. I think it’s a really sweet spin on a name that fits right in with their other kids. Annalice Catherine is just so full of meaning and gorgeous. This would be at the top of my list for them. The only thing is that they’ll constantly have to spell and correct pronunciation of it for the rest of her life.

On to some new ideas! Let’s start with the girls.

(1) Emilia

Two things gave me this idea for them, their Polish heritage and that their other two girls have middle names that begin with E. Servant of God Emilia Wojtyla was Pope St. John Paul II’s mother. So she’s Polish, an almost saint, and her name begins with E. This name is also a little more romance-language inspired than their current kids’ names but like the ones on their not quite list. Catherine Emilia and Annalice Emilia are both beautiful. As a bonus, here are some other E names I thought they might like in the middle spot: Edith, Esther, and Eleanor.

(2) Miriam

This is an Old Testament name like Naomi and also a form of Mary, putting it on par with Josephine. I loved that this form of Mary gave them an Old Testament connection and is less popular than other Mary variants. Miriam Edith, Miriam Emilia, Miriam Esther, Miriam Eleanor, and Miriam Catherine are all really stunning and go beautifully with their other kids’ names.

(3) Tamar

I was thinking of different Old Testament names that fit with Josephine and Naomi and this one came to mind. She was a daughter-in-law of Judah and a daughter of King David, which I thought was a cool connection to Sarah’s husband David, like Isaac is a cool connection to Sarah. Servant of God Dorothy Day named her daughter Tamar Teresa and I’ve always thought that’s beautiful. Tamar Catherine and Tamar Emilia are also really beautiful.

(4) Phoebe

This one came up while I was looking for Biblical names and thought it was a great fit for them. It means “bright, pure”, so it has a similar meaning to Catherine and is the name of a saint who was a friend of St. Paul’s (you can read about her in Romans). It stretches their naming style just a little bit without going crazy but still fits in really well. Phoebe Catherine is beautiful but the meanings may be a little redundant. If they think that’s the case, I also love Phoebe Esther and Phoebe Emilia.

(5) Tabitha

Another name that popped up while I was researching Biblical names. She was the woman restored to life by St. Peter and I’ve always thought that was really cool. Tabby is a cute nickname and Tabitha Catherine, Tabitha Emilia, and Tabitha Eleanor are all really stunning.

Now for the boys!

(1) Dominic

When Sarah said they like saints who honor Mary and already had Maximillian on their list, this was the next name I thought of. Mary gave the Rosary to St. Dominic and he founded the Dominicans. As a plus, the name means “of the Lord” which is super cool and sweet! Dominic James is such a handsome name and fits right in with the other kids.

(2) Bruno

I thought of this name because they said they have German heritage. Little known fact, but Bruno is actually a German name! Even though places like Italy and Spain use the name quite a bit, too. St. Bruno founded the Carthusians. The name means “armor, protection” or “brown” and I think the armor meaning is particularly cool for a little boy. I like that this name is short and sweet like their other two boys. Bruno James is cool and grounded.

(3) Louis

The next Marian saint that came to mind was St. Louis de Montfort who is famous for writing a consecration to Jesus through Mary and True Devotion to Mary. The name also means “famous battle” which is cool for a little boy. I’m super fond of the nickname Lou, too. The only drawback here is if they care if any of their kids share initials. A Liam and a Louis might be too much for them? Louis James is so classically handsome.

(4) Edmund

I was looking up Polish saints and Bl. Edumnd Bojanowski came up. He founded or co-founded four religious congregations devoted, in some way, to Mary, which I thought was cool for them. The name Edmund means “rich protection” and doesn’t rank in the 1000 of baby names. Edmund James is stunning.

(5) John Paul

Maybe a little obvious? Personally, this is the only double first name I like. The obvious connection here is to Pope St. John Paul II who was extremely Marian and, bonus, he was Polish. John means “Yahweh is gracious” and Paul means “small, humble” and I just think they’re so powerful together. John Paul fits right in with their other kids, too, and John Paul James has a beautiful, strong rhythm and flow.

These are my suggestions. What do you think?

I’m back on hiatus from doing consultations (though check back from time to time, as I hope to open up a few spots here and there as I’m able), 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.)

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: Is@@c Cill!@n!

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I discussed names over email a few times in the past with a mama who shared with me that she and her husband have welcomed a little boy! He’s been given the absolutely wonderful name … Is@@c Cill!@n! (Alt characters used for privacy.)

She writes,

“I want to thank you for the advice you gave us back in February.* We welcomed Is@@c Cill!@n to the family in mid-July. We are still preparing for his baptism, and haven’t yet finalized a patron saint but he very much fits the name Is@@c. He’s a happy laughing baby all the time. 

I prayed a lot to St. Gerard (coincidentally one of the names you suggested for a previous pregnancy) to help keep us both safe through the pregnancy and delivery. So we may pick that as his patron saint, but I’m also keeping it in my back pocket for a future baby boy if we are blessed with another.”

Isn’t that so wonderful! I love baby’s first name’s happy meaning!! And while he has two saintly names to inspire a patron Saint, he can of course absolutely have another Saint as patron! The more the merrier!

Congratulations to the happy parents, and happy birthday Baby Is@@c!!

* I just wanted to share the advice this mama thanked me for, in case it’s helpful for any of you. She’d written,

“We had originally selected St. Kilian as inspiration for his middle name, and patron. With Is@@c I really preferred the traditional Irish spelling Cill!@n though. But now I’m wondering if baby’s patron saint is still St. Kilian?! How literal does the name need to be to still pull as baby’s patron? These pregnancy hormones are making me question everything …”

And I’d replied,

“Your question is a great one, and I’m thrilled to put your mind at ease! I subscribe to the belief that a variant of the name is the same as the name itself, honor-wise. There are so many examples to support this, like how St. Catherine of Siena’s name was actually Caterina — the Italian variant — since she was Italian; Catherine is a French and English variant that the English-speaking world uses, and Katherine can be used for her as well. St. Clare of Assisi was actually the Italian Chiara; Clare is an English spelling and Claire is a French spelling — they all work for her! St. Francis of Assisi is Francesco in Italy and Francisco in Portugal … and one of the Sts. Killian that I found specifically said he’s also known as St. Cillian!

I don’t know which St. Kilian you had chosen as patron — CatholicSaints.info lists two (St. Killian, who is also known by a bunch of other spellings, and St. Kilian of Inishcaltra, which doesn’t have other variants listed) — but either way, Behind the Name lists the K spellings as variants of the original C spelling. So I think you’re totally fine to go with Is@@c Cill!@n with St. Kilian as patron! (You can even [refer to that St. Kilian as] St. Cill!@n, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you could find an old shrine or church in Ireland with his name spelled that way!).”

The five baby name consultation openings I had for January have been taken, but Theresa is available to help you out! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

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!