Biblical names

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!

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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!

Baby name consultation: First girl after three biblically named boys!

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Happy feast of All Saints! Did you know there’s a name that specifically refers to “all saints”? Toussaint does! It’s also the last name of the wonderful Ven. Pierre Toussaint. It’s a great name to consider for a baby born on Nov. 1! I’d love to know if any of you have used or considered the name Toussaint for your child (whether or not he or she was born today).

Enjoy this consultation from my co-consultant, Theresa Zoe Williams!

Mama Kathryn writes in, “Our baby is a GIRL!” after three boys! Little Miss is joining big brothers:

  • James Elijah
  • John Isaiah
  • Samuel Robert

She writes:

“So we obviously like pretty Biblical/traditional names. We have chosen this baby’s middle name to be Gianna after Gianna Molla! I really loved Rachel Gianna [last name] but my husband didn’t love it, and he really loved Rebecca Gianna [last name] but I felt like that was too much of a mouth full.”

They cannot use:

  • Sarah
  • Lydia
  • Leah

Finally, Kathryn writes,

“her name definitely doesn’t have to be biblical, but I would like either the meaning to be significant or after a saint or something else! We both like Audrey (Nobel strength) okay but don’t feel like it’s “the one”. Victoria (Tori) is also on the shortlist but again, don’t feel like it’s the one …” 

First, some thoughts on names they like but don’t feel right.

Rachel– Lovely, Old Testament name. Rachel Gianna has such a beautiful ring to it, too.

Rebecca– Reminds me of Rachel, which is why, I’m sure, they like it. I don’t mind the sound of Rebecca Gianna.

Audrey– Really beautiful name that’s coming back in popularity. It has an old, classic feel to it. Audrey Gianna doesn’t flow as nicely to me, though.

Victoria– Sounds a little out of place next to their boys, to me but is a lovely name. Tori makes me think of the 90s but that’s not necessarily a connection everyone would share. There is a nice connection to Our Lady of Victory through this name. Victoria Gianna is a mouthful, to me.

On to new suggestions!

(1) Ruth

Since they love Rachel and Rebecca, I went to the next Old Testament “R” name. It’s not too popular at all and brings it back to the Old Testament, like Samuel, since James and John are both New Testament names. It also means “friend”, which I thought was sweet. Ruth Gianna has a nice ring to it, too.

(2) Phoebe

Keeping it Biblical but bringing it up to the New Testament is Phoebe. She helped the Apostles and is a saint. The name means “bright, pure”. Phoebe Gianna has the same kind of flow as Rachel/Rebecca Gianna.

(3) Susanna

This name appears in both the Old and New Testaments, making it a nice bridge between all their boys’ names. It hasn’t even ranked in the top 1000 since 1997, either, meaning it’s not popular. The name also means “lily” or “rose”, giving it a sweet flower connection to names that are much more popular today. There are tons of nickname options, too, from Susie and Sue to Sanna and Zuzu to Lily and Rose. Susanna Gianna has a beautiful, song-like quality to it, too.

(4) Veronica

Since they like Victoria, I thought maybe they’d like this name. St. Veronica wiped Jesus’s face on the road to Calvary. There’s also St. Veronica Guiliani. The name isn’t very popular, keeping it right where they like it. It means “true image” and has super cute nickname Vera to go with it or even Ronnie. Veronica Gianna has a great flow.

(5) Abigail

This was the third wife of King David, a great Old Testament name. Surprisingly, perhaps, this name ranks at #13 nationally right now, though, so it’s much more popular than it seems. Abigail Gianna might be too many Gs, though?

(6) Emilia

Breaking out of the Bible, this is the name of Pope St. John Paul II’s mother. This name came up as a style match to all their boys and I thought it was a sweet version of Emily. Emilia Gianna flows so beautifully, too. However, this name does rank at #40 currently.

(7) Eve/Eva/Ava

Eve is perhaps the ultimate Old Testament name, the very first female name! And Mary is often referred to as the New Eve. Eve itself is not too popular, but Eva is #93 and Ava is #3. Personally, I like the flow of Eva Gianna best. The name also means “to live” which is so powerful. I initially thought of Zoe for them, because of the meaning but when Eve came up as a style match for their boys and it has the same meaning, I thought they’d like Eve/Eva better. I included Ava because of their love for Audrey–– it has the same sort of feel but I thought it’s popularity might be too much of a con for them.

These are my suggestions! What do you think?

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

During my hiatus, please don’t forget about my book! Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Baby name consultation: Establishing style with first baby’s name!

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Happy Labor Day everyone! I read the U.S Bishops’ “Labor Day Statement 2021” this morning and really loved the way Pope Francis has called for “all those places where the Church is present, especially our parishes and our communities, [to become] islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference” — how beautiful! I’m also happy to post today’s consultation from Theresa Zoe Williams — please leave your ideas in the comments!

Also, I know I’m behind on replying to emails — I’m hoping to sit down and get through them all very soon! Thank you for your patience!

Today’s couple, Chris and Nina, gave me a wealth of information on themselves and what they’d like in a baby name. This is their first child, a little boy due in September, so they’re establishing their style for the first time! Among things they wanted to consider in a baby name was the following:

  • Somewhat important that a name isn’t too popular
  • Neutral for me about having a name connected with a particular ethnic/racial/religious background, somewhat important for Nina that it’s an American name or a Jewish name
  • Prefer a name that is male-specific
  • Somewhat important that the name is easy to spell and pronounce
  • Neutral about it having a particular linguistic meaning
  • Somewhat important that it’s unique in our social circle
  • Bonus if the name feels like a grounded masculine name

First, I thought I’d give a few thoughts on the names on their shortlist.

Emmet– It means “whole” or “universal”, though I know meanings don’t necessarily factor in for them. It has an up-and-coming yet grounded vibe.

Everett– This gives off the same kind of vibe as Emmet.

Emerson– This has a real cool vibe and it’s starting to climb in popularity. It seems they like names that begin Es and that have a warm, grounded feeling. I love this name for them, actually, and would have suggested it if it wasn’t already on their list.

James– A very grounded, everyman type name. I know this is probably on their list due to it being passed down on Chris’s side (many men in his family, including him, bear this name!) but, other than that, it didn’t strike me as “them”. It would be great in the middle spot, though!

Lincoln– This has the surname vibe that they seem to like and also reminds me of Emerson.

Leo– It means “lion” which, while not one of Chris’s favorite animals, is an animal name like some of his interests! (I told you they gave me a ton of information!) I like that it’s short and snappy but with a really friendly vibe. This name feels very much in their wheelhouse.

Eli– This name has some great Hebrew roots, which is important to Nina, and is short and snappy like Leo but less common. I love this for them!

Malakai (Kai)– Another name with great Hebrew roots and is not very common but isn’t weird. An unofficial suggestion, perhaps they’d also like Macaiah/Micaiah. This is the full name of the prophet Micah and the name of several other Old Testament players. They can still get to the super cool nickname Kai with this and it’s more unusual (while still not being weird!).

Samson– Another cool name with a surname vibe. This name actually means “sun” which brings in their love of nature.

Wilder– Another surname name! It means exactly what it says, too, and that’s a great name for a little boy. I love this. I’m seeing it ever so slightly more often these days (my new nephew was just named Wylder). I think this is a great name for them except that it might be too many -er’s with their last name (which ends in -er).

Theodore– I love that they love this longer form and not just Theo. It’s a great name climbing in popularity but still relatively uncommon. Great name.

Jay– You can’t get anymore short, sweet, and to the point than Jay!

Rafael– I was genuinely surprised and delighted to see this on their list! It’s such a great underused name and I’d love to see it get more love.

Wesley– This name reminds me of the 80s and 90s even though it’s seeing an uptick in popularity again. The feel of this name is very cool, calm, and grounded but it doesn’t feel quite like them.

Okay, on to new suggestions!

(1) Pax/Paxton

This has the cool, grounded vibe they seem to like a lot. It’s outside the top 100 names in the US, meaning it’s uncommon but not unfamiliar. Paxton has the surname vibe they tend towards and nickname Pax keeps it short and powerful. I really love this name for them, it feels like them.

(2) Fletcher

That surname vibe rises again! This one is even outside the top 500 names in the US meaning they probably won’t run into another one but it’s still familiar. The only drawback I see here is that it ends in -er like their last name.

(3) Bastian

I thought they’d prefer this short form over the full Sebastian and it has fun nickname Bash to go with it. Sebastian is in the top 20 names but Bastian moves away from that popularity. It’s very masculine and strong without being over the top, too common, or in your face.

(4) Ezekiel

I thought this was a great marriage of Hebrew roots, their affinity for names that begin with “E”, and the cool but grounded vibes they tend to like. It is in the top 100 but a nickname like cool Zeke might help with that, too. It also means, “God will strengthen”, and a sort of strength is what they want for their child. This might be a really great way to bring most of their personalities and affinities together in a name. This might be a home run.

(5) Silas

This name feels so much like them to me. It’s at 100 in the US and is rising in popularity. It’s short, snappy, and grounded, and actually has the nature meaning of “wood, forest”. For a family that prefers the outdoors and would like to show it but subtly, this name might just be a hit.

(6) Jonah

This has the cool, grounded vibes I get from them, has Hebrew roots, and means “dove” which technically makes it a nature name. It also begins with “J” which I saw plays a large part in their family life.

(7) Shepherd

Finally, another surname name. David was a shepherd and so were several other Old Testament characters, which made me think they might like this name. It has a soft feel but is definitely masculine and grounded. It sits at number 602 in the US and is slowly rising in popularity. This name says to me a person who will be the master of his own peace and strength, someone who is independent, and someone who is a gentle leader.

Those are my suggestions! What do you think?

Email Theresa at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

During my hiatus, please don’t forget about my book! Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

Baby name consultation: Baby no. 6 (boy no. 3) — biblical? Western? Other?

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This week’s going to be another consultation-heavy week — I have three to post again for mamas who are due soon! I’m excited!

First up: Rachelle and her husband are expecting their sixth baby — their third boy! Little Mister joins big sibs:

Samuel David (Sam, Sammy) (“Samuel came to me later in our pregnancy during Mass during the reading when God calls out to Samuel. David is my husband’s name“)

Adelaide Marie (Addy) (“Adelaide is my confirmation saint and Marie is my middle name and a tradition in my family for first girls of the family“)

Paul Thomas (Pauly) (“Paul was my husband’s grandpa’s name, my brother’s name, and after St. Paul. Thomas is after my late uncle Fr. Tom, and St. Thomas Aquinas“)

Veronica Therese (Nica, Nic) (“Veronica was my great-grandma’s name and after St. Veronica. Therese after St. Therese, I read I Believe in Love during her pregnancy and found a new devotion to St. Therese“)

Miriam Ann (Miri) (“Miriam after our Mother. My husband and I did our Marian consecration during her pregnancy and wanted to honor Mary. Ann after my mom and St. Anne“)

I absolutely love the names Rachelle and her hubby have given their older kids — Samuel, Adelaide, Paul, Veronica, and Miriam are all really wonderful names! They’re solid and saintly and traditional, but there’s an unexpectedness about them too that I just love. And you all know that I’m a big nickname girl — I love Sam/Sammy, Addy, Pauly, Nica/Nic, and Miri! I was excited to see what names and nicknames I could come up with for their new baby boy!

Rachelle writes,

“I am pretty indecisive or maybe I just take a long time to really make up my mind, so with a baby’s name and firm date I need to decide by, it makes it tricky. My husband doesn’t ever seem to have an exceptionally strong liking to any name, but he knows when he doesn’t like a name. I think he also knows that if we find the name earlier in the pregnancy, I still hem and haw over it so he just waits :).

My style: In general, I like older names, classics. I would prefer them to have meaning — after someone we love, a saint, someone in the bible, or a great literary character. Girl names are for some reason a little easier for me to circle in on than boys. A lot of times I’m intrigued by a name but then when I imagine myself calling to the child in the backyard or at a sporting event, it just doesn’t seem right (it’s what ruled Henry out for us 9 years ago … it also happened with Desmond and a few other names — I love the names but they don’t seem to fit one of my sons, even though they aren’t born yet). So I have a larger running list of boy names that I’m intrigued by, but some of them are maybe too out there for them to fit well. Nicknames are also important for us and play a part in the decision process. I’d like there to be a good nickname. For all our children, we call them by their full name and nickname equally. 

We know his middle name! We had decided that if this is a boy, his middle name will be Joseph after David’s grandpa, his Dad’s middle name, my great uncle (a Jesuit priest) and my grandpa’s middle name. So many Joseph’s in our lives — we pretty much had to!  And now that it is the year of St. Joseph, it is even more special — though I’m sure he will be one of many many many boys born this year named after him.  

My top first names: 

  • George (“after Pier Giorgio. I’m not sure I love the nicknames for this that I’ve heard [namely Georgie and Geo, thought the second could be ok]”) (“husband is on the fence on this one“)
  • Simon (“I really like the Simons in the bible, I feel like this would fit the name styles of our other 2 boys, but I don’t know if I like Si for a nickname, and I don’t think it’s too close Sam but maybe?“)
  • Jesse (“husband is a firm no on this one“)  

Names I’m intrigued by: 

  • Ezra (“I like the nickname Ezzie, it’s different enough from our kids nicknames, but it’s a little more unique than the current vibe we have going at least with our boy names … but my husband has been vocal about liking this one“)
  • Hugo (“I think it’s so cute, the nickname Hugh would grow on me, but I don’t have any personal connection to the name“) 
  • Casey (“Blessed Solanus Casey has been coming up a bit this pregnancy and I love his story“)  
  • Martin (“love St. Martin, but I don’t love Marty“)
  • Adam (“I could like this one a lot but the nickname situation is tricky. there isn’t one I like a lot I don’t think, and many of them are close to Addy“)
  • Ethan (“We don’t have a personal connection to the name“)
  • Malachi (“similar to Ezra, too uncommon for our boy names?“)
  • Cassian/Cassius (“Like the sound but is it too uncommon to fit? I like the nickname Cash fine. Big hold up is the meaning of the name!“)

Names I would have considered if not for my current children’s names/nicknames:

  • Nicholas
  • Simeon
  • Matthew

Names we can’t consider because they are our nephews:

  • Jerome
  • Elliot
  • Dominic
  • Thomas
  • Blaise
  • Henry
  • Noah
  • Benjamin
  • Lucas
  • Leo
  • Christopher
  • Levin
  • Graham
  • Theodore (Teddy)
  • Caleb
  • Matthew
  • Peter

Other names we’re not really considering:

  • John/Jon
  • Michael
  • Stephen
  • Timothy
  • James
  • Abraham
  • Isaac
  • Isaiah
  • David
  • Aaron (“I could go through the whole bible and say yay or nay, but I won’t 🙂 

Just wanted to add my husband has expressed he really likes the name Malcolm as well. Wondering about any Christian/Catholic connections to the name?“)

It made me laugh to read about how Rachelle said her husband “knows that if we find the name earlier in the pregnancy, I still hem and haw over it so he just waits.” I like to stew about things too — I always love that there’s nine months to think about/talk about/decide on a name — and even change our minds! We’d decided on Oliver for our third and Augustin for our sixth, but then in my sixth month of pregnancy with my third and just a couple weeks before my sixth was born, we changed our minds, which I found kind of thrilling!

Joseph as the middle name is just perfect — the family connections and the Year of St. Joseph make it a total no-brainer, I agree!

So I thought I’d start by offering my thoughts on the names that they like and are intrigued by, in case they’re helpful:

  • George: I like George a lot with Samuel and Paul, and since Rachelle currently has more biblical names than not in her older kids’ names, it would be nice to get another non-biblical name in there with this baby. (Not that it’s at all necessary — they have such a nice mix of names that it’s not at all a big deal to choose a biblical name for this baby, and I have both biblical and non-biblical names in my “official” suggestions below. It’s just something I was thinking about in regards to George and the other non-biblical names they have on their list.) Georgie is cute and I love Geo — names with a twist are always fun, and I don’t hear Geo too often; additionally, I think it would strengthen the tie with Pier Giorgio, since Geo sounds like the end of Giorgio. Another idea that I’ve always loved is Geordie (said like Jordy) — it’s a traditional Scottish nickname for George.
  • Simon: I love Simon too, I wouldn’t cross it off their list! But definitely think on it for a while, because of the similarity with Samuel. One idea is that Sepp and Seppel are German diminutives of Joseph, and I feel like Simon Joseph would make even more sense of a nickname like that. Maybe Simon Joseph nicknamed Sepp? Another idea, which didn’t make my list of “official” suggestions below because it’s currently no. 3, which seems too popular for what Rachelle and her hubby like, is the name I mentioned above as the name we’d initially chosen for our third boy before changing our minds: Oliver. It has that same bookish, smart feel to me that Simon has, and I love Samuel, Paul, and Oliver as brothers. And how cute is Ollie??
  • Jesse: Aw I love the name Jesse too, but my husband also wouldn’t go for it either! It was good for me to know Rachelle likes it — it helped in my research.
  • Ezra: Era’s definitely a cool name — any name with an X or a Z is pretty cool I think! Ezzie is cute, but even more than that, if Rachelle and her husband BOTH like it, that’s huge! I think it should be moved to the top of the list!
  • Hugo: I feel exactly the same way as Rachelle does about Hugo! My husband and I had it high on our list for our last two boys, but like she said, we don’t have any personal connection to the name, so we could never fully commit. It is darling, though!
  • Casey: I love Bl. Solanus too! Casey is a great name, and I thought it was so cool to discover that Casey and Jesse are style matches for each other! I can see that — they both can have kind of a Western/cowboy vibe I think. One issue with Casey, that’s also an issue with Jesse for some people, is that Casey is used for girls as well — it’s no. 527 for boys and no. 897 for girls. (Jesse, that spelling, hasn’t been in the top 1000 for girls since the year 2000, while the spelling Jessie was no. 695 in 2019. Jesse is no. 201 for boys.)
  • Martin: St. Martin is great, and I think they could enforce the full Martin with no nickname if they wanted to, at least when he’s small. If that’s an unacceptable risk, St. Martin’s Wikipedia entry says his given name was Juan Martín — I wonder what they would think of John Martin as a double first name in his honor? I know Rachelle said no John/Jon, so this likely isn’t a good idea for them, but otherwise John Martin provides that sparkle that her other kids’ names have, I think, since double names are somewhat rare, and John Martin Joseph sounds fine together.
  • Adam: Hmm that is tricky … I’ve never actually heard of a nickname for Adam, and if I were to try to think of one, Addy’s probably what I’d come up with. But I’d really put Adam in the category of names that don’t have natural nicknames, so if they were okay with just Adam, I think it could work as Adelaide/Addy’s brother and brother to the other kids as well.
  • Ethan: Another great name, and one that, though biblical, I don’t think comes across as biblical — I sense that not a lot of people realize it’s a biblical name, do you all agree? That makes me like it more for this family rather than less, though.
  • Malachi: Like Ezra, Malachi is definitely a departure from Samuel and Paul’s style in the sense that it’s much more unusual, but I think Ezra and Malachi are similar in style to Miriam especially so I think it’s okay. I like Mac as a nickname for Malachi a lot.
  • Cassius/Cassian: I too love these names, and the nickname Cash! The definition is unfortunate, but there are a lot of beloved holy names that have unfortunate definitions, like Cecilia (blind) and Blaise (lisping), and I would definitely argue that their “meaning” goes beyond — and is more important than — their “definition” (I wrote more about that here). If it still bothers them but they want to find other ways to get to Cash, Cashel is the name of a place in Ireland — the Rock of Cashel — which is where St. Patrick is said to have conversated the King of Munster. Or maybe they’d like the rhyming Nash, which I’ve seen used as a nickname for Ignatius and Athanasius?
  • Malcolm: I’d love to see Malcolm used more! Like with Malachi, I love the idea of Mac as a nickname for Malcolm. And yes, there are great faith connections with the name! Malcolm literally means, “disciple of St. Columba” — St. Columba of Iona, also known as Columcille, is known as one of the “Twelve Apostles of Ireland,” and is a great patron. Malcolm’s a great option!
  • Nicholas, Simeon, Matthew: I’m glad Rachelle included these as names they like! Though they can’t use them, they were helpful in my research. I had two ideas about Matthew — one is that I know someone named Matthew who goes by Mitty (at least he did when he was little), which I think is awesome (though they’d have to decide if Mitt Romney being the most familiar Mitt to the general public is problematic). Another idea is Matthias instead of Matthew — you could look to the end of it for nicknames — Ties and Thijs are Dutch diminutives which are said like TEES and TAYS, which leads me to think they could do something like that maybe as a nickname? Maybe Tice or something like that?

Okay! On to new ideas! I mentioned earlier that Jesse and Casey are style matches for each other — you all know that that refers to the research I always do for consultations in the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I definitely went for a mix of biblical and non-biblical names, and I was happy to offer fun nickname options where applicable.

(1) Gabriel, Raphael

Gabriel is a match for Samuel and Caleb, and Raphael is a match for Veronica and Simeon, so I thought one of these angelic names might be perfect! I like that Gabriel is in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, which is a nice bridge for Rachelle’s Old- and New Testament-named kids, and I love the friendly nickname Gabe. If they don’t care for Gabe, I’ve seen Gib, Gil, and Eli used as nicknames for Gabriel. Raphael is much less used than Gabriel (it’s no. 521 compared to Gabriel’s no. 37), which can be really appealing, and I love the nickname Rafe. Ray is an even easier nickname.

(2) Nathan(iel)

The way I got to this idea was kind of a funny one — Nathaniel is a match for Nicholas, and Jonathan is a match for Matthew, and I know Rachelle loves Nicholas and Matthew, so I thought Nathaniel and Jonathan were meaningful since they connected to those other two names she loves, and since Nathan is contained within both Nathaniel and Jonathan, I thought Nathan might be the perfect answer, especially since Nathan itself is a match for Samuel! Or maybe they’d like the full Nathaniel with Nathan or Nate as a nickname? Or Nash! I could see Nash working as a nickname for Nathaniel! Also, Neal is a style match for Paul — Niel could totally be a nickname for Nathaniel! Some fun options here!

(3) Tobias

Rachelle’s girl names are a little more “exotic,” maybe, than the boy names they’ve used and most of those they like, so when I saw Tobias as a match for Simeon, I thought it went along nicely with how I think of Adelaide, Veronica, and Miriam as well! I think it’s so handsome.

(4) Oscar

Oscar is a match for both Adelaide and Hugo, I love that! Oscar is such a great name — I’ve been enjoying seeing it used more and more by the families I work with. This family welcomed an Oskar (that spelling) not too long ago has been calling the baby Ozzie, so cute!

(5) Milo

Milo is a match for Ezra and Hugo, isn’t that interesting? I normally wouldn’t think Ezra and Hugo had any overlapping characteristics, but there you have it — just one of the many reasons I lean on the Baby Name Wizard to help me out! An interesting thing about Milo is that it has traditional usage in Ireland as an anglicization of the old Irish name Maolmhuire, which means “disciple of the Virgin Mary” — just like Malcolm (Mael Coluim) means “disciple of St. Columba”! I love that! I’ve also sometimes suggested Milo and its cognate Miles as unusual nicknames for Michael, so if Rachelle and her hubby decide they’d like to use Michael after all, using Milo as a nickname could be perfect.

(6) Gregory

Gregory is a match for Veronica, and when I was briefly researching St. Martin, I saw that Pope Gregory XVI beatified him, which could be a way of nodding to St. Martin without using his name, so I thought those two things made me want to include Gregory here. I actually hear quite a bit from families I work with that Gregory is a favorite, but what usually stops people from using it in my experience is the nickname situation. While Gregory still sounds sort of stately and serious and handsome, Greg turns most current parents off. But I love Rory as a nickname for it — and in fact, Rory is a match for Casey and Jesse! I think Grey could also work, as well as Gus, especially if there’s a prominent S in the middle name, which Gregory Joseph does have.

(8) Charles

Rachelle said she loves the name Caleb (on their list of names they can’t use), so I wanted to see if I could come up with any names that might be feasible alternatives. I thought Charles was one, with the nickname Cal, which can also be a nickname for Caleb. I love Charles with Samuel and Paul — what a smart sounding trio of brothers! — and Cal is really cool. If they prefer Charlie as a nickname, that’s fine too, because I think one of the things that’s so great about Caleb is that it’s both masculine and sweet, and I think Charles nn Charlie fits that nicely. (Charles also has a bunch of other nickname possibilities that they might like to look through.)

(9) Jacob

This final idea is also inspired by Jacob — Jacob is usually the name that I see paired with Caleb as either an actual brother name or a name that people who like Caleb also like. I’ve even seen Cubby used as a nickname for both Caleb and Jacob for a little guy (probably not so much as he gets older)! If not Cubby, I always love Jake, and I’ve also seen Coby used as a nickname for Jacob. 

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of Samuel, Adelaide, Paul, Veronica, and Miriam?

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life! (And check out my buy-the-book-get-a-consultation deal!)

Birth announcement: Matthias Daniel!

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I did a private consultation for Maria and her husband earlier this year, and she’s let me know her baby boy has arrived! He’s been given the ah-mazing name … Matthias Daniel!

Maria writes,

“Our sweet baby has arrived! Thank you for helping us with the name and your encouragement on Matthias! We love his name and love him! 😊 Matthias joins big brothers, Kolbe, Andrew, Isaac, and Benjamin, and big sister, Therese.”

Congratulations to Mom and Dad and their older children, and happy birthday Baby Matthias!!

Matthias Daniel ❤️

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life! (And check out my buy-the-book-get-a-consultation deal!)

Baby name consultation: Parents need fresh name ideas for boy no. 6

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , ,

Mary and her husband are expecting their seventh baby — their sixth boy! This little guy joins big siblings:

  • John Paul
  • Simon Joseph
  • Magdalen Therese nn Maggie
  • Mark Francis
  • Damian Bernard
  • Leo Abraham

Such great naaaames!! I love them all!!

Mary writes,

“So here we are, needing a name for our 6th boy and I’m feeling tapped out. Part of the problem is that the more kids you have the more rules you have: I don’t really want another M name, or another that ends in the -an sound and it needs to feel like it matches with our other kids’ names. Our last name is also a bit of a problem — any final T or D especially gets swallowed up by beginning D of our surname. This takes some otherwise great names like Clement or Benedict out of consideration. Finally there’s my feeling that names we considered for previous kids are now reject names and I don’t want my baby to have a reject name. I recognize that this is pretty silly and that’s why I’m not going to share these names with you — I want a fresh perspective with no baggage!

Other names we don’t want to use for various reasons:

  • Thomas
  • Sebastian
  • Lawrence
  • Jerome
  • Augustine
  • Gregory

The current, extremely short list is:

  • Cosmas. Simon especially is really gunning for this and I do like it a lot but I wonder if it’s too weird outside of Catholic circles. 
  • Matthias. But it’s an M name and we already have 3 of those. Also [Hubby] seems pretty ambivalent.”

I think Mary’s definitely come to the right place, because I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about boy names! Haha! I really love the names Mary and her hubby have given their older boys — John Paul, Simon, Mark, Damian, and Leo are all really fantastic and really convey the faith well. (Magdalen too — one of my favorites! Such a beautiful name for a girl with so many brothers!) I’m excited to try to find some ideas for their sixth boy!

Before I get to my official suggestions below, I thought I’d offer my thoughts on the names that they’re considering and their name rules, in case they’re helpful:

  • Cosmas: I really love that Mary and her husband are willing to consider such a cool name! Its faith connections are impeccable, but her question about whether or not it’s “too weird outside of Catholic circles” is a valid one. It’s hard for me to tell, since I’m so deep in Catholicky Catholic names all the time, so I sometimes have a hard time looking in as from the outside. On the one hand, I immediately think of Sts. Cosmas and Damian (which in itself presents something for them to think about as well — do they like Damian having a brother named Cosmas, or is that a negative?) — Cosmas feels familiar to me because Cosmas and Damian is a familiar reference point for me. On the other hand, Cosmas wasn’t in the top 1000 names bestowed in 2019 (the last year that the Social Security Administration shared name stats), so I dug deeper to see how many baby boys were given the name in the U.S., and it doesn’t show up in the data at all in 2019 (the SSA reports all names given to five or more babies each year, so its absence on the list lets you know how very few babies were given the name — maybe even zero). I looked back each year until 2010, and it was given to five babies in 2012, 2014, and 2016, and less than five in the other years. So it’s a very very rare name, which is probably the best marker of whether or not it’s too weird outside of Catholic circles. It’s variant Cosmo gets a bit more usage, maybe (probably?) because of the character of Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld — it was given to 49 boys in 2019. But even though Cosmo is a variant of Cosmas, and so can take the same saint as patron, I do think it has the added element of “the cosmos,” which could feel a little astrological maybe? In addition to the Seinfeld reference, which may or may not be a positive.
  • Matthias: Matthias was high on our list through several of our boys, I love it! But the fact that Mary really doesn’t want another M name, combined with the fact that her hubby doesn’t seem all that jazzed about it, tells me it would be best to keep looking.
  • “Reject” names: Mary’s perspective of not wanting to use names that they decided against for their other kids is one that’s new to me since starting the blog, but I’ve found that it’s not unusual at all! It might help to try to reframe their thinking as, “We didn’t reject that name because it was bad, we decided against it for *that* baby because it didn’t seem like the right name for him/her. But it might be the right name for *this* baby.” But if that doesn’t help, then hopefully some of my ideas here are new ones that will be helpful!
  • Their other rules: I like all their other rules! No M names seems right; no ends-in-the-an-sound sounds right; “needs to go with the other kids” sounds right. I did break Mary’s rule of no-ending-in-T-or-D, though, as there was one name that I thought they might like that I didn’t think was overly problematic that its ending sound runs into their last name. And for that matter, I don’t think Clement sounds bad with their last name, nor does Benedict. But then, my maiden name is Towne, so I was Kate Towne my whole growing up, and some people would mishear my name as Kay Towne, which I hated, but it really wasn’t a huge deal — I learned to enunciate the T in Kate, and I loved my name then and still do. So it’s definitely a preference, but if they don’t like it, they don’t like it!

So those are my thoughts on the names Mary and her husband are considering — now on to my new ideas! You all know that I always start a consultation by looking up the names the parents have 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 — I did so for this family, with a particular eye toward finding names that are early-Church-ish and of course that go with their other kiddos’ names. Based on that, these are my new ideas for them:

(1) Thaddeus

One of the first names that jumped out at me as a name they might like was Jude — a style match for Simon — but with its D ending and the fact that his name would sound like Jew D___, I thought it probably wasn’t a great idea after all. But the other part of St. Jude’s name — Thaddeus — is a match for Magdalen, Matthias, and Benedict (which I used in my research since Mary called it an “otherwise great name”), and it has some great nicknames — Thad, Tad, and Taddy (which I guess don’t fit with Mary’s rule, oops!).

(2) Gabriel

Gabriel is such a fantastic name — it’s biblical and Marian and a great style match for Mary’s other kids’ names. Gabe is one of my very favorite nicknames — friendly and masculine — and I’ve also seen Gil, Gib, and Eli used as nickname for Gabriel.

(3) Tobias

I really wanted to find an alternative for Matthias for them — Matthias seems to me like the exact kind of name they’re looking for, but with it starting with an M, I agree that it’s probably not ideal (though if they decided to go for it, I wouldn’t be disappointed!). I wondered what they’d think of Tobias? It rhymes with Matthias but doesn’t have the problematic M, and just like I consider Matthias to be a particularly Catholic New Testament name (since he was basically chosen at the first Church Council! Haha!), so too do I consider Tobias to be a particularly Catholic Old Testament name, since it comes from the Book of Tobit, which isn’t in Protestant bibles. And Toby is such a darling nickname!

(4) Joachim

One of my very favorite names, which I tried to convince my husband of through all of my boys I think, is Joachim — the name we traditionally assign to Our Lady’s father and, due to that fact, another name that I consider to be particularly Catholicky Catholic. It’s not really well known in America (though it’s got more usage than Cosmas! It was given to 28 baby boys in 2019), but it’s got pretty good usage outside of America — I wrote more about that here. Joe is an easy nickname, and they could even think of it as a nod to St. Joseph in this Year of St. Joseph, which is a nice way to work him in without repeating Simon’s middle name. Or if Joe isn’t working for Mary, we would have used Jake as the nickname, which I still love.

(5) Luke/Lucas

Lucas is a style match for Matthias, and while I think that a Matthias-type name is the kind Mary and her hubs are looking for, I didn’t want to forget about Mark, who has a bit different style than his siblings’ names, which is funny since his name is a New Testament name and four of their other six have New Testament names! I wanted to include at least one name in this list that loops Mark in more, and Luke really struck me as being a great option. I would understand if they didn’t want to follow Leo with another L name, so maybe they want to hold on to Luke/Lucas for the future if they were to have another boy, but otherwise I think Leo and Luke are darling together — if this baby and Leo are particularly close in age, it might even be a perfect idea.

(6) Dominic

Dominic is such a natural idea for this family, to me, that I feel like they must have considered it and decided they don’t like it, so this might be a wasted suggestion, but I couldn’t not include it here! I considered whether or not I thought having two sons with D names, especially with their D last name, was too much, and decided that I kind of love it. I’m a big fan of alliteration anyway, so Damian D___ and Dominic D___ are awesome in my opinion! Dom, Dommy, and even Nic/Nicky/Nico are nickname possibilities for Dominic.

(7) Isaac

They could think of Isaac in the bible as patron for a little Isaac, or they could think of one of my favorite Saints, St. Isaac Jogues (I live quite close to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs, where St. Isaac’s remains are said to be on the grounds somewhere, never found). I read a book years ago by Susie Lloyd I think — she has two: Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water and Bless Me, Father, For I Have Kids — and she gave an example of the kids’ names in Catholic families by describing a boy who introduced himself as “Isaac Jogues Callahan” (or a similar last name) and it made me laugh then and it still does! Isaac Jogues as a first+middle combo would be so cool, and so clearly saintly to anyone who knows about St. Isaac! (But also Isaac just on its own, no pressure!) Ike and Zac are traditional nicknames for Isaac.

(8) Edmund, Campion

Finally, Edmund is a match for both Clement and Benedict (both of which I used as inspiration, since Mary indicated that she would like them but for their last letter), and like them, ends in one of her problematic letters. However, when I say “Edmund,” I rarely hear the D, or barely, so I don’t think Edmund D___ sounds bad! But then I saw that Abby from Appellation Mountain recently spotlighted Campion, and I immediately thought it sounded like a name Mary and her hubs would like, and could still take St. Edmund Campion as patron. I love the nickname Cam! I know St. Edmund is later than the Saints of their older kids’ names, but I wanted to include it here just in case.

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little brother of John Paul, Simon, Magdalen/Maggie, Mark, Damian, and Leo?

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon (not affiliate links) — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life! (And check out my buy-the-book-get-a-consultation deal!)