Biblical names

Baby name consultation: Artistic, worldly, saintly names a plus for the third of three brothers

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , ,

Carrie and her husband are expecting their third baby — a third boy! This little guy joins big brothers:

Owen Joseph
Julian Elias

I.Love.Those.Names! So sophisticated and handsome!

Carrie writes,

“I love thinking and talking about baby names while my husband absolutely does not, and I desperately need some input! Hubby has actually said that he doesn’t think choosing baby names is that big of a deal, and that names in general aren’t that important (what!!!).”

What!!! 😲

“We named our first son, Owen, after I made a list of my 5 favorite names, gave it to him, and he pointed to one and said “this one.” Our second son was basically named solely by me – Julian was my favorite name by far, and after a while I told my husband that I was going to just start considering the baby to be Julian unless he provided another suggestion. He never did, so Julian it was! The only real name suggestion my husband has given has been along the lines of “what about something like Bob?” Meaning – he thinks most of the names I like are too unusual for him.”

Um. He and my husband sound like brothers separated at birth.

“So like I said, we currently have Owen Joseph and Julian Elias. Owen was actually born on the feast day of a St. Owen, which I did not realize until earlier this year. Owen is also a family name on my husband’s side. His middle name, Joseph, is after my dad and we consider St. Joseph to be his patron saint. I liked the name Julian for several reasons – I like the softer sound of it, and I think it sounds artistic and worldly. We do call him Jules a lot at home. We went back and forth about a family middle name for Julian but in the end nothing sounded right and we went with Elias (in part to give him cool initials [their last name begins with a T] – don’t judge! We were that desperate!) Julian’s birthday is in February which is also the month that St. Julian’s feast day is in. So I kind of like that both boys so far have birthdays in the same month as their saint’s feast day. (But not a requirement!)

… boy names are very challenging, since aside from Julian I had a hard time coming up with names I liked and could actually see us using the last time around. I am not sure how we will be able to name a third boy! When I try to think about boy names I like that are viable options, I come up with blanks. Nothing seems usable for us! I have even tried the Baby Name Wizard trick where I look at our current names or names I like and see if any of the brother names are possibilities, but so far that hasn’t helped me much. So as you can see, I feel that I need some fresh eyes on our boy naming situation.”

Honest to goodness, sometimes fresh eyes are all that are needed! It can be so helpful to just bounce ideas off of someone else.

Names they’ve considered that Carrie likes but aren’t sold on, or have been vetoed by her husband include:

Ames
Ansel
August
Arthur
Conrad
Dominic
Ezra
Felix
Frederick
Harry/Harris
Miles
Solomon

“I have always like the name Blaise and feel connected to St. Blaise as my grandmother’s birthday was on St. Blaise day and I always loved the story behind the blessing of the throats, but not sure if its too “out there” for us. I also have always liked Silas but my husband has said it sounds evil (I think because the villain in the book the Da Vinci code was named Silas).

Middle name possibilities so far are Thomas (my husband’s confirmation name, he just converted to Catholicism at Easter), Henry after my grandfather (but could not use as a first because I have a cousin with that name already), or perhaps Blaise in the middle spot.”

Names that Carrie likes but they can’t use include:

Leo
Theo/Theodore
James
Asher
Leland
“most names ending in T (Elliot) as our last name is very T heavy”
Francis/Frank
Samuel
Ben
Jude (“it can be a nickname for Julian and its also just too close“)
Xavier

Girl names they like, for inspiration:

Isla
Beatrice
Vivian
Ada
Willa

Finally,

“Aside from no names that end with T’s, and including a saint’s name in either first or middle spot, the only other rules I have is no top 20 names and no strong Irish names (I know Irish names are currently very popular) as my family has very strong German roots and it would just feel weird to me. I don’t mind repeating initials, and although I prefer 3 syllables or less I am open to a longer name.”

So first off, I think it’s amazing that Carrie’s successfully named two little boys with little help from her hubby—that would be some moms’ dream come true! But I totally get why it’s frustrating.

Second, I was really interested in trying to fit with the connection with Owen and Julian’s feast days both falling in the month they were born—I kept that in mind as I looked for ideas for this baby (due in early March, so I looked quickly through the feast days on CatholicSaints.info for both February and March).

Carrie and her hubs have a great list of names I think! I think Blaise is an awesome option—Feb feast day, great name, great saint, and Carrie has a connection to him as well! I personally don’t think it’s too out there for them, but of course they need to be comfortable with the name they choose.

As for Silas, if her husband can’t shake the negative association, I wonder what they’d think of Cyrus? It has a totally different feel to me; they could still use the sound-alike nickname Cy; and it’s a saint’s name. Or Cyril? There are several, with feast days Feb. 14 and March 18, 20, and 28.

Even though she said she’s already looked through the Baby Name Wizard, I did so as well, looking up the names she and her husband have used and those they like, as you know it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. Based on that, and some ideas of my own, these are my ideas:

(1) Gabriel
I love when I see what seems to be a preference by parents for a certain sound—like, in this case, vowel couplets (Julian, Elias, Blaise, Leo, Theo/Theodore, Xavier). Gabriel barely makes the cut for Carrie’s preference for no top 20 names, being No. 22 in 2015, but otherwise it seems such a good match for them in my opinion. It’s kind of sophisticated and gentlemanly, which I get from Owen and Julian, and it totally fits Carrie’s description of why she likes Julian: “I like the softer sound of it, and I think it sounds artistic and worldly.” One of my favorite name books, Puffy, Xena, Quentin, Uma by Joal Ryan, described Gabriel as “acceptably musical for a boy,” which always stuck with me! Gabe and Gil are both possible nicknames, I like them both! Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows’ feast day is Feb. 27; Gabriel Lalemant is March 17; the Annunciation (not St. Gabriel the Archangel’s feast day but associated with him) is March 25.

(2) Matthias, Tobias, Gideon
Here are some more vowel-couplet names that I thought were slam dunks until I realized that Matthias and Tobias rhyme with Elias, and Gideon has the same ending sound as Julian. I don’t think any of the potential negatives are necessarily deal-breakers though—with Elias being a middle name, I don’t think it’s a huge deal to use a rhyming name for another child’s first name. And Owen and Julian also have the same ending sound, so adding in a third boy with the same ending sound in Gideon could actually be really cool. I knew three brothers growing up named Cam3ron, J0nathan, and G!deon, and I always loved those names together. Tobias Francisco Borras Roman’s feast is Feb. 11.

(3) Pierce, Simon, Henry
Pierce has been on my mind ever since one of you readers left a comment saying she knows someone who named her son Pierce after Mary’s Heart being pierced with a sword. Wow! It’s a form of Peter and I would definitely put it in the “sophisticated and gentlemanly” category, as I would also do with Simon. Kind of bookish and smart, just like Owen and Julian. Ditto for Henry, and St. Henry Morse’s feast day is Feb. 1! There are a bunch of holy Peters with feasts in Feb and March: Peter Cambiano is Feb. 2, Peter Igneus is Feb. 8, Pierre Fremond is Feb. 10, Peter Damian is Feb. 21, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter is Feb. 22. Additionally Simon of Saint Bertin is Feb. 24 and Henry of Austria is March 7.

(4) Beau
I did a consultation for my brother and sister-in-law a year ago, and they were so on my mind when I was working on this for Carrie and her hubs, as they have two boys named Leo and Owen and several of the other names Carrie likes are ones my SIL and I discussed. Beau is one of my SIL’s favorite names for a boy, and I think it has that “soft, artistic” feel Carrie likes (I think so much of Beau Wilkes in Gone With the Wind). So I was delighted to see it’s a style match for Blaise and Xavier!

(5) Hugo, Oscar
Carrie and her hubs have kind of a Germanic contingent on their list—Frederick, Conrad, Felix—all of which made me think of Hugo, which is a name we considered for our youngest. Can’t you just picture a toddler Hugo? Ohmygoodness! So cute! There is the literary connection to be aware of in regards to Julian’s name—Jules Verne and Victor Hugo—but I also think that could be really cool. Hugh of Fosse’s feast is Feb. 10, Hugh dei Lippi-Uguccioni is Feb. 17.

I normally wouldn’t suggest another O name for a family that’s already used an O name, since O is a somewhat distinctive and rarely used letter, but since Carrie specifically said she didn’t mind repeating initials and since I thought Oscar would be awesome, I decided to go for it. I spotlighted it here.

(6) Isaac, Micah
Isaac and Micah kind of remind me of each other—both have a long I and a hard C; they’re short-to-medium in length; they’re both Old Testament. Isaac falls right in that “sophisticated, gentlemanly, bookish” category that I think really fits Carrie’s taste, and is saintly as well (St. Isaac Jogues). Micah is more in the “soft, artistic” category I think, maybe even too much so, as it’s in the top 1000 for girls (#108 for boys, #834 for girls), but it’s a name I love and I’d be thrilled for it to see even more use among boys. Isaac the Patriarch’s feast is March 25.

(7) Kolbe
Finally, I was thinking how Carrie said her family has strong German roots, and I always always think of St. Nicholas Owen when I see the name Owen, so I had in mind German-ish surnames and Kolbe immediately came to mind. Owen, Julian, and Kolbe strike me as quite a cool set of brothers!

And those are my idea for this family! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for Owen and Julian’s little brother?

Baby name consultation: No. 5 green bean 🌱 — solid, saintly, no nicknames

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , , , ,

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day/Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God!

Vanessa and her husband are hoping for baby No. 5! Vanessa writes,

“My husband David & I have a unique situation in that we’ve adopted our 4 children. We’re on “the list” again and there’s no telling when (or if!) our next little one might arrive. We could receive a phone call next week, in 3 months, in 2 years or not at all (you get the picture!)…Also, we have no idea if we’d be adopting another boy or another girl next time as we are not able to specify a preference.”

A new little one will join big sibs:

Nicholas Benedict (“his birthmom chose his first name Nicholas but we changed his middle name to Benedict. We LOVED the name Nicholas but had never considered it as a first name – when he was already named Nicholas, we immediately loved it! (As it turns out, he inherited much generosity from his namesake, St. Nicholas!) We received the call about our son when Pope Benedict was in the US for his historic visit in 2008. We decided while watching the news coverage to pray to St Benedict for his intercession and at that point decided if it worked out, we would change his middle name to Benedict. Of course, the rest is history!“)

John Paul (“we gave him this name after St Pope John Paul. We had always loved and admired the beloved Pope and we wanted our son to have a wonderful saint and holy Pope to look up to. Of course, John is very loving, just like the beloved Pope was.”)

Mark Thomas (“we gave him this name after St Mark and St Thomas More. We chose Mark because we met his birthmom on the feast day of St Mark (April 25). We have always loved and admired the fortitude and perseverance of St Thomas More and we loved the idea of using this name. Ironically, Mark’s birthday is the birthday of St Pope John Paul and he came home to us on July 11, the feast day of St Benedict! Clearly, he was born to be our child – God knew he would be in our family!!“)

Mary Catherine (“we gave her this name after Our Lady and also after St Catherine Laboure. We have always loved the miraculous medal and we loved the name Catherine. Mary was born on the sixth anniversary of the day Nicholas came home to us! (It was even a Thursday, just like in 2008!) Also, she came home to us on 5/19/2014, the day after Mark’s 2nd birthday.”)

What wonderful names! And the name stories! I totally had goosebumps reading all the fun and amazing details!

Vanessa and David have several naming rules/considerations:

1. We don’t really like nicknames for our children. With the exception of Nicholas, our other children’s names can’t really be shortened. This was intentional. We also call Nicholas by his full name as often as possible. We hope he’ll always be “Nicholas.”
2. We definitely want our children to have saints or biblical names so they know WHO they were named after and who they can learn about to look up to and admire.
3. We haven’t ever really considered any names that are trendy or too unique or too far “out there.”
4. We love to consider saints’ feast days for any special or noteworthy days around the birth, placement, birthparent meetings, etc. Since we have no idea when or if a child may come to us, this happens along the way if a match happens.
5. For a boy, we want the name to be a “strong” name – nothing too trendy or weak/feminine sounding. Also, nothing that could pass as a girl name and vice versa for a girl. (No unisex names!)

Some boy names they’ve considered include:

Andrew (“we don’t really love “Andy” or “Drew” so we have shied away from using this name, although it’s still a possibility“)
David (“this is a strong contender if next child is a boy. He would be named after his dad and luckily, there’s a St David! We could use this as a middle name or a first name“)
Christopher (“perhaps for a middle name, but this name doesn’t really work as a first name with our last name (since it starts with “S”)“)
Dominic (“David LOVES this name (and I do too) BUT I’ve always thought it was too close to “Nicholas.” I have always thought this could not be used because of our Nicholas. We love that St Dominic received the rosary from Our Lady“)
Anthony (“We love this name but we do NOT like “Tony.”“)
Joseph (“David loves this name (St Joseph) but see below (nephews). For me, I would think perhaps a middle name, if anything“)

“We have 4 nephews: James Michael, Michael Charles, Joseph Brian, Jack David. While my husband David disagrees, I feel we should NOT use any of the first names as a first name for our child. He would strongly consider Michael and Joseph but I would prefer these for a middle name, if at all. After all, these nephews are HIS brother’s children, so they would then have the same first AND last name.”

And names they’ve considered for girls include:

Veronica (“my ABSOLUTE favorite girl name – Mary was almost Veronica, but we felt strongly we wanted to name our daughter after Our Lady, and I didn’t want to “waste” Veronica on a middle name, just in case we ever had another daughter! We love how Veronica wiped the face of Jesus in the Stations of the Cross – what compassion! What a beautiful image (pun intended!)“)
Monica (“I love this name – LOVE St Monica, mother of St Augustine“)
Anna (“I have always loved this name. Love how Anna is the woman with Simeon when the baby Jesus is presented in the temple“)
Therese (“We LOVE St Therese of Lisieux but NOT a fan of “Terry” – also the “s” or “z” sound at the end of any name isn’t great with our last name since it begins with “S.” I think this one is out although it could be a middle name“)

“My mother and mother in law both have the middle name “Ann(e).”
My MIL’s name is Ruth and we had a reading from Ruth in our wedding (our favorite verse!). It’s even engraved in my engagement band {“Ruth 1:16-17”}. For these reasons, I could see using Ruth as a middle name.

Recently, especially after reading your post from Lindsay at My Child I Love You, I’ve been thinking Clairvaux or Zelie would be a good name for a girl, although they both go against our past idea that we don’t want anything too unique. While these are definite Catholic references/saints, I think they might be too “out there” for my husband. If I ever won this one, I’d be surprised! Although Zelie could be a fun middle name?“

I loved working on this! Regarding the names Vanessa and David have on their list of considerations, first I have to say (which you all already know) that I almost always start a consultation by looking up in the Baby Name Wizard the names the parents have 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. So I had to laugh when I was looking up the names on this family’s list — they’re all style matches for each other! They have very consistent taste!

So I love all their boy ideas. I do think Andrew and Anthony could be “just Andrew/Anthony” if they stuck with it, like they do with Nicholas. David also — I know a couple little Davids, and they all go by just David, never Dave/Davy, etc. In fact, I think these days people are much less likely to automatically nickname a child who’s been introduced as a formal name. So all that works in their favor!

As far as Christopher — yes, I can see why they’d prefer it to be in the middle spot because of having an S last name, but I also don’t think it’s the worst thing ever.

Re: Dominic being too similar to Nicholas — on the one hand, I can see what Vanessa means, especially with Nic(k) being common enough nicknames for both. But, on the other hand, Veronica and Monica both have the “nic” within them, and Nicky is a common enough nickname for Veronica, so I don’t see any reason for Dominic to be dropped from the list if Veronica and/or Monica stays on it. However, that said, I suspect that Nicholas, Dominic, and Veronica/Monica might be too much “nic” for one family, and since Veronica is Vanessa’s favorite girl name, maybe Dominic should bow out. But then, maybe they won’t have another girl? Gah! It’s a hard one to figure out! I am sure, though, that Veronica and Monica are too rhymey for sisters.

Of the girl names on their list, I think that (besides Veronica), Anna/Anne is one of their best options, since Anne can’t be shortened and I don’t think Annas really ever get shortened either. Both are gorgeous names and really fit their style (according to the BNW). I love Ruth too, and it would be unexpected as a middle name, which I love.

I totally get their feelings on Therese, like Christopher, and though I think Tess is more likely than Terry these days, that doesn’t solve the problem of running into the S last name. It would definitely make a great middle name for them though, beautiful! I’m loving the idea of Anna Therese or Veronica Therese.

And Clairvaux and Zelie! I’m so surprised by them both! They’re both great, and I could see them both as a middle name as well. Anna Clairvaux … Veronica Zelie … they totally work!

Okay! So I came up with a bunch more ideas for Vanessa and David, and while I leaned heavily on the BNW for ideas of names that they might like, I also paid a lot of attention to names that don’t nickname easily:

Girl
(1) Clare/Claire
I was going to suggest Clare/Claire anyway, because of its non-nickname-ability, and when I read that Vanessa likes Clairvaux I thought aha! It totally fits the style of their other kids!

(2) Lucy
Lucy is just one of the sweetest names, and isn’t very nicknameable — I love it for this family!

(3) Rose
This is such a sweet one-syllable name — Marian and traditional with a little vintage feel!

(4) Helen(a)
I’ve been seeing Helen and Helena getting a good amount of love lately, and I don’t think most people would think to nickname a Helen (though Nell can be used if one wanted to use a nickname for Helen; Helena can shorten to Lena or I think Nell could work there too, but the one Helena I know in real life has always only been Helena). Dwija from the blog House Unseen, Life Unscripted named her youngest Helen Margaret, so cute!

(5) Hildi
I think lots more people would name their daughters after St. Hildegard of Bingen if her first name wasn’t so clunky! But I do know one little girl who is named after her and goes by Hildi and I just die over how sweet it is! I would totally do *just Hildi*, and I’m loving the idea of Hildi Ruth — I kind of love how antique that combo sounds!

(6) Sara(h)
Sarah was actually a huge style match for this family according to the BNW and since it doesn’t really reduce down I thought it definitely deserved a mention. There’s a St. Sara of Antioch (feast day April 20), and Sarah the Matriarch of course.

(7) Natalie
Natalie and Natalia both did quite well for Vanessa and David in my research as well! I thought Natalie was more their speed than Natalia, and though it can nickname to Nat, all the Natalies I know go by the full Natalie. I also love its meaning — it literally refers to Christmas Day (from the Latin natale domini — “the birth of the Lord”).

(8) Julia
I thought Julia was another name that would be a good fit for them style-wise and also because the Julias I know all go by the full Julia, never Julie/Jules. A lovely, regal name!

Boy
(1) Jude
I actually don’t think that Jude is their speed — it has a bit of a hipster feel to me, which I love, but I think their taste skews more classic (not that Jude isn’t a classic — you know what I mean!). But being one syllable, I thought it deserved a mention!

(2) Blaise
As with Jude, I’m not sure they’ll love Blaise, but it’s one syllable and super saintly, so maybe!

(3) Stephen
I was actually inspired by David to suggest Stephen for Vanessa and David — it has a similar feel to me as their other kiddos — classic, handsome, saintly — and I know two Davids who have brothers named Stephen! And they all go by the full Stephen, not Steve/Stevie.

(4) George
I think George might be my favorite idea for this family! Between St. George and Pope Francis (born Jorge [Spanish for George]), and with two other boys being named after recent Popes, it’s a great pick for a little Catholic boy!

(5) Henry
I think Henry is just one of the sweetest names for a little boy! There are so many great Sts. Henry to choose from, and no obvious nickname! (Hank, yes, but not terribly obvious just from hearing Henry.)

(6) Adam
I feel like this suggestion seems a little out of left field, but when I saw Adam as a style match for Christopher I thought they might like it! It hasn’t got any nicknames, and there are a bunch of holy Adams (which I was surprised to discover!).

(7) Robert
Robert is a pretty big style match for this family, and I’ve been loving it recently — it’s so solid and handsome, and I love hearing it in Downton Abbey. 😁 It’s probably in the same category as Stephen and Nicholas — Vanessa and David would have to actively make sure that no one shortens it. St. Robert Bellarmine’s great!

(8) Peter
Like Robert, Peter did really well for them in my research; like Robert, they’d have to make sure no one shortens it to Pete/Petey. But otherwise I love it for them!

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little brother or sister of Nicholas, John, Mark, and Mary?

Birth announcement: Luke David!

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One of you dear readers emailed me recently asking if I ever post birth announcements for babies who haven’t had a consultation done and I told her YES! I’m delighted to post a birth announcement for any of your babies! So she wonderfully shared the recent birth of her son, was has been given the so handsome (and so seasonally appropriate) name … Luke David!

He joins his gorgeously named big sister:

Miryam Isabel

The mama, Elizabeth, writes,

“I’m thrilled to share the news of the birth of our son, Luke David! He was born Saturday 12/10/16 at 2:37am. Everyone is healthy.

Luke is after the Evangelist. David is my husband’s middle name. And as a reference to King David we like the possible whole-name-meaning “king of light.”

Also, your posts about Christmas and Advent names helped us settle with determination on Luke for our Advent baby. We had Luke picked out if Miryam had been a boy, but tossed around a few other first names this pregnancy. You called the due date’s timing to my attention, and we agreed that Luke was still the right name. So thanks for that! (:

Big sister is Miryam Isabel. Miryam is the Aramaic spelling of Miriam, my husband’s favorite/”most beautiful”/”the original” (his words) variation of Mary. Isabel is the Spanish for Elizabeth after me.”

Isn’t that a wonderful name story?! I just love how appropriate Luke David is for an Advent baby! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Luke!!

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Luke David

Birth announcement: Penelope Hannah!

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It’s so funny that we were talking about Penelope yesterday and today I’m thrilled to share that Maria, whose consultation I posted back in October, has let me know her little girl has arrived and been given the gorgeous name … Penelope Hannah!

She writes,

“Baby Penelope Hannah was born on November 23rd at 2:49am, a perfect way to start my Thanksgiving :). Thanks for the name recommendations! Penelope was never on my radar but we love it! Thanks!“

Isn’t Penelope Hannah an amazing name?! I love how it flows, just beautiful! She joins her big sibs:

Rose Gianna
Sofia Magdalena
Gemma Anastasia
Sebastian David
Thaddeus Jacob

Such an amazingly named family! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Penelope!!

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Penelope Hannah

Baby name consultant: Unusual name needed for baby No. 7

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Happy feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Before I jump into today’s post, could I just ask you to keep my oldest son in your prayers? (And thank you to all of you who have been praying!) I posted a couple pics explaining the situation on Instagram this weekend — he and I have been in the hospital all weekend for a mysterious swelling on one side of his face that turned out to be an abscessed tooth. Lots of strong antibiotics have really done the trick — last night his face was finally starting to look normal-ish, 48 hours after it started, and this morning he looks wonderful. The doctor will be calling the dentist today and hopefully we can go home in a few hours!

Also, one of you readers emailed me with this very important prayer request:

“My acquaintance/new friend Anne Marie, unbeknownst to me, has a mental/spiritual imbalance that has caused her to be certain that Jesus has asked her to fast to her death. Apparently she has several times fled to distant 24-hr Adoration chapels to pray and await death.

A week ago she again fled the Portland area with nothing but cash, as I understand, leaving behind her new husband of just 15-ish months, and their small son Joseph, 4 months, whom she had been exclusively breastfeeding.

Anyway, since you have many devout readers around the nation, I thought perhaps someone would spot her. She is 5’8″, very thin, conservatively dressed, with long, somewhat greying wavy hair. She has a soft, deep voice, an intelligent demeanor and dry sense of humor. It is best to contact the authorities, rather than acknowledging that you know of her. They suspect she will follow her pattern of fasting until collapse, be hospitalized, and refuse to identify herself.”

This is a news story that tells more about her. Thank you all for being such great prayer warriors! One of the loveliest parts of our little community is how we can ask each other to pray. 🙏

Okay! On to today’s consultation! Cait and her husband are expecting their seventh baby and third girl! She joins big siblings:

Aquinas John Paul (Quin)
Gabriel Benedict
Magdalena Grace
Maksymilian Paul (“spelling due to husband’s bad association with a Max in grade school and finding a book written by St. Maksymilian Kolbe where they spelled his name that way — I think it’s the Polish way“)
Augustine Francis
Socorra Perpetua (often called Corra; named “after Our Lady of Perpetual Help (succour)“; my note: Nuestra Señora del Socorro is a Spanish title referring to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succor)

Aren’t those amazing names?? I love the nicknames and the alternate yet totally legitimate spellings and the all-around creativity. Great job, Mom and Dad!

Cait writes,

“I LOVE Penelope, but she seems to be a saint in the Eastern Church and not ours.  I’m having my husband research that, as it seems, from her story there, that we should grab her as a saint too.  I also had a dream the baby’s name should have something to do with peace… something we need in our family right now (who doesn’t?)!  That’s one way we found Saint Penelope- when she became a Christian she changed her name to Irene, so we’d likely do Penelope Irene, if only I can internally justify not using a Roman Catholic Saint as a first name … [then later I received this update from Cait] As for Penelope, we just found out it’s one of the top 40 names for last year so, sadly, it’s off our list.  While we do have a Gabriel, which is ever popular, we tend to shy away from top 100 (or minimally top 50) names.”

So I was shocked to discover that Penelope’s in the top 40! How did that happen! It had barely cracked the top 1000 in 2001, talk about a meteoric rise! I’m sorry that Cait and her hubs have to cross it off their list, I love it! (And there’s a new holy one to use as patron: Ven. Ersilia Penelope Frey!) In its place, I wonder what they’s think of Philomena — it’s similar to Penelope to me, being long and starting with a P, and it’s a really Catholicky Catholic name — it might make a good replacement?

I’m also really interested in Cait’s dream that the baby’s name should have something to do with peace — I did a quick search on behindthename for names that have “peace” in their meaning, and the only one I thought they might be interested besides Irene was Salome. It means “peace” (related to “shalom”) and I posted a really cool tidbit about the name a while ago, which connects the name to Christmas — nice for a baby born this time of year.

Otherwise, I took to my Baby Name Wizard as I always do, looking up the names Cait and her husband have used and those they like/are considering as you know it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. Based on that research and my own mental files, these are my ideas:

(1) Liesse, Lourdes
These are, of course, the names of two Marian apparition sites, and I love them both. Liesse is so pretty with such a feminine sound; it’s a bummer it’s not as well known but I really like how unexpected it is. Lourdes has more use (like Lindsay daughter from My Child I Love You), and has such lovely nickname options like Lulu and Lola.

(2) Archangela
Reader Lisa alerted me to Bl. Archangela Girlani a while ago as a way of having an authenticated saintly connection to Eleanor (because the Helen connection is problematic), and I immediately loved her religious name! Archangela has a familiar feel, because of the archangels and the name Angela, and yet I’d never heard of Archangela as a given name before finding out about Bl. Archangela — familiar yet uncommon is such a great combo!

(3) Anne-Catherine
One of the Sancta Nomina families has a little girl named Anne-Catherine after Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich — I love this idea for this family! Cait’s older kiddos have, on the whole, fairly unusual names, and double names have an immediate “more unusual” feel to them, even if the names themselves are fairly “normal.”

(4) Sidony/Sidonie
During one of the very first consultations I did, I came across the name Sidony/Sidonie and was blown away by what I read about it: “this name was formerly used by Roman Catholics for girls born about the date of the Feast of the Winding Sheet (i.e., of Christ), more formally alluded to as ‘the Sacred Sendon’. Sendon or Sindon (from Latin sindon … ‘fine cloth’, ‘linen’) was used in Middle English for a fine cloth, especially one used as a shroud. The Sacred Sendon is supposed to be preserved at Turn [Turin] … Sidonie is not uncommon in France, and the Irish Sidney is probably really Sidony” (from one of my favorite name books, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names by EG Withycombe). The feast of the Winding Sheet is/was celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, and as Ash Wednesday this year is March 1, the Sidonie feast is Feb. 28, and since Cait’s little one is due in February, I thought it might be perfect.

(5) Charis
There’s a section in the BNW called “Exotic Traditionals,” which I often like to peruse for families like Cait’s who have used names like Magdalena, Socorra, and Augustine, as they have a lot of old religious and/or saints’ names that aren’t used so much anymore. Charis is one of them — it means “grace, kindness” according to behindthename.com and “favor, grace, gratitude” according to Merriam Webster, and I actually read about a family who used the name because it’s contained within the word “Eucharist” (and that element of Eucharist is the “favor, grace, gratitude” meaning of Charis). So pretty!

(6) Jacinta
This is another Exotic Traditional, and one I just love—Jacinta’s one of my favorite favorite names, I totally wish it had more play! I have it on my own list, and love the nickname Jess for it.

(7) Rafaela/Raphaela
There wasn’t a huge amount of overlap in the names similar to the names Cait and her husband like, according to the BNW (which is likely just because the BNW doesn’t look at the world with Catholic-colored glasses like we do!), but Rafaela was listed as a style match for Benedict and Raphaela for Maximilian, so I felt like I definitely needed to suggest it! Such a pretty name, and not as matchy with Gabriel as if they used Raphael.

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What names would you suggest for the little sister of Aquinas, Gabriel, Magdalena, Maksymilian, Augustine, and Socorra?

Birth announcement: Mary Christine!

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I posted a consultation for Lauren and her husband back in October, and they’ve let me know their little green bean 🌱 has arrived — a little girl given the gorgeous name … Mary Christine!

Lauren writes,

“I hope your Advent is off to a restful start. Sorry for the delay-we have been a little busy with moving and having a new baby girl, who we named Mary Christine 🙂 My husband was stuck on that one and it seems to be a great fit! She was born on October 27th.

Thank you again for your time and all of the great suggestions-we are all set if we are blessed with another little one!!“

I looooove Mary Christine! SUCH a beautiful name and combo!! And a perfect fit with big sibs:

Michael Douglas
Annabelle Grace
John Walter

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Mary Christine!!

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Mary Christine

Celebrity guest: Kate Wicker, author & speaker

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

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!! What a beautiful feast day, one of my favorites! Feast days are celebration days, and I’ve got a lovely treat for you all today! 💕🎁

I’ve “known” Kate Wicker through her blog for years — her oldest and mine are just about the same age, and she and I had babies at roughly the same pace, and she’s a writer like me (though far more accomplished, being that she’s the health columnist for Catholic Digest and has written for numerous regional and national media, including Atlanta Parent, Catholic Exchange, CatholicMom.com, Catholic News Agency, Children’s Ministry Magazine, Crisis Magazine, Family Fun, Fathers For Good, Pregnancy, Pittsburgh Parent, WhattoExpect.com, and Woman’s Day. She’s also a monthly guest on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air Show, has appeared in Danielle Bean’s Momnipotent DVD series, and has been a guest on the Faith & Family LIVE and Among Women podcasts, Huffington Post Live (known as HuffPost Live), Kresta in the Afternoon radio show, and EWTN’s Son Rise Morning Show among others. Whew! 💃), so I’ve felt a kinship with her in the way that fangirls do with their mom/blogging heroes. 😍😍😍

Then she went a wrote a book (Weightless: Making Peace With Your Body, informed by her own struggles with a clinical eating disorder and written from a Catholic perspective), and she’s got a new one coming out soon (Getting Past Perfect: How to Find Joy and Grace in the Messiness of Motherhood, which I’m currently working on a review of [spoiler: it’s amazing!]; it’s available for pre-order here), AND — she’s got a new baby on the way!

Yes! A new baby! A boy! Her little guy joins three big sisters and a big brother, and Kate graciously humored me when I asked if she would mind sharing a little about the hows and whys of her kiddos’ amazing names, as well as any thoughts she and her husband have about naming the new baby. I know you’ll love all of what she has to say!

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(This photo was taken when Kate had just found out No. 5 was on the way!)

I’m a gestating machine at 36 weeks pregnant with baby number five. This one is our second boy and since we already have three girls, you’d think we’d have bountiful selection of boy monikers. However, my husband and I both struggle far more with coming up with names for the XY chromosome set than the girls. Our children’s names are all very classic, so we’ve joked that maybe we will throw everyone for a loop and slap on some eccentric name like Mango (to Gwyneth’s Apple) or Blade for this little one!

With our last baby, we didn’t find out the gender until birth. After three girls, I assumed we would be adding some more sugar and spice to our family (if truth be told, all of my kids add more spice than straight-up sweet sugar to my life). I had a whole list of girls’ names to choose from (Jane Clare being a top contender), but we had only one boy name chosen: Thomas Kemp. My husband’s dad had conducted extensive genealogy research for both his side of the family and my own, and then he put together an amazing book detailing our familial history (best gift ever!). We discovered my husband had ancestors who sailed on the Mayflower, and I’m distantly related to George Washington. The book was chock full of family names, and we perused it one day and both decided we liked Thomas (a name belonging to several of our ancestors). Kemp is a family name; it belonged to my husband’s grandfather who passed away from ALS before I had a chance to meet him. I also felt it was a solid Catholic name since the author of the Christian classic The Imitation of Christ was Thomas à Kempis. Well, lo and behold, we welcomed our first boy into the world, so Thomas Kemp it was. When we baptized him, the priest, a family friend, complimented the name choice and asked if it had anything to do with Thomas à Kempis. (I may have performed an imaginary fist pump in the air for my Catholic name-choosing awesomeness.) We always call him Thomas – no Tom or Tommy, please. My dad (a lover of nicknames) does sometimes call him “T,” which I like. Growing up, I was Katie-Did or M.L.M.D.M.T.D. (short for My Love, My Dove, My Treasure Divine; I was my dad’s only girl. J To this day, my dad gives almost everyone some sort of nickname.

As for all of our daughters’ names, I’d always loved the name of Madeline, but I also considered Clare for our first. We decided on Madeline Louise before she was born. I write journals during pregnancy to all of my babies, so it was beautiful being able to call her by her name in her letters. My mom’s mother sadly died when my mom was only a teenager and they had always had a very close relationship. My late grandmother’s name was Dorothy Louise; that’s where Madeline’s middle name comes from. I almost always call my daughter Madeline (she’s 12 now – sheesh!), but a lot of family and friends call her Maddy, and my dad sometimes affectionately refers to her as Maddy Lou.

We named our second child Rachel Marie, and we called her by that full name for awhile because it just rolls off the tongue so beautifully. But we eventually shortened it to Rachel or Rae. I love calling her Rae or even Rae-Rae, and the lullaby I sang to her when she was a baby was “You Are My Sunshine,” and I’ve always thought of her as my “Rae” of sunshine. My husband’s sister is named Rachel and his mom also had an aunt named Rachel, so it’s a family name as well. Marie is, too. My mom’s name is Eileen Marie, and I’m Kate Marie (just Kate on my birth certificate; it’s not short for anything, although my family refers to me as Katie most of the time). Marie is such a classic, lovely name, and it goes well with almost any first name! Rachel is 9 now. When she was little, we all called her Baby Rae since that’s what Big Sister Madeline started referring to her as. I still frequently call her Rae-Rae and suspect I always will.

Next up was Mary Elizabeth, also known as M.E. or just Mary. She was almost a Jane Clare. My husband liked the name Emmie, but we both agreed that we wanted her to also have a more sophisticated moniker for when she was older. We came up with M.E. (pronounced like Emmie) that could be short for Mary Elizabeth, a quintessential Catholic name. M.E. answers to any of these names – Mary Elizabeth, M.E., or Mary – but she’s told me recently she thinks she prefers simply “Mary.” Although when she was just learning to write, she loved how short the name M.E. was!

Both my husband and I definitely prefer to steer clear of overly trendy names and do tend to gravitate toward traditional names that run in our families. This go-around, as I mentioned, we have no solid picks for our baby boy (suggestions are welcome!). I like Joseph, but my husband isn’t as crazy about it. We all like William (kids included), but William Wicker makes me chuckle and think of the “Wuv, true wuv” line from The Princess Bride. James is a contender, but we’re not completely sold. We like the name John, but there are tons of Johns still alive and well on both sides of our families. I don’t tend to worry too much proprietary rights to names, but I know some parents take it very seriously. We did briefly consider Gerald since this is my husband’s father’s name, but then we realized people might accuse us of having a Tom and Jerry. No thank you.

I’m thinking we will likely decide upon a name when baby number 5 makes his big debut! I’m due in early January, so stay tuned.

Kate, thanks so much for having me.

Aren’t these great name stories??! There are so many details I love — the family and faith connections in each name; the way Mary Elizabeth’s name started with a love of “Emmie” (M.E. for Emmie is so darling! As is the fact that M.E. currently prefers Mary, so sweet); and how Thomas Kemp immediately brings Thomas á Kempis to mind — it was my first thought when Kate announced his birth, and how cool that Kemp is a family name!

So … Kate said “suggestions are welcome!” for her little boy … you know I can’t not offer some ideas! So based on Madeline, Mary, Elizabeth, Rachel, Thomas, Jane, Clare, Joseph, William, James, John, and Gerald (and not knowing, of course, any family names, so I get it if none of these work) I would suggest:

(1) Charles
Thomas and Charles have a great gentlemanly feel together! I think Charles Wicker sounds great, and Charlie is an adorable nickname. There are also loads of other nickname ideas for Charles that I’m pretty swoony over (seeing as how I love a good offbeat nickname).

(2) Stephen
Like how Kate’s Thomas is just Thomas, I really love the full Stephen. Thomas and Stephen are great brother names!

(3) Daniel
Daniel always has a sweet, affectionate feel to me because of Danny Boy. It’s classic and biblical and just a great name.

(4) Benjamin
Benjamin is mostly inspired by Rachel — Madeline, Mary Elizabeth, and Thomas have a very traditional feel, and while Rachel is just as traditional, it has a little something different that I think Benjamin mirrors.

(5) Henry
Finally, Henry — one of the sweetest names ever, and having some great heavy-hitting patron saints. I love Henry with Kate’s other kids!

Two additional thoughts: One of the combos I’ve been loving recently is James Kolbe (I like the nickname Jake for it, but it’s great on its own), and it feels a lot like Thomas Kemp to me, with the unusual middle name that’s really saintly, so I thought I’d offer that as well. Also, while Kate and her hubs might not have any babies after this one, if they’re ever blessed with another girl, Jane won’t be usable if they use John this time. You know what a conundrum it can be in regards to saving a beloved name for later at the expense of this baby’s name now! But I thought it was important to note.

And those are all my thoughts/ideas! What do you all think? What ideas do you have for this little boy?

Thanks again to Kate for sharing all this fun info with us! Please keep her in your prayers as she nears the end of her pregnancy and gets ready to meet her Little Mister, and be sure to check out her web site, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more info about her books and her musings on motherhood and more!

🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨

Baby name consultant: “Nothing is too strange if it honors a saint”!

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Today’s consultation is from a dad, which I always love! Chris and his wife Ali are expecting their fifth baby, their third boy, who joins big sibs:

John-Paul Padraig (“Named for St. John Paul the Great. We decided to hyphenate the name in order to try to ensure that he was always called John-Paul. We really emphasize with him that John-Paul is his name and quickly correct anyone who calls him John or (shudder) JP. Padraig is an Irish twist on my own middle name “Patrick” that my wife permitted as a middle name after I called our baby Padraig for the entirety of his time in the womb. I have no desire to name any of our children [Junior] so this is as close as we’ll be getting to that“)

Jude Peregrine (“The first of two children whose names were largely influenced by their due dates. In the fall of 2010, my father was diagnosed with AML and after failing to achieve remission with his first chemo, the decision was made for him to undergo a stem cell transplant, which we were told would have a 20% five year survival rate. When we found out we were pregnant with our second son, God wowed us when we found out his due date was November 8th, my father-in-law’s birthday and the day that my father received his transplant, a day many in cancer treatment call a patient’s “New Birthday”. We debated back and forth between the name we gave him and a very close second “Thomas Albert”, in honor of our two fathers (my father’s middle name and my father in law’s first name). We also thought Thomas Albert was just swell because of the connection between St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas. In the end we went with Jude Peregrine, in thanksgiving for my Dad’s health and to honor and ask the intercession of St. Jude (patron of hopeless cases) and St. Peregrine (patron of cancer patients). By the way, 6 years later and my father has beaten the odds and remains cancer free. Praise God!“)

Mary-Teresa Agnes (“Our second “due date” baby name. In 2008, just when Ali and I were beginning to seriously date, Ali’s mother, Teresa, suddenly and unexpectedly died from complications of a serious infection and subsequent pneumonia from influenza. Clearly, one of the most difficult times in her life and the life of her family. God’s grace flowed even from this tragedy, as it brought Ali and I closer together rather than splitting us apart, as it could have. Ali’s mother went to Jesus on March 24 of 2008. While God wowed us with Jude’s due date, he floored us with Mary-Teresa’s due date. Though she ended up being born earlier due to the need for a c-section for placenta previa, our due date was March 24. Though we went back and forth on the combinations of the names, we knew we wanted to name our first daughter after our two Mothers in Heaven (Mary our Lord’s Mother being the other) We also took the opportunity to honor one of St.John Paul II’s buddies, as we ended up with Mary-Teresa Agnes, in honor of our two heavenly Mothers, with a nod to Blessed Mother Teresa as well combining it with the middle name“)

Zelie-Louisa Brigid (“Probably our most unique name, and I absolutely love it. No due date connection, but as we were nearing the canonization of the parents of St. Therese, this name became a necessity in our eyes in the light of the secular attack and redefinition of Marriage that were going on at the time of Zelie’s birth. She was named in honor of them and in the defense of Sacramental Marriage, which we are given the opportunity to evangelize about any time people ask about her name’s origin. Brigid was my second touch of Irish – how could you not love a saint who prayed for a lake of beer?!“)

Aren’t these names and stories amazing?? I love each one! Each so thoughtful and purposeful and fantastic! Of course you know I love the Irish bit, and the lake of beer is one of my mom’s favorite stories. ☺☘

Chris continues,

“We would love if you could help us with some advice regarding the name of our upcoming baby #5. In the past, my wife, Ali, and I have been extremely good at deciding baby names at the last minute, or even after birth, once calling a “Baby Name Conclave” in the post-partum room at the hospital. While this process, in my opinion, has produced some excellent names, I think we’d both love to be able to have a definitive before our next child is born.”

(A “Baby Name Conclave”!! 😂😂😂)

“As far as #5 goes. Heaven help him and us! I would summarize my views on names by saying that NOTHING is too strange if it honors a saint. I am also all for a traditional saint name if it it makes sense and has deep meaning or intercessory purpose to it. I also love throwing in Irish saints or touches as well. My wife, Ali, is a bit more wary of stranger names, though honestly and oddly enough she pushed for Zelie more than myself (though now I can’t imagine anything else for our second daughter).”

(“NOTHING is too strange if it honors a saint”!!! 😍😍😍)

Names they’ve considered in the past for boys include:

Thomas Albert (“as above“)
James Gerard (“the other combination of our father’s first/middle names“)
Andrew Edward (“who would be named after my Best Man and priest Father Andres Gutierrez (Ali wouldn’t go for Andres I believe, so Andrew would be as close as possible), and my late Grandfather Edward who was probably the closest to a living saint I’ve ever known“)

Names that Chris particularly likes include:

Ambrose Augustine
Andrew Edward
“I also like Seamus, Dominic (Dom), Marcellinus (Linus), and potentially Vianney
I would also be interested potentially in somehow incorporating Fulton Sheen or Emil Kapaun … Finally, some of my favorite writings include those of St. John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, St. Bernard. I’ve also been known to throw out ancient/old/odd enough names as Irenaeus, Ignatius, Aloysius, Majella, etc“

Names that Ali particularly likes include:

Henry (“[for] John Henry Newman, but we already have a John-Paul“)
Francis (“I REALLY do not like that name much“)
Joseph Benedict (“clear intent there“)
George

And in order to help with inspiration, these are some girl names they’ve considered in the past:

Lucy Perpetua (“perpetual Light“)
Anne/Annie
Margaret (“Maggie“)
Molly (“though Ali may blackball this“)

This was really fun to work on! So looking through Chris’ explanations of his kiddos’ names, Jude’s runner-up — Thomas Albert — strikes me as so handsome and full of significance, so I love that idea for he and Ali for this baby, as well as James Gerard, Andrew Edward, Ambrose Augustine (the editor of Catholic Digest, Danielle Bean, has an Ambrose Augustine!), and Joseph Benedict — all those combos are great! I do hesitate though over James and Joseph as first names, since their two other boys also have J- first names. Or maybe that kind of thing doesn’t bother them?

As for the other names I love Seamus (if Ali would go for it, I love the idea of Seamus Gerard instead of James Gerard) and Dominic (I’m a lay Dominican), and I’m interested in Linus as a nickname for Marcellinus — very cool! I wonder if they would consider just Linus?

Unfortunately, Vianney and Majella are all girl to me — the former because of blogger Lindsay Boever’s beautiful daughter Vianney; the latter because those of my name books that list Majella say it’s a girl’s name (and one of my older books particularly says it had decent use in Ireland). That might not matter to them, but I think it’s something they need to know and accept before moving forward with either of those names for their son. (I do know a little boy whose middle name is Vianney — that might be a nice way to work in the name.)

I wonder if they’ve considered Fulton as a first name? And that same Lindsay that I mention above has a little boy named Kapaun! So that’s an option too. We named our miscarried baby Ignatius and I sometimes think of him as “Natey” so I have a soft spot for Ignatius as a first name. 🙂 Actress Cate Blanchett has a son named Ignatius, too, and I believe he goes by Iggy; I’ve also seen Nash. I guess I tend to think of Ignatius as the most usable of those ancient/old/odd names Chris mentioned (Irenaeus feels a bit feminine to me because of Irene; Aloysius will never be spelled right), but those are very subjective opinions of course — I will always encourage all of you to completely disregard me if you love a name I’ve said something potentially negative about!

I love Henry! I assume Chris’ concern is that people would automatically tack “John” onto the front of it in their minds (their last name is very similar to Neumann), and then wonder why they named two sons after saints who have John as their first name? I can see both Chris’ and Ali’s perspectives on Henry, and I’m interested to see what you all think.

Bernard could be great I think! Old, obviously saintly (which I think is what they want), and I know a Bernard who goes by Ben, so they could do that too, which I love!

I’m guessing Francis and George are not huge contenders, since Chris said he really doesn’t like Francis, and he uncharacteristically made no comment on George. I wonder what they’d think of the Irish Francis — Proinsias — perhaps as a middle name? George also makes me think of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati — apparently Giorgio was what he preferred to be called, so maybe they’d like to consider that as a first name? (Though of course that’s not even close to being Irish … going back to George for a minute, Geordie is a traditional Scottish nickname for it, and I hear Geo sometimes too, both of which are super cool.) I also heard of a baby Frassati recently!

As far as new ideas, because they’ve considered due dates in the past I went through the feast days for Dec. 23–Jan. 14 (the baby’s due early January) on CatholicSaints.info to see if there are any saints whose names I thought might be a great fit for them. There are actually a whole bunch!

— One of the Holy Ancestors of Jesus: Their feast day is Dec. 24, and I did a post on Jesus’ genealogy a while back … from that I like for this family Isaac (there’s St. Isaac Jogues too), Boaz (I love Boaz!), Jesse (except for the J- thing) … I also did a post on Mary’s genealogy and I love Joachim (but J) and Simeon (and there’s also Simeon in the temple).

— Any Christmas name! I wrote about a bunch here, here, and here (and an Advent one here, in case the baby comes early)

— St. Stephen the Martyr’s feast day is Dec. 26, and he’s great and all but my favorite thing about Stephen is the way Danielle Bean (the same one who has an Ambrose Augustine!) did it — she named her son Stephen Matthias — they’re next to each other in the Eucharistic Prayer and I love the way they sound together!

— St. Thomas a Becket’s feast is Dec. 29, and I know they’re already considering Thomas, but what about Becket? Cool name!

— There are three Irish saints on Jan. 1 that I thought would be great for this family: Brogan, Colman mac Ronan, and Colman Muillin of Derrykeighan! Colman was actually a name I was going to suggest to them anyway! It’s a good Irish name with the possibility of the awesome nickname Cole.

— Jan. 2 is Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and Doctors of the Church. Such heavy-hitting guys! I see Basil from time to time in the families that I come across through the blog, and Gregory’s one of my faves — Greg is overly Brady for a lot of people, but I like the ideas of Rory (which Chris might love because Irish!) and Gus (perhaps for Gregory Stephen? Gregory Aloysius?) as nicknames for it.

— The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus is on Jan. 3 — lots of good possibilities there, see the Christmas articles I pasted above.

— St. John Neumann (different than John Henry) has his feast on Jan. 5! I don’t suppose that’s helpful though … And St. Simeon Stylites is Jan. 5 — I mentioned above that I love that name (I really do!).

— Jan. 6 is the Epiphany! (Or at least it used to be, but I still consider it to be so, because my son was born on Jan. 6 and I love that he was born on the Epiphany 🙂 ) Great names for the Epiphany are the names of the Three Wise Men: Balthazar, Casper/Caspar/Gaspar/Jasper, and Melchior, and all of their feast days are also Jan. 6.

— Another saint with a feast of Jan. 6 is Felix of Nantes … and Felix of Heraclea is Jan. 7 … and Sts. Felix of Nola and Felix of Rome are both Jan. 14 … backing up, Felix of Bourges is Jan. 1 as well. So Felix is a big winner for this family date-wise!

— I don’t know how they feel about the name Atticus in light of the new To Kill a Mockingbird book (Go Tell a Watchman), but it’s such a cool name and Atticus of Constantinople’s feast is Jan. 8.

— Dermot of Inis Clothrann’s feast is Jan. 10 — how about Dermot? I really like it — I think it’s one of those really Irish names that’s doable outside of Ireland (not like its Irish counterpart Diarmiud).

— Nicanor of Cyprus is also Jan. 10 — I feel like I could really see Chris liking Nicanor! He’s one of the seven deacons chosen by the Apostles themselves, and a really fun twist on the Nic- names.

So those were all my ideas based on some likely dates of the baby’s birth, but I have a few more ideas for too (of course! 😁), based on their taste in names and my own ideas. You all know that I almost always start a consultation by looking up in the Baby Name Wizard the names the parents have already used and those they like/are considering as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. Based on that and my own mental files, these are my additional ideas:

(1) Kolbe
Kolbe is for St. Maximilian Kolbe of course, and I think it’s perfect as a brother to all Chris and Ali’s kiddos! I don’t know if you’ve seen the Sibling Project I’ve been working on, but I did an entry for John Paul to see what names the readers and I considered to be style matches (basically trying to fill in some of the holes in the Baby Name Wizard, as it doesn’t have John Paul as an entry), and Kolbe, Jude, and Mary (alone or as a double name) all made the cut! And if I were to do an entry for Kolbe itself, Zelie would totally be one of the style matches. So I think Kolbe is a great fit for this little guy.

(2) Campion
To continue with the last-name idea for a minute, I think Campion could also be a great fit, for St. Edmund Campion. I’ve also always loved Cam as a nickname for a boy, and Campion’s a great saintly way to get to it.

(3) Eamon
Speaking of St. Edmund Campion, maybe they’d like the Irish form of Edmund, Eamon? Danielle Bean (of Ambrose Augustine and Stephen Matthias fame) also has an Eamon!

(4) Bosco
Another last name! Though Chris might have the same issue with Bosco as he does with Henry, because of course we’re talking about St. John Bosco. But I love it!

(5) Xavier
Ditto Kolbe, Campion, and Bosco: Xavier’s another great saintly surname, but it’s had enough use as a first name that it has less of a surname feel.

(6) Malachy
I wonder if they’ve ever thought about the name Malachy? It’s the name of an Irish saint, very similar to the name of the prophet Malachi, and I think Mac can totally work as a nickname, I love it!

(7) Leo
My last three ideas were the result of trying to think of Irish names that weren’t *too much*. Leo is papal and saintly, a really really great name for a little guy and a grown man. That -o ending is hot right now too! I know, you’re all probably thinking, “But Leo’s not Irish!” And of course you’re right, but in my super Irish family there are loads of Leos, so to me it’s Irish. 🙂

(8) Brendan
Brendan is a great one — I think it’s obviously saintly to most people, and certainly Irish … blogger Colleen Martin recently named her sixth boy/seventh baby Brendan (they also have a John-Paul!).

(9) Timothy
And finally Timothy — nice and biblical like John, Paul, Jude, and Mary, and with a definite Irish feel. I love Timothy; Timmy’s great for a little guy; and Tim’s solid and handsome for a man. Great name!

And those are my ideas! What do you all think? What would you suggest to Chris and Ali for their little boy?

Celebrity guest: Sharon from Baby My Love

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

I attended the Syracuse Catholic Women’s Conference at the end of October and had the very great pleasure of meeting someone I’d only known by her handle — mommashaunie (and how hilarious is it when you’re meeting someone in real life that you’d previously only known online and you whisper self consciously, “Are you mommashaunie?” 😂) — who turns out is actually named Sharon, and she was selling the gorgeous wares from her Etsy shop Baby My Love (“Knit bonnets and hats, leather moccasins, diapers, wool covers, blankets, lovey’s, burp cloths, wipes, bibs, nursing covers, boppy covers, headbands, knit animals, and everything in between”) (on Facebook and Instagram as well) which, if I could have, I would have bought all of because they were all.so.beautiful.

We also had a little chat about, um, names, and I loved her kiddos’ names so much I had to share them here! Fortunately she was game — I think you’re going to love all these!

“Names…Names have definitely been something that Zeb and I enjoy when a new baby comes along. I truly believe that God has a name chosen for each soul He creates, and it’s our job to discover it. I take this job VERY seriously. 😉 

Our first, is Miss Gemma Agnes. I was determined to name my first girl after my grandmother, who was my world! Her name was Agnes Emma, but she despised her first name. So naturally I was going to go with Emma Agnes, BUT, one of my sister and Brother-in-law’s [named their baby] Emma 5 months before our baby was born. Zebulon suggested just switching to Gemma Agnes, and once I read St. Gemma’s story, I was hooked.

Our next girl was “going” to be Bernadette Marie, but I had a dream about a little blonde swinging at the park, and she did NOT look like a Bernadette, she looked like a Felicity (I ALWAYS loved the story of St. Felicity and Perpetua), so we went with Felicity Anne, and low and behold, she is a brunette. LOL!

My husband had requested the name, Nicodemus, for his first son, from almost the moment that we first met. Our next conception was a 13 week miscarriage, though we didn’t know the gender, we chose Baby Nic to be for either girls or boy (Nicholas or Nicole).

Next, we were blessed with a son, and he is our Nicodemus Joseph.

Our next conception was our dear, sweet, earth side saint. This little one was a sweet princess and at 30 weeks, I had still NOT pinned down a name, I was thinking Gwendolyn for a while, but it just wasn’t sticking. I had gone through the Butler’s Saint books, and still, nothing felt right. I kept badgering my husband and telling him that I NEEDED a name for the sweet little one growing within me. One night, when he had had enough of my nagging, he told me to grab the Bible, he kept perusing and mentioning different names, about 5 mins in, he said, ” Miriam” and I jumped on it! It was PERFECT! I was in love with it. We chose, Rose, as the middle name because her two sisters wanted it desperately. On Valentine’s Day, 2009, my water broke at 36 weeks. I delivered our sweet, Miriam Rose, unfortunately, she was only on this earth for 11 hours before God called her home. Her death was caused by septis, Strep Pnuemo that was not from me. She was baptized before passing, so, our sweet St. Miriam Rose has won the prize!

Next, our little Maximus Michael Patrick. He too was named with the help of a dream. We had planned on Francis, but I had a dream at 12 weeks that I was holding a little boy named Maximus, and that is how we rolled. 

Our next little one was an early miscarriage that we named Joy, we actually had already started calling the baby Joy when we found our about her/his coming.

Now, the next was our sweet, little Quintus Edmund. I was stuck on Edmund ( I loved the name AND the saint), but being that he was #5 here, and the fact I had once mentioned the name to my husband, he said it was too ironic that such a name fall on #5 (Quintus), SO….that is how we came to choose that one. 

Our next was Francis Fulton. Again, we loved the name Fulton, but since we had started the “-us” trend [for boys], we felt bound to it. 😉 Francis is a family name, one of our favorite saints, and since it’s also the name of the Holy Father, we felt it perfect. 

Evangeline Marie. For the life of me, even though she is the most recent, I can’t remember what moment or instance we received the prompting for her name. I had been wanting our next girl to be “Eden Marie”, but Evangeline Marie it was, and fitting as well, as Evangelist means, “Bearer of good news”. And being the first girl, since our Miriam Rose, her coming was definitely welcome news. 

Each child’s patron is the saint they are named after, (Francis is St. Francis of Assisi) (Evangeline, John the Evangelist).”

What beautiful names!! And such a beautiful family:

On the left: Sharon and Zeb with Gemma, Felicity, Nicodemus, Maximus, Quintus, Francis, and Evangeline. On the right: Sharon and Zeb with Miriam Rose.

Thank you to Sharon for sharing her babies’ beautiful names with us!! And with Christmas coming, please consider visiting her shop! She’s got a coupon code running right now: ZelieChristmas will get you 10% off your total purchase.

💐🌹💐🌹💐🌹💐🌹💐🌹

Baby name consultant: Name needed for no. 6, a boy!

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , ,

Amanda and her husband are expecting their sixth baby — a little boy! Little Mister joins big sibs:

Faith Cecilia
Bennett Luke
Maya Evangeline (“Maija is the Finnish form of ‘Mary’ but we Americanized it since our last name gets mispronounced All. The. Time.”)
Catherine Felicity (“Cate”) (twin of Jude)
Jude Xavier (twin of Cate)

I just love these names, each one and each combo, as well as the whole feel of these names together — Amanda and her husband have done such a great job!

Amanda writes,

“We’re due with #6 and were hoping you could help us find ‘the name’. We seem to have partially exhausted our naming mojo… 😀 We love classic, Saintly, and somewhat uncommon (though not unheard of) … Hubby is crazy picky and vetoes almost everything right off the bat but once it has time to percolate, there usually emerges a frontrunner or at least an avenue worth pursuing. 🙂 Last name rhymes with ‘yellow’ and we have Finnish, Italian, and French heritage that we sometimes try to incorporate (but not a must). We have some particular devotions (St. Francis Xavier, St. Cecilia, and St. Maximilian Kolbe, also my hubby, a convert, LOVES St. Eliz. Anne Seton) but those are not a must either.”

Names they’ve considered for this little guy include:

John (“paired with something more out-there like Augustine or Ignatius“)
Maximilian
Simon
Dominic (“middle name only“)

And this worry regarding using John:

“At this point, I think [John Augustine is our frontrunner] … having a Jude and a possible John (or a Jack, depending) right in succession sort of tweaks my name senses, especially since we haven’t had a pattern thus far.”

Okay, so first off, my heartiest support is for their frontrunner of John Augustine, with the strong suggestion to nickname him Gus! That way they’d have the incredible John+[something-out-there] combo (I think John+ is SO handsome!!), but they don’t have to worry about John/Jack following Jude. I knew a little boy growing up named John who went exclusively by Gus (just because his parents liked it—he didn’t have a Gus middle name or anything), so a John that goes by Gus isn’t crazy to me, especially with his middle name being the origin of Gus. Or really, any John+ name with a nickname for the middle name being the everyday name. John Ignatius could be Iggy or Nate; John Maximilian could be Max or Miles … I love this idea!

Regarding the devotion Amanda and her husband have to St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Elizabeth Anne Seton (ignoring Sts. F.X. and Cecilia for the moment, since they’ve already used their names), Kolbe and Seton could both be really great first name or middle name options as well. I like John Kolbe. And John Maximilian for that matter. Simon Kolbe. Dominic Seton. Or even Bailey, since that was St. Elizabeth’s maiden name.

I looked up the names Amanda and her hubs have used and those they like/are considering in the Baby Name Wizard for some new ideas, as the BNW lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and came up with the following ideas:

(1) Owen 
You all know I love the name Owen, and the saint Nicholas Owen! So I was excited to see that Owen’s a match for Faith, Jude, and Simon!

(2) Cole or Colin (or Kolbe?)
Like with Owen, Cole and Colin point to St. Nicholas for me, as they can both be considered variants of Nicholas — could be St. Nicholas Owen, or jolly St. Nick, or whoever! Cole’s a match for Jude and Colin for Simon. (Cole also reminds me of Kolbe … I wonder if they would be interested in Kolbe as a first name?)

(3) Gabriel
Gabriel’s a match for Faith, Xavier, and Dominic, and while I was initially hesitant because of the -el of Gabriel running into the el- sound at the beginning of their last name, I’ve said it over and over a few times and I think it’s 1000% fine and no need to fuss about it at all. I love the name Gabriel!

(4) Miles
Miles is actually a match for Bennett, and you all know how I’ve been pushing it on people for a long time! Haha! I discovered that Miles is used as the anglicized form of the Old Irish name Maolmhuire, which means “devotee of the Virgin Mary”—a totally legit Marian name for a boy!

(5) Roman
I never would have thought of Roman for this family, but it showed up in my research as a match for Maximilian and Dominic. I love that it calls to mind (for me anyway) the Pope, the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Church … I posted a birth announcement for a little Roman here, and Cate Blanchett (who also has an Ignatius!) has a Roman.

And those are my ideas for this little guy! What do you all think? What would you suggest for the little brother of Faith, Bennett, Maya, Cate, and Jude?