Catholic baby names

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

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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!

🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨🎄✨

Birth announcement: Peter Edward!

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Blair from Blair’s Blessings, whose consultation I posted on Halloween, has let me know her little guy has arrived and been given the so-handsome name … Peter Edward!

Blair writes,

“Our little one has arrived!

Peter Edward
11/29/16
7 lbs 15 oz, 19 in

Welcomed with love by Blair and Steven
and siblings Mary Clare, Elizabeth, Steven, Thomas, and Katherine

Thanks to your encouragement and that of the Sancta Nomina commenters, I felt better about choosing Peter. We still had a hard time choosing the middle name though! We ended up going with one of the few names that neither of us nixed, Edward. It was the name of my husband’s paternal grandfather and the church where I was baptized. It also highlights our British heritage and current parish involvement in the Anglican Ordinariate of the Catholic Church. My 6th c-section went very smoothly, and we are so grateful to God for this gift of new life!“

Peter is a name I’ve recently been loving — and I love that Blair felt we were all helpful in her becoming comfortable with it! (And now he can use that monogrammed Peter bag!) I also love the significance of Edward! “It also highlights our British heritage and current parish involvement in the Anglican Ordinariate of the Catholic Church” — definitely seems like Edward was the right middle name!!

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Peter!! (And if you’re into birth stories like I am 😍, Blair posted Peter’s here.)

Peter Edward

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?

Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Advent names)

sanctanomina Naming nitty gritty , , ,

I’ve had “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” in my head the last few days, which is such a lovely Adventy thing to have in my head now that Advent has begun, and what better way for a name blogger to celebrate Advent than by making a list of Advent names!

At least, that was my intention — and not just Advent names, but *new* names, not the same names everybody has written about forever and ever for babies born this time of year — but I had a hard time coming up with anything new! So many of the names that could qualify as Advent names are also legitimately Christmas names, and I’ve written about Christmas names a few times already (see the end of the post for a list), so I didn’t want to rehash or repackage the same names over again. (Also, even though I didn’t package it that way my Nameberry article from last year is explicitly Adventy, since it refers to titles of the coming Messiah as noted by Isaiah in the context of the O Antiphons — it’s all prophecy and anticipation about Christmas.)

That said, I just have to say that I think there are some Christmas names that just *are* Advent names, and no Advent list would be complete without them, like Mary, Joseph, Emmanuel (is O Come O Come Emmanuel not one of the most Adventy of songs?), Gabriel, John and Baptist, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Belén (the Spanish for Bethlehem) or even Bethlehem itself, so if you’re looking for an Advent name, don’t ignore the lists of Christmas names.

I was able to come up with a few new ideas though, and this site was incredibly helpful, as it explained a bunch of things about Advent that I actually didn’t already know, like how the first Sunday of Advent is set (it’s not actually the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as I might have mindlessly thought for a long time … I mean, it *is* the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but that’s not how it’s set of course, since most of the world doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving but they do celebrate Advent), and also what each of the candles means and represents. Based on those things, as well as some of my own ideas, here are some Advent names that you may not find on any list of Christmas names:

Andrew: Currently, the first Sunday of Advent is set on the first Sunday near the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30). Did you already know that? I didn’t! How cool!

Catherine: This is definitely a little bit of a stretch, but St. Catherine of Siena was known to be so joyful as a child that she was nicknamed Euphrosyne, which is Greek for “joy,” and between the “Rejoice” of Gaudete Sunday (the third Sunday of Advent, when we light the third [pink] candle) and the fact that the third candle is called the Candle of Joy, a Joy name is quite appropriate for Advent (it’s already on lists of Christmas names). You could certainly use Euphrosyne, but I thought Catherine might be a bit easier!

Isaiah: This Old Testament prophet foretold the coming of the Messiah and shared all those amazing titles of the Messiah as remembered in the O Antiphons (see my Nameberry article for more on those).

Lydia: Lydia in the New Testament was a seller of purple cloth — this could be a subtle connection to the three purple candles of the Advent wreath.

Old Testament ancestors of Jesus: I wrote about Jesus’ genealogy here and here — using one of His ancestors’ names is a neat way of nodding to the centuries of preparation for the first Christmas.

Rose: Of course Rose always refers to Our Lady, but it can also refer to the pink candle on the Advent wreath, lit on the third Sunday of Advent aka Gaudete Sunday (Gaudete=Rejoice).

And jumping out of alphabetical order, maybe the craziest+coolest idea: Rorate Caeli/Coeli. As explained by the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent:

“(Vulgate, text), the opening words of Isaiah 45:8. The text is used frequently both at Mass and in the Divine Office during Advent, as it gives exquisite poetical expression to the longings of Patriarchs and Prophets, and symbolically of the Church, for the coming of the Messias. Throughout Advent it occurs daily as the versicle and response at Vespers. For this purpose the verse is divided into the versicle, “Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum” (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just), and the response: “Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem” (Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour”). The text is also used: (a) as the Introit for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, for Wednesday in Ember Week, for the feastof the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin, and for votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin during Advent; (b) as a versicle in the first responsory of Tuesday in the first week of Advent; (c) as the first antiphon at Lauds for the Tuesday preceding Christmas and the second antiphon at Matins of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin; (d) in the second responsory for Friday of the third week of Advent and in the fifth responsory in Matins of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin.”

The nickname Rory could totally make Rorate as a first name doable! What do you think? Crazy? Cool? Both?

In a fun twist, Haley from Carrots for Michaelmas tweeted me (tweeted to me?) yesterday asking about my Advent names post, which was so weird since I was thinking about this as-yet unwritten one! But then I listened to her and Christy’s latest Fountains of Carrots podcast and realized they had mentioned it there, and I think they were referring to that same O Antiphons Nameberry article I’ve referred to several times here.

This is another post and article I wrote about Christmas names, which also contain good Advent ideas:

Holy Family Names for Christmastime Babies (Catholic Mom)

Names for a Christmas baby

And this post is the most comprehensive I’ve ever come across, containing both familiar and surprising ideas (not written by me): Christmas Baby Names

What do you think of these Advent names? Would you consider them for an Advent baby, or are they too un-obvious for your taste? I’d love to know what unexpected/new names you can add to the list!

Baby name consultant: Rainbow baby needs a meaningful name

sanctanomina Baby name consultant , ,

Today’s consultation is for a bilingual family living in Canada who are expecting their fifth baby — a little boy. The mama writes,

“I am Belgian (francophone) and my husband is American (anglophone) and we live in Montreal, a very bilingual city. We might very well come back to the US eventually, but we need to consider that our kids could live in a French speaking society as well. We want our kids’ names to be written the same in both languages as much as possible (at least their first names), but we don’t mind if the pronunciation differs (so no Luc/Luke, but Colin was ok). We want them to have a clear patron saint.

[Because of our last name] I have a little problem with names ending in “elle” because of the repetition.

Our fourth baby died of SIDS last August and I have been toying with the idea of honoring him in our “rainbow” baby’s name. Maybe by including St.Gerard who allowed us to baptise Thomas 3 days before his unexpected death? Our 5th child is expected for early December.”

What a sadness this family has been through! I really like the idea of using a Saint’s name who had a special connection with the baby in heaven, and I have some other ideas how to connect to their little Thomas as well (below).

Their older kiddos’ names are:

Claire Marie-Therese
Vincent Nathaniel
Colin Matthew
Thomas Francis

I love each one! Such a handsome set of names!

The mama continues,

“We’re not really excited by anything we’ve thought up yet, and I admit I actually have a hard time bonding with this new little one and spending time thinking about it. Maybe an awesome name will help! I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas!“

I’m so happy we can help this mama by coming up with name ideas!

Alrighty, so jumping right in, you all know that I almost always start a consultation by looking up the names the parents have used and those they like in the Baby Name Wizard as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity (according to the American naming landscape, which may not be so accurate for this family, but hopefully it’s helpful!), and I was somewhat surprised when I looked up Claire, Vincent, Colin, and Thomas, as there was more overlap than I expected! These parents have very consistent taste!

Okay! Between my research in the BNW and my own mental files, these are my ideas for this family’s new little guy:

(1) Blaise
My first few ideas are based on style matches for the other kids as listed in the BNW. Blaise is similar in style to Claire and Vincent, and it gets a good amount of love from families I hear from/talk to. And it’s a French name! I assume it’s pronounced the same in French and English?

(2) Julien
Julian did quite well for this family as well, being similar to Claire and Vincent. It’s a great name for a boy, and I think it would fit in well with the other kids. I assume they’d prefer the French spelling Julien?

(3) Grant
I was surprised by Grant! It’s a match for Claire and Vincent, and I was thinking that, if Mom and Dad liked it, they could attach a meaning to it that would be quite appropriate for them, and could be a nod to their Thomas. One possibility might be in Job 6:8, when he says, “Oh, that I might have my request, and that God would grant what I long for” (which is consolation in knowing he never disobeyed or disrespected God, even though he went through “unremitting pain”). Another is the beginning of the Serenity Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” I think both speak in a gentle and wonderful way to the sadness of losing their Thomas.

(4) Tristan
Tristan was another match for them (Vincent, Claire) that I thought might be nice as a nod to Thomas because of starting with the same first letter—some families honor others this way. Then I remembered that its meaning is often associated with sadness, which could be perfect, or maybe falls too much into the “burdensome for the new baby to bear” category. I am loving Tristan Gerard.

(5) Bennett
My last idea for this family is Bennett. It’s a variant of Benedict (Benedict seemed a bit too heavy for them I thought), which means “blessed” — a lovely meaning for a rainbow baby. It’s also a style match for Claire!

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? Given these parents’ older kiddos’ great names, and the loss of their little Thomas, what would you suggest for their little boy?

Birth announcement: Azalea Therese!

sanctanomina Birth announcement ,

I posted a consultation for Rebekah from Treasuring the Little Things back in September, and she’s let me know that her little girl has arrived and been given the gorgeous name … Azalea Therese!

Rebekah writes,

“Hi Kate!

I am writing to let you know that our 5th baby arrived on October 13! We named her Azalea Therese, and she is mostly called Zellie. In the end, we decided to just go with a name that we all loved, and it suits her so well 🙂  Thanks so much for your help!“

What an amazing first+middle combo!! So very Martin!! 🙂 ❤ I love that they just went “with a name that [they] all loved” and that they feel “it suits her so well” — what a perfect ending to a naming story!

If you remember, Baby Zellie joins big sibs:

Maria Margaret
Felicity Rose
William Patrick Peter
Augustine John (Gus)

Such a beautifully named bunch of kiddos!! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Zellie!!

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Azalea Therese

Birth announcement: Margaret Thérèse!

sanctanomina Birth announcement , ,

A mama I did a private consultation for has let me know her little girl has arrived and been given the beeeauutiful name … Margaret Thérèse!

She writes,

“Thank you so much for your help! I just wanted to let you know our little girl arrived on November 7th and we named her Margaret ‘Greta’ Thérèse!“

Greta!! I love love love Greta as a nickname for Margaret!! And the full Margaret Thérèse is just gorgeous! This little lady joins her beautifully named big sisters:

Clara Grace
Annelise Rose

What an amazing set of sisters! Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Greta!!

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Margaret Thérèse