Flower names

Baby name consultation: Baby no. 7 after six boys!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jill continues,

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

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

Names they’re considering for a girl include:

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

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

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

And names they’re considering for boys include:

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

  • Daniel (“love the old testament Daniel“)

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

  • Simon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Girl

(1) Susanna, Annabel(le)

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

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

(2) Phoebe

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

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

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

(4) Lydia

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

(5) Natalie/Natalia

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

Boy

(1) Benjamin, Bennett, Benedict

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

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

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

(2) Dominic

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

(3) Zechariah

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

(4) Oscar or Owen

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

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

(5) Tristan

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

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

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

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

Baby name consultation: “something balanced and rare; not a made-up name, but something not used in ages” for baby girl

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Happy four-days-before Christmas, everyone! Are you all familiar with the O Antiphons? As the U.S. Bishops explain,

“The Roman Church has been singing the ‘O’ Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative ‘Come!’ embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.”

Today’s antiphon is O Radiant Dawn:

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

Beautiful! You can find the rest of them here, and an article I wrote for Nameberry about baby names inspired by the O Antiphons here.

Speaking of names for a Christmastime babe … today, I have such a fun consultation for you! This baby has actually already been born and named, but the mama and I really wanted you all to have access to the consultation, in case it’s helpful to you. As the mama said, “There’s no way you can put that much effort into all this and not get a juicy post out of it!” 😂 I will post the birth announcement in the next couple of days, so check back before Christmas!

Sheri and her husband were looking for help naming their fourth baby, second daughter. Baby Girl joins big siblings:

Finnian Anthony

Roanan Michael

Zeda Zelié (pronounced ZEEdah ZAYlee)

So cool, right? What a great bunch of names!!

Sheri wrote,

“We’ve never had a problem figuring out names for our kids because they just kinda ‘came’ to us, and felt right right away. Perhaps the oddest one is Zeda, but that’s my grandmother’s name, obviously quite unique and Great Grandma Zeda is just the best. She’ll even watch my kids for me at her apartment at the drop of a hat, and she’s 80. However, we kinda want to avoid names similar to, well, pretty much anyone we know (in my defense, Finnian was NOT as popular as it is now 10 years ago. I didn’t know any Roanans either!).”

(Isn’t that funny how that happens? I was just thinking the other day about two baby girls I encountered with names that, at the time, I thought were so old fashioned — Lillian [25 years ago, when I was in college] and Evelyn [when my 19yo was in preschool] — that are now mainstream and even popular!)

Sheri continues,

“That said, we HAVE kinda settled in on the first name of IVY. Why? Well, it was the first name that we thought ‘Oh that’s not bad, I don’t know any Ivys,’ and I had an acquaintance suggest it to me because she’s our 4th kid. Get it? Roman Numeral IV is 4, so… IVY! I’m hoping it’s not too obvious a pun to be cringy for starters, but for… seconders? It still just doesn’t seem complete! So we’ve been bandying about various middle names and nothing seems to just ‘click’ like the rest of our kids’ names. We’ve run out of saints that we’re really close to, and others just don’t seem to ring right (like Catherine, or Elizabeth… Even Mary/Marie or Josephine just seem to fall flat). And I don’t want to leave it up to fate and give her the name of the saint whose feast day she’s born on, because I like to celebrate feast days separately from birthdays with the rest of the kids, and that doesn’t seem fair. That also kinda leaves out all the fun names you could use to hint toward her December birthday (Holly, Noelle, Emannuella), because with Ivy it seems little TOO on the nose. And what feast day/saint would we commemorate then?

So I also considered double-barreling either her first or middle name. Ivy Grace? Oh right, we aren’t big on virtue names (and I have a whole family of friends who are Mary-something, so that’s out too), and I kinda liked Ivy Rose, but Rose locally is becoming a pretty popular, and then she also just sounds like a variety of flower. And then a two-part middle name seems to get cumbersome with 3-letter Ivy. Ivy Catherine-Marie? Goodness.

And here we are. My husband has had a few ideas, but again, nothing has been an ‘oh! YES’ feel of a name. I kinda thought of doing just I.V. as initials, but I’m not overly familiar with I or V names (Isla Victoria? Iris Veronica? Ehhh). I just have a feeling that her name overall is going to be something balanced and rare; not a made-up name, but something not used in ages … and I haven’t found it yet. I like references to botanicals or the moon… but everything I’ve found just seems too… looney! We know we don’t want a common name — if one of us suggests a name, more than half the time we say ‘Oh I know someone with that name’ even if they aren’t familiar acquaintances, so obviously we’ve been pretty frustrated and stuck on ideas.”

Two final details that I used to help with ideas:

  • Sheri and her hubby were “grade school (8th grade to be specific) sweethearts” who grew up “at St Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster Ohio, which was just designated a minor basilica!”
  • The older kids are calling the baby Jellybean (so cute!)

Isn’t this so fun?? Sheri even hilariously said, “I think you’re earning your 50 bucks this time around, sister!” But you all know I love a good challenge!!

First off, Zeda Zelié made me think of a particular idea: would it be fun for sisters to share a pattern of same initials for the first and middle names? Going with the Ivy idea for a minute, I like the idea of something like:

  • Ivy Immaculata
  • Ivy Inez/Ines/Inessa (variants of Agnes)
  • Ivy Isabel/Isabelle/Isabella
  • Ivy Ignacia/Ignazia

All of these match the feel of Zeda’s middle name Zelié, which I think of as particularly Catholicky Catholic. Immaculata for Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception of course (Immaculée is another variant Sheri and her hubs might like, and is French like Zelié); Inez/Inés/Inessa for St. Agnes; Isabel (or Isabelle, Isabella) for any of the Sts. Elizabeth; Ignacia/Ignazia is for St. Ignatius (of Loyola or of Antioch).

So let’s spring off of that to talk about Ivy for a minute. I love Ivy! I love that it is, indeed, perfect for a fourth baby, but not in a weird on-the-nose kind of way (NOT “cringy” in my opinion). Sheri’s I.V. idea is a good one, too — in fact, I remember hearing about an Isabella Verity (I think that was the combo) who went by Ivy and I remember thinking that was amazing! I really like Sheri’s Isla Victoria and Iris Veronica ideas, too, so maybe my taste is just off enough from hers that my ideas won’t land? But I had a lot of fun trying to come up with I.V. ideas just in case I hit on something she hadn’t thought of that hit just right. These are my favorite ideas for I names:

  • Imogen: this is my favorite idea for this baby. When I was looking for ideas, I wanted to consider Finnian’s and Roanan’s obvious Irish-ness while also respecting the fact that Zeda isn’t Irish. Imogen is originally a misspelling of Innogen, which is thought to derive from the Gaelic word for “maiden,” which makes me think of Our Lady. Even though it has Gaelic roots, it feels mostly British, I would say, which I think makes it equally plausible as a sister to Finnian and Roanan as well as to Zeda (which itself makes me think “British” because of Catherine Zeta-Jones).
  • Isolde: The literary Isolde was an Irish princess, so this, too, feels like a good sister for Irish-named brothers, while not being too Irish (especially since the original Tristan and Isolde was first recorded in French).
  • Irene: I’ve been seeing Irene a bit here and there, and I like that it has the long I sound in the beginning, which makes extra sense of the nickname Ivy if they were to do Irene V___. It also has the awesome meaning of “peace.”
  • Inez/Inez/Inessa: I mentioned this above as a possible I middle name for Ivy, but I also like any of them as a first name. I like that Inez has a Z like big sister; Inés is the Spanish form and is properly written with the accent, which might make this one better for the middle (and another nice connection to Zeda’s middle name Zelié); Inessa is so pretty and unexpected (a family I’ve posted about a few times on the blog has an Inessa, which the mom also pointed out is the name of a kind of butterfly! How pretty! That family also has a matching-initials theme — I’m sure you’d love to read through all their posts! Their Inessa’s full name is Inessa Irene. Gorgeous!).

Those could work as middles for Ivy, too, if they like the I.I. idea. I particularly like Ivy Imogen (Ivy could be the faith name here, as Ivy is in my book of Marian names because “Kenilworth ivy (Cymbalaria muralis) has also been known as Tears of Mary”).

My favorite V names include:

  • Vesper: I really love this one because it means “evening,” which can nod to Sheri’s love of the moon, and it also has pretty cool faith significance, in that “Vespers” is a familiar Catholic term (it refers to Evening Prayer because of “vesper” meaning “evening”).
  • Verity: Verity means “truth,” which also makes this one a great Catholic name! But is it too much of a “virtue name,” like Sheri said you doesn’t care for?
  • Violet: A beautiful botanical name that I included in my book of Marian names because the “violet flower (Viola odorata) has been called Our Lady’s Modesty, and has also been considered to represent her humility.” They could also consider the French Violette, which they might like if it helps with pronunciation of the whole first+middle combo, since they could stress the -ette, and connects to the Frenchness of Zeda’s middle name.
  • Vivian/Vivienne: This name means “alive” and like with Violet, they could do the trimmer Vivian or the frillier French Vivienne (which can also change the stressed syllable to help with the flow of the first+middle combo, and connect with Zeda’s middle name).
  • Vianney: For St. John Vianney; I’ve posted about a couple little girls with this name: this family has a Vianney Jean-Marie and this one has a Vianney Violett.

Given all that, some I.V. combos that I think are beautiful are:

  • Imogen Violette
  • Irene Vianney
  • Inessa Verity

Another idea is to use a middle name that doesn’t start with a V but has a prominent V sound in it, that could still make sense of Ivy as a nickname for an I first name with one of these middle names. Names like:

  • Maeve: As mentioned a couple times already, I liked the idea of working in an Irish (ish) element in order to loop in Finnian and Roanan’s Irishness. Maeve is a familiar Irish name, so you don’t need to worry about mispronunciations, and I included it in my book of Marian names because:

“I’ve seen people bestow it on their daughters in honor of Our Lady, mistakenly considering it to be a variant of Mary, but I do believe it can be considered Marian in a different way: the Baby Names of Ireland website … presents one of the meanings of Maeve as “cause of great joy,” which is similar to Our Lady’s title “Cause of Our Joy” (Causa Nostrae Laetitiae). Additionally, it would not be out of bounds for parents to combine the names Mary and Eve into Maeve.”

Its prominent V sound could work nicely with an I name to lead to the nickname Ivy!
  • Eve, Eva, Ava: Speaking of Eve, why not Eve? Or Eva or Ava (which is a variant of Eve). Our Lady’s title New Eve is a nice connection for this!
  • Naomh or Niamh: Niamh is the Irish name that’s more familiar of these two — it means “bright,” which is a great meaning; it’s often anglicized to Neve. Naomh is a newer name and means “holy,” which is also a great meaning! I think this could be anglicized as Neve, too, or Nave. I spotlighted them both here.
  • Aveline, Evelyn: Of the two, I prefer Aveline for this family, as it’s more unusual, but Evelyn, which is a variant of Aveline, is also a possibility.
  • Genevieve (I think you could even use Ivy as a nickname for Genevieve!), Evangeline: These might feel a little too familiar for Sheri, but I like them both because of their Vs, and their length could be perfect for a really short name like Inez. Inez Evangeline nn Ivy sounds pretty amazing to me!
  • Xavier: I know this might seem like a really odd addition, but there is precedent for a girl to have this name: Mother Cabrini, who is St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Certainly she took inspiration from St. Francis Xavier — Sheri can do the same for her daughter. I don’t know what Sheri’s preferred pronunciation is — ex-ZAY-vyer and ZAY-vyer pronunciation are equally legitimate — though I had the ex- pronunciation in my head when I put together the combos below. I also like that Xavier as a middle name would mean Zeda has the cool Z initial and new baby girl would have the cool X.
  • Imogen Eve
  • Imogen Eva
  • Imogen Niamh
  • Imogen Naomh
  • Imogen Xavier
  • Inez Evangeline
  • Inessa Maeve
  • Isolde Evangeline
  • Irene Xavier

So much fun to make such beautiful combos!

I also wanted to discuss Sheri’s idea of adding to Ivy to make a double first name, since she said Ivy doesn’t feel complete, but shes doesn’t care for virtue names, and Ivy plus any flower name feels too floral. Also, I agree with her that a double middle name feels like a lot with the tiny Ivy (though I love a long single middle name with it because it’s so tiny!). So I came up with a list of names that I thought could work! My very first idea was Ivy-Jane, which I was really gung-ho about, until I remembered that Sheri has a niece with a similar construction! Gah! I like these others (I’m using a hyphen because I think it makes it more obvious that it’s a double-barreled name and not a first+middle, but of course they don’t need to use a hyphen if they don’t want! But, if Sheri and her hubby like the I.I. initials idea that I suggested above, using the hyphen will allow I to be the initial for the entire first name combo):

  • Ivy-Kate or Ivy-Cate: I’m not biased because Kate is my own name! Except, maybe I am! I have often thought how much I like Kate as the second part of a double name and considered doing something like that with any daughters I might have as a way of nodding to me without using my full name Katherine. Ivy-Kate or Ivy-Cate (the C spelling feels fresher, maybe?) can nod to any of the Sts. Katherine/Catherine and don’t make a possibly weird “phrase” when coupled with Ivy.
  • Ivy-Cara, Ivy-Chara: Cara means “beloved” in Italian and Chara means “happiness, joy” in Greek and “friend” in Irish.
  • Ivy-Laine or Ivy-Lane: This could be venturing too close to cutesy? I like the image it brings to mind, though.
  • Ivy-Reina, Ivy-Reine: Reina and Reine mean “queen” (Spanish and French respectively), and are said RAY-na and REN. These could nod to Our Lady, Queen (Regina). (Is it weird to think you could also have fun with these combos being “green Queen”?)

Okay, on to new ideas! Since Sheri and her husband have mostly decided on Ivy as a first name (which I wholeheartedly support, either on its own or with any of the alternative ideas I suggested above), these might not be helpful at all, which is totally fine! I really just wanted to be sure they had lots of ideas associated with their taste and the things that are meaningful to them, as well as names that might feel perfect as the sister to their older kids. I was looking for names that fit Sheri’s “balanced and rare,” not made up but “something not used in ages” criteria that might also have something to do with botanicals or the moon. I used the Baby Name Wizard (affiliate link) as usual, as it lists, for each entry, boy and girl names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity, and went with my gut as well. These don’t check off all the boxes, but they’re pretty close I think! I also only have five names instead of the promised seven, because I included so many ideas above:

(1) Avila

If the sound of Ivy is what draws Sheri and her hubs to it, I thought other names with a similar sound might appeal. Avila came to mind right away — it’s the kind of name I’d generally put in the same category as Zelie, in terms of “very Catholic” and “somewhat unusual.” St. Teresa of Avila is a Doctor of the Church, which is so cool for a little girl! (This could also work as a V-prominent middle name with an I first name.)

(2) Ivelisse

Another name that could hit the Ivy note in an even more perfect way for this family is the name Ivelisse. I know a woman named Yvelise, which I always thought was gorgeous — I looked it up to see if there’s an I variant, and there is! Though Behind the Name has this name ultimately deriving from Ivo, which is the name of some male Saints (Ivo/Ives/Yves), and is thus related to Yvette and Yvonne, I also saw that the -elisse ending could be considered an elaboration of Yves using Elise — a French short form of Elizabeth. So they could think of Ivelisse (or Ivelise) as including St. Elizabeth (which Sheri listed as a possible saintly connection, but one that didn’t “seem to ring right”), and could use Ivy as the nickname!

(3) Maisie

Maisie is a diminutive of Mairead, which is the Irish form of Margaret, and has traditional usage as a given name in its own right. I like that it has the Irish feel of Finnian and Roanan while sharing the Z sound of Zeda. Margaret means “pearl,” so this name can nod to Our Lady because she’s referred to as “Pearl of Virgins” in the Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.

(4) Ailís, Ailish; Eilís, Eilish; Eilidh

These names are also inspired by the Irishness of Finnian and Roanan, but also by the long I in Ivy. Each of these can have the long I as the first syllable: Ailís, anglicized as Ailish, is from Alice; Eilis, anglicized Eilish, is from Elizabeth. (I say “can have the long I” because I’ve also seen the long A sound as the first syllable. If any of you like these ideas, you might want to do your own research to be sure of the consensus re: pronunciation and be sure you’re comfortable with others’ opinions about this.) Going off Irish for a sec to Scottish, Eilidh is a diminutive of Eilionoir and “also taken to be a Gaelic form of Helen” and can be anglicized Eily, which is so similar to Ivy (but also to Isla, which Sheri already said she didn’t love. So maybe this idea isn’t a great one!).

(5) Selene or Selena

Finally, Sheri’s love of the moon made me think of Selene, which means “moon” in Greek; Selena is a variant. I really like how Ivy Selene and Ivy Selena sound as first+middle combos! And, for that matter, the Helen(a) names (including Eilidh above) are said to mean “torch” or “corposant” (St. Elmo’s fire), but Behind the Name says they’re also “possibly related to” the Greek selene (“moon”).

Finally, I had a few middle name ideas that weren’t connected to anything discussed above, but are related to those two miscellaneous details Sheri included that I mentioned in the intro:

  • Ivy Assumpta: I love how this flows! It’s inspired by how Sheri and her hubby grew up at St. Mary of the Assumption (and bonus Behind the Name considers Assumpta to have Irish usage!) (It’s very possible Sheri is sick to death of my Irish connections at this point!)
  • Ivy Julienne or Ivy Juliet/Juliette: These are entirely inspired by their “Jellybean” nickname for the baby! The similar Jilly is a not-untraditional nickname for the Julia names, so I thought it might be a sweet (sweet! Like candy! Like jellybeans!) nod to the baby’s in-utero nickname to include something similar in her middle name. I like Julienne and Juliet or Juliette the best of them as middles for Ivy.

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? Feel free to offer any ideas that you think might be helpful to any readers who share a similar taste in names! Or any guesses about what you think Sheri and her hubby ended up naming the baby! Stay tuned for the birth announcement!

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

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

Birth announcement: Marigold Elizabeth!

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I posted a consultation for Maria and her husband in June, and I’m so very happy to share today, on the feast of the Queenship of Mary, that their little girl arrived and has been given the amazing name … Marigold Elizabeth!

Maria writes,

“We are so happy to announce the safe arrival of Marigold Elizabeth. Our sweet Mary born on August 9 at 1:45 pm.

Although we originally came to you looking for a unique middle name for Mary, your mention of Marigold made us realized it was just the perfect first name! We plan to also call her Mary.

Once we landed on Marigold, the more traditional Elizabeth was just the right fit for a middle name, giving us that a Mary-Elizabeth visitation connection that I also have in my name.”

Isn’t this just so perfect?!! And today is the perfect day to post this announcement because the feast of the Queenship of Mary has been taken by two of my other Marigold mamas as the name day for their little girls (here, here) (the gold of her crown –> Mary’s gold). I absolutely love it! And for this family, who had originally decided on Mary for the first name, using Mary as a nickname for Marigold is just right. I love it all!

Congratulations to Maria and her husband and big sibs Samuel, Phoebe, and Anna, and happy birthday Baby Marigold!!

Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation from either Theresa or myself here.

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

Birth announcement: Margaret Lily!

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Mama Megan writes in to announce that her little one has been born! I (Theresa) did a consultation for Megan and her husband in June.

Mama Megan writes,

“I had significant bleeding … and our little one was delivered by emergency c-section … Thank you so much for your help. We went with the name Margaret Lily. 🙂 we love it! And everyone else who has met her loves the name! She is currently in the NICU and hopefully won’t stay long…You really gave us the confidence to go with that choice.”

Margaret Lily! Such an incredible name for an incredible baby. Welcome to the world, little Margaret Lily and congratulations to mom, dad, and big sisters Eleanor Grace and Annalise Rose.

Margaret Lily

I’m not currently doing consultations, but Theresa Zoe Williams is available to help you! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

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

Baby name consultation: Baby girl no. 3 needs a saintly, Marian, regal, feminine, familiar name like her big sisters

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Happy Monday, everyone! And what a Monday it is, following Father’s Day (I hope all the dads in your life had a happy and blessed day!), which was also the day that the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) was celebrated (at least in my diocese — last Thursday was the actual feast day), which was also the actual date of Juneteenth, which is being celebrated as a public holiday today (this statement by the National Black Catholic Seminarians Association is both informative and inspiring). Wow! This is also the beginning of the week that will see my firstborn graduate from high school, which I’m both excitedly anticipating and sadly dreading. Ah, life. I’m going to work on scheduling some more posts for this week and maybe next as well, so hopefully you’ll have some good reading to look forward to! In the meantime, please enjoy today’s consultation by Theresa Zoe Williams.

Mama Megan writes in needing help with a name for baby girl #3. Mom is Megan Elaine and dad is Michael Andrew. This little girl will be joining big siblings:

Eleanor Grace

Annalise Rose

Mama Megan says they have some rules they like to follow for names:

  • Saint name patron for one name
  • Connection to Mary in the other name
  • Sounds regal
  • Not clunky/hard to say
  • 3 syllables or less
  • Feminine
  • Familiar but not too popular/trendy
  • Most people know how to spell it

Great list of criteria! Megan continues,

“We have four names that we are stuck on: Margaret Anne, Margaret Lily, Stella Marie, and Felicity Marie.”

She says,

“We love Margaret for the connection to my name ‘Megan’ and that we found out we were pregnant around St. Margaret of Scotland’s feast day and my due date is near St. Margaret of Antioch’s feast day. It’s also a classic and vintage name. My husband is concerned about nicknames and family and friends calling her ‘Marge’ or ‘Margery’ … I am a little concerned Margaret will stick out from the softer sounding names of our other daughters.”

They like Anne and Lily as middle names because they’re either very classic or have a connection to Mary (lilies symbolize Mary’s purity in her Immaculate Conception). Megan continues,

“Stella for Our Lady Star of the Sea and Marie for St. Therese since her actually first name is Marie. My husband had a long standing devotion to her and received many roses growing up from her rose novena. We’ve tried each pregnancy to figure out a way to honor St. Therese without using Therese and this is an exciting possibility. I love OL Star of the Sea as I am from a small coastal town and grew up very close to the ocean. We are also navigating a high risk pregnancy with a preterm c section in the next few weeks due to placenta previa. So, the guiding star aspect is very appealing. However, is Stella too close to Eleanor? And is Stella vintage or new agey? My husband is concerned it’s new agey.”

I love this so much. I had never considered Marie as a way to honor St. Therese!

Finally, Megan writes about Felicity Marie,

“I like the saint’s story and the L sounds in Felicity. Marie would be for Our Lady.”

First, some thoughts on the names/name combinations they’re considering:

Margaret- I love the connection with mom Megan through this name, that gives mother and daughter something special to share. I also love that two Sts. Margaret are already connected to this baby! Margaret is a great name and has so many nickname potentials that I don’t think they should worry about family calling her Marge or Margery. They can insist everyone call her a particular nickname or by her full name. Some other great nicknames are the classic Maggie, Peggy, Daisy, or get a little creative and call her Etta. If they feel like these are just not their style, what about Marina instead of Margaret? St. Margaret of Antioch is sometimes known as Marina and it also gives them a tie-in to Stella Maris (sea theme) to honor Mary in that way. Margaret does feel a little stuffier and clunkier than their other girls’ names but I still think she fits in. I like both Margaret Anne (very classic, clunky cool, a little stuffy, very regal) and Margaret Lily (breezy, a little more fun, sounds like a girl in this era) but I lean towards Margaret Lily. More thoughts on the potential middles below.

Anne- This name is very classic and regal and I love the Ann-with-an-e spelling (I’m biased as it’s one of my middle names). The only problem with this name, really, is that it doesn’t leave any room for a Marian name. It’s also much more old school than their other daughters’ names, especially with Margaret, making it stylistically a little different from them.

Lily- I love this in the middle spot with Margaret and I love all the connections they have for it. This is my favorite middle name that they’ve mentioned period. I love that it’s a Marian name that you wouldn’t usually think of! So unexpected, fun, and cool. Lily is hot right now, so placing it in the middle spot gives the whole name some pizzazz and punch.

Stella- This name is nowhere near Eleanor, even if you take Eleanor to mean “light.” I think “star” and “light” are different enough and have different faith connotations. I love Stella as a nod to Mary, Stella Maris. This name is hot right now, it sits at #41 which is the highest it’s ever ranked, but it has been in good use since at least the 1880s, meaning it’s not new agey at all, just an enduring classic. If that bothers them still, it can also be an old Slavic nickname for Anastasia. I love both Stella and Anastasia with their other girls.

Marie- You cannot get anymore enduring, classic, or Marian than this. It’s a great name but its overuse by parents in the 1980s and 1990s in the middle spot may make it feel more like a filler than anything with meaning. That doesn’t have to deter them, though, since they have lots of meaning for it! I especially love it as a nod to St. Therese. Her full name was actually Marie Françoise-Thérèse. I love that she had a very full, rich name, just like their child will. They can’t go wrong with this name.

Felicity- I don’t have a ton of thoughts on this name other than that I really like it with their other girls. Eleanor, Annalise, and Felicity just sound like sisters to me. They all have the same light, regal, classic but modern feel to me. You can’t go wrong with this name, either.

Out of these names, Margaret Lily and Stella Marie really stand out to me as great for their family and with the other girls’ names.

On to new suggestions!

1) Audrey

This regal sounding name is currently at #60, meaning it’s having a moment but is an enduring classic. The highest it ever reached was #59 in 1933. This name means “noble strength” and I just love that for a little girl. Even better, there’s a saint to go with it. St. Audrey or Ethelreda was a devout princess. What little girl wouldn’t want a literal princess as a role model! I love that our faith encompasses people of all types and backgrounds. I love the continuing vowel sounds with their other girls and Eleanor, Annalise, and Audrey sound like a bunch of little princesses to me. I love Audrey Marie best but also like the sounds of Audrey Anne and Audrey Margaret. If they wanted to get bold, I’d go with Audrey Stella.

2) Lydia

I think, like Stella, this name feels new agey even though it’s not. It currently sits at 90 but hit its highest rank in 1883 at #75. St. Lydia Purpuraria was converted by St. Paul and is the patron saint of the color purple. I’ve always thought it was so fun that we have patron saints for colors. I like Lydia with their other girls a lot. Eleanor, Annalise, and Lydia just feel good together. I love Lydia Marie but if they wanted to be bold, I love Lydia Lily (lots of fun alliteration there) and Lydia Felicity.

3) Iris

This one may seem a little more left-field and I intentionally went there for this name. I liked that their girls have different initials but all vowels. I wanted to see if I could find a name that fit their criteria with a different vowel initial. I think I’ve come really close. Iris is obviously a flower but that flower is also known as the “sword lily” and has a connection to Our Lady of Sorrows. Isn’t that magnificent? I thought this was a magnificent way to honor Our Lady subtly while matching with her siblings and their criteria. Eleanor, Annalise, and Iris are lovely together. I love Iris Margaret, Iris Anne, Iris Marie (to get St. Therese in there!), and Iris Felicity. If they don’t like Iris, I thought they might also like Ivy, which is sometimes called Mary’s Tears and therefore connected to Our Lady of Sorrows. Iris sits at #107, which is the highest it’s ever been. It’s a common nature name that they won’t hear everyday everywhere like Lily has become. Ivy is a little more popular at #49 and I think it feels a little trendier, too. I like Ivy Margaret and Ivy Anne. Either Iris or Ivy is phenomenal.

These are my thoughts! What do you think?

I’m not currently doing consultations, but Theresa Zoe Williams is available to help you! Email her at TheresaZoeWrites@gmail.com to set up your own consultation! (Payment methods remain the same.)

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

Baby name consultation: Eloise, Penelope, or … ?

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This is the first of the five consultations I opened up for January — this baby is coming any day! Rebecca and her hubby are expecting their first girl after four boys! Big brothers are:

Henry Blake 

Theodore Jude (“we call him Theo“)

Everett Scott

Oliver Ambrose

I love these! Such a fantastic bunch of names — all so handsome!

Rebecca writes,

“With each of our boys we tried to have a way to honor our family either in the first name or the middle name. We also tried to have either the first name or the middle name be Catholic/biblical/a saint name. The only name that didn’t fit it was our third son Everett Scott, which is my cousin’s name and my husband’s middle name.

We have had a girl name picked out with each of our boys just in case. However, now that we are pregnant with our first girl I don’t seem to want to use any of those names. Some of the names that we had picked before are: Amelia Eloise, Lucia Eloise, Vivienne Simone, Violet Eloise. 

The day I took a pregnancy test and found out it was positive I immediately looked up the due date which turned out to be January 21. I looked up the Saints feast days and it turned out to be the feast day of Saint Agnes who is the patron saint of girls. 

Prior to finding out and that I was pregnant … I swore if I would have a girl I would name her Eloise. So this whole pregnancy I’ve pretty much been trying to find a middle name that I like with Eloise but I can’t seem to find ‘the one’ … I feel a lot of pressure to find the exact perfect name because I am 41 years old and this is probably going to be my only daughter so I want to find the most perfect name haha!“

I totally get that!!

Rebecca continues,

“Names that we have considered: Eloise Agnes, Eloise Marie, Eloise Lucia, Eloise Bernadette. My husband isn’t a big fan of Agnes but he said he would be fine if the name was Eloise Agnes Marie. But that feels like quite a mouthful. 

Names that I would love to use but cannot would be Eloise Therese, Eloise Beatrix, Zelie. My husband doesn’t like Beatrix or Zelie. 

Names other than Eloise that we like: we have seriously considered Penelope Eloise. My problem is is there doesn’t seem to be a Catholic connection in any way. Other names that we have considered: Opal, Lucy, Marigold, Josephine. My husband does not like Marigold. I adore floral type names and would love to call her Posie, Blossom, little flower as a special ‘between us’ nickname. One other name that we can’t use is Claire!

There aren’t many family names left that haven’t been used by other people and I’ve been trying to avoid using the same names as other people in my family. Some family names that I have considered is Lorraine but only as a middle name, Anne or Anne Marie (This is my mothers name and she would really like me to use it in some way but ok if I don’t). I’m not set on having a family name this time.

I just feel like if I don’t use Eloise I’m going be sad but at the same time I can’t seem to find the perfect ‘Catholic, girly name’ that just flows. I would love some suggestions that go well with my boys names!”

Such a fun “dilemma” to have — naming a girl after so many boys!! I love the names Becca and her hubby have considered for girls in the past, and of course I immediately picked up on the fact that Eloise was part of almost every combo, so my first thought was, “Why not Eloise as a first name?” And then of course the very next thing Becca wrote is that she swore to herself she’d name a girl Eloise! So I definitely think that Eloise as a first name should be at the top of their list. I’m not surprised, though, that they’re having a hard time finding “the one” in terms of a middle name for Eloise — while working on this, I spent a lot of time trying to think of some, and I find Eloise to be an unusual rhythm to work with, so not a lot of names seem to flow quite right. Not that that has to matter at all — they’ll likely find they’re happy with a middle name that has significance, whether it flows exactly right or not.

So I want to start with the idea of Agnes. I love that Becca’s due on St. Agnes’ feast day! She’s a great patron for a little girl! I would encourage Becca and her husband to lean into that, whether their daughter ends up being born on her feast day or not! I wonder if using an Agnes variant might appeal to them? Agnes itself still has an “old lady” feel for a lot of people, but Ines/Inès, Inez, Inessa (like this family’s second little girl), Annis, Agnesa, and Agneta are all variants that have a very different feel than Agnes while still being 100% Agnes.

Back to Agnes itself, I actually quite like how Eloise Agnes sounds — it’s a nice-flowing combo! I’m surprised that Becca’s hubby doesn’t care for Eloise Agnes, but wouldn’t mind Eloise Agnes Marie — in my experience, husbands tend to like “less fussy” rather than “more fussy.” But I love Eloise Agnes Marie as well! And I really like that it loops in Becca’s mom.

Let’s talk about Marie for a minute, and also the fact that another thing that jumped out to me right away is that Becca loves French girl names!! Vivienne, Simone, Bernadette, Therese, Zelie, Josephine, Marie itself, and even Lorraine (the name of a region in France!) and can’t-use Claire are all beautiful French names, so I let my mind wander a bit down the French path and wondered what they’d think of switching Agnes Marie to Marie-Agnes? That is SUCH a French construction, and I think the French girl names come across as so girly and feminine! Marie-Agnes as a first name can take the nickname Maggie, which makes everyday life so easy. If they were open to considering the French spelling/pronunciation of Agnes — Agnès, pronounced like ahn-YES — then Marie-Agnès become even more gorgeous, and I would still use Maggie as a nickname. If Marie-Agnes/Marie-Agnès feels too much for a first name, and/or they like the Agnès idea but don’t want their daughter to have to deal with it in the first name spot, I think Marie-Agnes/Marie-Agnès would be an amazing middle for Eloise! It also absolutely without a doubt fits the “Catholic, girly name” theme Becca was hoping for. As for a double middle name being a mouthful, I encourage them not to worry about that — the middle name spot is the place to put all the names, and when one has a girl after so many boys who is likely to be the only girl in the family, it’s very likely one has All The Names to work into her name! I spotlighted writer Rachel Balducci on the blog once, and she did that with her daughter, too — the only girl and youngest baby after five boys; she named her Isabel Anne-marie and noted “her middle name is Anne-marie, which is from each of the grandmothers. It’s a lot of name but I had to cram a lot into this one girl!”

I’m actually also loving the idea right now of Annis Marie — Annis is a form of Agnes, and has Ann in it, so Annis Marie could be a double nod to Becca’s mom while still getting St. Agnes in there! And I’m also thinking of the French diminutive of Marie: Manon. I’ve always loved that! Maybe it could work here? Marie Eloise nicknamed Manon? Marie Agnes nicknamed Manon?

One last thought about Marie — it’s a very traditional thing for a Catholic girl to have Mary as her official/legal first name but go by her middle name. The Marie Eloise idea above made me think that Becca might like to do that too — Marie Eloise called Eloise? I think Marie Eloise is very girly and any name that includes a form of Mary sounds very Catholic to me, especially when it’s in the first name spot like that.

Don’t you love how my mind jumps all over the place?? Haha! Let me back up a minute and share some thoughts I had about names they’ve considered in the past, in case they’re helpful:

  • Amelia: I wonder if the French Amelie (said like AH-muh-lee) would appeal to them? Or maybe the spelling Emilia, which is the way St. John Paul’s mom’s name was spelled?
  • Lucia, Lucy: The fact that Becca mentioned both Lucia and Lucy as names they’ve considered, and the fact that they share a lot of sounds with Eloise, makes me wonder if they might like the idea of Louisa with the nickname Lucy?
  • Vivienne, Violet: Because of their obvious love of V’s with Vivienne, Violet, and of course Everett and Oliver, I wanted to suggest Evangeline or Genevieve … but then I thought, that’s a lot of V’s! And Evangeline is probably too similar to Everett anyway, but I wanted to mention them just in case.
  • Opal, Marigold: Both of these make me think of Margaret — Opal, because it’s a jewel and Margaret means “pearl,” and Marigold because of the similarity between Marigold and Margaret in terms of appearance, sound, rhythm, and the nickname Maggie. There are a lot of Margaret names that Becca might like! Marguerite is the French form, and not only does it mean “pearl,” as the French form of Margaret, but it’s also the French word for the daisy flower! Daisy is a traditional nickname for Margaret, and with a Margaret name Becca would have her built-in flower connection for using Daisy or even Posie/Blossom/Little Flower as nicknames for her girl. Another form of Margaret that I thought she might like is Margot — it’s also French (am I killing you all yet with all the French ideas?? They just seem so perfect!) and can take all the Margaret associations, since it’s a French short form of Margaret (and can be a nickname for Margaret, if they prefer). One last thing about “pearl” — not only would Becca have a flower connection if they used a form of Margaret, but her girl would also have her very own gem! Pearls could be one of her things!
  • Josephine: I love Josephine anyway, and Posie is one of my favorite nicknames for it, so that was fun to see on the list.

I wanted to discuss Penelope on its own and not as a bullet point in the previous list. Penelope is a great name! I’ve heard from many parents who love it but don’t love that they can’t find a faith connection, but you don’t need to worry about that, because indeed there is! Venerable Ersilia Penelope Frey was declared Venerable in 2015! So Penelope Eloise would work just fine!

On to new ideas! Becca specifically said she wants “the perfect ‘Catholic, girly name’ that just flows” and that goes well with her boys’ names. To that end, I looked up her boys’ names, as well as the names she and her hubby have considered for a girl, in the Baby Name Wizard as it lists, for each entry, names that are similar in terms of style/feel/popularity. I also consulted the article I wrote a few years ago called Unmistakably Catholic Girl Names (from that list, Becca and her hubs have already considered Bernadette and Marie). Finally, I tried to think of names with a floral connection that I thought they might like. Based on all that, these are my new ideas:

(1) Fleur, Flora

The very first idea that came to mind was one of the names that actually means “flower”! Any of the sweet flower nicknames could work if they used a name that means flower! Fleur is the French version, and Flora is every other language; they’re both lovely (and Flora is a style match for Opal).

(2) Eleanor

Eleanor is the name that’s the biggest style match for Becca’s boys’ names and the names she and her hubby like overall! It’s a style match for Henry, Theodore, Oliver, Penelope, and Josephine, and the variant Leonora is a match for Ambrose. It also begins with El-, like Eloise, so I wondered if making a small switch from Eloise to Eleanor would preserve what they like about Eloise while giving them a name that flows easier with other names? Eleanor Amelia, Eleanor Lucia, Eleanor Simone, Eleanor Agnes, Eleanor Marie, Eleanor Agnes Marie … they all have a really lovely rhythm. Nicknames include Elle/Ellie/Ella, Nell, and Nora, which really go well with the big brothers (Nell can also be a nickname for Penelope, and Nora is specifically a style match for Theo). (I discuss Eleanor in depth in this consultation post, which also includes some great, heavy-hitting middle name ideas that Becca might find helpful as well!) (I also recently discovered Bl. Eleanora, in addition to the saintly connection I discussed in the blog post and also below [no. 7].)

(3) Elizabeth nn Lily

The El- of Eloise and Eleanor, as well as Becca’s love of “floral type names,” encouraged me to add Elizabeth to this list. It’s feminine and serious, solid and saintly, and I even included it in my book of Marian names because of how closely tied Elizabeth is to Our Lady via the Visitation. But what I really love about Elizabeth for this family is that Lily is a traditional nickname for it! Not only is Lily a floral name, and not only would using Lily as a nickname for Elizabeth be a little offbeat (despite its traditional usage), which is fun, but Lillian is a style match for Theodore and Lily is so for Oliver. (If they like the idea of Elizabeth but would prefer a different nicknames, there are a zillion and one!) They might also like to consider the French spelling Elisabeth, which is said the same as Elizabeth but I think that S really gives it something different. (Do you know about Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur? I love her!)

(4) Rosalie

Rosalie is a style match for Everett, Eloise, and Vivienne, and I’m also struck by how many sounds it shares with Eloise, making me think Becca might really like this one! It’s also got the nice Rose connection, and Rose, Rosa, and Rosie/Rosey are all great floral nicknames.

(5) Camille, Camellia

Camille is a match for Vivienne and Simone, and Camila for Lucia, so I thought there might be something there. I also love its similarity to the flower name Camellia. The Camille names aren’t obviously Catholic, but there is a Bl. Camila Díez Blanco, Bl. Camilla Gentili, and St. Camillus de Lellis. (There’s also a Bl. Angela Truszkowska, whose birth name was Zofia Kamila Truszkowska. Zofia Kamila! Wow!)

(6) Felicity

Felicity is a style match for Oliver, and it’s included in my article of Unmistakable Catholic Girl Names. I think it’s so feminine and pretty, so I had to include it! Sts. Perpetua and Felicity are such a well-known saintly pair and such great patrons for girls. I spotlighted Felicity, including nickname ideas (one of which is Lily!), here.

(7) Seraphina, Seraphine

This is totally inspired by Becca’s hope for a Catholic girly name. I think Seraphina is just so beautiful, and I included it in my book of Marian names because it “refers to the seraphim, the order of angels who ‘stand before God as ministering servants in the heavenly court,’ and gets its Marian character from two of Our Lady’s titles: ‘Our Lady of the Angels’ and ‘Queen of the Angels.’” I like how the French variant Seraphine flows with Eloise!

(7) Archangela

This was inspired both by Seraphina, in that it’s an obvious angel name — and specifically for the archangels, which means three patrons! — but also by Eleanor, because of Bl. Archangela Girlani, whose birth name was Eleanor.

(8) Immaculata

Finally, Immaculata is one of my favorite of the super-obvious-Catholic feminine names, and I LOVE how it sounds with Eloise! Eloise Immaculata! Ohhh my! This is one of my very favorite ideas for Becca’s baby girl.

I also wanted to offer a list of names beyond the obvious (but also including some of the obvious ones) that have floral connections. I used the posts Daring Flower Names and Botanical Girl Names on Appellation Mountain to compile this list (I didn’t include all the ones listed in those articles, so definitely check them out!), and I’ve asterisked the ones that I included in my book of Marian names. I also want to share the quote I found in a book called Mary’s Flowers: Gardens, Legends & Meditations by Vincenzina Krymow: “It is thought that at one time all flowers and plants honored Mary, the ‘Flower of Flowers,’ in legend or in name,” which would give a Catholic connection to any floral name (Behind the Name is the site I use for all name meanings if you wanted to look up the less obvious ones below).

  • Anthea
  • Azalea
  • Briallen
  • Calla
  • Carmel*
  • Eden
  • Hazel
  • Iris*
  • Ivy*
  • Jacinta, Jacinthe, Hyacinth
  • Lily, Lillie, Lilia, Lillian, Liliana, Liliane*
  • Linnea
  • Magnolia
  • Primrose*
  • Rosanna*
  • Rosary*
  • Rosemary, Rosemarie*
  • Susanna*

And those are all my ideas! What do you all think? What name(s) would you suggest for the little sister of Henry, Theodore/Theo, Everett, and Oliver?

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

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

Birth announcement: Aurelia-Rose Celeste!

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I had the pleasure of posting a consultation for Josh and Mari back in March (the fourth I’ve done for them!) for their baby girl, and I’m delighted to share that she’s arrived and been given the stunning name … Aurelia-Rose Celeste!

Josh writes,

“Well, she’s finally here! We had quite a time settling on a name for this little one. Your consultation in the comments were very helpful! We thought for sure she was going to be born yesterday, she held on until 1:20 a.m. this morning and so we decided to name her Aurelia-Rose Celeste. We loved the name and associations with Aurelia but wanted to add Rose for St. Rose of Lima, whose feast is today, as well as for its Marian associations. Thanks for giving us some good ideas!“

How lovely is this name?! Aurelia-Rose is so beautiful and feminine, and I love it paired with Celeste. The names altogether have the meaning of “Golden Rose of Heaven” — so Marian! So amazing! I love that Rose also nods to the saint on whose feast the baby was born — so perfect!

Congratulations to Josh and Mari and big siblings Ariana, Audrey, Caleb, Amelia, Anne-Catherine, Charles, Anessa, and Christian, and happy birthday Baby Aurelia-Rose!!

IMG_8956

Aurelia-Rose Celeste

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

Birth announcement: Iris Miriam!

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I’ve emailed the five winners of the St. Anne giveaway, but have only heard back from three of you — Thalita and Anne, please check your email! 

I posted my predictions for Grace Patton’s baby back in February, and for those who haven’t already seen, I’m excited to finally share the birth announcement for said baby — a little girl given the gorgeous name … Iris Miriam!

Grace wrote in the birth announcement on her blog:

“Iris Miriam has arrived! She was born on June 1st and I’ll save all the details for the birth story that should be up superdupersoon but she’s been a delightful addition to the family and I’m still SO surprised that she was a she! All of the older kids have been a huge help and Clement is pretty independent and hasn’t seemed bothered that there’s a new baby in town … yet. Abe finally started calling her, “Iris” instead of, “virus” and is always walking around closing the shutters in the house saying she doesn’t like the sunshine (??). Overall, we’re adjusting well and feel so fortunate to have her here safe and sound.”

(Abe calling her “virus” kills me! 😂😂😂)

And in her birth story post, Grace wrote:

“Simon and I were SO sure that I was having a boy (her heart rate was super low throughout the pregnancy which isn’t a proven theory — it was proof enough for me and my late night Google searches) that we hadn’t nailed down a middle name in the event we had a girl.

We decided to toss around some girl middle names and decided we wanted to go the Marian route and I was super surprised Simon agreed to Miriam because he normally goes through a, “no way … maybe … I’ll think about … maybe … I don’t know … I guess … maybe … okay!” song and dance when I suggest any name at all. So, easy peasy.”

I just love the combo Iris Miriam so much! I know Iris was a longtime favorite of Grace’s, so I’m thrilled for her that she got to use it. And a Marian middle will never not be my favorite thing. So beautiful!

Congratulations to Grace and Simon and big siblings Julia, Sebastian (Bash), Theodore (Theo), Phoebe, Bosco, Abraham (Abe), and Clement, and happy birthday Baby Iris!!

Check out Grace’s web site and her Instagram for pictures of her beautiful baby!

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

Birth announcement: Basil Grace!

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Happy Easter!! He is risen!!

I posted a birth announcement for Kate’s third baby a few years ago (Kate writes at The Rhodes Log blog, and also: check out the amazing little cabins she and her hubby are building for sweet Texas getaways!), and was so excited when I saw she was expecting number four! Kate and her hubby welcomed a baby girl and gave her the delightfully unexpected and beautiful name … Basil Grace!

Kate commented on her birth announcement on Instagram,

“[My husband and I] really struggle to agree on names. We often find that we are both attracted to names that feel a little too bold and we bail on them. (Jake was almost Huck. Lucy June was almost Juniper.) Basil has been on the list a long time … baby four finally made us brave.”

Oh man. I am so glad that baby four made them brave! Though I love all the names they’ve chosen. ❤

When I asked her more, Kate wrote,

“We only had a boy’s name picked out when she was born, and I hadn’t researched Basil thoroughly even though it’d been on our girl list for a while. But I’ve since discovered that Basil is known as the Holy Communion plant because it was allegedly found at the foot of the true cross and consequently was later used to decorate communion rails. So that was a delightful find!

Her name also shares a root (rather obviously) with Basilica.

Her due date was near the feast of St. Basil, and so we knew going in that if it was a girl she’d probably be named after him — [but we pronounce her name] ‘Bay-sil.’“

Basil for a girl! Said like the plant! With a great patron saint and an etymological connection to the word “basilica”! I love the repeating long A sound in Basil Grace (mirroring the long U of her big sis Lucy June, which I also LOVE), I love how fresh and summery Basil feels (similar to how I’d said her big brother Roman’s name brings to mind “‘roamin’ roads,’  which totally fits the vibe I get from them”), and I love how Basil has basilica like Roman has Rome. I love the way Kate and her hubs think!

Congratulations to Kate and Jacob and big sibs Jake, Lucy June, and Roman, and happy birthday Baby Basil Grace!!

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

Birth announcement: Ro$alita Mar!e!

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I had the great privilege of doing a second private consultation for a mama I first “met” through the blog a few years ago, and I’m delighted to share that she’s had her third baby — a little girl after two brothers! She’s been given the gorgeous, meaningful name … Ro$alita Mar!e! (Alt characters used for privacy.)

Her mama writes,

“Kate I had a baby — a girl, Ro$alita Mar!e! … She was born at home right at 41 weeks and even though it was a wildly fast labor of 21 minutes from when the midwife broke my waters and I felt the first contraction to when Ro$alita was born, it also felt the calmest and steadiest of all three of my labors. It was quiet and focused and I felt so powerful and strong … [She] is named after my mother (her nickname is Rose), my mother’s mother (we called her Lita, short for Abuelita or “grandmother” in Spanish), and my middle name Marie.”

Isn’t Ro$alita Mar!e a perfect way to pull together three generations of women?! I love it! (And whoa, did you catch that?? “21 minutes from when the midwife broke my waters and I felt the first contraction to when Ro$alita was born”!!! Amazing!!!)

She joins her handsomely named big brothers:

Cas1m1r Cull3n
$a1vad0r R0$e (birth announcement here)

Congratulations to the whole family, and happy birthday Baby Ro$alita!!

Ro$alita Mar!e and her parents ❤