Nicknames

Spotlight on: Bridget/Brigid

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If I wanted to write a really great post about Bridget/Brigid, this wouldn’t be what I’d write, but I’m tired and I wanted to post something Irishy today in anticipation of Tuesday! So this is what I got for you tonight:

“… The cult of St. Brighid [which this author says is pronounced “BRY-id” in “modern Irish”] was very popular in England as well as in Ireland. In English she was usually called Bride or Bryde, which represents the Irish Brighde, the genitive case of Brighid … it does not seemto have come into common use in Ireland until the 17th or 18th C. St. Brighid was known as ‘the Mary of the Gael,’ and it is possible that her name, like that of the Blessed Virgin, was considered too sacred for ordinary use. It is significant that Mary came into general use in Ireland at about the same time as Brighid. They are now and have long been the two commonest names in that country. The common pet-form Biddy displays the same process of formation as Fanny from Frances, Kit and Kester from Christopher. The name of the Swedish St. Brigitte or Birgitte (1303-73), which is usually translated Bridget in English, was an independent Swedish name. French and German Brigitte may represent either the Irish or the Swedish name, as the cults of both saints had a considerable extension.”

~ The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, by EG Withycombe, 54

Stay tuned for more fun next week, including another celebrity guest on Monday!

Spotlight on: Pearl

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A reader emailed asking about the name Pearl from a Catholic point of view, specifically wondering if it might be Marian?

Pearl is actually very Catholic, but not in that form. It’s most familiar in the form of …. Margaret.

According to behindthename, Margaret is “[d]erived from Latin Margarita, which was from Greek μαργαριτης (margarites) meaning “pearl.”” There are loads of Sts. Margaret, and loads of versions of the name. My favorites include the French Marguerite and Margaux/Margot, the Spanish Margarita, the Welsh Megan, and my most favorite of all is the Irish Mairead. And the nicknames! Some of them are names in their own right, but they can also be used as nicks: Greta, Rita, Madge, Maggie, Meg, Meta, and others. Even Daisy, because the French form Marguerite is also a noun (marguerite) meaning daisy (the flower), and I’ve heard of a couple little girls given the name Margaret and the nick Daisy.

I mean, come on. Margaret has it going on.

One thing it isn’t, though, is Marian. I couldn’t find any title/appellation referring to Our Lady that included “pearl” anywhere (if any of you can prove me wrong, I’d be beyond delighted!). Even the Irish Mairead, which contains the Irish Mary within it (Maire), has no connection to Mary.

So: Pearl. Beautiful, saintly name, and very Catholic, as long as you look at it through Margaret glasses.

Spotlight on: Cornelia and Roxan(n)e

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I don’t know about you, but I was eager to find out more about these two names, especially Roxan(n)e, in light of Simcha’s baby announcement. (I write “Roxan(n)e” because the first post I saw with the baby’s name had two n’s, and the second had only one. Not sure yet which is the typo, or if they haven’t totally decided yet on the spelling.)

I spotlighted Cornelius here, in which I discussed Cornelia; further, behindthename.com says, “In the 2nd century BC it was borne by Cornelia Scipionis Africana (the daughter of the military hero Scipio Africanus), the mother of the two reformers known as the Gracchi. After her death she was regarded as an example of the ideal Roman woman.” According to the Name Voyager, it peaked in popularity in the 1880s, and fell below 1000 on the charts — and thus off the charts altogether — in the 1970s. So if Simcha’s hope was that it would be a name not many of her classmates would have, she was certainly spot on. Cordelia, maybe, what with all the Anne of Green Gables fans (so many of us!), but not Cornelia. In addition to the Corrie, Lia, and Nell I’d listed as nicknames, others offered between the entry and the comments are Nele (which is German, so I think it’s said like Nella), Neely, Nelly, Cora, and Cokkie (which the comments tell me is said like coke-y), and seeing Corrie again made me dig a little deeper and … yes! Cornelia was Corrie ten Boom‘s given name! Now that is cool. Maybe Corrie just bumped up a bunch of notches on my list of favorite Cornelia nicknames. It’s certainly a pretty great namesake (as are the Sts. Cornelius).

Now for Roxan(n)e. The variant that had the most info on behindthename.com was Roxana, which is the “Latin form of Ρωξανη (Roxane), the Greek form of the Persian or Bactrian name روشنک (Roshanak) which meant “bright” or “dawn”. This was the name of Alexander the Great’s first wife, a daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes. In the modern era it came into use during the 17th century. In the English-speaking world it was popularized by Daniel Defoe, who used it in his novel ‘Roxana’ (1724).” Roxane was also the name of Cyrano de Bergerac’s love, which is sweet. Of the various versions given, I’m really digging the Polish Roksana and the Italian Rossana.

Do you know anyone with the names Cornelia or Roxan(n)e? Do they like their names? What nicknames do they go by, if any?

Birth announcement: Simcha’s baby!!

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Baby Fisher is here!! And her beautiful name is:

Cornelia Roxanne

Cornelia Roxanne!!!

Neither Cornelia nor Roxanne were part of my suggestions for the Fishers,* and even after knowing that Simcha said the name they chose might lead one to think of “a vegan stripper, or possibly a British lady-in-waiting for Persian nobility,” I still didn’t come up with either name.** But I love it! Cornelia totally sounds like one of their kids to me, and — just picturing her and big sis Benny buddying around like my two youngest sisters — I’m just loving Benedicta and Cornelia as sisters … and, not saying they *should*, but if they go for a nickname … and if that nickname happens to be Nell … ohmygoodness. Benny and Nell???? It’s like a storybook, with fields of sunshine and little girls in pretty dresses with crowns of flowers in their hair.

Even though Simcha and Damien didn’t choose one of my suggestions, I do feel pretty good about the fact that I spotlighted Cornelius a while ago, in which I discussed Cornelia.  So even though it was totally not on my radar for them, and I’m not sure I’ve ever really considered Cornelia much at all for anyone, I suppose there’s the tiniest chance they saw my little Cornelius post and were inspired by it.  🙂

But probably not. In all likelihood not. They are pretty fab namers, those Fishers. Welcome to the world Cornelia Roxanne!!

———————–

* My suggestions for a girl were Stella, Esther or Miriam, and Hannah

** On Rebecca Frech’s Virtual Baby Shower for Simcha post, before I knew about the “vegan stripper/British lady-in-waiting” thing, after my initial suggestions of Stella, Esther or Miriam, and Hannah, I suggested Pearl Emmanuelle and Martha Frances. After discovering that new bit of info (vegan stripper/Brit LIW), I decided Edith Esther and Althea Kyrie were my top two predictions.

Baby name consultant: Baby Girl Stark

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Angela and Tim Stark have two little ones already, Paxton Anthony and Gabriella Tiffany, and they’re expecting their third, a girl. Angela writes,

“Our first (boy) was easy for us: Paxton Anthony Stark. Paxton is not very catholic but Pax is Latin for peace… so kinda sorta? But we love his name. We LOVED Maximus but Maximus Stark sounded too much like a transformer. But once Paxton was mentioned we agreed right off the bat, it sounded very strong … Our next (girl) we struggled and argued the WHOLE pregnancy. It wasn’t until we were about to sign the birth certificate where I said “Let’s just do Gabriella” and he replied “I guess I’ll get used to it”. I was only okay with it because I LOVE the angels, I threw in the extra L to make it more unique. I was hesitant on the name because I didn’t want anyone to call her Gabby or Ella. Tim liked the name but was hard pressed on Julianna which I refused and he was grumpy about it. We love her name now, and no one has called her Gabby yet. Her middle name is Tiffany after my husbands sister who passed away.”

For this new little girl, Angela says,

“I have been a devout Catholic my entire life and I want a saint name but a unique one. When I say unique I don’t mean anything crazy off the wall… but different. If it were up to me her name would be Augustina Christi Stark (Call her August). I also like Faustina, Constantine, Lucia (pronounced looSEEa), Noelle (not a saint but still like), Aurea and a few others but that’s the gist of it. My husband (recent convert/baby catholic) on the other hand is obsessed with “princess” saint names like Victoria, Alexandra, Anastasia, Julianna, Isabelle, Sophia, Teresa. He shoots down anything different or unique and I shoot down anything that sounds too common (for lack of better words). The names we somewhat agree on are Lucia, Cecilia … and that’s about it but neither of us are sold … bonus points if the saint has an awesome story and has a latin feel/sound to it.”

I love Angela and Tim’s other kids’ names — I think they did a great job. I absolutely agree that Paxton Anthony is quite heavy-hitting with the Latin-for-peace bit, and Gabriella Tiffany is so pretty and feminine — I love the Gabriel names anyway, and recently I was reading about the origin of Tiffany — it’s very Catholic itself! It comes from Epiphany (read more here and here), and finding that out gave me appreciation for the name that I didn’t have before.

For this baby, I do love Lucia and Cecilia, but I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to help the Starks find a name they feel might be a better fit. I always try to find overlap between differing styles, to see if there’s some common ground. As you all have probably figured out by now, I rely heavily on the Baby Name Wizard book to do this, as it lists, for each entry, other boy and girl names that have a similar style/feel. Hubby Tim’s style is very consistent — he likes Alexandra, Victoria, Anastasia, Julianna, Isabelle, Sophia, and they both agreed on Gabriella for their first daughter, and those names are basically all listed as similar to each other in each respective list. Angela’s is more eclectic, but not too different from Tim’s in the sense of very feminine names ending in -a — Augustina, Faustina, Lucia, Aurea.

One of the names that immediately came to my mind for them was Thaïsa. It’s so similar in look and sound to Teresa, which Tim likes (it’s said tie-EE-sah) while still being really unusual and distinctive that I thought it might be a good fit. Alas, though she’s revered as a saint in the East, her actual existence and details are disputed (I spotlighted it here), so it didn’t make my final cut, but I thought i’d mention it anyway.

The suggestions I came up with for little Miss Stark (I shoot for three) are categories with names within, as a way of trying to get to those names that have overlap between Mom and Dad’s two styles:

(1) Frilly/lacy/feminine names with a boyish nickname

When I read that Angela’s very favorite first name is Augustina with the nickname August (and I love love Augustina Christi!), my immediate thought was “sophisticated and feminine with a boyish nickname.” That might not have been Angela’s intention, but I like it, and I had two ideas that might fit in with that idea, thus marrying Tim’s “princess” style and Angela’s spunkier mindset: Elisabetta nicknamed Eli (like EE-lie, the boy’s name, not Ellie), and Michaela nicknamed Michi.

Elizabeth is certainly a great saintly name, but I looked for some of its non-English variants to get at that “Latin feel/sound” Angela said she hoped for, and thought Elisabetta fit the bill. It’s gorgeous to look at and say, in my opinion, and patrons could be St. Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist or St. Elizabeth of Hungary, or my recent favorite is Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur, who secretly prayed and offered her sufferings until her death for her atheist husband’s conversion; after she died he found her journal, which detailed all she’d done for him, and he converted and became a Dominican priest who once led a retreat for Fulton Sheen. Such a great story, such an amazing woman. As for Eli as a nick — Elizabeth and its variants have a million great nicknames, but I hadn’t heard Eli used until recently. I know an Elizabeth who goes by Eli, and though I thought she was a he for the longest time (I only know *of* her — a friend of a family member), Angela runs the same risk with August, so I suspect that’s okay with her.

My other suggestions, Michaela, is a favorite of mind. I know a little one with this name whose mother’s first language is Spanish, and they call her Michi (MEE-chee), which is just one of the cutest names, and I think it works fine for a non-Spanish-speaking family as well. The Starks could use that pronunciation, or MITCH-y, which is also really cute. And of course St. Michael is a great patron and protector, and Angela did say she loves the angels (I would understand though if they thought it was a bit much with sister Gabriella).

(2) Last name of a saint

Angela said she wants “a saint name but a unique one. When I say unique I don’t mean anything crazy off the wall,” and using the last name of a saint seems a really good way to do this. On the blog My Child I Love You, two of the little girls are named Clairvaux and Vianney, and both those names jumped out to me as ones that the Starks might like. Especially Clairvaux, since it can be shortened to the sweet Clair. I’ve also seen Majella used as a first name for girls, which is another option, and one of my very favorites is Avila, which is connected to Tim’s love of Teresa.

(3) Princess-y names that are also unusual/unique

This is similar to #1, but I didn’t focus on nicknames as much as femininity and unusualness. I found quite a few that I think would work: Karoline or Karolina (said like the state or care-ah-LEE-na), Lydia, Magdalena, Reina, Sabina, Gemma, Charis, Christiana, Clementine, Juliet or Juliette, Roma, Natalia, Jacinta, Simone, Seraphina, Evangeline, Penelope, Georgiana, Zelie, Dominique. They’re all either saints/blesseds/Biblical (Lydia, Magdalena, Sabina, Gemma, Juliet(te) [from Julia], Natalia, Jacinta, Penelope [original name of St. Irene], Zelie [St. Therese’s mom and a Blessed herself]), or female versions of male saints’ names (Karoline/a for JP2, Christiana for Jesus, Clementine from Clement, Simone from Simon, Georgiana from George, Dominique from Dominic), or otherwise Catholic (Reina is a form of Regina, Charis means “grace” and is contained within the word Eucharist, Roma for Roman Catholic, Seraphina for the angels, Evangeline means “good news,” like evangelist). I love each of these names.

One saint that seemed especially meaningful in light of Angela’s love of Augustina is St. Agostina Livia Pietrantoni. I was reading about her recently — Agostina is actually the name she took when she became a Sister of Charity, but the snippet I was reading referred to her as “Livia” throughout, so I thought I’d suggest it. I have long loved Livia — I love that it feels familiar because of Olivia, but it’s not Olivia — it’s an old name in its own right, going back to ancient Rome, and rarely used. And there’s the amazing nickname Livvy, which I think is just the sweetest. Livia Christi? I love it.

What do you all think? What suggestions do you have for Angela and Tim’s little girl-on-the-way?

Spotlight on: Josephine and Josepha

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I was recently reading about St. Josephine Bakhita, whose feast just passed (February 8) — what a woman! I’d never known much about her, but was blown away by the little I read of her life here. So her name was already on my radar when I read the snippet in the Baby Name Wizard about the name Josephine:

“How many names can be all this for you: elegant as an empress, familiar as an old friend, and ready to kick back with fun little nicknames? The answer is exactly three: Victoria, Catherine, and Josepine. The first two are perennially popular, but the third still manages to sound creative. Ahhh.”

I love that! And, you know me, being Nickname Girl (it might be one of my best superpowers 😉 ), I just loved all the suggestions offered: Jo, Josie, Joey, Josette, Fifi, Jody, and Posy. It didn’t list one that I read once though, that I thought was totally inspired and still do: Sophie. Amazing, right? I admit Josephine has never been my favorite name, and Sophie’s my favorite of the Soph- names (I do prefer it to Sophia) but it doesn’t totally fit my personal style … but Josephine nicked Sophie? I could totally get behind that!

Josefa was the entry right before Josephine the BNW, so I thought I’d include that here as well. I’ve known exactly one person with the name Josefa (or maybe she spelled it Josepha?), but she was cool so she made the name cool to me, and I’ve liked it ever since. The Josephine nicknames aren’t all totally right for Josefa in my opinion — Sophie draws as much from the “een” end of Josephine as it does from the “f” in the middle and the long strong “o” in the beginning; Fifi also wouldn’t be as natural for Josefa — but the Jo- ones are all great. I could also see something like Effie working, with the stress in Josefa being on the “ef.”

And of course, we can’t forget our good St. Joseph and what a great way to honor him either Josephine or Josepha/Josefa is.

What do you think of Josephine and Josepha/Josefa? Do you know anyone with these names? Do they like their name? Do they go by a nickname?

Baby name consultant: Baby Enloe #2

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Marty and Amy Enloe and big sister Kristy Marie will be welcoming baby #2, gender unknown, around Easter. Amy’s explanation of how they chose Kristy’s name is one of the most beautiful naming stories I’ve heard: “In short, she is named after after the two greatest people I could think of — Christ and Mary, giving honor to God first (and in our 1st born) and my love/connection to Mary. It [also] connects to family names, and the tradition of naming after and/or handing down.” How lovely!

In trying to come up with ideas for the new baby, she writes, “I like family names, or naming after someone, even if it is not family, but just one who has character that you want your children to aspire to or that have a connection with/to … for our own children we tend to go more for traditional/’real’ names that are obviously a common name … We want a name to carry them through life, respectable, not just cute. Something they could be a business person with or a grandma, or a little boy … I would love a Catholic name/connection somewhere as it’s huge to me … An Italian name might be cool, I love that part of my heritage … I love John Paull II and wanted to name after him some how … boy or girl but we weren’t finding a version we liked best. Closest we came was maybe something like Gianna/Giani, which my husband wasn’t totally feeling.”

For a girl, Amy knows she’d really like to use Victoria as a middle name, for her mom (see below) and also because it “makes me think of purple, vintage, scrolls, pretty, traditional” (I love that! Beautiful mental image!), but since they’re “totally feeling boy,” they’ve given more thought to boy names:

“For sure there are 4 middle names I like for boys — Kane, Lincoln, James and Joseph … Kane because Kristy has my middle name, so our first boy could have his dad’s middle name, traditional, hand me down. James and Joseph are Biblical/Catholic and I am really liking Lincoln this time. One night Marty said the first name that popped into his head and it was the first time I didn’t immediately say no to something. It felt the same way as Kristy’s name, a surprise and I couldn’t explain why it stuck with me a while. Calvin. Calvin Kane Enloe. Hmmm… the flow works well, but maybe the two n sounds run together. Kristy was an easy baby, I am expecting this one to be harder, but do I want a Calvin and Hobbes boy?? 🙂 … It’s a boy’s name, but a man’s name at the same time. A normal name but not seen much now (like Kristy). The sounds match but not the same letter. Both 6 letters, 2 syllables … I want sibling names that match some how … I still don’t mind the idea of Martin as a first if I find a middle I would want to use/go by, or Samuel (maybe the two L sounds run together) … We were close to our priest Fr. Vince (Vincent — Italian) and he has moved out of state … I am due pretty much Easter weekend (April 6th) so maybe an Easter related name. Pascal? I always pair that with Blaise though in my mind. I considered it for Kristy … You don’t really hear Pascal here in the states, but I did know two boys that had these names.”

Amy also mentioned that she really liked how her initials, AME, say her name when said out loud, and even little Kristy gets called by her initials sometimes (KME, said K-Me). Marty’s named for his dad, Martin, but his dad goes by his middle name, so giving a boy the first name Martin but having him go by his middle would be a nod to family tradition. Finally, their parents names are Victorian Lynn and James John (Amy) and Martin Craig and Kathleen (Marty), and some other family names that might inspire include: Elva, Betty, Donald, Lincoln, Joseph, Phillip, Mildred, Katherine, Mary, Joan (pronounced Joe-Anne), and Karl.

As I do, I aimed for three suggestions for each gender for Amy and Marty, though I ended up with four for boys, mostly because I loved their existing thought of Calvin Kane so much and had a much harder time coming up with boy ideas that I thought were as good that I overcompensated!

Girl

(1) Amanda Victoria Enloe (AVE)

My very hearty #1 recommendation for a girl is Amanda Victoria Enloe. Amanda is six letters! And with Victoria in the middle, after Amy’s mom, the full name makes the initials AVE, which makes it Marian! (So sneaky!) Amanda fits a similar popularity profile as Kristy (peaked in the 70s/80s), and it means “beloved” or “able to be loved” (Latin), which is an amazing meaning for a little girl. Amanda is totally do-able on its own, but I do love the nickname Mandy, and Mandy and Kristy sound like adorable sisters to me. Another natural nickname for it — which I do not recommend of course, is Amy, and I love that it makes Amanda kind of an honor name for mom Amy. So sweet! My runner up for my first suggestion is Angela — also similar in popularity and feel, also giving the amazing initials AVE, and being named after the angels is lovely, or even Our Lady, Queen of the Angels, for an extra Marian touch. (But I just love love love the lovable Amanda. :))

(2) Monica

When I was looking through lists of names that seemed to match Kristy, Monica jumped out right away. I love the Catholic connection — St. Monica is one of the very best saints, and it has six letters! (Not that I’m fixated on that, but I was pretty psyched that some/a lot of my ideas have six letters.) I think Monica can pair well with a lot of middle names: Monica Mary, Monica Pascale, maybe Monica Lynn (Amy’s mom’s middle name, instead of using her first name Victoria), maybe Monica Martine (for her husband Martin). (I also like the idea of Martina as a first name).

(3) Joanna P___

Joanna was inspired by both Calvin (see below), as Joanna’s listed in the Baby Name Wizard as being similar in style and feel to Calvin, and also by Amy’s love of John Paul II. I once heard of a little girl named Joanna Pauline, after JP2, which I thought was amazing, and as soon as I saw Joanna in the list for Calvin, I thought it seemed perfect. I’m not wedded to the combo Joanna Pauline, though I do like it; I actually think Joanna Pascale would be my preference. Amy said she’d considered Pascal for a boy, since she’s due around Easter, and I love the feminine form Pascale. I love it as a middle name — so interesting and unexpected and chic — and Joanna Pascale gives the initials JP, just like our beloved Papa. Amy also said they have a relative Joan (pronounced Joe-Anne), which could make Joanna an honor name if they’d like. (And — six letters! Ahh! :))

Boy

(1) Calvin Kane

This was Amy’s idea, and I just love it. Calvin is so cool paired with Kane, just great. Amy had mentioned being worried abotu inviting trouble by connecting a boy to Calvin and Hobbes but I have to say, as the mom of six boys, I actually find the connection quite endearing! My boys are all variations of mischievous, but all pretty adorable, which is my memory of Calvin and Hobbes (I haven’t read the strip in years, but I used to paste them on the paper-bag cover of my textbooks in high school, that’s how much I loved them!).

(2) Martin [Something]

I really liked Amy’s idea of Martin as a first name with a middle name that the baby would actually go by — it’s a great family tradition in her husband’s family, and it’s a nice way to have a namesake for her husband without having a Junior. I like Martin James, Martin Joseph, Martin Derek (see below), Martin Samuel, and Martin Blaise. I particularly like the last one, Martin Blaise, and while I can see why Amy thinks Blaise and Kristy are too far apart style-wise, I actually can see them working really well together. Kristy is for Our Lord after all, and Blaise is a great saint, so that automatically makes them go together to me — it’s all the same family. 🙂 Besides, Blaise’s real first name would be Martin, which I think goes with Kristy quite nicely. Martin Blaise Enloe is so handsome!

(3) Samuel Vincent

I think this is a great combo. Samuel because Amy had mentioned liking it, and Vincent after the priest she and her husband were close to. I like the initials too — SVE, kind of reminds me of “Save” — and it’s six letters!

(4) Aaron or Derek or Jason

As I mentioned, I had a hard time coming up with other boy names besides the ones Amy and Marty had already thought of. But when Aaron came to mind, I thought that it really worked. Aaron Kane, Aaron James, Aaron Joseph all sound pretty good to me, and I like how Aaron Enloe sounds and looks (lots of vowels!). Maybe some would be put off by the -on ending of Aaron running into the En- beginning of Enloe, but it doesn’t bother me — quite the opposite, I think it flows really well.

Derek also struck me as a good fit. Derek James, Derek Joseph, Derek Martin all sound good to me; Derek Lincoln not as great but not terrible either, and I like Derek Enloe. And Jason Enloe. Jason James, Jason Joseph, Jason Kane, Jason Blaise — all pretty cool. A friend recently named her son Jason, which was pleasantly unexpected. AND I just read recently that Jason is a name in the New Testament — a man who sheltered Paul and Silas. I don’t know how I’d never noticed that before! I included Aaron, Derek, and Jason in the same numbered suggestion because they’re my attempts to come up with something new for Baby Enloe #2, but really I just like Amy and Marty’s existing thoughts on boy names!

One name that I didn’t really address, though Amy specifically said she was thinking about it, is Lincoln. I do try to limit myself somewhat when making suggestions, otherwise I could just go on and on and on ……. which I don’t really think is that helpful to the parents (too many ideas!), and too stressful to me. But I do like Lincoln a lot — both the president (best president ever) and the nickname Linc (Prison Break anyone?). I don’t know what else to say about it though, so I’ll just leave it at that.

So that’s what I got! What do you all think? What other ideas or suggestions can you offer to the Enloe family?

About nicknames

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I’ve had a few people comment on how I always offer nickname suggestions for the names I discuss on here. On the one end, some say they’re not big nicknamers — they prefer their child to be called by the name that they gave him or her. On the other, some say they love nicknames, and have commented on a few of the more unusual/nontraditional ones I’ve suggested as ones they really like and had never thought of. I’m sure there are those of you in the middle — yeah, a good nickname can be cool, but you’re not stressed over pinning down the right one. Or you won’t not choose a name you like because you can’t think of a great nickname.

I totally get it! All of those perspectives! But I thought it might be helpful to detail why I focus so much on offering as many nickname options as I can think of.

For one thing, my family is made up of unrelenting nicknamers. I say that in the most affectionate way possible, because I love a good nickname, but unrelenting we are. For example, my mom and I were talking to a friend recently who is expecting her third boy. We asked her if she and her husband had decided on a name yet and she said yes, and so happily told us their selection, and we said, “How nice! And what are you going to call him?” and our friend’s face sort of froze in place, with the smile still there but a look behind it that said, “Didn’t I just tell you what we’re calling him?!”

Some people are just not nicknamers, and that is so totally fine, totally cool. Mom and I quickly laughed and assured her we will be just delighted to call the baby by his name and poked fun at our own selves for being crazy nicknamers and she laughed and all was jolly and forgiven. (I hope.)

That wouldn’t fly in my family, though. In my family, if the parents of the baby don’t decide what nickname they want the baby to be called, the baby will very likely end up with a nickname that the parents might not like. So my husband and I carefully — and with great fun — weighed each name’s merits by whether or not it had a good nickname, and if not, could a good one be created? Especially since my dad loves to tell people that he loves the name Anastasia, that they should totally consider it for their baby, especially since it has the amazing nickname of … wait for it … “Nasty.” Oh how he howls with laughter at that! And so do we all, for dear old Dad, but all of us also with the firm conviction that we will never use the name Anastasia because we’re just not totally sure Dad’s joking.

(And even if a nickname is chosen and promoted and lives are threatened if any other nickname is used, there’s still the chance of a crazy nickname. My brother has called me Blu since high school. It would take far too long to explain why; suffice it to say that, while I appreciate the affection behind it, it’s not a name I want everyone to call me.)

For another thing, regarding nicknames, we talk about some pretty amazing but maybe somewhat heavy-for-everyday-use names here at Sancta Nomina. Solanus. Cornelius. Bartholomew. Quadragesimus. Amazing names for amazing people; names that call to mind feats of faith, lives offered up, miracles performed, love of God oozing from every story of their lives; names that reflect the weightiness with which we want our children to view their faith and the holy love of God.

But those sweet babies of ours will be hanging upside down from the monkey bars. They will be putting worms in their little brother’s hair. They will be drawing on walls and eating candy contraband while hiding behind chairs and screaming during Mass and sassing their mothers and falling asleep in our arms like sweet lambies who wouldn’t dream of doing anything mischievous. And how the heck do you even pronounce their given name anyway? (Say some of the relatives who have never heard of St. Apollonia.) It’s just kind of nice sometimes to be able to call such a child by a sweet normal-ish nickname rather than VerySeriousFirstName. And it’s nice to have options as to what that nickname might be.

Where do you fall on the nickname spectrum? Yea, nay, or somewhere in between?

Spotlight on: Solanus

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My family has a special connection to Venerable Solanus Casey — a Capuchin who died in 1957. He’s been a powerful intercessor for us — we believe that his intercession miraculously saved my sister’s life when she was stillborn — and I’m delighted to spotlight his name today.

Barney Casey was the oldest of sixteen children, and he struggled academically (a great patron for any student who has a hard time!). As I understand it, he took the name Solanus when he entered the seminary in Detroit, after St. Francis Solano (also known as Francis Solanus), a Spanish Franciscan missionary who died in 1610. When I first thought about the name Solanus, I assumed it had something to do with the sun — “sol” means “sun” and all that — but it’s not actually true (a mistake I’ve made often … like the name Soledad I always thought probably meant “sunny” because of the “sol” part, but it actually means “solitude” and comes from the Marian title “Mary of Solitude” [Maria de Soledad]). With Solano, it was St. Francis’ family’s last name, which means … oh wait a minute! Ancestry.com is saying that it’s a “Spanish, Aragonese, Asturian-Leonese: habitational name from any of the places named Solano (Burgos and Málaga provinces) or El Solano (Asturies, and Uesca, Aragon), named with solano ‘place exposed to the sun’ (Late Latin solanum, a derivative of sol ‘sun’).” (Emphasis mine.)

So I was right! Which is so awesome, because when I’d originally had the thought that it had something to do with “sun,” I thought of a nickname that seemed just perfect, and when I thought that I’d been wrong and it didn’t have anything to do with “sun,” I thought, “Oh well, the nickname’s a good one anyway.” But here we are back again and the nickname I thought of was …. Sonny! Or Sunny, but I think Sonny comes across as more masculine. How cute is that?? Solanus nicknamed Sonny. Swoon! Because, you know, with a name like Solanus, if you’re a two-year-old little guy and not an old Capuchin with a long beard, you kind of have to have a nickname. (I think Solly works too, which is really cute.)

What do you all think of Solanus? I think it’s extremely do-able as a middle name, and with a great accessible nickname like Sonny it’s a great first name too. Do you know anyone who has the name Solanus as a first or a middle? What does he think of his name? Does he go by a nickname?

Spotlight on: Bosco

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Today’s the feast of St. John Bosco, who is a special saint for our house full of boys. John is certainly a fine namesake for him, or the full John Bosco, but there was a Brother Bosco at our parish for a while, which really made me consider the name Bosco on its own.

Bosco. It seems to have some use as a first name among the laity — anyone remember Mr. T’s character’s name on the A-Team? (Answer: Sergeant B.A. Baracus — the B.A. was for Bosco Albert. This is new to me — I never watched the A-Team — I like Bosco Albert a lot! I guess he told people B.A. was for Bad Attitude? And his childhood nickname was Scooter. All super cute, I could totally see a precocious little guy owning all those names.)

But the scarcity of info on the name in my sources says to me its use is not widespread nor its origin well known (or maybe its origin for other people isn’t the saint). I could see Boz or Boss being really cute nicknames for it, and it seems a natural brother for a Fulton or a Kolbe.

Do you know anyone named Bosco? Does he have a nickname? Does he like his name?