Baby names

[puellapaschalis]

It's certainly not too long ago that Dutch Catholic boys would have a string of names at Baptism (they don't take a new name at Confirmation), and one of them was invariably Maria.

[Peace]

Shadrach. Meshach. Abedngo.

[Peace]

DP

Edited August 31, 2015 by Peace

[DominicanHeart]

I only recently discovered that the name Elise means Consecrated to God. I love that. And if I were called to have children, I know my son would be Peter Anthony. Peter for my Parish and Anthony for my beloved Pastor. Girls, I have way too many options, just like I have too many options for Religious names.

Edited August 31, 2015 by DominicanHeart

[beatitude]

For girls:

Elizabeth. I like the meaning ('house of God') and she speaks some of the most beautiful words in the Bible: "Blessed is she who believed..."

Emmanuela, again for the meaning ('God-with-us'). It can be nicely shortened to Ella.

Olivia. This would probably be my first choice of name for a girl. I just think it's beautiful.

Richeldis. She is an eleventh-century saint who founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, known as 'England's Nazareth' - it has a fascinating history and is very special to me.

Mary. It is never lacking in thought to name someone for the Blessed Mother. It was also my much-loved grandma's name. I also like Miriam.

Judith (because a woman who carries her enemy's head home in a lunchbag is a very good patron to have should you ever encounter playground bullies).

Charlotte. It just sounds nice and I like the short form Lottie for children.

Rahma. This is an Arabic name meaning mercy. I like the sound of it, and it is also the name some of the children I worked with in the Middle East gave to me - they had special needs and couldn't remember my real name properly. One little boy said decisively, "I don't like it and it is difficult to say. You can be called Rahma." By the end even some of my colleagues were calling me that and I got attached to it.

Rosa, in honour of the Blessed Mother as Rosa Mystica.

I'm another fan of Eleanor.

For boys:

Joseph, for sure (assuming there were no girls in the family called Mary or Maria - that would just seem weird).

Christopher. I like the meaning, Christ-bearer, and it sounds good as a name.

John Paul. He had such an influence on me as a teenager and if I had a son he would probably get this for sure.

Peter. Who better than the first pope? Unfortunately I don't really like the short form Pete and it's pretty much inevitable that this gets used.

Julian, for Mother Julian of Norwich, and also the hero of a book that I really liked when I was little.

Charles (for Bl. Charles de Foucauld). I also like the short form Charlie.

Raphael, in honour of the angel. I'd probably choose this more as a middle name, though. I also really like Maggie's idea of Campion or Bellarmine as middle names.

Matthew, because he wrote the beatitudes, and phrased the first one, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" - as someone outcast he must have really known the meaning of that. I also like Matthias.

Finally, Martin for St Martin of Tours and Damien for St Damien of Molokai.

Edited August 31, 2015 by beatitude

[OnlySunshine]

I have always been partial to old-fashioned names since I am old-fashioned at heart.  I am not a fan of these "trendy" names nowadays like Brooklyn or Jaymes (for a girl).  Here are my favorites:

Girls: Elizabeth, Samantha, Rose, Mary, Anne, Catherine

Boys: Henry, Andrew, James, Charles, Michael

If I had to pick only one name (first and middle) for a boy and a girl, it would be:

GIRL: Mary Elizabeth (for the Visitation; I wanted this name if I entered religious life)

BOY: Henry James (my grandfather's name is James, so it would honor him)

[Ancilla Domini]

Well here is...some of my list.

Evelyn

Audrey

Bridget

Veronica

Adelaide (? not sure about this one. I have to repeat it to myself a few dozen more times. )

Timothy

Benjamin

Edmund

James

[Gabriela]

If I had a girl, I'd name her Emma for Our Blessed Mother (Emma sounds like "Ima", which is Hebrew for "mother"—"mom", really!).

If I had a boy, I'd probably name him Emet (Hebrew for 'truth') or Tzedek (Hebrew for 'justice') or simply 'Justice' in English. Nathanael is also a possibility.

I like the idea of naming children for virtues and geographic places, but some of the words for those things would sound just awful.

[Credo in Deum]

Rocco

Bob

Jim

Carmine

Duke

[Amppax]

I think Alex is a wonderful name. 

[tinytherese]

Since I was a little girl I enjoyed looking up name meanings and making lists of favorites. Ha, I'm sure the bookstore lady was concerned by the 11 year old buying a baby name book (and the bridal magazine too). 

What is your favorite baby name for a boy or girl? I have to admit I'm kind of snobby and pooh pooh invented names or spellings. However recently I am starting to love more adventurous stuff for MIDDLE names - like Mercy, Magnolia, Honor, Briallen (not made up, it's the Welsh word for primrose), Posey, Clover, Poet. Basically names that make me sound like an upper class British twit. 

Boy names, I like standard classics, pretty boring there, except for the Irish name Eamon which I think is so cool but confusing for Americans. And for a middle on a boy I like a saint's last name like Campion or Becket or Bellarmine.

What do you like?

When I was 13, my younger brother was born and my mom got me a baby name book to help choose his name. My parents and I all liked Ben for a boy and that's what his name ended up as. I kept that book after he was born and continued to go through it multiple times picking out names for my future children.

 

I'm hesitant to give my kids any J names or some G names that sound like Js because my mom, aunt, uncle, and I have J names and I keep getting accidentally called by my aunt's name. 

 

Boys:

Leo, Ezekiel, Isaac, Adrian, Dominic, Landon, Aidan, Simon, Tyler, Damian, Joseph, Malachai, Isaiah, James, Malcolm, Henry, Charlie (legal name Charles Borromeo,) John Paul,  Zaccheus (nickname Zach,) Joseph

 

Girls:

Tiffany, Heather, Audrey, Cosette, Anna, Aurelia, Ginny, Josie, Monica, Pauline, Natalia, Evangeline, Savannah, Ally, Cecilia, Leena, Louisa, Makenzie, Nina, Rosalie, Vivian, Vivica, Hally, Grace, Elisa, Anastasia, Gianna, Kateri, Lisa, Sophie, Topanga, Galiana, Hope, 

 

Loyola either for a boy's middle name or a girl's first name. 

[DominicanHeart]

I'm debating on whether or not I'm going to be that Catholic mom that names all of her girls Mary something. 

Mary Catherine 

Mary Bernadete

Mary Rose etc.

[Selah]

I have girls names picked out, but not boys. I like Rachel Joy and Kiara Grace.

[Archaeology cat]

I'm debating on whether or not I'm going to be that Catholic mom that names all of her girls Mary something. 

Mary Catherine 

Mary Bernadete

Mary Rose etc.

There's a lady in our parish who has done that. So her daughters all have names like Mary Therese, Mary Clare, Mary Veronica, etc. 

[NadaTeTurbe]

There's a lady in our parish who has done that. So her daughters all have names like Mary Therese, Mary Clare, Mary Veronica, etc. 

My gread-grand-father have done that. My great-aunt are called Marie-Louise (called Marilou), Marie-Françoise, Marie-Thérèse, etc... and the boys are called Pierre-Marie, Jules-Marie, Michel-Marie, etc... But nobody ever said the "Marie", for the boys or the girls.