October is one of the most beautiful months in the Church's Liturgical Calendar. There are some really amazing and interesting feast days. The month is also dedicated to the Rosary. This seems like a perfect time to begin this blog of baby names for Catholics.
October 2 is the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. This is an important feast day because it reminds us how much Our Lord loves us. He loves us so much that He has assigned each of us an angel all of our own. And while we don't know the names of all the angels, we do know some. They are traditionally male names, but there are also feminine variations.
While some of these are quite popular, they are still worth considering. There are also a host of nick-names to go along with them.
Michael: St. Michael the Archangel is the highest of all the angels. God has given him many responsibilities and my children love him best of all the angels. He is our celestial protector, fighting the devils at every turn. The name, itself, means "Who is like God?"
If Michael is too popular for you, try the Finnish form Mikko. It's cool, modern, and has that really fun "o" at the end.
Feminine forms: Michelle and Michaela
Gabriel: St. Gabriel the Archangel is considered the highest of God's messengers. It was he who appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary announcing she was to be the Mother of Our Lord.
The feminine forms, Gabrielle and Gabriella, are quite popular, and there are a whole host of nick-names to choose from.
Raphael: St. Raphael the Archangel is the patron saint of lovers and happy meetings. He is a central figure in the Book of Tobias where he heals Tobias' blindness and rescues Tobias' daughter-in-law from the Devil. Rafe is a cute nick-name, too.
The feminine form Raphaela would make a nice addition to the popular -ella names, too.
Angel: This name doesn't need any explanation. It's both celestial and strong. Perhaps that's why the Spanish speaking world has been using it for awhile. In the U.S., it's mostly used for girls. The Italian, Angelo, would make a cool, masculine choice, and has that lovely "o".
The feminine variations of this name make a huge list, with some much more modern than old-fashioned. Angela was a favorite in the 60s, but the literary Angelica and the lovely Angelina would make beautiful, contemporary choices. Angelica also brings to mind the beloved Mother Angelica, the founder of EWTN.
All of these celestial names are quite suitable for Catholic children and, in fact, would be constant reminders of the invisible world and the glory of Heaven.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Why I Started This Blog.
In 1992, we had our first child. Throughout that pregnancy, my husband and I went back and forth on baby names. Since we were not Christian, we were not overly concerned with identifying our son, or any other future children, with a religious name. We were not opposed to that either, and I am fairly certain, if our first-born had been a daughter, she would have been called Hannah.
But as our lives changed and we continued to grow spiritually, so did our naming style. By the time we had given birth to our 4th child, we were decidedly Catholic. We talked, then, a lot about giving our 1st daughter a lovely saint's name to reflect our love for our faith, but we never found one we liked. We also were not really encouraged to choose a saint's name either. We did not receive instruction on the issue and we came to the conclusion, after reading the Catechism, that as long as the name wasn't outright opposed to Christian sensibilities, we could select whatever name we wanted. We did just that and added a lovely saint's name in the middle.
As I was approaching the delivery of our 6th child, our spiritual lives had yet again grown to new levels. We had come to love our Catholic lives in unimaginable ways. We had spent time praying more and reading more about the Church and the saints. As we read about their lives, we began to understand why our Catholic ancestors left the legacy of generations of Francis', Stephens, Marys, Marthas, and Johns. These saints had amazing faith and incredible virtue. Catholic parents of those days wanted their children to have someone with strong character upon whom to model their lives. They wanted their children to always have their eyes and minds on Heaven and the saints who live there. Not only did the parents want this, but the Church required it as well.
When we became Traditional Catholics, we came in with all the trappings of Modern Catholicism, including the "Saints-name-in-the-middle" philosophy of baby naming. But something nagged within us when we were expecting our 7th child. Eventually, we were able to find a saint's name we liked, although obscure. It is so obscure that I am not convinced our priest even recognizes it! But our beautiful daughter has a patron, nonetheless.
In light of our difficulty, I wanted to have a blog that could be useful for today's Catholic parents who are confused and misinformed about baby naming. I personally believe more Catholic parents would choose the names of saints and martyrs if they knew it was required of them AND if they could find names that were modern and hip. That is what I hope to do with this blog.
There are a whole host of saint's names out there, some popular and others obscure. But they are out there just waiting for Catholic parents to re-claim their religious identities. So be bold, parents! Don't be afraid to let the world know that you are Catholic!
But as our lives changed and we continued to grow spiritually, so did our naming style. By the time we had given birth to our 4th child, we were decidedly Catholic. We talked, then, a lot about giving our 1st daughter a lovely saint's name to reflect our love for our faith, but we never found one we liked. We also were not really encouraged to choose a saint's name either. We did not receive instruction on the issue and we came to the conclusion, after reading the Catechism, that as long as the name wasn't outright opposed to Christian sensibilities, we could select whatever name we wanted. We did just that and added a lovely saint's name in the middle.
As I was approaching the delivery of our 6th child, our spiritual lives had yet again grown to new levels. We had come to love our Catholic lives in unimaginable ways. We had spent time praying more and reading more about the Church and the saints. As we read about their lives, we began to understand why our Catholic ancestors left the legacy of generations of Francis', Stephens, Marys, Marthas, and Johns. These saints had amazing faith and incredible virtue. Catholic parents of those days wanted their children to have someone with strong character upon whom to model their lives. They wanted their children to always have their eyes and minds on Heaven and the saints who live there. Not only did the parents want this, but the Church required it as well.
When we became Traditional Catholics, we came in with all the trappings of Modern Catholicism, including the "Saints-name-in-the-middle" philosophy of baby naming. But something nagged within us when we were expecting our 7th child. Eventually, we were able to find a saint's name we liked, although obscure. It is so obscure that I am not convinced our priest even recognizes it! But our beautiful daughter has a patron, nonetheless.
In light of our difficulty, I wanted to have a blog that could be useful for today's Catholic parents who are confused and misinformed about baby naming. I personally believe more Catholic parents would choose the names of saints and martyrs if they knew it was required of them AND if they could find names that were modern and hip. That is what I hope to do with this blog.
There are a whole host of saint's names out there, some popular and others obscure. But they are out there just waiting for Catholic parents to re-claim their religious identities. So be bold, parents! Don't be afraid to let the world know that you are Catholic!
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