Livioandronico2013 [CC BY-SA 4.0], "Apollo of the Belvedere" via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]I was tagged in a conversation on social media recently where a couple was trying to come to a meeting of the minds and an understanding of faith requirements regarding baby names. The husband was particularly interested in knowing why they had to use saints’ names and not names from mythology, for example -- couldn’t their daughter be the first St. Athena?
Setting aside for the moment the fact that his wife declared that she doesn’t like the name Athena, saint or not, I was glad to do my small part for the Church by sharing with them the Church’s actual teaching on baby naming, which doesn’t preclude using names from mythology (as long as they’re not "foreign to Christian sensibility"). And in fact, many names from mythology are also the names of saints! (The Orthodox Church actually reveres a St. Athena, though she’s not recognized by the Catholic Church.)
Image credit: Peter Paul Rubens, "Mars et Rhea Silvia," (1617), Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain[/caption]
The underlying issue here, though, is one that modern Catholic parents sometimes grapple with. Personal taste and style is arguably more important to today’s namers than ever before, and the traditional “Catholic names” like Mary, Clare, Joseph, and John don’t always fit into a couple’s name aesthetic. Additionally, a couple might like to incorporate personal or professional interests into their children’s names, which might not seem to them to fit into the idea of “Catholic baby naming.” I’ve even seen individuals and couples get mad at the Church for having “yet another rule that feels stifling.”
Saint Silvia, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]Fortunately, names that conform to a person’s taste and interests can also fit in well with the practice of giving one’s children names of our faith. I’ve done some really fun blog posts and consultations for couples in this vein, which might inspire some of you who struggle with this.
St. Gemma Galgani, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain[/caption]
You might like to check out these posts, which contain ideas for names from science and/or nature:
- “We have always been so passionate about the way that science and religion in many ways complement each other rather than go against each other”
- “Bonus for my husband–a theologian’s name for the boy. Bonus for me–a nature or scientific reference”
- Catholic Literary Names on my blog (be sure to read the comments -- my readers are the best!)
- Names from Catholic Literature here at CatholicMom
- Literary Catholic Namer, which spotlights a family whose three girls' names are familiar to anyone who's taken an English class.
- One couple gave both of their children names that incorporate Greek, literary, natural, and spiritual elements.
Cristian Bortes / bortescristian [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]Finally, to the husband's question about the possibility of his child being the first saint with his or her name, that, too, is something to keep in mind. St. Gemma Galgani, beloved by many, was given a first name that her mother believed to be without saintly precedence; in fact, an Aleteia article shares that when St. Gemma "was baptized, her mother reportedly feared that the child would never get into heaven without a saint’s name. The priest reassured her, saying, 'Let us hope that she may become a gem of Paradise.'"
And one canon lawyer explains the Church's naming requirements, ending with, "Perhaps if we all raise our children as committed Catholics, names like 'Ashley' and 'Jennifer,' 'Curtis' and 'Todd' may some day in the future indeed be the names of saints."
Copyright 2019 Katherine Morna Towne
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