Explore heartfelt stories from our Catholic Mom contributors on choosing baby names inspired by saints, family, special birth days, and of course, faith—offering insights for your naming journey (or just to make you smile).
With a growing fascination around celebrity baby names and a noticeable rise in searches for baby name ideas, meanings, and trends, my curiosity about how Catholic moms were inspired when choosing baby names led me to reach out to our Catholic Mom contributors to share their stories. Each shared the unique approach they took in choosing their children’s names, drawing from Catholic traditions, saints, prayer, and family faith.
Here are their faithful and inspiring stories, offering heartfelt Catholic baby name inspiration that may help you choose the perfect name for your child. **I’ve tossed in some questions and thoughts along the way; you’ll find them in bold italics.
Called By Name
I took a list of names, placed it before a statue of the Blessed Mother, and prayed. Gabriella was the winner! ~ Maria Gallagher
We chose our children’s names due to their meanings:
Logan: means warrior, we hope for him to be a warrior of Christ and the Catholic faith.
Lucas: means light, we hope for him to spread Christ’s light to others.
Lathan: means gift of God, he is a gift to us, and we hope he shares his God-given gifts with the world.
Everleigh: means sent from Heaven’s meadow; we believe she was sent from Heaven and also created her nursery in a whimsical floral theme to reflect her name. ~ Emily Joan
I had my 4th baby in a Canadian hospital. It was only 7 miles, and Bonners Ferry was 30. While waiting, my husband opened the Bible. We named him Matthew. ~ Bonnie Drury
After two years of infertility, I identified with Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. So, like Hannah, when I finally had a son, I named him Samuel because I asked God for him. ~ Monica Portogallo
Christopher Joseph is named for the priest who married us. Also, Christopher means Christ-bearer, and when we received him, we also received Jesus (John 13:20). Joseph is for the foster-father of Jesus, and is also the middle name of Venerable Patrick Peyton. ~ Margaret Rash
Every mom has a list of regrets, although I know I should surrender those moments to God, who promises to bring good in every situation (Romans 8:28). I wish I’d rediscovered my faith so my second son could bear the name of a saint instead of two pro athletes!
My daughter’s name, Georgiana, comes from one of my favorite books, Pride and Prejudice. Georgiana is Mr. Darcy’s sister.
My second daughter’s middle name is Marie, after our Blessed Virgin. I had a difficult pregnancy and felt very close to Our Lady during that time.
My son’s name, Jose, is a family name. He is the fourth Jose; the fifth back being Joseph. All 5 have unique middle names.
My second son’s middle name is Paul. It is my father’s middle name and a great source of pride for my dad to have a namesake. ~ Jena Muhr
We knew that we wanted my son's name to be a combination of Italian and Spanish, as that is his heritage. His first name is Marco, his father's name in Italian, and Agustin. His father liked the name because of a soccer player. I liked it because of St. Augustine. I had decided that if the baby had been a girl, she would have been Monica.
I am Maria b/c my mom was Maria, and it is a Mexican custom to give this name in honor of Mother Mary. My middle name is Elizabeth because my father thought that Elizabeth Taylor was beautiful, so he gave me the name. ~ Elizabeth Estrada
The Joy of Naming Babies
The day after our second son was born, we still hadn't chosen a name. We were down to two—Blaise and Justin—but we didn't have an answer when the birth certificate office called. I got them to give us 15 minutes.
My husband and I said a quick prayer...and then the pediatrician walked in. We asked him, "Doc, what should we name him? Blaise or Justin?" Most people would not have touched that question with a ten-foot pole. But the doctor picked up our baby, looked at him, and said, "Blaise. Definitely Blaise." And so, our prayer was answered. ~ Karen Ullo
Baby #2 arrived 6 weeks early on Christmas Eve. We didn’t have names chosen, thinking we had lots of time, but only one fit: Nathan, which means gift of God. ~ Julie Storr
Rebekah: I always wanted Sadie Rose. My husband’s neighbor’s dog was Sadie, so he disagreed. We couldn’t agree on names, but settled on Rebekah. My Bekah is just right.
Vincent: At 13, my mother lost her father, V. James, a well-known Boston lawyer. By age 10, I promised to name my son after him, Vincent James. We call him VJ.
Elijah: We went between Elijah and David. Michael was the sure middle name. When he was born; we finally settled on Elijah and told everyone. ~ Caroline Godin
Have you ever toggled between two names before settling on one? Honestly, for me to get through all the names I wanted for my children, I’d need to purchase lots of fish and start naming them!
My English-teacher father named me after the heroine in Cyrano de Bergerac, also featuring the character, Christian. This, plus our ongoing conversations, made Christian Joseph fit for our firstborn! ~ Roxane Salonen
Our daughter’s middle name is Katherine. When she was 6 years old, we happily discovered that her birthday, March 3rd, is also the Feast of St. Katharine Drexel! ~ Alex Resch
Our older two children were named to honor family (the oldest, after my husband, but with a middle name; our daughter, with variations on both my grandmothers' names). For our youngest, we finally settled on name options in the car on the way to the hospital! His name is from the Bible, no family connection there. ~ Barb Szyszkiewicz
I wanted Ben, and my husband wanted Peter. I went on bed rest, and he became Baby No Name until we met him and decided he was Ben. My best friend from third to sixth grade was Kate, and she was super cool, so my daughter had to be Kate. If I had more words for the first one, I'd include that we couldn't decide between Ben and Peter for our third baby, so we let the three-year-old choose. He picked Peter. So, for a few months, we referred to him as Baby Peter. I then went on bed rest, and my husband, feeling sorry for me, said we could put Ben back on the table as a name. We called him Baby No Name for the last couple of months until we met him, and he was (and still is) very clearly a Ben. ~ Merridith Frediani
My first daughter's name is Leila, the name my mother wished she could have named me! But alas, tradition won out, and I was named after my grandmother. (Love you, Nonna!) ~ Silvia-Maria Patalano-Ross
Want your naming story included in our next “Baby Names” installment?
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Copyright 2026 Allison Gingras
Images: iStockPhoto.com, licensed for use by Holy Cross Family Ministries
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