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September 28, 2004
Why give your newborn child a Catholic baby name?
One of the biggest decisions parents face when having a baby is choosing an appropriate name – your baby will live with your decision (literally) for the rest of his/her life, so it’s easy to feel pressured to choose the “right” name. With our first child, my wife and I pondered over how important a specifically “Catholic” name was for our firstborn; We reached some conclusions as to why your baby would benefit from a Catholic name.
What do I mean by a “Catholic” name? I mean a name taken from either Scripture or the Saints. Since the birth of the Church in 33 A.D., choosing a Christian name has been recommended as a great way to start your child off in the right direction. In the earlier days, non-Christians often took a specifically Christian name at baptism to mark their new walk with God. If, however, your child is born into a Christian home – and presumably baptized shortly after birth – I recommend choosing a Catholic/Christian name from the beginning.
Everyone understands the importance of his or her name. Your name often shapes how others initially view and perceive you – is it an “odd” or unique name? Or does the person have the same name as another friend? I’ve actually removed names from consideration that have an oddly unpleasant memory in my mind from earlier people I know. In short, your name is what you are known by and in some sense defines you to the outside world.
So why choose a Catholic name for your child? A specifically Catholic name does a couple of things. First, it ties the child back to his/her Catholic roots and to the Catholic community. Some names, in fact, are so distinctly Catholic that other Catholics are likely to assume your faith solely because of your name (for example Faustina or Joachim). But, even with a name like Jerome, the child is tied back to a great saint that he can learn to admire.
Second, when you use a Catholic name, you create interest in the child to learn more about the person they were “named” after. Each Saint offers specific qualities that you can encourage your child to emulate. In addition, you can celebrate the Saints feast day with the child, encouraging a special devotion to the Saint. In some countries it was common practice to name the child after the feast day on which he/she was born.
As a parent, I think it’s important to develop an authentic Catholic culture in homes. By this I mean that every part of our homes should be filled with Catholicity and our lives shaped by our beliefs. This type of environment gives your children the family background they need to become strong Catholic adults in the future. And simply choosing a Catholic name for your new baby is a great way to begin developing this culture.
By the way, you have a first and middle name for each child. If you have a family name you want to use, go ahead – just make the other name (either first or middle) a distinctly Catholic name. You still get the benefit of using a Christian baby name, but also can keep family traditions going (which are important). Some good websites for finding Catholic names:
- A list of saints and short biographies
- A large list of Catholic names and the meanings
- A list of Biblical names and their meanings
Hope this helps.
God bless,
Jay
Posted by HolyFamily at September 28, 2004 04:47 PM
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Comments
A *very* nominal Episcopalian friend of mine was amazed that we named our twins Ann and Matthew, because she honestly didn't think these were Catholic names. She was even more confused when I pointed out that they were from Scripture, since she didn't know Catholics had anything to do with Scripture.
Posted by: St Joe's Dog at November 10, 2004 05:31 PM
