Naming a child 'Mary'

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We are thinking of naming our first child, a daughter(if female!), with the name ‘Mary’. But… their may be issues we want to work through.
Not the frizzing dismay of non-catholic family and acquaintances,
nor the Mary / merry humour…
but the Hail Mary confusion…
My wife and I are in the habit of pealing out a ‘hail Mary’ at the drop of a hat, a hiccup or a blessing. will this pattern confuse our child if we continue it in the presence of our daughter if we’ve also named her “Mary”??
 
Probably, but only temporarily. Why not choose one of the zillion variations of Mary? One of my favorites is Marina, which I do not see on this list, but I have known two of them.
thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Mary

Alternately, you could learn to say your Hail Mary’s in a different language.:twocents:
 
I very much love to hear the name Mary still borne by a woman, and also the traditional English way, i.e. precisely “Mary”.
 
I would think no more so than having 2 Bob’s or 2 John’s in a family. Kids are smart; she’ll figure out who you mean.
 
If you say it alot, then either change your speech or use an derivation or a hyphen eg. Mary-Lou.

Yes, kids are smart but they also crave independance and identity from an early age. Constantly saying her name could squelsh that.

On the converse what happens if you have other children? Will they feel less loved and blessed because you arent saying their names? It depends on the kid…
 
+Mary is a wonderful holy name . . .* every generation in our family has a Mary in it* . . . I can’t think of a sweeter blessing or greater honor than to name your daughter after the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . the Sweet Holy Mother of God . . .

. . . all for Jesus+
. . . Sweet Spirit of our Holy God+
. . . guide and direct+​
 
I have an atheist friend named Mary. When a Catholic friend of both of us died, we went to the funeral. At the bidding prayers the priest said something like “N. always was a good friend of Mary, let us ask Mary to pray for her” and my friend suddenly sat up, looking puzzled as to why the priest was suddenly talking about her!

To the OP, I’m sure your little one will be able to distinguish between her name and that of Our Lady - generations of little Marys have coped with it! It is a beautiful name.
 
WynCatholic said:
We are thinking of naming our first child, a daughter(if female!), with the name ‘Mary’. But… their may be issues we want to work through.
Not the frizzing dismay of non-catholic family and acquaintances,
nor the Mary / merry humour…
but the Hail Mary confusion…
My wife and I are in the habit of pealing out a ‘hail Mary’ at the drop of a hat, a hiccup or a blessing. will this pattern confuse our child if we continue it in the presence of our daughter if we’ve also named her “Mary”??
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No, I don’t think it would confuse her as she gets older. There are many variations of the name Mary.
Marie, Maire, Miriam, Marian and Miriam are my favorites. 🙂 God bless you!
 
My Dad often looked at me and yelled “Jesus Christ!” I never thought that was my name!
 
My Mother and Father had a devotion to Mary so both of my sisters and I have Mary in our names. 🙂 👍
 
I have never really heard of anyone being confused by the name Mary, and a simple understanding that the child is named after the blessed mother should settle that. There would seem to be no need to resort to subterfuges such as a different form unless you prefer a variant. We used Marie as our daughter’s middle name because we have a very French last name, but Mary is the standard English version, and is used all too infrequently today. I think most of the objections seem spurious. Should a Matthew feel inferior to a Joseph since St. Joseph rates a higher place as the earthly father of Jesus?
 
Eleanor61 said:
I have never really heard of anyone being confused by the name Mary, and a simple understanding that the child is named after the blessed mother should settle that. There would seem to be no need to resort to subterfuges such as a different form unless you prefer a variant. We used Marie as our daughter’s middle name because we have a very French last name, but Mary is the standard English version, and is used all too infrequently today. I think most of the objections seem spurious. Should a Matthew feel inferior to a Joseph since St. Joseph rates a higher place as the earthly father of Jesus?
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the op is concerned because he constantly utters “hail mary” not because its a powerful name.
 
SeaShoreGirl said:
the op is concerned because he constantly utters “hail mary” not because its a powerful name.
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Yeah, because of this I might not name the child Mary. Perhaps a middle name?

Only because a child might not hear the inflection, or the “Hail” part. It would drive me batty to hear my name shouted out all day long.

When I hear my name in my home, I KNOW you’re talking to or about me.

Which call do I answer. Which don’t I. Do I get in trouble, 'cause I thought you were offering praise, but really calling me? And now I ignored you?

But if the name is not constantly muttered, said, then no, I would not worry about the child being confused. I find children can easily learn the difference between themselves and others.

You could go with MaryAnn… naming her after 2 mothers we should be greatful to!
 
Our daughter is Mary Grace! Hasn’t stopped her from loving the Rosary or the “Hail Mary”!
She never thought we were talking to her or about her.

Now, our 2 year old when asked what his name is will say “Mark David come here” 😃
 
happymommy said:
Our daughter is Mary Grace! Hasn’t stopped her from loving the Rosary or the “Hail Mary”!
She never thought we were talking to her or about her.

Now, our 2 year old when asked what his name is will say “Mark David come here” 😃
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Aaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww that’s so cute
 
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