What are Confirmation Names?

[LilyM]

I was confirmed at about the age of 11, so I didn’t think too long and hard at the time, but I chose St Helen (mother of Emperor Constantine, found the True Cross) … thinking about it, I’ve had and still have a fair few crosses to bear in my life, so someone upstairs guided me to her I think

 

[MarieVeronica]

I had two friends in CCD class… who chose the names “Perpetua” and “Scholastica”… because they thought it was funny.

Most people choose the name of a saint they admire, though. I chose Veronica because I admired her compassion and courage, in wiping Our Lords bleeding face during His passion. Oh, if only I had those characteristics! St. Veronica, pray for me.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

Your confirmation name is the name you choose to be confirmed under. You choose the name, either a saints’ name or a virtue (eg. charity, chasity, prudence, etc.). Some people will choose two names, like - Daniel Theresa, for example. There is no strick rul for picking a name, some pick a saint that they admire and choise to model their life after (I choose Joseph, because I admires his humility) **others take the name of a loved one or friend that they admire, and some just pick a name that they like. **Many dioceases encourage candidates to use the name their given name, insteed of picking a new name. I have been preparing youth for confirmation for some years now and encourage they to choose a saint or virtue that has a special meaning for them, even if that is their given name.

I hope this helps you. Feel free to ask for any more info.

The chaplain at my school was telling us about his vocation story and as a part of explaining how poorly he had been catechized as a child, he told us the story of his confirmation…

Apparently he had not been told much about confirmation names. So he decided to take the names of his great-grandfathers. And for some reason the people in charge never really examined the choices that the confirmants had made. Imagine the surprise of the Bishop who read my chaplain’s confirmation name: “William Dale Masters”!

Is using the names that are not saints names really okay? Or is it something that really doesn’t matter? (Paging Puzzleannie…)

Choosing my confirmation name (Therese) was very important to me (I had a hard time choosing just one). Only a couple years later confirmands were choosing trendy or secular names like Savannah.

I wonder what I would have chosen if I had had secular names to choose from…Siouxsie maybe?

 

[alanswife30]

Hi everyone! I was wondering can we pick 2 names or just 1? And do we combine it with our birth name? We haven’t really gone over confirmation names in RCIA yet, and I don’t want to rush to pick mine, I want to give it serious thought. Thanks!

Laura

 

[ac_claire]

Hi everyone! I was wondering can we pick 2 names or just 1? And do we combine it with our birth name? We haven’t really gone over confirmation names in RCIA yet, and I don’t want to rush to pick mine, I want to give it serious thought. Thanks!

Laura

Just pick one official confirmation name.
There’s no limit to the number of saints you can pick as your patrons, though. I’ve heard of people going to court and having their confirmation name added to their legal name, but usually it’s more of a ceremonial thing. I use mine on occasion sort of as a second middle name. It can also come in handy when picking a username for Catholic forums.

Good luck to you!

 

[SMHW]

Picking a confirmation name is a practice that echos the practice of parents giving a “Christian name” to their child at baptism. It’s a pious tradition that has long been practiced but is not an integral part of the sacrament itself. The confirmation name does NOT become part of the legal name (unless a person took legal steps to do so.). It is not needed for any future sacramental purposes.

Those who were baptized as young children did not get the chance to pick a name but when a person is confirmed as an adult (meaning the person is over the age of reason) then this person gets to pick a name for himself. This name would be the name of a saint, virtue, or other Christian principle that the person admires and/or wishes to emulate.

Picking a confirmation name is not unlike the way Abram was given the new name Abraham after God called him out of his homeland into the promised land. Likewise, religious often take the name of a saint when making their solemn promises. Even some secular cultures have the custom of taking a new name as a sign that adulthood or some other milestone has been reached.

Those are baptized and confirmed as adults (at ordinarily at the Easter Vigil) would only take a single name.

And there is no reason why a confirmation name cannot be the same as a person’s given name. This is why a new name at confirmation is a pious tradition rather than a requirement and int fact some dioceses/parishes don’t “do” confirmation names. (But it’s certainly possible that those in charge of confirmation at a particular parish will insist that a new name is necessary. )

 

[HelenKateri]

I Chose Helen Kateri after St. Helen and after my grandmother and then Kateri after St. Kateri Tekawitha (who was from auriesville, ny, not far from me).

My Grandmother died just 4 days before my confirmation and it was such a rough time but I still went through with my confirmation.
The sunday before my confirmation in 1997 was Easter and it was also the last time I saw my grandmother. I was going to wait till the day of my confirmation to tell her I was honoring her by choosing her name as one of my confirmation names. That Easter sunday, I judt couldn’t help it, I had to tell her but she actually already knew. I was getting ready to tell her. I said, Babci (polish for grandmother), I have a surprise. She looked at me and said, “You are taking my name and St. Helen’s name aren’t you?” with such a warm smile. :heaven: I was baffled though. My mother hadn’t told her either. I guess she just sensed how grateful i was to have her as my grandmother and she deserved to be honored for being the wonderful woman she was in my life. Three days later she passed away with no warning. She knew though. She was in the hospital for a long time and they let her go home which I assumed was because she had gotten better. No, she wanted to be at home to die. In the warmth of memories made in this house. I didn’t find out till after that it was cancer. She kept it from everyone but my grandfather so we wouldn’t worry. 11 years later and here come the tears still. :crying: But in anycase I’m going off track here.

Confirmation names I think should definitly have a lot of meaning to the confirmation candidate. Sure you can choose one because you like the name but when you choose the name of Saint who a loved family member or friend shares, it strengthens the connection between you and the person/saint whose name you chose.

As far as the legalities…I never went through any court to have it added. On my drivers license where the one middle initial would normal be, i have three middle initials. Marie was the name I was given for my middle name at birth and Helen Kateri at confirmation. So between my first and last name on my license, it shows “MHK” Marie Helen Kateri. But like i said, i never had to go through anything legal and it certainly is not on my birth certificate.

 

[Phemie]

I Chose Helen Kateri after St. Helen and after my grandmother and then Kateri after St. Kateri Tekawitha (who was from auriesville, ny, not far from me).

BLESSED Kateri Tekakwitha has not been canonized yet.

 

[Miserissima]

then she’d have to go to court to have her daughter’s confirmation name part of her legal name and I had never heard of anyone doing that.

SoYouWanna has some great information on doing it. I really, really want to do it. Their sections on how to do it are pretty detailed:

1. Examine your options
2. Get a court order
3. Change your records
4. Pay someone else to do it

Not everyone needs to go to court (in the US, anyway) to change their names. Names can be changed in two ways:

1. Pick a new name and consistently use it. This is called “common usage.” But if you’re going to keep it and make it stick when you get a credit card, you better go ahead and do it the legal way.
2. Go through a more formal court process (see step-by-step link above) and see what is required in your state.

I have considered it since I was confirmed. I chose St. Teresa of Avila, the outspoken mystic. For many reasons she is my patroness and I want that to be a little more…formalized. It may be a humble witness to my Catholic faith, it may be pride that I think she may have chosen me for her patronage. I want to take her name as much as I want to absorb and act out her charism in my chosen vocation and career.

I not only want her name associated with the Sealing of the Indelible Mark of the Holy Spirit on my soul, I want the name itself to be in my every day life as a reminder that she’s interceding for me, before the Throne of the Almighty.

 

[rafael76]

I had the same experience as an earlier poster - I was confirmed as a teenager and where I grew up it was not done and I only heard about it when I was already in my 20s. There is however nothing stopping you from looking at the lives of saints and take one as a role model. An old friend of mine does so every year, on new year’s eve she randomly (after prayer, that is) chooses a saint and tries to learn more about him or her and to apply his or her example over the next year. We are lucky to live in a big church which includes all those who have come before us.

 

[Chatter163]

Please note that this thread is five years old.

 

[rafael76]

Oops, thanks for the info, hadn’t seen that. It had showed up under “latest threads”.