What's in a name?

[aicirt]

Archbishop Sheen was baptized Peter John. Fulton was a nickname. It was his Mom’s maiden name.

I like names that mean something to the family. Bill Cosby has taken issue with some of the “African” names given to many black kids. His complaint is the kids are American not African, and the names should be pronounceable and spellable.

Jews have a tradition of naming a baby after a recently departed relative using the first initial of the first name. So if the departed was named Ruth, the baby could be named Rose or Rebecca.

I recently did our family tree and it was a quick shot back to 1700 because the family tradition was to name the first son in honor of his father. This continued for at least eight generations.

Naming a child after a relative honors the relative and gives the child someone to emulate. Child has an automatic role model.

IMO some modern names are better suited for the family pet. Others are too cute and one wonders how the name will fit when the person has matured. And some of the others picked appear to be plucked from soap operas.

 

[Phemie]

IMO some modern names (…) picked appear to be plucked from soap operas.

Oh yeah, when I stumbled upon a Raven and a Draper in a local native community I looked at the date of birth and sure enough, mid to late 70s, right at the height of Edge of Night, the only soap opera available in the area at the time. Nobody had ever been named that before and no man has ever been named Draper since. Raven resurfaced when “That’s So Raven” became popular.

 

[mullenpm]

aicirt, thanks for understanding my feeling about a Catholic child being given the name of Willow. I did not mention it before but I am this child’s great aunt.

And to those who say a Priest cannot refuse to baptize a child with whatever name is chosen by the parents - not true. I gave an example of what happened to my own sister. My niece’s pastor is a conservative type so we must wait to see what happens after the baby is born.

I also knew what Bishop Sheen’s given name was - thought everyone did. He will be a Saint but I doubt if he will be Saint Fulton.

 

[Phemie]

And to those who say a Priest cannot refuse to baptize a child with whatever name is chosen by the parents - not true. I gave an example of what happened to my own sister. My niece’s pastor is a conservative type so we must wait to see what happens after the baby is born.

At the time of your sister’s baptism there was a different Code of Canon Law in place. Even at that, I suspect that what your priest did was a matter of personal preference since there is a St. Megan. Granted, he’s a man and there was no “googling” back then to find information. But still, Megan would be a variant found in England & Wales.

Priests pretty much did whatever they wanted and no one questioned it back in those days. I know some who changed the family surnames when parents brought kids in to be baptized. One priest didn’t like English so family surnames would be recorded in French and we had a bunch of Youngs who suddenly found themselves with a lot of brothers/sisters/cousins named Lejeune and then the next priest’s bias was the exact opposite and suddenly the LeBlanc children were being baptized and recorded as White. The priests didn’t have any valid reason for doing this. They acted based solely on their own prejudices, which were frequently language-based in my neck of the woods.

 

[bpbasilphx]

Well, I don’t think you’d baptize a baby Mohammed, Shiva, Brahma or Vishnu.

As a matter of fact, there IS a Saint Mohammed–a martyr–on the Orthodox Calendar.

There are also saints named Mercury, Aphrodite, and Demetrius (from Demeter).

These were all names of pagan deities which were changed to saints’ names by the Christians who bore them.

 

[thistle]

aicirt, thanks for understanding my feeling about a Catholic child being given the name of Willow. I did not mention it before but I am this child’s great aunt.

And to those who say a Priest cannot refuse to baptize a child with whatever name is chosen by the parents - not true. I gave an example of what happened to my own sister. My niece’s pastor is a conservative type so we must wait to see what happens after the baby is born.

I also knew what Bishop Sheen’s given name was - thought everyone did. He will be a Saint but I doubt if he will be Saint Fulton.

There is a Saint Plato and a Saint Socrates.
There is a Saint Trojan.
There is a Saint Winebald.

I guess none of these names would appeal to you either!

 

[aicirt]

aicirt, thanks for understanding my feeling about a Catholic child being given the name of Willow. I did not mention it before but I am this child’s great aunt.

And to those who say a Priest cannot refuse to baptize a child with whatever name is chosen by the parents - not true. I gave an example of what happened to my own sister. My niece’s pastor is a conservative type so we must wait to see what happens after the baby is born.

I also knew what Bishop Sheen’s given name was - thought everyone did. He will be a Saint but I doubt if he will be Saint Fulton.

Your feelings are my feelings. Maybe the second name will be more Catholic. We have family members who have five first names. Their tradition is to honor everyone. I believe there is meaning in naming a child. The name holds the family together. It is nice to name a child after someone in the family especially if that someone was always there for the parents. Who was Willow and what did she do? The family traditions and the religious significance is traded for the secular pop culture. Saying that, I do find it interesting that one of the most admired woman in the 30s was Scarlett O’Hare yet I’ve never met anyone named after her or a man named Rhett.

 

[ibkc]

Saying that, I do find it interesting that one of the most admired woman in the 30s was Scarlett O’Hare yet I’ve never met anyone named after her or a man named Rhett.

I’ve known several men named Rhett over the years. Of course, I live in the Atlanta area, so that might have something to do with it!

 

[mullenpm]

Thistle, why is it necessary to get so personal with your responses.

No, I would not approve of Plato, Socrates, Trojan and/or Wiebald for my Great Niece.

 

[daeve]

Your feelings are my feelings. Maybe the second name will be more Catholic. We have family members who have five first names. Their tradition is to honor everyone. I believe there is meaning in naming a child. The name holds the family together. It is nice to name a child after someone in the family especially if that someone was always there for the parents. Who was Willow and what did she do? The family traditions and the religious significance is traded for the secular pop culture. Saying that, I do find it interesting that one of the most admired woman in the 30s was Scarlett O’Hare yet I’ve never met anyone named after her or a man named Rhett.

I’ve known a few Scarletts. My grandson’s half-sister’s name is Destyni Raven. She looks like a little Precious Moments figurine and that name does not suit a blond child at all. And then it’s spelled funky to boot! I can’t imagine what people are thinking when they name children. I saw a news story yesterday on Yahoo, and one of the people mentioned was a woman named Euraneus. What kind of people would stick a kid with a name like that? I guess they never said it outloud.

I dodged a pretty dandy name. The first daughter in my mother’s family has been named Cleofe Giacomina for generations. Until me. She just refused, and her father was mad at her for a long time about it. My aunt changed the Giacomina to Ann when she was about 20, and she went by the name Effie. My name was supposed to be Devorah, but whoever filled out the birth certificate thought it was misspelled, so it’s Deborah. My kids are plain old Thomas and Michael. I’ll take a regular old name every time.

 

[jeanne71350]

I know a young woman who is expecting a child in March; the baby is a female.

This young woman plans to name her child “Willow.” Am I the only person who has a problem with this? The mother is a Catholic and I always thought her to be level headed but this is such a fanciful choice of name I am bewildered.

Will a Priest even baptize a Catholic child Willow?

Need some help here because this woman is bound to ask me what I think of her choice of name for her baby.

I don’t think I would choose Willow for my own child, but it’s kind of nice. I guess when she grows up, she can find her own special saint

When I have babies, I’m naming my first son John Paul. (After Pope John Paul and 2 of the Beatles ) and Natalie Faustina.

-Jeanne

 

[grace_singh]

when i think “Willow” i think “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, honestly. even though i never watched that show, and don’t want to.

Mullen, i know how you feel. i am a little warry of Christian children (or rather children of devout Christian parents planning to raise their children in the Faith) being given names like “Britney”, “Cody”, “Ashley-Silver”, etc.

i’m old fashioned. i would prefer a Biblical name, a “virtue name”, or a traditional Christian name (like Helena or Gregory).

 

[Sarabande]

Although, I wouldn’t personally choose “Willow” for a name, I also don’t see a problem with it as it is not offensive. When my mother was born (1945) all of her sisters were baptized with “Maria” as the first name because of a devotion to Mary, and then the name they were to use for their everyday life. My mom says that everyone in her culture had that done since 99% of people in her culture/country were Catholic.

Another example of well-known people through history, Empress Maria-Theresa of the Hapsburg Empire had a huge devotion to the Blessed Mother and all of her daughters were baptised with “Maria” first then the name that was used in everyday life. “Marie-Antoinette” was one which was how she was called in France. But in her native country, her baptismal name was “Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna” (even “Joseph” was used in her name. Marie Antoinette, in turn, named her first daughter, “Marie-Therese-Charlotte”. Some German male composers, and I think you see this with some Spanish ones, will also use “Maria” as part of their names. Carl Maria von Weber is one that quickly comes to mind.

My mother did something similar, having my first name incorporate Maria. I will be doing the same for my daughter when she eventually comes, using the French diminuitive of “Marie” (Manon) as part of her baptismal name, although will place it in the middle since it is not a common name in the US and there will be difficulty with people not familiar with French to pronounce it.

 

[Phemie]

when i think “Willow” i think “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, honestly. even though i never watched that show, and don’t want to.

Not I, I think of a cute, curly haired dwarf.

Mullen, i know how you feel. i am a little warry of Christian children (or rather children of devout Christian parents planning to raise their children in the Faith) being given names like “Britney”, “Cody”, “Ashley-Silver”, etc.

Here are a few recent entries in the baptismal register of a nearby parish:
Raylene November
Jayla Bethany
Journey Love
Roy Severus
and my personal favorite
Beautyfull Precious Dance Aldea

i’m old fashioned. i would prefer a Biblical name, a “virtue name”, or a traditional Christian name (like Helena or Gregory).
My own 3 are
Nadine Elizabeth
Scott Aaron
Nathan Michael

 

[Mintaka]

There is one good thing. Willows are Biblical. They are in the psalm about “we hung our harps upon the willows”. There’s even a nice verse about children in Isaiah 44:3-4:

“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour my Spirit on your seed,
and my blessing on your offspring:
and they will spring up among the grass,
as willows by the watercourses.”

So it’s not that different from naming a daughter Olive.

 

[Magdalena09]

I want to name my daughter Magdalena Marie but only because I love love love Mary Magdalen and Our Blessed Mother.

I prefer the names Tyler, Aiden, Hagen, Hayden, Jadon etc… for boys… none of those are Christian names… that I know of.

 

[ibkc]

I want to name my daughter Magdalena Marie but only because I love love love Mary Magdalen and Our Blessed Mother.

I prefer the names Tyler, Aiden, Hagen, Hayden, Jadon etc… for boys… none of those are Christian names… that I know of.

Aiden or Aidan is an ancient Irish name and the name of several saints. The others, not so much, as far as I know.

 

[daeve]

There is one good thing. Willows are Biblical. They are in the psalm about “we hung our harps upon the willows”. There’s even a nice verse about children in Isaiah 44:3-4:

“For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
and streams on the dry ground.
I will pour my Spirit on your seed,
and my blessing on your offspring:
and they will spring up among the grass,
as willows by the watercourses.”

So it’s not that different from naming a daughter Olive.

That makes me think of the movie Paper Moon. There’s a little boy named Text. His mother had so many children she ran out of Biblical names but heard the preacher say Text (as in turn to your…) on Sunday morning and figured if it was good enough for church it was good enough for her new son.

 

[puzzleannie]

how about we assume Willow is another feminine form of William and feel comfortable knowing you can find a saint for just about any name.

 

[mullenpm]

After reading all the posts I am beginning to come to terms with the name Willow; but Puzzleannie, your suggestion was best of all. I will just assume it is the feminine form for William which, by the way, is the name of my brother, the baby’s grandfather.

:flowers: