What's in a name?

[Phemie]

Got it! Phemie explained it all. I’ll go with her/him.

Her.
Short for Euphemia, my late MIL’s name. Always wondered why her non-Catholic parents gave her the name of that Saint that I’d never even heard of before I met her.

 

[peary1]

The name Fulton \f(u)-lton, ful-ton\ is of Old English origin, and its meaning is “settlement of the fowl; people’s estate”. Fulton is an uncommon first name for men but a very common last name for both men and women.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was born and baptized as Peter John Sheen on May 8, 1895. He called himself Fulton after his mother’s maiden name and to honor his mother after she passed away. His official name was Peter.

 

[Apryl]

Well, the child will probably kick her mother or one day tell her how stupid she was to give her such a ridiculous name.

I, for one, happen to like the name ‘Willow’.

You don’t have to like a name… but to say it’s ‘ridiculous’ because you don’t care for it is not only harsh, but insensitive.

Unless you are the ‘name police’ and have some authority to decide what is and is not a good, acceptable, or non-ridiculous’ name, please don’t use such terms to describe any one else’s name, or name choices.

There are lots of names that I do and don’t like, or used to like or not like, but that doesn’t make the name ‘ridiculous’.

… now if they wanted to name the child WEEPING Willlow…

 

[Apryl]

I didn’t correct him, but ran home and rechecked our saint book!

I doubt if you have access to an exhaustive listing of saints!

Some names are more popular than others.How many are named ‘Christopher’, and then there is the thing that says that Christopher was removed as a saint.

Supposing your child had non-Catholic grandparents, who were exemplory people in their own right. Would you not give your child that name simply because you didn’t know it had been the name of a canonized saint?

 

[Spirithound]

A little bit of semi-satire, mostly-info, which reflects my view. Written long before the death of the King of Pop.

In Defense of Faith, Hope, and Charity

…and River, Spring, Meadow, Hunter, Rainbow, Apple, Mist, Summer, Olive, Sage, Autumn, Sunshine, Willow, Blossom, Dusk, Stardust, Fern, Sky, Moss, Windsong, Moon, Harmony, and Snowphish.

For centuries, the English language has stolen words from other languages with such a lack of shame that most children today are shocked to hear their French teacher say “Bon appétit” and then explain that it’s what French people always say before eating. (Ok, maybe not, but maybe…)

And with the half a billion words pillaged from our linguistic neighbours came a plethora of names.
This smorgasbord of linguistic booty, combined with the colonist’s notoriously lazy tongue, has left us English speakers with the idea that a personal name has to be a random string of letters mostly conforming to the rules of English phonotactics, but never, never should they have any meaning!!

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Salish people on Canada’s west coast name their children with a trait or virtue they hope for them, and then they receive a new name at adolescence for a trait that they’re now known for. At adulthood they may even receive another name after some expectation they hope to live up to. Arabic parents also give their children names after positive traits they hope for them. The Chinese, on the other hand, give their children horrible names, like Mudface at birth to scare off evil spirits. When the child is old enough to get a real name, boys are often named linked with firmness and strength, and girls are given names resonant of flowers and beauty.

So you get the point; parents all name their children after pleasant things, but the point is, they use words from their own language that are meaningful to them.

So go ahead, name your kids something unique, call her Dusk, Moss, or Fern. Name him Sage, Topaz, or Gryffin. Have fun screwing with your kid’s kindergarten teacher with Bittersweet, Rainbow, or Onyx.

Just please, we don’t need a Prince Michael III.

 

[Sarabande]

Precisely!

In my own family, my mother’s ‘first name’ is actually two words… like Betty Jo… but if she ever has to complete a government document, her ‘first name’ is ‘Betty’… even though no one would EVER call her ‘Betty’ if they know her

There are some people who address me by my first and middle names, but I only have the one first name

We can’t all be first (Like having 6 Maids of Honor… ONE is ‘of Honor’… the rest just are )

Interestingly, though, is that legally my first name are the two first names in my three names. All of my legal government documents, registrations, etc. must have both first names. I can’t just go by the first part of my first name and I’m referred to by both names in all my legal documents. So, the first part of my first name is not considered my complete first name by the government. My middle name (in addition to my two first names) is also on my legal documents. So, I also have to use that name in all my legal documents. Hardly anyone calls me by both names, unless my husband wants to be cute and loving to me in which he not only uses both of my first names, but also my middle name as well as my confirmation name. Or when I was a child and my mother would call me by that if she was upset with me. haha!

On the other hand, it is different in terms of my mother’s names and her sisters’ names. Their “first” names, in regards to church documents are all “Maria”. BUT, legally, especially when they moved to the US and became citizens, they used their second names which has always been used in everyday life for their legal first names with their mother’s maiden name as their middle name, which was also the same for their baptisms. They never went by Maria at all. So, in the States, my mother, legally, has only one first name, one middle name and one last name. Whereas, legally, I still legally have two first names, one middle name and one last name, which is how my parents set it up in the legal government documents as well as for my baptism.

 

[graceandglory]

While there’s many names that I don’t care for, ultimately that decision belongs to the parents and not me. As for canon law, as the poster above me has pointed out, **as long as the name is not offensive to Christian faith then the priest must baptize the child. ** I can’t think of any reason why Willow would be offensive or contrary to the Christian faith.

Like Beelzebub.

 

[Apryl]

Interestingly, though, is that legally my first name are the two first names in my three names.

So why is it that they ‘first two’ are not two parts of the ONE?

If my name were Steph Annie… I may have a space in there, but it’s still ONE WORD.

By that logic, that is not two different first names.

It just make sense to me to call two things both first. Either one is first, or the other… but they can’t both be first

That would be like me saying that ‘ryl’ is the second first name… NO… it’s part of my first name. I can’t have the ‘ryl’ without the ‘Ap’…

It’s really not that complicated. You can try to make it complicated, but it’s really not.

 

[Sarabande]

So why is it that they ‘first two’ are not two parts of the ONE?

If my name were Steph Annie… I may have a space in there, but it’s still ONE WORD.

By that logic, that is not two different first names.

It just make sense to me to call two things both first. Either one is first, or the other… but they can’t both be first

That would be like me saying that ‘ryl’ is the second first name… NO… it’s part of my first name. I can’t have the ‘ryl’ without the ‘Ap’…

It’s really not that complicated. You can try to make it complicated, but it’s really not.

No, I’m not trying to make it complicated because I personally don’t find it complicated at all, although others do as is indicated in this thread. I think what some people have a problem with is that there is a space between the two names and can’t grasp that those two names can be considered as one. They have an easier time if the two names are joined together like “Annemarie” or have a hyphen “Anne-Marie”. When others tell me that their legal first name is, for example, “Mary Catherine”, but just goes by “Mary”, I totally understand and don’t tell her that “Catherine” is really her middle name or complain to her how stupid and “un-American” it was for her parents to give her two first names, which a couple people have done to me.

I was just trying to explain how two names can be considered as a first name even if the names are separated by a space, such as mine and not always used in full. But you explained it better than I in this post. Thanks!

 

[Spirithound]

I totally understand and don’t tell her that “Catherine” is really her middle name or complain to her how stupid and “un-American” it was for her parents to give her two first names, which a couple people have done to me.

I was just trying to explain how two names can be considered as a first name even if the names are separated by a space, such as mine and not always used in full. But you explained it better than I in this post. Thanks!

Like if you’re called Bubba Joe, or Billy Ray, or Jean-Pierre, Pierre-Luc, or Luc-Henri

Can anyone imagine referring to “Jean Rousseau” without the Jacques??

 

[peary1]

I, for one, happen to like the name ‘Willow’.

You don’t have to like a name… but to say it’s ‘ridiculous’ because you don’t care for it is not only harsh, but insensitive.

Unless you are the ‘name police’ and have some authority to decide what is and is not a good, acceptable, or non-ridiculous’ name, please don’t use such terms to describe any one else’s name, or name choices.

There are lots of names that I do and don’t like, or used to like or not like, but that doesn’t make the name ‘ridiculous’.

… now if they wanted to name the child WEEPING Willlow…

I would have never named my daughter after a tree. How pagan is THAT? And it IS a pagan custom to name children after animals and earth-bred things. And I personally do not believe that the children of Christians should be named with pagan names. That’s simply understood, I believe.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I once dated a guy who had five “first names”. He must have been named after every male in his family. He went by none of them.

 

[Spirithound]

I would have never named my daughter after a tree. How pagan is THAT? And it IS a pagan custom to name children after animals and earth-bred things. And I personally do not believe that the children of Christians should be named with pagan names. That’s simply understood, I believe.

What about Heather? or Rosemary? or Rose? Daisy? Marigold? Peter?

 

[Apryl]

I would have never named my daughter after a tree. How pagan is THAT? And it IS a pagan custom to name children after animals and earth-bred things. And I personally do not believe that the children of Christians should be named with pagan names. That’s simply understood, I believe.

That’s fine

You shouldn’t

Does not make it “ridiculous” to name someone after a tree

(Not that I woud ever name someone after a month!)

 

[peary1]

What about Heather? or Rosemary? or Rose? Daisy? Marigold? Peter?

Did you read my post or did you miss something?? :ehh:

 

[peary1]

What about Heather? or Rosemary? or Rose? Daisy? Marigold? Peter?

Is that Salt Peter or Saint Peter to whom you are referring?

 

[tweetymom]

:

Is that Salt Peter or Saint Peter to whom you are referring?

 

[Apryl]

Did you read my post or did you miss something?? :ehh:

… this should be in-ter-esting

 

[Sarabande]

I would have never named my daughter after a tree. How pagan is THAT? And it IS a pagan custom to name children after animals and earth-bred things. And I personally do not believe that the children of Christians should be named with pagan names. That’s simply understood, I believe.

I understand what you are trying to say, but I think there have been saints who originally did not have what would be considered Christian names. Their names may have become synonomous with Christianity because of their faith. So, who knows, perhaps someone named “Willow” may one day become a saint as well. The following are names which have meanings of the earth (flora/fauna) and of animals and are also names of saints, but I doubt they were considered Christian names prior to that.

• Flora (St. Flora - patron saint of the abandoned, of converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal) means “flower”
• Alyssa (St. Alyssa - patron saint of blind and paralysed) which has many variations and meanings, also comes from the Greek form of the flower name “alyssum”
• Rose (St. Rose of Lima) of course we all know what a rose is.
• Agnes (St. Agnes of Rome) which comes from the Latin form of “lamb” - agnus
• Hippolytus (St. Hippolytus - patron saint of horses and prisons) comes from the Greek meaning of “horse”
• Gall (St. Gall) comes from the Latin meaning of “cock” - gallus
• Hyacinth (St. Hyacinth - patron saint of those in danger of drowning and also of some churches)

 

[Phemie]

What about Heather? or Rosemary? or Rose? Daisy? Marigold? Peter?

To be fair there are a St. Rose, a St. Peter, a St. Marguerite (Daisy). There are even a few St. Hyacinths, one a man, one a woman (St. Hyacinth of Viterno, Italy) and Blessed Jacinta Morno (of Fatima, Portugal, one of the three children to whom the Blessed Virgin appeared).