What the Church asks of a name
The Catechism teaches that at Baptism each Christian is given a name in the Church. It may be a saint’s name: a friend of God whose faithful life shows what love looks like, and whose prayers we can count on. A baptismal name can also speak of a mystery or a virtue of the faith (no. 2156).
The Church’s law asks only one thing of parents here: “Parents, sponsors, and the pastor are to take care that a name foreign to Christian sensibility is not given” (Code of Canon Law, canon 855). Within that, the choice is yours, and it is a serious one. The Catechism calls the name “the icon of the person” and asks that it be treated with the reverence owed to the person who carries it (no. 2158). It adds: “The name one receives is a name for eternity” (no. 2159). God speaks to his people in the same way: “I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine” (Isaias [Isaiah] 43:1, Douay-Rheims).
Ways to choose her saint
- The saint of her birthday or baptism day. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1911 notes that in Italy and Spain it has long been common to name a child after the saint on whose feast she is born. The Roman Martyrology, the Church’s register of saints and blessed arranged by their days, was first revised after the Council under John Paul II in 2001 (Directory on Popular Piety, no. 227).
- A family saint. A grandmother’s patron, the saint of the parish where you were married, the saint you prayed to while you waited for her.
- Our Lady herself. Mary, Marie, Maria, or a name drawn from one of her feasts. The same encyclopedia lists names of this kind from Spain and Italy: Concepción, Asunción, Dolores, Mercedes; Assunta, Annunziata, Concetta. The Most Holy Name of Mary is kept on 12 September.
- A virtue or a mystery of the faith. The Catechism allows it (no. 2156). A girl named for a virtue can still be given a saint to walk with.
- A saint whose life you want her to know. Choose with her whole life in view: a girl named for a saint may become a wife and mother, a religious sister, a single woman in the world, a widow. Many saints were more than one of these in a single life.
Women saints, by feast day
A short list to begin with, each with her day on the calendar of the dioceses of the United States. There are many more; the Church has never run short of holy women.
- Elizabeth Ann Seton, 4 January
- Agnes, virgin and martyr, 21 January
- Agatha, virgin and martyr, 5 February
- Frances of Rome, 9 March
- Catherine of Siena, virgin and Doctor of the Church, 29 April
- Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin, 14 July
- Mary Magdalene, 22 July
- Anne, the mother of Our Lady, with Joachim, 26 July
- Martha and Mary, with Lazarus, 29 July
- Clare, virgin, 11 August
- Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine, 27 August
- Hildegard of Bingen, virgin and Doctor of the Church, 17 September
- Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and Doctor of the Church, 1 October
- Teresa of Jesus (of Avila), virgin and Doctor of the Church, 15 October
- Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin, 13 November
- Elizabeth of Hungary, 17 November
- Cecilia, virgin and martyr, 22 November
- Lucy, virgin and martyr, 13 December
Two more belong on any Catholic mother’s list, though their feasts are not on that national calendar: Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, whom the Vatican’s biography describes as harmonizing the demands of mother, wife and doctor, and who in 1962, in Paul VI’s words, “to give life to her daughter, sacrificed her own,” a heroic gift she chose freely; and Saint Zélie Martin, canonized with her husband Louis in 2015, a wife and mother whose home nurtured the vocations of their daughters, Saint Thérèse among them.
Confirmation names
At Confirmation many young Catholics take the name of a saint they have come to love, often one chosen for themselves. The custom is old. The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that since Confirmation, with its sponsor, so resembles Baptism, it became customary to take a new name at it, just as a new name has long marked other great changes in the spiritual life. Keeping her baptismal saint is a fine choice too. Either way, let your daughter choose with care, and help her to come to know the saint before the day.
Keeping her name day
A name day is the feast of the saint whose name you bear. The Vatican keeps the Pope’s: when Pope Francis reigned, the feast of Saint George, his baptismal patron, was greeted around the world as his name day and kept as a holiday in Vatican City. A family can keep a daughter’s just as well.
- Put it on the calendar beside her birthday. The Liturgical Home tool can keep each child’s name day and baptism day.
- Go to Mass that day if you can, and pray for her by name.
- Tell her saint’s story at supper, from the saint’s own words where they exist; a candle on the table and her favourite meal.
- Give her something of her saint: a holy card for her bedside, a medal, a book she will grow into.
- Set her saint’s image in the prayer corner for the day, and ask the saint’s prayers for her in the coming year.
A prayer composed for 1765 Regina
A mother’s prayer to her daughter’s patron
Saint N., my daughter bears your name.
You walked the road ahead of her, and you know its turns.
Pray for her, that she may love Jesus as you loved him,
keep her Baptism bright, and follow wherever he calls her.
When I cannot be beside her, be beside her.
When she forgets you, remember her.
And bring us both, with all who love her,
to the house of the Father, where our names are written. Amen.
Questions
Does a Catholic baby have to have a saint’s name?
No. The Catechism says the baptismal name can be the name of a saint, or can express a Christian mystery or virtue (no. 2156). Canon law asks only that the name not be foreign to Christian sensibility (canon 855). A child can also be given a saint as patron alongside her name.
What is a name day?
The feast of the saint whose name you bear. A family can keep it like a second birthday, with Mass, a meal and the saint’s story. Even the Vatican keeps the Pope’s name day, the feast of his baptismal patron.
Can my daughter choose a different saint at Confirmation?
Yes. Taking a saint’s name at Confirmation is a long-standing custom; she may choose a new saint she has come to love, or keep her baptismal patron. Ask your parish what it asks of candidates.
How do I find my daughter’s saint’s feast day?
Look in your country’s liturgical calendar, or in the Roman Martyrology, the Church’s register of saints and blessed arranged by their days. The Liturgical Home tool can keep the date for you.