New baby name suggestions?

[vanshan]

My wife is 4 months pregnant and thinks she may be having a girl. We are just now collecting names to discuss and need some imput. We both like names which are less common, but not too far out. We have found a few boy names, just in case, but we are having trouble getting a good list of female saint names, any name suggestions?

 

[KleinerApfel]

This site gives the names of saints and their meanings:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/names.htm

Have fun choosing! I remember lying awake when I was expecting our daughter, happily discussing the possible names with my husband.

(Don't get too carried away though; remember that your child has to go through school with the name you choose!)

God bless, Susana

 

[vanshan]

Great link, thanks.

We definitely don't want anything that would subject our child to ridicule, but thankfully we plan to homeschool, so that will save them some of that.

Basil

 

[katherine2001]

I love the names Tatiana, Anastasia, and Daria for girls, and they are all saints.

 

[Apostolos]

Tatiana-January 12th
Agnes,Nina-Jan.14th
Martha-Feb.8th
Priscilla-Feb.13th
Antonina-March 1st
Lydia-March 27th
Patience-April 8th
Love,Peace-April 16th
Irene-May 5th
Christina-July 25TH
Helen-May 21st
Susanna-May 24th
Agrippina-June 23rd
Euphemia,Olga-July 11th
Marina,Veronica-July 17th
Nataly-Aug.26th
Sophia,Faith,Hope-Sept.17th
Chrysa-Oct 13th
Cecilia-Nov.22nd
Barbara-Dec.4th
Anthia-Dec.15th
Juliana-Dec.21st

 

[Michael G]

I personally like biblical and patristic names.

 

[Theophorus]

Scroll down for Eulalia.

 

[Theophorus]

There is also Emily, or Emilia, St. Basil's mother. (Jan 1)

 

[vanshan]

Hmm... I'll pass on that one. With respect to the Venerable Saint Eulalia, to my ear that name sounds like an organ. I like Tatiana, Anastasia, and Daria, but my wife's not sure about them.

 

[MariaRegina]

Have you picked a godmother for your child?

Remember that the godmother traditionally chooses the baptismal name of the child.

Hint. Hint. Be careful here! From what I have heard, yayas tend to choose their father's name for the boy and their mother's name for the girl.

However, many will consider the name of the saint on which the birth occurred or the baptism will occur.

 

[KleinerApfel]

I didn't know there was a St. Susanna!
Thanks Apostolos!
(Susanna-May 24th)
Vanshan, your baby must be due about then?

God bless, Susana

 

[vanshan]

Yes, our baby is due around the middle of June.

I didn't even think about choosing a god-parent, yet. Hmm. Need to work that out too.

 

[eagaither]

Is the Susanna on May 24 Righteous Susanna of the OT or the Myrhhbearer? FYI, there is an OCA church in CA named for Righteous Susanna that has a gorgeous icon of her that they've made into a card. I have two. My 2nd daughter is Susanna and we have a nice mounted icon of St. Susanna the Myrhhbearer from St. Tikhon's Seminary bookstore. We've always used the Sunday of the Myrhhbearing Women as her feast day, so that's why I'm wondering about May 24. The name Susanna is beautiful and very accessible. Plus you know automatically what to sing to her when she's crying. Especially if you're from Alabama, which my husband is. No banjoes on the knee, though.


Have you thought about Macrina? My 3rd daughter is Macrina. Macrina the Elder's feast day is May 30, close to the time your wife is due. Both Macrinas are wonderful saints. The only problem is that until people can remember it (that doesn't take too long) she might get called Macarena. There's also a cool bakery in WA called Macrina Bakery that has a cookbook out.

Have fun choosing and don't stress about it!

Elizabeth

 

[Orthosdoxa]

We're trying to conceive, and here are some names we thought about: Johanna Theodora for a girl (Johanna for the Bob Dylan connection - my husband's idea, but I like the name - and Theodora for the righteous Byzantine Empress. Or Samuel Nicholas for a boy - Samuel for the OT boy who was born after his mother thought she'd never have a child (which is where we're at) and Nicholas for the saint of Myra, because he is one whose intercessions we have begged, for his prayers are known for being very powerful. I also like Helena, mother of St. Constantine a lot, though we'd probably make it a middle name, because I wouldn't the kids at school to call her "Hell".

 

[Wiffey]

I love biblial names like...
Sarah
Rachel
Leah
Rebecca
Deborah
and of course, Mary.

 

[xenia]

Some nicknames for Helen or Helena are Lenny or Eleni. Those aren't too bad.

Biblical names are great! My five are: Daniel, Rebecca, Timothy, Rachel and Jonathan.

 

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

Some female saints names I like:

Angelina
Natalia
Juliana
Gabrielle (feminine of Gabriel)
Alexa, Alexandra (feminine of Alexander)
Fiona (a celtic saint)
Olympiada (only as a middle name: She was a deaconess under St. John Chrysostom).
Nina
Sophia
Victoria (a martyr)
Svetlana
Tatiana
Anastasia

 

[Momzilla]

Have you thought about Macrina? My 3rd daughter is Macrina. Macrina the Elder's feast day is May 30, close to the time your wife is due. Both Macrinas are wonderful saints. The only problem is that until people can remember it (that doesn't take too long) she might get called Macarena. There's also a cool bakery in WA called Macrina Bakery that has a cookbook out.

Having been alerted by the words "bakery" and "cookbook", I went and found the website. They describe Macrina as "the 4th century Greek mystic and visionary"; elsewhere on the site, they do describe her as a saint, albeit a "Greek" one.

 

[katherine2001]

The Macrina that most Orthodox are familiar with is the sister of St. Basil the Great. If I remember correctly, she was his older sister and was extremely, extremely intelligent. St. Basil had the greatest respect for her. She would be a great patron saint.

Van, I wouldn't worry about names being unusual. I work at an answering service, and I hear unusual names all the time. People often don't name their kids the usual names anymore.

By the way, Maria and Elizabeth are good girls names if your wife wants the common ones. Why don't you read some of the lives of the saints and choose a name based on a saint who you think would be a good role model for her? Again, I wouldn't worry about the name being an uncommon one. That seems to be the trend these days. When your daughter gets old enough to have an opinion on it, there will be many people with unusual names and she won't give a thought to it. You could always give her a common middle name that she could go by if she would like to. Just don't give her two unusual names.

 

[MariaRegina]

Yeah, two too unusual names would be a bit too much! Especially if the last name doesn't match.

Just be careful that the initials when put together don't make a word, like SIN, JAR, CUP, etc.