Happy feast of St. Mary Magdalene! Here‘s an article I wrote a few years ago in celebration of her feast day in which I offer some of the ways that she has popped up throughout history. Today’s consultation is for Hannah and her husband who are expecting baby no. 2 — a little boy! Little Mister joins big sister: Rafaella (“We named our daughter Rafaella and call her both Ella and her given name. Rafael is a family name on my side of the family, and it ended up that we found out she’s a girl on the heavenly birthday [not her official feast day but the day she died] of the only female St. Rafae ..read more

Happy Monday! There are a bunch of holy people celebrated today — some that jumped out at me are two popes (Pope St. Adrian III and Bl. Pope Eugene III), St. Morwenna, and St. Sunniva of Bergen. Please remember that as of July 2 (as I wrote in the post that day), I’m suspending consultations indefinitely due to various things going on in my life (all good!). I will continue to post consultations I’ve already done for those families who want public posts, and I have some birth announcements and other things to post this summer as well; I also always keep you all in my prayers!  Today ..read more

Happy feast of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria! I hope my American readers had a good 4th of July! Please pray for America! Be sure to note that as of July 2 (as I wrote in the post that day), I’m suspending consultations indefinitely due to various things going on in my life (all good!). I will continue to post consultations I’ve already done for those families who want them, and I have some birth announcements and other things to post this summer as well; I also always keep you all in my prayers! Today’s consultation is for Jessica and her husband, who are expecting their fourth baby — a girl! L ..read more

Happy Tuesday of the week of July 4th! Happy feast of lots of titles of Our Lady: Our Lady of the Garden, Our Lady of Madhu, Our Lady of Montallegro, Our Lady of the Grove, Our Lady of the Leśniów Spring, Our Lady of the Visitation, Our Lady of the Way of Leon, and Our Lady of Vaussivieres! Unfortunately, as of today, I’ll be suspending baby name consultations indefinitely, as I will have a very busy fall and probably the entire upcoming school year (some new professional things, and sending my second son off to college! My mama’s heart and mind can only take so much! I started Sancta Nomina t ..read more

Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the mamas! I went on retreat last weekend at Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, also known as the Shrine of the North American Martyrs, and remembered all of you — the Sancta Nomina community — in my prayers. As you all likely know, every year, right before Mother’s Day, the Social Security Administration releases the name stats from the previous year. Such fun for name lovers! The first thing people look at is the Top Ten for both girls and boys, and interestingly, there were no new additions or subtractions from the girl list (one moved up, two moved down, all oth ..read more

Happy feast of the Annunciation! Today’s consultation is perfect for this beautiful feast because the baby’s big brother’s name is Gabriel! In fact, he has the so-handsome combo Gabriel Joseph! Mama Julia writes, “For the new baby — we found out we were pregnant a few days after the passing of a priest named Fr. Roman, who was something of an important person in my husband’s life, and I just had the random thought — oh, if it’s a boy, what if we named him Roman — after this priest, and also I found it to be a unique name with super cute nicknames: Romie, Romeo, Rome. I raised the idea with my ..read more

Years and years ago, which does not at all feel that long but turns out it was s e v e n years ago, I did a post focusing on a family who had brought their love of literature to the naming of their children, with absolutely fantastic results. The mom, Meghan, emailed me recently to give a family update! And she gave me permission to share it with all of you! They’ve since had two more babies and added two pets to their household, all with names right out of books — check these out: Children (the names of the first three are explained more fully in that previous post) Flannery Ellen (Flannery ..read more

I did a private consultation for Jayna and her husband’s second baby last spring, and I’m so happy to share the wonderful news that they welcomed a beautiful baby girl whom they named … Maristella Anh! I’m absolutely blown away by the beautiful combo that they chose! Anh is for Jayna’s mother-in-law and is such a lovely middle name for the gorgeous Marian name Maristella. Congratulations to Jayna and her hubby and big sister Eva Gertrude, and happy birthday Baby Maristella!! Maristella Anh Read all about how to get your own baby name consultation here. For help with Marian names, my book ..read more

I did a private almost-consultation for a mama due near Christmas — her baby came quicker than expected so I was only able to send her a few quick thoughts — but it turns out she and her hubby did an absolutely fine job on their own! I’m thrilled to share the amazing name they gave their little guy … Dominic Pax! What an amazing combo! I’ve always loved that Dominic means “of the Lord,” and with Pax meaning “peace,” this little guy has an incredibly meaningful name! It’s also perfect for a Christmastime babe — his mama writes, “Pax just seemed like a really appropriate name for the season!” In ..read more

Happy Monday, everyone! This week is winter break for both my elementary and high school kids, so if you are also on break, I hope this consultation is a fun diversion for you in the midst of the much-needed break from the stresses of school days and also the additional fun and mayhem that is always part of it, at least in my house! Today’s consultation is for a couple expecting their second baby, a sweet sister for big sister Avila. This family has the good fortune of Avila being a surname in their family tree! I love that so much! A funny thing to keep in mind is that the papa says, regardin ..read more