When we started choosing names, we adopted a pattern of names in honor of a patron saint from a particular place/school. We liked that the saints shared relationships and commonality with each other and we hoped our children would be graced and inspired by the relationships their patrons enjoyed.
We never anticipated that we’d have the number of kids we have and now the list of reasonable names is dwindling! The subcategory of saints whose names are reasonable and whose stories are known and inspiring is even shorter. It’s still long enough to provide opportunities, but it is getting harder. I’m most concerned about a girl name as [name_f]Theodora[/name_f]/[name_f]Dorothea[/name_f] and [name_f]Mary[/name_f] along with their common variations are frequently used in our circles, which doesn’t leave much for the girls. We only need to use one name from the list in the combo, with the other being a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] name (Bible, saint, creation, etc along with diminutives, variations, whatever).
My husband and I basically have no overlap in name style as he likes names of people he’s met, leaving him feeling familiar with the top popularity from the past. Those are the first names I eliminate.
The names we agree on skew toward familiar but uncommon, regal without being pretentious–names roughly similar to [name_m]Edward[/name_m] [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] or [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f], with a little room for whimsy thrown in.
I’m hoping you’ll offer some combinations I hadn’t considered with diminutives, variations, or versions from other languages; any solid connection between the suggested name and the saint name is great. Surely we can come up with a boy and girl option still! Below are all the saint names that are left. Help!
Abilius
Achillas
[name_m]Ambrose[/name_m]
[name_f]Apollonia[/name_f]
[name_m]Clement[/name_m]
[name_m]Cyril[/name_m]
[name_m]Demetrius[/name_m]
[name_m]Dionysius[/name_m]
Epimachus
Eucarius/Acculus
Eugraphos
Eulogius
Euphrosyne
Eutychius
Evangelius
[name_m]Faustus[/name_m]
Hermogenes
[name_m]Leonides[/name_m]
Leucius
[name_m]Macarius[/name_m]
[name_m]Mark[/name_m]
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]
[name_m]Maximus[/name_m]
Menas
Nemesius
Pansophius
Pantaenus
[name_m]Peter[/name_m]
[name_m]Philemon[/name_m]
Plutarch
Polycarp
Rhais/[name_f]Raisa[/name_f]
Serapion
[name_m]Severus[/name_m]
Syncletica
Theodocianus
[name_f]Theodora[/name_f]
Theonas
[name_m]Theophilus[/name_m]
Girl:
[name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]/a (Evangelius)
[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f] (Syncletica)
[name_f]Philippa[/name_f]/[name_f]Pippa[/name_f] ([name_m]Philemon[/name_m])
[name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]/[name_f]Lia[/name_f] (from [name_m]Aurelius[/name_m] [name_m]Ambrosius[/name_m])
[name_f]Emilia[/name_f] ([name_m]Ambrosius[/name_m] was consular prefect of [name_f]Emilia[/name_f])
[name_f]Alexandria[/name_f] (Abilius was the bishop of [name_f]Alexandria[/name_f], many other saints were also connected such as Achilllas, [name_f]Apollonia[/name_f]/Pantaenus)
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]/[name_f]Olivia[/name_f]/[name_f]Frieda[/name_f] (means “[name_m]Clement[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Peace[/name_u]/[name_m]Calm[/name_m]”)
[name_f]Kira[/name_f] ([name_m]Cyril[/name_m] is [name_m]Kiro[/name_m] in Greek)
[name_f]Demetria[/name_f] ([name_m]Demetrius[/name_m])
[name_f]Petra[/name_f]/[name_f]Petrina[/name_f] (feminine form of [name_m]Peter[/name_m])
[name_f]Mina[/name_f] (another spelling of Menas)
[name_f]Maxine[/name_f] ([name_m]Maximus[/name_m])
[name_f]Leona[/name_f]/[name_u]Leigh[/name_u] ([name_m]Leonides[/name_m])
[name_f]Penelope[/name_f] (Panteanus)
[name_f]Denise[/name_f] ([name_m]Denis[/name_m] is Dionysuis in many languages)
[name_f]Avia[/name_f]/[name_f]Lark[/name_f]/[name_u]Robin[/name_u]/[name_u]Wren[/name_u]/[name_f]Birdie[/name_f] (Epimachus is a type of bird)
[name_f]Emma[/name_f]/[name_f]Amma[/name_f] (very similar to [name_f]Amma[/name_f], which was the first name of St. Syncretica)
[name_f]Fawn[/name_f] ([name_m]Faustus[/name_m], might make a cute middle name
[name_f]Amber[/name_f] ([name_m]Ambrosius[/name_m])
[name_f]Sarah[/name_f]/[name_f]Sara[/name_f] (Serpion)
[name_f]Cleo[/name_f] ([name_m]Clement[/name_m])
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f] (Hermogenes)
[name_f]Lucia[/name_f] (Leucius, pronounced [name_u]Lou[/name_u]-sha…or however you want)
[name_f]Sophia[/name_f]/[name_f]Sophie[/name_f] (PanSOPHIus)
[name_u]Marian[/name_u]/[name_f]May[/name_f]/[name_u]Marley[/name_u] ([name_f]Mary[/name_f])
Boys:
[name_m]Geoffrey[/name_m]/[name_m]Oliver[/name_m]/[name_m]Humphrey[/name_m] (mean “[name_m]Clement[/name_m]” or “[name_u]Peace[/name_u]/[name_m]Calm[/name_m]”)
[name_m]Dimitri[/name_m]/[name_m]Dima[/name_m] ([name_m]Demetrius[/name_m])
[name_m]Evander[/name_m]/[name_u]Evan[/name_u]/[name_u]Van[/name_u]/[name_m]Vander[/name_m]/[name_m]Vaughn[/name_m]/[name_m]Vance[/name_m] (Evangelius)
[name_m]Philip[/name_m] ([name_m]Philemon[/name_m]/[name_m]Theophilus[/name_m])
[name_m]Marcus[/name_m] ([name_m]Macarius[/name_m]/[name_m]Mark[/name_m])
[name_m]Ty[/name_m]/[name_u]Tyler[/name_u] (Eutychius)
[name_m]Leonard[/name_m]/[name_m]Leonardo[/name_m] ([name_m]Leonides[/name_m])
[name_m]Denis[/name_m] ([name_m]Dionysius[/name_m] in many other languages)
[name_u]Theo[/name_u] (pronounced Thee-oh or [name_u]Tay[/name_u]-oh)
[name_m]Leo[/name_m] ([name_m]Leonides[/name_m])
[name_m]Lucius[/name_m] (A more familiar spelling of Leucius)
Girls:
[name_u]Abby[/name_u]-from Abilius
[name_f]Cara[/name_f]-from Eucarius
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f]-from [name_m]Clement[/name_m] (you’ve probably thought about this but just in case you haven’t)
Frosina-Macedonian form of Euphrosyne
[name_f]Leola[/name_f]-feminine forms of [name_m]Leonides[/name_m]
[name_f]Polly[/name_f]/Poly-diminutive of Apollonian or Polycarp
Boys:
[name_m]Dez[/name_m]-from [name_m]Leonides[/name_m]
[name_m]Marcel[/name_m]-it and [name_m]Mark[/name_m] are both variants of [name_m]Marcellus[/name_m]
[name_m]Maxen[/name_m]-Welsh form of [name_m]Maximus[/name_m]
[name_m]Pierce[/name_m]-derived from [name_m]Piers[/name_m], the English variation of [name_m]Peter[/name_m]
Either:
[name_f]Demi[/name_f]-nickname for [name_m]Demetrius[/name_m] or [name_f]Demetria[/name_f]
[name_m]Emrys[/name_m]-Welsh version of [name_m]Ambrose[/name_m], a male name that could work on a girl as well
I second: [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_m]Leonardo[/name_m], [name_u]Theo[/name_u], [name_m]Philip[/name_m] [name_f]Leona[/name_f], [name_f]Sera[/name_f]/[name_f]Sara[/name_f], [name_f]Hermione[/name_f]
You are my new heroines dolliegirl and ciarafinley!