[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries. My name is [name_f]Amanda[/name_f] and I am due with my 3rd boy this week. This will probably be our last baby, so I’m a bit sad we haven’t been able to honor the women in our lives. I hoped someone could help us come up with a name for our baby boy that would somehow incorporate those important female names. The names we would like to use are:
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f]
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] or [name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] is the most important to us, as she is my husband’s grandmother who just passed away recently. I have tried to find the male equivalent of [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], that there doesn’t seem to be one.
For any of the women you want to honour, you could always use their initials if you can’t find the right name, e.g. a [name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] for a [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Bertha[/name_f]. Or perhaps these ladies had middle names/surnames/maiden names that are easier to honour?
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] - Although not the male form, [name_m]Charles[/name_m] feels stylistically closest to [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]. [name_m]Both[/name_m] are classics and they share a lot of letters. [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]'s said to mean pure, and male names with similar meanings include [name_m]Zacchaeus[/name_m], [name_m]Alban[/name_m], [name_u]Finn[/name_u].
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] - [name_u]Francis[/name_u], [name_m]Frank[/name_m], [name_u]Frankie[/name_u], [name_m]Franco[/name_m], [name_m]Francesco[/name_m] and all the other variants.
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] - The obvious male choices would be [name_u]Grey[/name_u] and [name_m]Greyson[/name_m]. And I believe [name_m]Zain[/name_m] means ‘grace’.
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] - [name_m]Anthony[/name_m], [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], [name_m]Angus[/name_m], [name_m]Anton[/name_m]. The meaning’s ‘grace’ so [name_m]Zain[/name_m] could work again.
I’m a fan of classical and vintage names. Here are my favourite boys names relating to your female relatives’ names:
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] - [name_m]Cato[/name_m], a Roman and Shakespearian name meaning “all-knowing”
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] - [name_m]Francis[/name_m], very popular right now due to the new Popa but still a lovely name (and definitely male in my opinion)
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] - [name_m]Graham[/name_m], I love this Scottish name. It was on my shortlist for quite some time.
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] - [name_m]Anton[/name_m], another European classic
[name_m]How[/name_m] about combing the above ideas into [name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_u]Francis[/name_u] or [name_u]Francis[/name_u] [name_m]Charles[/name_m]?
More modern-sounding nicknames include [name_m]Chip[/name_m], [name_m]Chaz[/name_m], [name_m]Chet[/name_m], and [name_m]Fisk[/name_m].
I’m not sure what your naming style is, but what about Atherton? It has a similar sound to Catherine and shares many of it’s letters. Ather means ‘spring’ which is a similar meaning to ‘pure’
Did the Catherine you want to honor go by a nickname like Cate? You could use a sound alike: Tate or Nate.
Cathal, Cathair, and Cathan are all Irish names.
Nathan and Dathan are Biblical names.
Heath and Jonathan share sound similarities as well, though more distantly.
Zacchaeus and Conley have the same meaning as Catherine–‘pure’
Or what about honoring her it a way that’s less connected to her first name? What was her middle name/maiden name? What was meaningful to her? When do you remember her most? Naming a child after Catherine’s favorite tree, her childhood hometown she always told stories about, her favorite instrument or musician, her favorite character in a great book, etc. All of those could make you remember her and be a way of honoring her even if it’s not as blatant.
Here are some ideas. I bolded my favorites.
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] - [name_m]Cato[/name_m], [name_m]Cathan[/name_m], [name_m]Catullus[/name_m](all already suggested), Candid, [name_u]Kit[/name_u], [name_m]Christopher[/name_m].
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] - [name_m]Francesco[/name_m], [name_m]Francisco[/name_m], [name_m]Franco[/name_m], Franzisk, [name_m]Frank[/name_m], Francois(all already suggested).
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] - [name_u]Gray[/name_u]/[name_u]Grey[/name_u], [name_m]Grayson[/name_m](already suggested), [b]Gratian/b.
[name_f]Anna[/name_f] - I read a Russian naming book once and there was said that [name_m]Alexei[/name_m] was the [name_f]Anna[/name_f] male equivalent. I suppose it is too exotic, so I suggest [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_u]Alexis[/name_u]. By the way, Gratian that I suggested means “grace” as well as [name_f]Anna[/name_f] so I think you can honor both [name_f]Grace[/name_f] and [name_f]Anna[/name_f] with one name.
What a lovely idea. Everyone has given such great advice and ideas already that I have nothing better to add. But I love that you’re doing this and definitely a lot of great ways to go.
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f] means “pure”, so you could use a boys name with the same meaning, like [name_u]Sterling[/name_u], [name_u]Cade[/name_u], [name_u]Carey[/name_u] and [name_m]Gower[/name_m]/
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] can of course be [name_u]Francis[/name_u] for a boy, or [name_m]Frank[/name_m] or [name_m]Franklin[/name_m].
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] sounds like boy names like [name_m]Grayson[/name_m] and [name_u]Gray[/name_u]. [name_f]Anna[/name_f] sounds like [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], [name_m]Antonio[/name_m], [name_u]Antoine[/name_u], [name_m]Angelo[/name_m], maybe even [name_u]Andre[/name_u].
Another name that came to mind is [name_m]Callum[/name_m], which has the same beginning “[name_f]Ca[/name_f]” sound as [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]. And [name_m]Callum[/name_m] means “dove,” which is a symbol of peace and purity.
For Anna, I would use Andrew, Anthony or Alexander.
