Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: 250 Ways to Honor Mary

I stumbled across Kate’s blog several years ago after scouring the Internet in vain for a list of Marian names with more unique suggestions than just the classic Mary, Marie, Maria. And although I have greatly enjoyed reading her blog, and she always has excellent name suggestions for expectant parents, I was still longing for a compiled list of just Marian names. Imagine my delight when she announced that she had written this book. It’s everything I had hoped for and more. In fact, we found our newest daughter’s name within its pages! I know I will be consulting this book with every future pregnancy (God willing!). May Jesus bless the author greatly for such a lovingly compiled work honoring his Blessed Mother.

I wanted to love this book as much as I love the author's blog and baby names announcements. Unfortunately, I was fairly disappointed. Many names were either too plan or way too obscure for my taste. There wasn't (for me) many names to choose from that were a happy medium of unique and comfortable on the tongue in our household. This may be just the answer to someone else, but I am actually returning the book (at cost of return shipping.) $17 is too much to pay for this book. 250ish names is really not that many, especially when the vast majority were too foriegn to me.

He author of this book did a baby name consultation for us on our last pregnancy. We love her ideas so much. When I noticed that she had written a book, I immediately purchased it (we are expecting again.) I love it! She has great ideas and has done some really fun research on names. There are obvious choices, creative ones, common ones, and names I’d never heard of. What a treasure! This will be my go-to Catholic baby naming resource (well, plus the author’s blog!)

This is one of the sweetest baby name books I have ever read, we named our seventh baby this summer. Early in the pregnancy we consecrated this baby to Mother Mary, and really wanted to honor her with his name. This book was truly a joy to read and help us to honor the Blessed Virgin.

Had decent names for girls, but virtually no options for boys... unless you have hispanic or french roots! I don't, and neither does my husband. So, this book was of no help for us.

I’ve followed santanomina blog for years and this book pleasantly surprised me with many fresh and beautiful names! I love the whole design of the book and the author’s prose is finely crafted and honors Our Lady in the loveliest way!

So glad I stumbled upon this!!! So many great names :) So many names to honor Our Lady with that never even crossed my mind!

“Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady” is the perfect book for those who want to honor Our Blessed Lady by naming a child with a name associated with her. This book has both traditional and familiar names for girls like Mary, Marisa, Maria, Fatima, Dolores, Gabriela and Celeste as well as others less familiar but most intriguing like Ave, Candelaria, Maylis, Pieta, Soledad and Veil. And less obvious are the names for boys which range from Celestine, Hawthorn and John to Iker, Knock and Tristin.Author Katherine Morna Towne has been collecting books of baby names and writing about them since she was a teenager. She has observed that many parents “often name their children after those they consider to be worthy of respect, imitation, and honor, whether they be saints or celebrities, biblical characters or political figures.”So why not consider the many variations of names that honor the Mother of God’s son? Traditional Catholic countries and cultures have loved giving the name of Mary to their daughters and until 1962, it was the top name given to girls in the United States.Names included in this book come from many titles of Our Lady; apparitions, events and places in her life; adjectives used to describe her; and many forms of the name Mary itself. Towne includes all the names she could find that referred to Mary and added some that may have never been used but are well suited for naming.For each name in this meticulously researched book, Towne provides its pronunciation, commentary, nicknames, feast days, and other names it might have in connection with that entry. This book can also be a good resource for baptismal and confirmation names.“Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys” is a Marian journey that provides interesting insights into Our Lady’s life and our Catholic faith.Choosing a name for a child is never taken lightly. Most of us spend months thinking about the name we want to give our children. If you are interested in choosing a name that reflects our gift of faith and/or a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, then “Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys” will be a valuable resource.

A beautiful and hefty book filled with many names and stories that honour Our Lady. I especially love the personal touch that the author threads into the book; it's a labour of love and it really shows. If you want to find a name with unique Catholic flavour and unique, maybe hidden, connections to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or if you are merely interested in names and their nuances, this is the book for you!