Expanding Your Inspiration: Saints’ Names

You do not have to be religious to choose a saints’ name for your child. Many of the saints have a history anyone can appreciate, a history of bravery, ethical fortitude and above all – some really cool names. I am going to be writing a regular piece on using criteria to craft a name you might never have thought of before, and I’m starting with the one of the pieces of my naming rubric: saints’ names, in whole or in part.

St. Lucy of Syracuse – alternate names, St. Lucia, St. Lukia – legend has it she committed herself to God and refused to marry a pagan. When pressed, she prayed to God and became immovable, the pagan would-be-husband tried to have her burned, and then stabbed, and finally had her eyes gouged out. She remained true to her pledge and herself and has been venerated in nearly every Christian society. Lucy, Lucia or other names associated with her sad tale would make fantastic names.  Possible nicknames include LuLu or Lucy from Lucia

St. Lawrence Justinian – left a fairly comfortable life and a future marriage to work for a religious order. He begged for the poor, held several administrative positions and then became a bishop. He wrote extensively on contemplative matters. Possible names include Lawrence, Justinian, Justin, Justus and Lorenzo and possible nn Larry. I know Larry might seem terribly out-of-touch, but I foresee a re-branding of 50s and 60s names as the next big thing, and Larry would seem very cutting edge.

St. Lydia Purpuraria – St. Lydia was St. Paul’s first known convert. She was a businesswoman who made purple (read: couture) garments for the extremely wealthy. She gladly invited the forefathers of the early church into her home, showing not just a head for business, but hospitality as well. Lydia would make a lovely name nn Lydie or Porfirio for a boy – it means “purple”

St. Louis Bertram – St. Louis (Lou-iss or Lou-ee) was a teacher, determined to follow the faith from a  young age.  St. Louis trained preachers in their vocation and showed mercy and care to plague victims in 1557. In addition, he survived an attempted murder by S. American shamans. He was very successful as a preacher, it is said that he witnessed 15,000 converts. Possible names are Louis, Bertram, Dominic (he was a Dominican), with nn Lou, Bertie, Dom. The names in their entirety, though, are incredibly handsome and would make stately names for any child.

These are just a random sample of the “L” names you might add to your inspiration – names with stories, history, but that will either fit in with current naming trends (as with Lucy) or take us into the future (Larry, Louis) and seem at once familiar and new (Lydia, Lawrence). A1