My husband's sisters were all called Mary. The parish priest refused to baptise any girl unless her name was Mary. So they were given the first name Mary, but were all known by their second names. Children were often given saints' names but it was not a rule, unless the Parish Priest decided to implement one! Confirmation names were add ons. Rarely found on paper. I had to search my older memory banks to even remember mine! But our delightful nuns insisted we take a saint's name. If I follow my maternal line back, after my mother, I come from a line of at least 4 Marys, my grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother, & great great great grandmother! I despair when I find I'm back to yet another Mary with no surname of her own! Hilda
Very interesting Hilda. So as I see it a Saints name is a legal name so would be used on legal documents such as a marriage document. I have a Charlotte Poole baptised COI, then baptised again a little over a month later in the RC church as Maria Charlotte. She is recorded as Charlotte 2 1/2 years later on her burial so I imagine Charlotte is the name she used. Marg >From the Beautiful British Columbia Cariboo Region, Canada ----- Original Message ----- From: <hildanic@aol.com> To: <irl-dublin@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 7:10 PM Subject: Re: [IRL-DUBLIN] Saints Name Query My husband's sisters were all called Mary. The parish priest refused to baptise any girl unless her name was Mary. So they were given the first name Mary, but were all known by their second names. Children were often given saints' names but it was not a rule, unless the Parish Priest decided to implement one! Confirmation names were add ons. Rarely found on paper. I had to search my older memory banks to even remember mine! But our delightful nuns insisted we take a saint's name. If I follow my maternal line back, after my mother, I come from a line of at least 4 Marys, my grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother, & great great great grandmother! I despair when I find I'm back to yet another Mary with no surname of her own! Hilda