I am somewhat confused about Saints names and hope someone can clarify it for me. Are all Roman Catholic babies given a Saints name when baptised? I have families where many of the girls in the family have Mary for a first or middle name. Would Mary be their Saints name? Some of these girls are found as, for example; Mary Charlotte then later found as Charlotte. Likewise with boys in the family with Joseph as a first or middle name. I find it difficult to determine whether the first Mary died and another child was given the name Mary as the first may be Mary Charlotte and the second daughter Mary Teresa or Margaret Mary. Also, if they are not given a Saints name when baptised do they choose their own later at Confirmation? Not all my Roman Catholic families do this. One brother with 8 children all appearing to have a Saints name and another brother with 8 children who do not appear to have a Saints name. Would this just be a case of one brother being more devoted to the church than the other or ?? I would appreciate someone helping straighten out my thoughts on this. Marg >From the Beautiful British Columbia Cariboo Region, Canada

Hi Margaret I can only speak from experience, this comes from a Catholic albeit a rather rusty one We (I am the youngest of ten) were all baptised with three or four forenames, at least one being a Saints name The eldest son was named after our father and likewise the eldest daughter after our mother, apart from those two all others have Saints names first (and most of our other names) Our names are mostly connected ie Nivard is the youngest brother of Saint Bernard and also a brother of Gerard (two of my brothers names) we also have a Patrick and three Josephs (including me) When you are confirmed there is a choice (and that may vary ie some may not get a choice) of using one of your forenames or choosing another, this is invariably a Saints name The idea is that the Saint chosen becomes that persons patron Saint to pray to and for and in some ways emulate Of course a person may already have a patron Saint when baptised (as I did) As far as Mary is concerned there are several Saints with Mary as a first name I would say that in the past virtually all Catholic babies were baptised with at least one Saints name but like so many other things, that may have changed in recent years Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 21/11/2012 16:51, Margaret Cambridge wrote: > I am somewhat confused about Saints names and hope someone can > clarify it for me. > > Are all Roman Catholic babies given a Saints name when baptised? I > have families where many of the girls in the family have Mary for a > first or middle name. Would Mary be their Saints name? Some of > these girls are found as, for example; Mary Charlotte then later > found as Charlotte. Likewise with boys in the family with Joseph as > a first or middle name.