When my husband and I were expecting our first baby, we knew we wanted to give our baby a name from the tradition of our Faith. Of course, choosing a name for our little one comprised many of our conversations during the pregnancy (along with choosing godparents and planning for a meaningful Baptism). We would toss ideas back and forth, making a mental list of each of our green lights, red lights, and maybes. And while there are countless Catholic baby names to choose from, we wanted something unique (but not too crazy) that also sheds some light on the importance of our Faith.
Unique Catholic Baby Names
All this brainstorming has resulted in a long list of names, and I’m a little sad we could only use one of them (for now). In the hopes that all my brainstorming Catholic baby names won’t go to waste, I’m sharing this list with you. Maybe you’ll find the perfect name for your own little one!
Catholic Baby Names for Boys
- Ambrose // St. Ambrose was a brilliant preacher who convinced St. Augustine that God exists.
- Asher // One of Jacob’s 12 sons.
- Beckett // After the martyr St. Thomas Beckett.
- Blaise // After St. Blaise (pronounced “Blaze”), who was both a bishop and a physician.
- Bosco // Rather than the typical and popular “John,” go with Bosco and assign your son the awesome patronage of St. John Bosco.
- Constantine // The emperor who legalized Christianity and stopped the persecutions of the early Church.
- Cyrus // After King Cyrus of Persia who frees the Israelites from the Babylonian exile and permits them to return to Jerusalem.
- Damien // After the science-minded St. Damien.
- Drexel // A male alternative under the patronage of St. Katherine Drexel.
- Fulton // After Fulton Sheen (this one is on my short list).
- Gerard // Most famous for his poem, “Dappled Things,” Gerard Manley Hopkins was also a Catholic priest.
- G.K. // Another personal favorite, you could name your son after the famous apologist G.K. Chesterton.
- Guy // After Guy Fawkes; though he isn’t a Saint, he did take a public stand when Catholicism was outlawed in England.
- Ignatius // Choose between Ignatius of Antioch or Ignatius of Loyola for his patron. Plus, “Iggy” is a fun nickname.
- Jerome // Without St. Jerome, Scripture may never have been translated from its original Greek.
- Judah or Jude // Another son of Jacob, or his patron could be Judah Maccabee, or the awesome St. Jude (or all three!).
- Louis // After St. Louis Martin, father of the Little Flower.
- Merton // Thomas Merton was an inspiring Catholic monk, writer, and mystic.
- Rex // The Latin meaning of this name is “king,” so your son’s namesake could be Christ the King.
- Shepherd // Not only would he have a classic Southern name, but he’d also have an incredible namesake: the Good Shepherd (and you could call him “Shep” for short).
- Simeon // Another son of Jacob, but also the prophet who foretells of Mary’s Sorrowful Heart.
- Solanus // After the recently-beatified Solanus Casey (a cute nickname is “Sully,” or even “Casey”!).
- Titus // After the companion of St. Paul.
- Urban // There’s a plethora of Popes named Urban, and if you’re a fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes, it’s a double whammy!
- Xavier // After the missionary St. Francis Xavier.
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Catholic Baby Names for Girls
- Angelica // After the choirs of Heaven, or the feisty founder of EWTN.
- Brielle // Shorten the traditional “Gabrielle” and still name your daughter after the archangel.
- Caeli // Pronounced “cha-lee,” it’s part of the Latin Marian antiphon, “Regina Caeli” or in English, “Queen of Heaven”.
- Charlotte // This may be a stretch, but Pope St. John Paul II’s given Polish name was Karol, which translates to “Charles” in English, the masculine form of “Charlotte”.
- Colbie // After another polish Saint, Maximilian Kolbe.
- Dinah // Everyone remembers that Jacob had twelve sons, but Dinah was his only daughter.
- Dorothy // After the Saint, or Servant of God Dorothy Day (she could go by “Dot” or “Dottie”).
- Edie // Name your daughter after St. Edith Stein without making her sound like an old woman.
- Faustina // A bit of a mouthful, but what a Saint she’d have as her patron (you could even call her “Tina” for short)!
- Felicity // After the new mom and early Christian martyr.
- Flannery // Flannery O’Connor was a brilliant writer and devout Catholic.
- Jael // (pronounced “jay-elle”) An Old Testament woman who kills an enemy general while he sleeps to help the Israelite army.
- Jordan // After the river in which Christ was baptized.
- Keturah // Pronounced “kah-tur-ah,” this is the name of the woman Abraham married after Sarah died.
- Lily // After one of the greatest Saints in heaven, St. Joseph.
- Leah // She may not have been loved by her husband Jacob, but Scripture says that God favored her.
- Philomena // For the young Greek princess who was martyred for refusing to marry a Roman official (you could call her “Mena” for short).
- Phoebe // This was the name of St. Paul’s friend who delivered his letter to the Romans.
- Rosary // A different take for anyone with a devotion to Our Lady (you could call her “Rosie”).
- Sarai // Sarah’s name before God changed it.
- Siena // “Catherine” is pretty common, but “Siena” is more unique and specific to this Doctor of the Church.
- Stella // Another Marian name, after Our Lady, Star of the Sea.
- Talitha // Hebrew for “little girl,” Jesus uses this phrase when he resurrects the daughter of Jaris (“Tali” would be a cute nickname).
- Verity // Derived from “veritas” which is Latin for “truth,” this name was made popular by the Puritans, but it reminds me of Pontius Pilate’s struggle to see what is true.
- Zelie // Canonized very recently, St. Zelie was the mother of St. Therese.
More Catholic Baby Names!
- This book is full of various Marian names for both boys and girls. If you’re looking for a name to honor Our Lady, this is a great resource!
- With over 10,000 Catholic baby name suggestions, this book is a must-have for the Catholic expectant mama!
- If you want a name from the Bible for your babe, check out this post full of unique Biblical baby names!
Do you have any ideas of your own for unique, Catholic baby names? Comment below!
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This is such a fun post!! I recently read about someone with a daughter named Charlotte in honor of JPII, like you mentioned–and even sweeter, they nicknamed her Lola as a nod to Lolek! If we didn’t already have a Charles, I would definitely put that on our girl name short list 🙂
Oh wow! I really love that! JPII is my favorite saint… and I’m polish so it’s a double whammy!
Me too on both accounts! I am very happy to have named our Charles in JPII’s honor, but gosh, that Lola nickname is just too good! 🙂
After seeing an advance screening of Paul, Apostle of Christ on Monday, I think Priscilla for a girl or Aquilla for a boy would be lovely.
Jill our daughter’s middle name is Prisca after this Priscilla. Priscilla means, little Prisca.
I know a Priscilla! and she is a beautiful person inside and out! It fits her perfectly!
I LOVE the name Philomena, it was actually my paternal grandfathers aunt’s name. I can’t convince my husband that it is a beautiful name for a baby some day, anyone have any tips on how to show him the beauty in the name?!
It’s my name:) I’m 29 so young and the only one my whole life with this name! St Philomena has took special care to look out for me! Everyone calls me Mena! I’m soooo happy it’s my name suits me well I think:)
gosh- I can’t even figure out how to convince my own husband about baby names… lol
prayer?
How about the nickname Mena (mee-na) for Philomena? I’ve always thought that was super cute!
I have two close friends at church, Caeli and Talitha!! I always say “Earth to Caeli” because she daydreams a lot haha!
How ironic and appropriate (since Caeli actually means “heaven”)!
My daughter and her husband named their little girl Avila after St. Teresa of Avila. I just love her name.
I know of another little Avila as well! She gets called Avie by her grandpa
We have an Avila we call Avi! Our youngest is Bonaventure Blaise, but called Blaise. I had voted to call him Ven, but the rest of the family vetoed me.
We have a Matthias (Matt) after St. Matthias! 🙂
I love St. Matthias! What a guy to be able to step right in to that apostolic role!
Our second son is named Pio after St. Padre Pio:)
1. I LOVE Padre Pio
2. So does my husband
3. I’ve always like the combination of “Patrick Pio” or “Peter Pio” — but maybe that’s too much alliteration for a name? haha
We named our baby girl, Pia. My husband and I have a devotion to Padre Pio + wanted to honor Our Lady somehow and pia is an adjective used to describe Our Lady in the Salve! 🙂 Uniquely + beautifully feminine!
I’m a bit obsessed with all things baby naming! LOL Check out the blog Sancta Nomina for great Catholic Baby Naming! https://sanctanomina.net/
what a great resource! I had no idea it existed!
I loved looking at your blog when we were picking names! So inspiring
We named our daughter Liesel, which is a form of Elizabeth (family name too) and means “vowed to God”. This name was befittting since our daughter was born on the feast day of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple! ❤️
Oh my gosh, how perfect!! I think Leisel is a lovely name!
We have a Liesl as well! Most people say, “Liesl? From the Sound of Music?”, but I loved it for its connection to Elizabeth, and it goes well with my husband’s Germanic surname. Win win!
I have twin boys, Jacob and Joesph. I LOVE the names Beckett and Blaise. Is it too late to change their names now that they are 25 years old? ?
LOL! Maybe you can get them on board to just do it themselves? haha
My cousins just named their daughter Vibiana, which I had never heard before. St Vibiana is a 3rd century Roman martyr and the patroness of LA
I have never heard of her either! It’s beautiful! Do they call her Vibby?
Another form of Vibiana I’ve Vivienne, which is what I’m naming my baby girl!
So St. Vibiana is St. Perpetua. In some writings she’s called Vibiana Perpetua and others it’s Vivia Perpetua. I love the idea of going with Vivia as a name. Similar to Vivian but maybe fresher
We named our son Solanus, we call him Lonnie for short! 🙂
I am pregnant with Bethany named for Mary of Bethany; aka Mary Magdalene. It is more unique than Mary and we really like it!
That’s beautiful. My own middle name is Madeline after St. Mary Magdalene– she’s been a wonderful patron saint! I love her dearly
My daughter is Madeline Grace!!!!
Our son’s name is Conrad and we found it on a Catholic baby name list- Conrad Joseph is his full name and we absolutely LOVE it. His first name means “bold speaker or great counsel” and he has really lived up to the meaning of his name thus far! We have also always wanted to name our daughter Lillian and call her Lily which is perfect that you referenced St Joseph with her since her big brothers middle name is Joseph! It’s a sign that our little girl has to be names Lily!
St. Joseph is another one of my absolute favorite saints. He’s the patron of our family, we pray for his intercession every day! Lily was on our short list as well! We ended up going in a different direction, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it made it’s way back around someday!
Just named my son born in October, Sebastian. My husband isn’t Catholic, but loved that his son is named after the patron saint of archers and athletes!
ok, I love the name Sebastian. Sadly, all my husband can picture is the crab from The Little Mermaid 🙁 Although, I recently mentioned St. Sebastian is the patron saint of athletes and that sparked hubby’s interest… Maybe over the years his fondness for the saint and the name will grow… 😉
My boys are Shepherd and Beckett. So funny that both of them are on this list! ❤️
Shepherd is in my Top 3. Sadly… my husband is still uneasy about it! I’m gonna bring it up with every pregnancy though! lol Thank goodness he finds my obnoxious persistence funny…
My mother I. Laws maiden name was Sebastiani… I have always wanted to use it to remind future generations of the Italian heritage and St. Sebastian but my husband does not approve of any nicknames (we are a big nickname family).
Thank you for this thoughtful list! We named our daughter Mary Flannery, after Ms. O’Connor, whose writings–especially her letters–were instrumental in my conversion. Her real name was Mary Flannery, which not many people realize! We call our daughter both Mary Flannery and Flannery.
That is beautiful! It’s so wonderfully unique, and yet well-known… Flannery O’Connor has had such an impact on this world. I love how personal it is to you.
Shepherd is in my Top 3. Sadly… my husband is still uneasy about it! I’m gonna bring it up with every pregnancy though! lol Thank goodness he finds my obnoxious persistence funny…
My son is Rex Emmanuel. King, God with us ! Definitely want a daughter named Stella but my husband just associates it with the brand of lager so I have a bit of persuading still to do….
I think Stella is lovely. Although I was part of a household in college named Stella Mariae. Dont want the poor thing to think she was named after a household at Franciscan! 😉
We have a Stella and we call her cute nicknames like Stell, Stellita, Stells, and little cookie (after the Stella Doro brand cookies). It’s lovely to write and say and goes well with so many middle names. We picked Josefina as it’s a traditonal family name. Stella Josefina. Then you can serve Stellas at the baptism, birthdays and it will be your signature adult drink! Hehe. It’s neat hearing it in commercials and it was even used in her 1st grade math Homework in a subtraction word problem! And give Stella Doro Cookies a try! It’s a winner for sure!
Love this list!
Saint Zelie’s name is actually Azelie! Zelie is the nickname. I know two little girls named Azelie – it is such a beautiful name!
Marcella (pronounced Mar-CHELL-ah) is one of my favorite names. She was a friend of Saint Jerome’s.
I always wondered if Zelie was a nickname, but after a moderate search, it seemed not to be. Azelie is beautiful!
and I definitely knew how to pronounce Marcella, because I love the masculine, Marcello!
I love St.Clare of Assisi’s actual Italian name before it was anglicized “Chiara”
(Key-ah-rah)
My godson John Paul just welcomed home a baby sister named Chiara!
I love St.Clare of Assisi’s actual Italian name before it was anglicized “Chiara”
(Key-ah-rah)
Also love the name “Anneliese” to be named for St.Anne the mother of Mary, or for Blessed Anne de Guigne (a very holy child for a little girl to be inspired by!)
I have never heard of Blessed Anne de Guine, but I am going to go look her up right now!
We have a son named Fulton….So fun to see it on the list! Great name and a great man.
We have a son named Kolbe Ignatius. Fun to see both on the list! Thank you for putting this together 🙂
WOW! Our son is named Kolbe Ignatius as well! Same spirit!
I have a 6-month-old boy named Abram James (Abraham’s name before it was changed, of course). Abram was also my grandma’s maiden name, James was my grandpa’s name, so Abram James is triple special for me! 🙂
Guy Fawkes may have been Catholic but he was basically a terrorist!! He wanted to kill hundreds of people!!! What he wanted to do was not justified and he is not a role model! (And what he did made things much harder for Catholics in England afterwards)
We have a son named Tytus which is the Polish way to spell Titus ❤️ Rosary for a girl is beautiful!
Love your lists of names!
You & your readers might be interested to know of the book just published by the Marian Fathers of Stockbridge written by Katherine Morna Towne who writes the Catholic Family naming blog sanctanomina.net. the name if the book is Catholic Baby Names for Boys and Girls: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady!
This is a great list!
I might be a little biased :)… but Avila should be added for girls!
Very interesting list!
I’m just a bit surprised at the pronunciation key for Caeli: according to Latin pronunciation, it would be KAY-lee.
We named our daughter Siena. So happy to see it on this list!
We have a Benedict Joseph, Addison Perpetua, Jude, Noah & Thomas 🙂
Ave……..I would love to name my daughter “Ave”….every time her name would be said it would be like the Annunciation all over again!
We named our first Kolbe Joseph – honoring St. Maximilian Kolbe as well as St. Joseph.
Our second is a bit more traditional…we named her Francesca Marie – honoring our current Pope, St. Francis, and of course Our Lady.
We are pregnant with our third and found this page when googling “non traditional Catholic names.” So fun to be inspired by BIS’ list as well as all the comments.
Thank you all!
We have two daughters Gianna and Faustina.
Another not-so-typical name that I really like is Jacinta
My middle child is Jacinta Faustina. I have Gianna on my short list for when another baby comes.
We names our first son Tobias.
We did too! Tobias meaning “The goodness of God” and the book of Tobit is just wonderful! Could also do Tobiah or Tobit
We have a Rex Benedict (“blessed king”, conceived during advent), and Owen Patrick born on the feast of St. Patrick. Additionally, we have a Benjamin Eli and Emily Jean. I need another boys name for #5. We unintentionally have a trend of short e sounds in first names. Trying to choose something that might continue that but wishing I could somehow honor JP2. He is responsible for my reconversion through Theology of the Body and therefore my preparation for a Catholic marriage. He’s our family’s patron saint as far as I am concerned, 😉
My daughter is named after my Grandmother, Genoveva, which is the spanish name of St Genevieve!
We have Flora for the Little flower and Also Juniper for St Juniper and St Junia . Oh and Emiliana for St Emiliana!
We named our kids after awesome saints!
Joseph Aloysius
and
Adelaide Immaculata
My three sons have saint names as their middle names. Ignatius and Xavier from this list, and Sebastian for my third son. Such a fun tradition!
I think Edith is a pretty hip sounding name, and not at all old lady like.
Beautiful names….I am praying to be blessed with another girl someday and I will name her Rosary. Perhaps if she has a twin brother I will name him Blue after the clothing of our lady
WE have a Rosary and it has been a blessing so far. WE get some people who are like “what’s that” But most people comment that it’s beautiful even secular people.
Could you please explain the connection of “Lily” to St. Joseph? Thank you, this is a great list!
St. Joseph is often depicted with lilies in his hand- a sign of purity. Also, according to Bl. Anne’s Catherine Emmerich’s visions on the Nativity of Our Lord, when St. Joseph picked up a certain staff at the church where Mary frequented, it blossomed instantly and was a sign that he was to marry her!!
I named my first born “Cletus” Meaning “he who was called” st Anacletus shortly cletus bt my wife wants Gracious which is Gods grace which one should i use.
I like Tarcissius for a boy, after St. Tarcissius who was martyred for bringing the Eucharist to the Christians in prison. However, I wouldn’t want to burden a child with that long of a name. Maybe Taz for short?
We named our daughter Isabel. The closest I could get to it being biblical is St. Isabel. And in some spaniah translations, it is another form of Elizabeth. although I could be mistaken