Baby Names - You're kidding Right???

[Elfmama]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

[lady_disdain]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

For a lot of people, the baptism name is their "real" name, not what is on the birth certificate, since a religious sacrament "trumps" governmental bureaucracy.

[Coralreef]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

For a lot of people, the baptism name is their "real" name, not what is on the birth certificate, since a religious sacrament "trumps" governmental bureaucracy.

Actually, in Québec, until 1984 (approx.), the Church documents were the legal ones.  So whatever name was on it, that was your name. 

My mother had always been called Amelia but when she got her baptism certificate (for her wedding), it was Emily, with the family name having an alternate spelling rather than the one used by her father.  She had to have all legal documents changed to fit her real name.  As I said earlier, sometimes the mother was not present when the child was baptized.  In her case, her father forgot what her mother wanted to name the baby.  To add to the fun in baptized vs. use names in my family, some of my sibblings are children of Amelia, others of Emily.  I don't know who the priest was in that parish, but he could not spell his way out of a paper bag.

When the civil code was revamped, the town/city hall birth certificate became the legal one.  The Church document was only for religious purposes, say you want a Church wedding, etc. 

[Bethczar]

At work today I saw 3 sisters: Kennedy, Reagan, and Carter.
Hey, at least they're bipartisan!

[Ereine]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

For a lot of people, the baptism name is their "real" name, not what is on the birth certificate, since a religious sacrament "trumps" governmental bureaucracy.

Actually, in Québec, until 1984 (approx.), the Church documents were the legal ones.  So whatever name was on it, that was your name. 

In Finland that's still the case for people who get baptized, there are at least two churches with the right to hold official records so for their members it depends on the priest if the name is going to be accepted, though they won't substitute with a name they want. I also believe that there's some way to make a complaint to get the name approved, our name laws are rather strict. For the rest of the people the magistrate's office holds the records and approves names. Almost all official forms ask where your record is held, we don't use birth certificates, sometimes you'll need a copy of the record.

[Luci45]

I don't follow this thread anymore, but do you all realize how many posts and views it has had?  WOW!

Gotta be record,. Don't answer. I won't be back for a few years!  Luci

[blue2000]

I don't follow this thread anymore, but do you all realize how many posts and views it has had?  WOW!

Gotta be record,. Don't answer. I won't be back for a few years!  Luci

Nope. Not a record. Several threads have it beat.

[ladyknight1]

Dharahan, pronounced "Darren"

[menley]

I worked with a girl named Sha-Ron, pronounced "shah RAHN". It had the hyphen in it and everything, so most people actually pronounced it correctly. Until the day that one of the HR admins was cleaning up the database and "corrected" her name to Sharon, which flowed through to work e-mail, nametags, the phone system... everything. So then all the new employees started calling her Sharon and had to be corrected. I still don't know why the HR admin thought that someone would accidentally add a hyphen to a name...

[Elfmama]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

For a lot of people, the baptism name is their "real" name, not what is on the birth certificate, since a religious sacrament "trumps" governmental bureaucracy.

Actually, in Québec, until 1984 (approx.), the Church documents were the legal ones.  So whatever name was on it, that was your name. 

What did people do who weren't Catholic?  There are several Christian sects who do not baptize infants, but wait until people can make that choice for themselves as teens/adults.  And there are people who aren't Christian at all.  Were they just in limbo, with no legal acknowledgement of their existence?

[Library Dragon]

I sometimes help out DH and teach the Pre-Baptism class.  The name issue often comes up.  Here it is a common practice to use the mother's last name as a first name.  For example Butler Armstrong would be the child's first and last name (it happens mostly with boys, but also girls).  The joke is that Joseph or Mary in any name modifies the non-saint name. 

I did have to go to bat for a couple.  One young priest tried to say that Austin wasn't suitable (the middle name was something like Coleman).  I gently explained that is was because Austin is a variation of Augustine. 

DH did have to put his foot down once.  Scarlett Battle wasn't going to be acceptable as a baptismal name.

[blue2000]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

For a lot of people, the baptism name is their "real" name, not what is on the birth certificate, since a religious sacrament "trumps" governmental bureaucracy.

Actually, in Québec, until 1984 (approx.), the Church documents were the legal ones.  So whatever name was on it, that was your name. 

What did people do who weren't Catholic?  There are several Christian sects who do not baptize infants, but wait until people can make that choice for themselves as teens/adults.  And there are people who aren't Christian at all.  Were they just in limbo, with no legal acknowledgement of their existence?

Sometimes, yes.

Centuries ago, the church baptism also served as your registration with the state as a citizen in some countries. If you were not baptized, you were nobody. If you were lucky, you flew under the radar and nothing would happen (except a lot of inconvenience). If you were not so lucky, and your refusal to be baptized or have your child baptized came to the attention of authorities, you could sometimes be charged with treason and executed.

But I haven't heard of anything happening to anyone in the last hundred years or so, other than some annoying paperwork.

[Coralreef]

I saw back a few pages about saint names being required for Catholics for baptisms and it reminded me of a book I read last year where a woman in N. Ireland had picked a name she liked but her husband, MIL and SIL (who was her best friend before the marriage) went behind her back and had the child baptized Margaret Mary but the woman only ever referred to the girl by the name she'd wanted her to be called.

In Catholic Québec, years ago, it was almost mandatory to have Joseph (boys) and Mary (girls) in your name.  I was the only one who didn't have Mary when I saw the registry at church.  I have NO idea why, but I was kind of glad about it when I found out. 

Babies were baptized soon after birth, even if the mother was not there or if it would have been dangerous to the baby (premies, etc).  When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said.

So in those places, is what the priest names you at baptism your legal name?  There's no birth certificate?  Here in the US, your legal name is what's on the birth certificate.  If the priest refuses to baptize little Zaphod Beeblebrox by that name and baptizes him as 'Francis', legally he's still Zaphod.

For a lot of people, the baptism name is their "real" name, not what is on the birth certificate, since a religious sacrament "trumps" governmental bureaucracy.

Actually, in Québec, until 1984 (approx.), the Church documents were the legal ones.  So whatever name was on it, that was your name. 

What did people do who weren't Catholic?  There are several Christian sects who do not baptize infants, but wait until people can make that choice for themselves as teens/adults.  And there are people who aren't Christian at all.  Were they just in limbo, with no legal acknowledgement of their existence?

Sometimes, yes.

Centuries ago, the church baptism also served as your registration with the state as a citizen in some countries. If you were not baptized, you were nobody. If you were lucky, you flew under the radar and nothing would happen (except a lot of inconvenience). If you were not so lucky, and your refusal to be baptized or have your child baptized came to the attention of authorities, you could sometimes be charged with treason and executed.

But I haven't heard of anything happening to anyone in the last hundred years or so, other than some annoying paperwork.

Civil paperwork was always available.  You were "legalized" at Cityhall.  The Province was mostly Catholic in those times but it was fine to register your newborn at a Cityhall.  Other religious denominations/faiths could also fill in those civil documents, even if there was no baptism. 

[Betelnut]

Recent Southern Maryland names:

Marley A'Dyn--boy.  His brother is listed in the birth announce as ... Cam'Ron.  I'm assuming A'Dyn is pronounced Aiden?

Kamdyn--boy.  That "reads" as a girl name to me, but, shrug.

A Jaxen and a Jaxon. 

Justice Eliza.  Not too bad but...

Kali Zaarahi--girl.

[scotcat60]

When one of my sisters was born, my mother wanted to name her Nancy (not real names, of course) but the priest didn't like it, so he named her Lucy-Ann.  Mother didn't know for a while that Nancy was not Nancy.  And no one from the family that was there went against what the priest said. 

Shades of Leo Milligan, father of the great Goon, Spike. His parents wanted him to be called Percy, but the priest at his baptism said "Call him Leo, after the dear Pope", so they did.

My Dad knew and Irish lady who needed her birth certificate to claim her state pension, but she had no copy herself, and the original record had been consumed in a fire in the 1920s. However, she got a copy of her baptismal record from the church where the ceremony was performed, and consequently, her pension.