Catholic Name Generator

Catholic naming draws on a calendar of saints that spans two thousand years, so a "Catholic name" can be Hebrew (Joachim, Miriam), Greek (Agatha, Ignatius), Latin (Cecilia, Benedict), Celtic (Brigid, Kieran), Germanic (Hedwig, Wolfgang), or a modern surname that became a given name after a canonization (Kolbe, Bosco, Kateri). Canon law once required baptismal names to be Christian, and although that rule is gone, the habit of choosing a saint or a Marian title remains strong across Europe, Latin America, the Philippines, and Catholic communities everywhere.

Two conventions set Catholic names apart from generic biblical ones. First, devotion to Mary produced an entire family of girls' names taken from her titles and shrines: Pilar, Dolores, Mercedes, Guadalupe, Lourdes, Carmen, Rosario, Socorro, Assunta, Montserrat. Second, double names pair a family favorite with a patron: John Paul, Francis Xavier, Mary Frances, Ana Lucía, Jean-Baptiste, José María. Boys are also given Mary (José María, Jean-Marie), a detail that instantly signals a Catholic culture in fiction.

For confirmation, candidates usually take the name of a saint whose life or patronage speaks to them, and many of the names here, from Perpetua to Pier Giorgio, are chosen for exactly that reason.