How did you...

lburkey21

choose your confirmation name?

I was thinking using Mary as mine since that was my grandmother's name (her husband's name was Joseph!). She passed away in January and she was so looking forward to our wedding and was happy that I was converting. She was the best. My FI's grandmother's name was Marie, who he was very close with. I'm a little worried because Mary is a big name to choose.

I've tried looking up different saints, but honestly it's overwhelming because there are so many and I really don't even know where to start.

Is it ok for me to pick Mary or should I try to find someone else? I don't know what the right reason should be for choosing a name...

caitriona87

I picked mine (Brigid) because she was Irish & I thought her story was cool. I think most people who are born Catholic and get confirmed at age 13 don't put so much thought into it (like I know I would if I were getting confirmed now

You could try getting a book on lives of the saints and just read through it and see whose story speaks to you.

I also think, in light of what you said, it would be nice to pick Mary--plus you can't really go wrong with the BVM. I feel like she already looks out for us so much & taking her name could only increase that. Good luck!

meltoine

I chose mine because Cecilia is the patroness of musicians - which was what I wanted to be when I was 13. Music is still a favourite hobby, just not my career, so I'm still happy with it. Plus, my best friend from college also chose Cecilia because she is the patroness of Africa - weird coincidence. 

Ditto PP on choosing Mary - can't go wrong with her. 

stillundecided4

I chose Helen which was my grandmother's name. She passed away a few months before my confirmation and I to wanted to honor her. Plus, once I read up on St. Helen, I really liked what she stood for. 

Also, my mom chose her grandmother's name for her confirmation, so that also helped make my decision.

akg0053

I converted, so I put a lot of careful thought into my confirmation name. I signed up for Saint of the Day emails for a full two years before I was confirmed (I wanted to convert way before RCIA started) and I read about a lot of them. I saved the ones I wanted to do more research on.

I didn't end up choosing any of those, however. I ended up going with St. Flora, the patron saint of converts. Her feast day is also FI's birthday (which is more of a coincidence than anything and I would never choose a saint based entirely on feastday, but I thought it was cool nevertheless).

For y

akg0053

Wow.

For your purposes however, I think Mary is amazing. I think if I had her name, I would be even more inspired/driven to be like her.

Calypso1977

i picked Elizabeth as i liked the name.  lame reason, i know.

Megglez2008

I picked Joan because I loved reading about Joan of Arc and found her story to be touching and inspirational. After I told my mom that I wanted to use Joan, I found out that both of my Grandmas' middle names were Joan. That sealed it for me. I think it's funny now that my mom's and my FMIL's middle names are both Ann.

SaraAndrew2010

I was confirmed when I was 13 or 14.  I chose Veronica for my confirmation name because I wanted something fancier than my name, which is pretty plane (Sara Marie 4-letter-lastname)

mromag1

I also picked Joan 

Theresa626

I had a book of saints and read through it.  I picked the one that had a name I liked and had the most interesting story. I picked Rose.  I think she was an eighteen year old martyr but honestly, it's been so long I can't even remember. 

kikikatie9

Honestly I picked Brigid because my sister did and she made it easy for me to do all the work on it. I know I stole a saints name that is horrible.  However I was 14 so it didn't mean that much to me. 

I do think that your reasoning is a great reason why to pick it. You can do whatever you want.

GulfCoaster

I picked Edith as my confirmation name, after Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross).  I chose her because she was a convert, like me, and because she was a philosopher whose work I respect. 

You can't go wrong choosing Mary anyway... 

pjseabee

I chose Valerie, but the reason escapes me... I was 16.  I do remember that we had to research the name before chosing it, so I must have identified with her story.  Guess I should look it up again!

mcdol3

My middle name is Anne, so I am going to choose St. Ann (Mary's mother I believe, i haven't looked into it too much.) My sponsor was telling me about her but we were interrupted before she could finish. 

Thanks for the reminder!

Clare13

I find this thread interesting.  Your confirmation name is the name you want to be called by God.  I understand tradition has been to pick a name different than your own, but I've never fully understood this.  I chose to to go with my own name.  I researched St. Clare and love her story and that she is the patron saint of visions.  I  go by Clare everyday and want that to be my name in the church.  I did not see a reason to choose a different name.  By no means was I going to change what all my friends and family were going to call me, so  why would I want God to call me something else?  I would suggest looking at your own patron saint and seeing if you want to use them.  The way I always looked at it is, how do I want to be greeted when I enter into heaven?  Do I want to be called by a name that I chose at confirmation, or the name that I go by everyday? 

[Deleted User]

I did some research before I picked mine, even though there were like 6 St. Elizabeth's when I was confirmed last year. I also went through RCIA last year and was confirmed. I liked St. Elizabeth b/c of her starting schools. Teaching and kids have always been my passion and that is why I chose her. Just chose something that has meaning or sentiment to you and you will be fine. Congrats and welcome into the faith!

mbcdefg

I picked Eleanor because it was my late grandmother's name (which realy meant a lot to my mom when I told her), and I asked my other grandmother to be my sponsor.

KatieJL121

I chose St. Catherine of Siena because my name is Katherine.  Looking back on it now, I probably should've had a better reason, but I was 13 at the time, lol...didn't put much thought into it.

samurai21

In my parish you're confirmed at 18, so we all put a decent amount of thought into our patron saints.

Like another poster I chose St. Joan of Arc. Growing up I loved reading books about her and loved her story and what she stood for. When it came time to pick my saint I knew in my heart that she was going to be it. Also being 18 I considered saints that had "cool" names like Scholastica until my dad reminded me that it was more than just about a cool sounding name

I think your choice sounds lovely.