All Souls Day is a good day to look at religious names and Catholic saints provide a treasure trove of great names for parents who are looking for baby names with religious history. While religious names have long been popular with parents, many are hoping to cast their nets a little wider than MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE and JOHN.

 

 

In my search for attractive names, I came across some names that really shouldn’t be dusted off any time soon for new babies…I’ll start with the good picks and finish up with the funny ones.

 

 

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

 

ALODIA

BEATRIX

CALLIOPE

CARISSIMA

KIARA

MELANIA

THEODOXIA

PRISCILLA

URSULINA

ZARA

 

 

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

 

AMBROSE

BOSWELL

BROGAN

BRUNO

CIAN

CONALL

CORMAC

DECLAN

OCTAVIUS

QUENTIN

 

 

These names come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and have a range of meanings — both things to consider when picking out a name. However, if religious significance is important to you, do some research on the saint and make sure that the namesake represents qualities that are important to you.  

 

On to the names you shouldn’t consider…There’s a good chance none of these are on your short list, but just in case they are and you need a second opinion, here are some names I don’t recommend…

 

 

DODO

DOGFAN

DOTTO

FLORIBERT

FRODOBERT

HYGINIUS

LAWDOG

LUPUS

PERFECTUS

PIMPONIA

PRIMITIVA

PROBUS

STUPUR

TYRANNUS

 

Source: www.catholic.org

 

 

Do you have any favorites from these lists? Want to share your favorite saint’s names? Let us know!

 

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

 

♥  Amanda

 

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

 

 

 

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES