How to choose a confirmation name - where to start?
Choosing a Confirmation Name
Do you have a son/daughter who is making their confirmation this year?
Confirmation is a religious rite which is supplemental to baptism, by which a person is admitted to the full privileges of the Church. Special confirmation names for girls/boys are chosen in many English and German speaking countries for a girl/boy being confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church (and some Anglican dioceses).
The custom of adopting a saint’s name at confirmation was done in order to adopt the saint as a special heavenly patron or to honor a saint to whom one had a special devotion. In short, the purpose was to give the confirmed the opportunity to develop his/her understanding of and reliance on the communion of saints.
The following websites we found are helpful in finding saint’s names and useful facts about saints:
- http://www.stjamesparishdavis.net/Files/Girlsnames.htm
- http://www.stjamesparishdavis.net/Files/Boysnames.htm
- www.actapublications.com
- www.catholic.org
While the practice is still in use today, some dioceses have encouraged returning to the older tradition of not picking a new name at confirmation. The idea is that the person is already supposed to have a Christian name, given to him/her in baptism, and that continuing to use that name at confirmation will serve as a link between these two sacraments of Christian initiation.
