Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Naming John Paul Fulton

When you're out and about with a baby, you get lots of attention. One of the first questions most folks ask is, "What's his name?" To which we reply "John Paul", and to which they reply with a variety of fun reactions.

Some folks say, "How beautiful!"

Others say, "Is that biblical or something?"

And others, "Like the Pope?!"

We sure are wearing our Catholicness on our sleeve with a name like that.



While we were pregnant, we decided to not decide on a name for baby. We had a (long) list of names for a boy and another (long) list for a girl and we'd make our name decision once we saw our little one's face for the first time.

In order to make "the list", the names had to be a saint's name, a future saint's name, a derivative of a saint or future saint's name, or a family name. Extra points for saints or to-be saints with cool stories. Also, the name couldn't be too popular. I tend to like traditional names that are a little off the beaten path, but not too far off (i.e. St. Sexburga . . . what?!). And I really like nicknames, so if the name had a good one, I liked it even more. Sometimes I'd even think of the nickname first and try to find a saint's name that matched the nickname. Naming really is a fun game!

You'd think that with all those requirements, we would be able to narrow things down a bit, but GOSH there are a lot of saints and to-be saints out there with wonderfully classy nicknameable names!

I spent a lot of time sorting through names on this alphabetical catalog of all the saints and once I found ones I liked, I'd head on over to the Social Security website to check the popularity of the name in the US over the past 10 years. In order to make the cut, it couldn't be in the top 20, especially if it was a girl's name. I like for girl's names to be even less popular . . . out of the top 100. I was serious about names, folks!

Once a name made my list, I'd bounce it off John and try to imagine calling our child by that name throughout his or her life. I'd occasionally run names by friends or family members, but I found it was best to decide on names just between the two of us, since everyone has naming opinions, and they differ wildly!

Once a name made our list, we worked on pairing it with the perfect middle name, which was typically where the family names came in.

After all that searching, we were hoping the perfect name would become obvious once we laid eyes on our newborn, but were also prepared for our baby to go nameless for a few days if we couldn't decide. :P

All that being said, we were pretty sure if baby was a boy, he'd end up being named for his father: John. The name "John" goes pretty far back on his side of the family. All the first born sons have been named John for at least the past 3 generations, with all the men having different middle names (so there's no Sr., Jr., III). My husband, John, was open to going with a different name on the list if baby didn't look or feel to us like a John, but I could tell he really wanted to honor his family by continuing the family tradition. And I was all for making that happen.

However, I really didn't want two guys going by the same first name in our house, like my husband experienced when he lived under his parents' roof. (When we go over there, there's still confusion whenever someone says "John"!) So that's where more creativity came into play.

Since our baby boy's first name was going to honor John's side of the fam, we figured his middle name should honor my side. As luck would have it, guess what my dad's name is . . . Paul!

So, while at first glance it appears we named John Paul for St. Pope John Paul II, we also named him for both his grandfathers -- John and Paul. How cool is that?

And though his first name is just John, we enjoy calling him John Paul so there's no confusion as to who I'm talking to or about at any given moment. We also like that if he decides he'd rather just go by John some day, he has the option, hence "Paul" as a middle name.

For whatever reason, we also decided he needed a second middle name. I think part of it was because we just like so many names, so we wanted to throw another one in there. And as a former infertile, you have no idea if you'll be able to have more in the future, so I sorta felt like . . . gotta use 'em while we can!

Because we were pretty certain about the name John Paul, it was really the second middle name that we left undecided until after he was born. The two we were deciding between were Fulton, for Blessed Fulton Sheen, who is so awesome and we've both loved for a long time, and Peregrine, patron saint of illness, but more importantly the saint that Pippin from Lord of the Rings was named for. ;) We also toyed with Benedict and Francis, but then we'd be double-Pope-ing our kid, Pio, for St. Padre Pio, and Patrick, because John liked that name at the last second and it sounds good with John Paul.

But once our little man arrived, it was clear he was meant to be John Paul Fulton.

So there you have it . . . the long version of where our little man got such a big name from. :)

And in case you were curious, I'll share all the other names we were considering. Don't be too surprised if we use them (God willing) in the future, but since John Paul's birth, I've already discovered a few more names that I love. I'll keep those newer ones a secret for now. ;)


PS - If you're as name obsessed as I am, check out this Catholic naming blog, Sancta Nomina. She even does naming consultations! Be warned, you can easily get lost in her old posts for hours. :)

21 comments:

  1. I looooove Eleanor and Genevieve - but we had a close friend who had a baby named Eleanor, and my sister's middle name is Genevieve, so I think we nixed them off our lists. I'm keeping all my other names secret because I'm selfish and don't want them spoiled! ;)

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    1. Oh! That was probably another requirement, but unspoken. It had to be a name that no one we knew had used before. We were willing to make exceptions, but it had to be a reeeeally good name. ;) Gosh, I love the name Eleanor so much! It's growing in popularity though, so I was a little nervous about using a name that would make it into the top 10. But still love love love it! Wish you'd share your names but totally understand the secrecy. :P

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  2. So fun!! I love the stories behind names. How cool that both John and Paul are family names too, in addition to being rockstar saint names separately and combined - wow. I hear you on putting a couple strong names in there! I feel the same way - if we are every blessed with a little one, I think their name might be oh, four or five words long, ha ha.

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    1. Name stories are so fun! Can't wait to read the story of how you name your little one! I have a good feeling he or she will be joining your family sooner than you think. (I know I'm not supposed to say things like this, but your husband once said it to me and it turned out to be true!) Continued prayers for your baby with five names! ;)

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  3. Whaaaat that Social Security site to check popularity of names is awesome!!! How did I not know about that?! I love that John Paul is named after both his grandparents as well, that is so cool. I've sometimes thought about John William because they go well together and it's both our dad's names. Love all the name options. I especially love Eleanor and Alice :) also, I can not believe there is a Catholic naming blog. You are blowing my mind!

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    1. YAS! Social Security is great for naming. AND the Catholic naming blog!

      Also, did you know that my husband's name is John William?!?! :) :) :) So I'd have to agree . . . they go together well!

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    2. I did not know that was your hubby's name!! and omg I just went to that Catholic naming blog and if you click "birth announcements" the first name is Juliet Rose!!!!! What!?

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    3. There is also a Lucia Grace on there!

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    4. STOP IT! I guess we're all wearing our Catholicness on our sleeves. ;)

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  4. I love that you got to honor both your family names as well as be all kinds of Catholic with naming him!

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  5. you give me anxiety! wth! lmbo

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  6. YES! I also checked the Social Security list for our names. I didn't want anything even on an upwards trend. (And then wouldn't you know Josh Duggar goes and names his baby Meredith?!) You are so lucky you both agree on so many names. It took us ages to check off all the categories we wanted. (Saint for at least middle, not popular, potentially a family name, not knowing a kid with bad associations with the same name.) I love John Paul's name for many many reasons. :)

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    1. Ha! Of course as soon as you pick a name, a famous person has to use it, right? :P I *was* a little concerned with choosing Eleanor because it's definitely on the rise. So I totally feel ya.

      Thankfully, John is really easy going about names. He doesn't veto much, unless he has a negative association, like you mentioned. For example, I liked Jack as a nickname for John Paul, but he knew a Jack in grade school and I guess that friendship didn't work out too well. Ruined the name for him. He also flat out vetoed Frannie as a nickname for Francesca, but I was gonna use it anyway. ;)

      Meredith is a beautiful name, btw!

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  7. Just now catching up on your posts...that little man kills me, SO PRECIOUS! And you look pretty adorable, too!!! I love your little family and am so glad you guys are doing so well! Also YEAH for Catholic names!!!

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    1. Aww, thanks, E! Your little girl is the cutest too! Yay for Catholic names, indeed!

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  8. Loving this post!! We are planning to keep our names a secret until the little one gets here, and people are not having it! I think they feel we are being selfish about it since we chose not to know the gender AND we aren't sharing name options. I just can't stand the thought of someone making a negative comment about our choices and second guessing them from there on out. Our boy name is pretty set, but we have a few versions of the girl name to sort through. It may become a game time decision depending on what feels right after s/he is here!

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    1. Stick to your guns, girl! I'm sure it's driving some folks bonkers, but honestly, they won't even remember this time of waiting to know name and gender once your little one arrives. Plus, it'll make his/her arrival even more magical! Announcing the gender and name with the birth was so fun for us, and I'm pretty sure fun for our loved ones as well. So I totally support you. :) Can't wait for that special announcement!

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  9. What a great name! And I love all your possible baby names! Great taste. If, please God, we have another boy, he will get the middle name Fulton. I just love Fulton Sheen. God bless your John Paul Fulton.

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    1. I hope you get to use that middle name some day, because Fulton Sheen is awesome! :) Thanks for the kind words!

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