24 saintly confirmation names for boys and girls

Is your child due to make their confirmation soon and looking through lists of names to find the perfect one to choose?

For many pre-teens, choosing their confirmation name is an exciting prospect as the sacrament rolls around. It is the first chance that many kids have to choose a part of their identity, a name that they can use for the rest of their lives if they want to.

I remember choosing my confirmation name and agonising about it for months beforehand. While we didn’t have to choose a saint’s name (despite being in a Catholic school, and it was subtly encouraged) I did want to choose something meaningful. In the end, I chose my granny’s name, Alice, which I later found out is in fact, a saint, the patron saint of the blind and paralyzed.

But I never regretted my name; I picked it in honour of someone who I love and respect deeply and even though I am no longer religious, I still cherish the name that I picked.

These days in schools it can be a mixed bag on the advice when choosing names, some encourage a saint’s name while others don’t.

But if your child is hoping to choose a saint’s name, we have compiled a list of slightly out-of-the-box names with lovely meanings – it doesn’t have to be John, James, Mary or Joan, after all!

12 saint’s names for girls

Abigail – The patron saint of honeybees and beekeepers

Apollonia – The patron saint of dentistry

Carmen –  The patron saint of education

Colette – Patron saint of expectant mothers and sick children

Felicity – Patron saint of healing

Geneviève – Patron saint of Paris

Cecilia – The patron saint of music

Inez – The patron saint of seeking chastity and purity

Isabella – Patron saint of the sick

Matilda – The patron saint of parents with large families

Rosa – Patron saint of embroiders, gardeners, and florists

Victoria – Patron saint of Anticoli Corrado, Italy

12 Saints names for boys

Aaron – Patron saint for those who live passionate, steadfast lives

Adrian – The patron saint of soldiers

Basil – Patron saint of hospital administrators and reformers

Bede – The patron saint of scholars and historians

Cosmas –  Patron saint of physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists

Davis – Patron saint of Wales

Drogo – The patron saint of blacksmiths

Elmo – Patron saint of sailors

Fiacre – The patron saint of gardeners and herbalists

Finnian – The patron saint of teaching and sharing

Joshua – Patron saint of literature, reading, professionalism, spies, and intelligence

Oliver – Patron saint of peace and reconciliation

Is your child making their confirmation? Do they have to choose a saint’s name?

* This article was originally published on Rollercoaster.ie.