Topic: names, names, names!

[Tikhon.of.Colorado]

I wa told to take a saint's name at chrismation.  I have just been asked who my patron is, and what my christian name will be.  when I said I thought they were the same thing, the person told me that my patron could be a saint, and my christian name would be that of a different saint.

please explain his, before I explode from confusion!

[yochanan]

I wa told to take a saint's name at chrismation.  I have just been asked who my patron is, and what my christian name will be.  when I said I thought they were the same thing, the person told me that my patron could be a saint, and my christian name would be that of a different saint.

please explain his, before I explode from confusion!

From what I know your Christian name and your Patron Saint could be the same. My friend's saint is St. Matthias the Apostle (the one who took Judas' place) and his Christian name is Matthias, too.

Hmm.. But I'm wondering -- I want St. Katherine of Alexandria to be my patron saint (honestly, I do -- it seems I have a crush on her) and imagine my Christian name would be Katherine even if I'm male. LOL. How weird would that be?

I hope what the person told you was right. 

[sainthieu]

As I understand it, they are usually one and the same. And if you have a Christian name, you don't need to select another one.

[Tikhon.of.Colorado]

I wa told to take a saint's name at chrismation.  I have just been asked who my patron is, and what my christian name will be.  when I said I thought they were the same thing, the person told me that my patron could be a saint, and my christian name would be that of a different saint.

please explain his, before I explode from confusion!

From what I know your Christian name and your Patron Saint could be the same. My friend's saint is St. Matthias the Apostle (the one who took Judas' place) and his Christian name is Matthias, too.

Hmm.. But I'm wondering -- I want St. Katherine of Alexandria to be my patron saint (honestly, I do -- it seems I have a crush on her) and imagine my Christian name would be Katherine even if I'm male. LOL. How weird would that be?

I hope what the person told you was right. 

I hope so aswell :-)  .  I think that Tikhon of Moscow will be my patron, and my Christian name will be Michael.  it's my middle name.

[HandmaidenofGod]

I wa told to take a saint's name at chrismation.  I have just been asked who my patron is, and what my christian name will be.  when I said I thought they were the same thing, the person told me that my patron could be a saint, and my christian name would be that of a different saint.

please explain his, before I explode from confusion!

From what I know your Christian name and your Patron Saint could be the same. My friend's saint is St. Matthias the Apostle (the one who took Judas' place) and his Christian name is Matthias, too.

Hmm.. But I'm wondering -- I want St. Katherine of Alexandria to be my patron saint (honestly, I do -- it seems I have a crush on her) and imagine my Christian name would be Katherine even if I'm male. LOL. How weird would that be?

I hope what the person told you was right. 

I hope so aswell :-)  .  I think that Tikhon of Moscow will be my patron, and my Christian name will be Michael.  it's my middle name.

I have never heard of this.

Please speak with your priest for further clarification.

[yochanan]

I wa told to take a saint's name at chrismation.  I have just been asked who my patron is, and what my christian name will be.  when I said I thought they were the same thing, the person told me that my patron could be a saint, and my christian name would be that of a different saint.

please explain his, before I explode from confusion!

From what I know your Christian name and your Patron Saint could be the same. My friend's saint is St. Matthias the Apostle (the one who took Judas' place) and his Christian name is Matthias, too.

Hmm.. But I'm wondering -- I want St. Katherine of Alexandria to be my patron saint (honestly, I do -- it seems I have a crush on her) and imagine my Christian name would be Katherine even if I'm male. LOL. How weird would that be?

I hope what the person told you was right. 

I hope so aswell :-)  .  I think that Tikhon of Moscow will be my patron, and my Christian name will be Michael.  it's my middle name.

I have never heard of this.

Please speak with your priest for further clarification.

But could I have a woman as a Patron? Even if I'm a man?

[HandmaidenofGod]

I wa told to take a saint's name at chrismation.  I have just been asked who my patron is, and what my christian name will be.  when I said I thought they were the same thing, the person told me that my patron could be a saint, and my christian name would be that of a different saint.

please explain his, before I explode from confusion!

From what I know your Christian name and your Patron Saint could be the same. My friend's saint is St. Matthias the Apostle (the one who took Judas' place) and his Christian name is Matthias, too.

Hmm.. But I'm wondering -- I want St. Katherine of Alexandria to be my patron saint (honestly, I do -- it seems I have a crush on her) and imagine my Christian name would be Katherine even if I'm male. LOL. How weird would that be?

I hope what the person told you was right. 

I hope so aswell :-)  .  I think that Tikhon of Moscow will be my patron, and my Christian name will be Michael.  it's my middle name.

I have never heard of this.

Please speak with your priest for further clarification.

But could I have a woman as a Patron? Even if I'm a man?

Your priest would be the best one to direct you on this, but I don't see why not. I mean, the male name Panayiotis is in honor of the Theotokos, and the name Ionna (a female name) honors John the Baptist.

[PeaceSerenity]

You can definitely have a patron saint of a different gender than you. My godmother's patron saint is St. Simeon the New Theologian and my mom's patron saint/patron person (?) is the Archangel Micheal.

Most people that I know are named after their patron saint, though, and if they have converted their Christian name is their saints name. If the Saint is of a different gender they usually change it: Simeon -> Simona, or something like that.

I'm trying to figure out Katherine though...In Romanian we have the name Catalin, but that doesn't work to great in English....Kather, Keith? I don't know, sorry!

[yochanan]

You can definitely have a patron saint of a different gender than you. My godmother's patron saint is St. Simeon the New Theologian and my mom's patron saint/patron person (?) is the Archangel Micheal.

Most people that I know are named after their patron saint, though, and if they have converted their Christian name is their saints name. If the Saint is of a different gender they usually change it: Simeon -> Simona, or something like that.

I'm trying to figure out Katherine though...In Romanian we have the name Catalin, but that doesn't work to great in English....Kather, Keith? I don't know, sorry!

I think Keith would be nice. 

[soufliotiki]

Your Patron Saint is the Saint whose name you adopt at baptism, not everything requires "check with Spiritual Father" some things are just known, usually by the "cradles" because it has been part of their culture for hundreds and hundreds of years ... knowledge as old and as timeless as the Church Fathers with no disrespect intended by me by the way I said it.

We inherit some of the "properties" of the name and also the characteristics of the Saint who sanctifies that name.

This does not prohibit us from assuming "honourary" Patron saints ... some cultures adopt a Patron for the family household (usually this custom is to assume as Patron the Saint whose name the "Father" of the house holds) ... other cultures assume a secondary Patron Saint each year.

This honourary title of Patron should be discussed with your Spiritual Father, I guess but you would not be breaking any Canons and it certainly does not harm anyone to honour a Saint!

However, our true Patron is the Saint whose name we adopt because we "inherit" spiritual tendencies from.

Very simple

[Basil 320]

My experience has been that your patron saint, is the saint associated with the name you are given at Baptism, "...inscribe him in the Book of Life, unite him to the flock of Thine inheritance..."  Certainly you may also be devoted to other saints, too.  That's why we have them.  The patron saint of your parish, for instance, is also your "protector."

[soufliotiki]

My experience has been that your patron saint, is the saint associated with the name you are given at Baptism, "...inscribe him in the Book of Life, unite him to the flock of Thine inheritance..."  Certainly you may also be devoted to other saints, too.  That's why we have them.  The patron saint of your parish, for instance, is also your "protector."

Yes, that is my understanding too ... the Patron is the one you are associated to through baptism. Next is your parish saint and next is a devotional saint for x,y,z reason ...

[ytterbiumanalyst]

My Saint's name, my given name, and the name I am called by the Church are all the same. If at all possible, choose as your patron the Saint for whom you were named. If you do not have the name of a Saint, then as an economy choose the name of a Saint to be called by the Church. But then, use that name in the Church. Having three names does tend to confuse others.

[Seraphim98]

If you are still not sure, you might also consider looking at the saints who are commemorated on the day of your birth. There might be one of those you feel drawn to.  I received the name Seraphim, after St. Seraphim of Sarov because it was the reading of his life that convinced me I need to become Orthodox.

[Cymbyz]

My given name is Owen; this is the Welsh form of Eugene.  At the time I was chrismated, I knew of now canonized Eugenes in the Orthodox Church, so I left it up to the parish priest to pick a name for me.  He chose Eugene of Cherson (Mar. 7), and I took that name and patronage as a matter of eccleesiastical obedience.  Only later did I learn that I might oave taken the name of St. Eugenia, or of St. Eugene of Carthage (both better known than my Eugene)--with a little nudging of the priest.

[Thankful]

Trevor, our family was baptized in January (our priest baptizes converts even if they've been baptized before) and as spoken above we just have one saint/name (they're the same), not a Christian name and a patron saint.  Our priest asked for suggestions on the name, but made the final decision.  Seven of us received the name we suggested; two didn't; and only the two littlest (too young to decide on their own) used names that were related to their given names even though several had names that are also the names of saints. 

[HandmaidenofGod]

Your Patron Saint is the Saint whose name you adopt at baptism, not everything requires "check with Spiritual Father"

Considering their Spiritual Father would have to approve the name prior to Chrismation, yes, they would have to check with their Spiritual Father.

[soufliotiki]

Your Patron Saint is the Saint whose name you adopt at baptism, not everything requires "check with Spiritual Father"

Considering their Spiritual Father would have to approve the name prior to Chrismation, yes, they would have to check with their Spiritual Father.

You missed my point ... and that is largely due to poor grammatical expression on my behalf.

God Bless you.