Confirmation Names

So I've been putting off my Confirmation for about two years now, and have finally decided it's about time. I've chosen a sponsor; I've discussed the Holy Spirit; I've talked about the gifts we receive at Confirmation. I just need to choose a name.

I've been told that our name has to be of a Saint whose life we respect and so we can pray to them when times get hard. However, most of my friends and family just chose the name that they liked the most.

What name did you choose, and why? And do you think it matters whether the name holds any significance to you for the rest of your life?

And are there any strong believers of their religion who haven't chosen to be Confirmed? Why did you choose not to?

Could you explain the concept of confirmation names for people who haven't come across it before (such as me )?

I was confirmed when I was about 10 years old (Church of England). But there was no mention of confirmation names or anything like that. They just did the ceremony like a baptism. It doesn't really bear any significance to me now, because aside from the fact I lost my faith at about 15, I still hadn't really thought about it for myself, or at least not it in great detail. I still assumed back then that I would always be a Christian, so it seemed like second nature really.

For me, it's a Catholic confirmation, so I suppose it's quite different from C of E.

Basically, the confirmation is one of the seven sacraments of Christianity (I've never studied Church of England, so I apologise if this doesn't apply to your denomination. It's based of my knowledge of the Catholic one) which is usually done at around 13 years old. Whereas the other sacraments don't focus on anything other than being accepted fully into different parts of the religion, the confirmation is usually centred around receiving the Holy Spirit.

The idea is that the confirmation is the final step towards becoming one with God, and that has to happen by accepting the Holy Spirit and generally understanding the gifts which we receive after confirmation. There is a lot of work prior where you have to study different Saints and which gifts of the Holy Spirit they show in their stories in the Bible, and understanding the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).

As for the actual ceremony, I'm pretty sure it's quite simple and nothing like a baptism or communion. The bishop of our area will stand at the front of the church, and our sponsor (a Catholic member of the family who we've chosen) leads us up to him. Now, since I've not done my confirmation yet, and it's still in a few weeks, I'm a bit patchy on the next part. Either the bishop puts his hand on our shoulder and says that he accepts '-our confirmation name here-' to be confirmed, or the sponsor does that. But I'm not too sure.

Confirmation names are also quite simple. The idea behind them is that we choose a Saint whose life we admire and whose choices we respect. It's preferred that we choose a well known Saint, such as Mary, Peter, or Paul, so that we do understand their story and life. After being confirmed, the name is supposed to be used so that we pray to our chosen Saint when life gets hard, or we're in a situation which they could help with.

I'm thinking of choosing the name Joan, since she isn't one of the usual and overused names that everyone chooses, and her life was very respectable and because she's in the film 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'.

I picked Mary Magdalene.. But spelt it Marie. Her name was actually Maria, so I sort of.. crossed them.

I've always been fascinated by her. Plus she is patron saint of a lot of things I am, so it made sense for me to pick her (people ridiculed for their piety, converts, hairdressers, women, according to wikipedia. Forgive me for using wiki, I picked it a while ago). My name is still legally Kathryn Emma, but when it's not for legal purposes I use Kathryn Emma-Marie.

I think you should pick someone you respect. Otherwise what's the real point? Or at least pick a few saints with names you like and then research those saints and pick the one who means most to you out of them.

@ Chaos Walking

Joan is a great saint / confirmation name to pick, it's always refreshing when a female saint's greatest achievement is not protecting her virginity. If I were to pick someone, I would probably go for Teresa of Avila because she was an amazing woman.

I’ve been looking at all the different accounts of Joan’s life, and I really think she is the perfect Saint to choose. I’ve looked at lots of others, but never felt the connection that we’ve been told we should feel with that Saint and their life. I feel Joan was more of a respectable, strong woman than most of the Saints who I’ve researched.

I don't remember being told about the Saint having to be admired by us. Then again, I was confirmed when I was young. I don't remember a lot. I do remember I wanted Charity, but I wasn't allowed, and instead chose Josephine. I don't remember why, though.

My boyfriend's was Martin, the good Samaritan who gave his cloak to the homeless man.

I got confirmed as Joan last thursday.

@ Mini Mindfreak Casey

Charity is a really nice name, and it’s a shame you weren’t allowed. I think that was one of the options for us to choose, so I don’t know why you wouldn’t be allowed. But Josephine is a good name too, and quite a few people chose it.

@ of dru’s being

Most of the boys in our group were really stuck for names, and most of them just chose any Saint they definitely knew the name of. Most chose Peter, John and Joseph, or others like that. One boy chose Sebastian which I thought was quite interesting. But having his name have a meaning and a story is really good. And especially since he chose someone who had such a big impact.

@ Chaos Walking
It was just interesting 'cause there was a picture up of St. Martin when we were getting something at the restaurant the other day and I asked him if he knew who it was and he was like 'yeah, that's the saint I picked my confirmation name from' or whatever. He did say it was really hard for him to pick someone, but he thought someone who helped others was a good choice.

My confirmation name is Killian. It's from Saint Killian or Cillian depending on how you want to spell it. He's the patron saint of rheumatism. I find that pretty convenient since my joints aren't that great. I chose the name Killian because my mother wouldn't let me use Malachi. She has a deep rooted fear of the character from the Children of the Corn. Also, I chose Killian because when you run any name next to mine it sounds absolutely silly. It's hard to match up a nice sounding confirmation name when your first name is Arabic.

I'm an Atheist, but I used to be Catholic. I did go through the confirmation process however, and I have decided to still keep my confirmation name.

My Confirmation name is Agnes, after St. Agnes (the youngest martyr)

Agnes was a virgin, and kept herself "clean" in this way for God, and that is why she was killed.

I've shown lots of men my body and done lots of bad things online in the past, so keeping this name as a part of me, shows me that although I don't do those sorts of things anymore I can't say that I haven't done them. That time in my life is forever a part of who I am, and has helped me become the person I am today.

My boyfriend's is Martin after St. Martin, the soldier who gave the nude homeless man his cape.

I chose Saint Bernadette, because she is a saint that I truly admired. She stayed strong in her faith, even when people doubter her. She never gave up and had a strong prayer life. She is still somebody that I try to model my faith life after, so I do think that the saint name you pick holds some significance.