confirmation names

My confirmation name is Cecelia because I love playing the flute and singing, and she is the patron saint of music. It really doesn't go at all with my other 70s-tastic names!

There is no such thing as a "legal name" in the UK.

Your name is the one you are known by. So if you are Alita Smith on your birth cert, and Alita Bernadette Smith on your post-confirmation school admissions, and Alita B Smith-Shaw after you shack up with a partner in a totally unCatholic way, those are all your name which you are entitled to use.

You're not allowed to commit fraud, so you can't apply for jobseekers as Alita Smith and then apply again as Bernadette Shaw, knowing that you are using two names for one thing. But if you are known by both names, and apply for JSA in one and a library card in another, there's nothing unlawful about that. (Although you might struggle to do it technically as everyone wants proof of name now.)

If you want to use your confirmation name you can do so. Some places (like libraries) are unlikely to care if you introduce a middle name having previously not used one. Others (like banks) are more likely to want to see a change of name deed or statutory declaration, but that is for their own best practice not because it's a legal requirement. Even if they say it is!

Mine is Catherine......just because I liked it. Still do.
DS1 is Michael after my deceased father, and Ds2 will have Joseph (my dad's confirmation name).

The same parish had hundreds of Grainnes, Niamhs, Orlas, Emers and Eithnes.

I had a schoolmate whose parish priest wouldn't allow the name Natasha when her parents brought her along for her baptism. A case of pure ignorance.

And yes, no names ever taken for First Holy Communions.

These days churches are much more lenient about christening kids with unsaintly names, but not too long ago there needed to be a saint's name in the mix somewhere.

Mine is Monica- patron saint of difficult marriages and disappointing children

No names are chosen for FHC, just confirmation.

Mine is Felicity - I chose it because it means happiness.

No - it's supposed to be the saint who looks after you your whole life but the name has no legal standing or validity in that way.

We're in Italy, dh and dd are Catholic. Dd was baptised here, with a middle name and a first name which are not saint's names.

She did her FHC last year and no saint name was bestowed on her either.

I chose Zita for my confirmation name purely because I thought the Z would be cool My big sister made up some headed paper for me with my new full name as a present, I thought it was fantastic!

I later discovered my father chose Saint Francis Xavier for exactly the same reason!

In Russia according to my Russian friends, the mother gets flowers and a nice time on a child's birthday and the child celebrates on the saint's day.

They do that in France too, ie. buy people a present on their saint's name day. Or at least they did in the 80s when I went on a French exchange.

Same as me squoosh

My BIL chose Zebedee, just to force the bishop to say it out loud.

Mine was Margaret. Hideous!

A girl in our class chose Madonna, that caused a kerfuffle.

Your 'legal' name is the one you go by. If you have included it on any identity or other official documents, then I'd say it counts and just dropping it might lead to confusion. If however you've used your birth certificate name, for such things, then you can stop using it if you wish and officialdom won't even notice.

Dog that's not right. My middle name is the middle name my parents chose, nothing to do with baptism.

My confirmation name is a saint's name and also the name of my sponsor. Never ever use it in any way.

I chose Thomas - when the bishop anointed me he asked why I had chosen a boys name - I told him I doubted the whole resurrection thing.

There's absolutely no legality to them at all. Nothing happens to them in the same way that nothing happens to a nickname/ pet name/ diminutive when you stop using it. I don't think I've uttered since my confirmation which was almost 30 years ago.

In Italy children are usually given a first name which would be a saint's name (middle names are uncommon although our DS has two). You effectively then have two birthdays, your actual birth date and your saint's name day, when you get presents and taken out for lunch. BIL/SIL chose a name that had no saint attached, so when she was baptised a middle, saint's name, was given so that she could have a saint's day. No legal bearing though. If it's not on the birth certificate or added via deed poll, it's not legal.

You can have any number of names, saints' names or otherwise, as a Catholic. Whether a baby is given one or six (or more) names is purely according to the taste of the parents and the culture of the family.

No legality to it whatsoever. You are not supposed to use it like an extra middle name.

You choose a confirmation name based on some quality of the saint or prophet, etc., that you find admirable, or wish to emulate. For example, St Francis or St Elizabeth of Hungary were known for their generosity. You adopt the quality as much as you can. Not the actual name.