Ignatius

[DaisyJoy1]

Looking for a saint name for next baby! For a girl we have picked Helena and Marina, (we love both, have already posted a thread about this and got lovely feedback, so decided if baby is a girl just to see which names she suits most and save the other name for a potential future daughter!)

For a boy, my husband has decided he loves Ignatius. Which was unexpected! It was suggested on another thread where I asked about saints names for boys and he took a liking to it.

Other names that were suggested that we liked were Moses, Cassian, Fabian.

Was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on Ignatius? Does it seem OTT - is it a bit Jacob Rees Mogg? (DH isn't British and doesn't see any issue with the name, but I feel British people might feel differently. While we don't live in the UK, we still have family there and will be returning every so often, children will be British citizens so British opinions on the name are definitely important!)

He likes nickname Iggy which I feel is the only natural shortening anyway.

I like Ignatius. There are lots of lovely boys names after saints, Maximilian, Sebastian, Alban, Benedict, Patrick.

Love Ignatius (Iggy for short)
Also: Benedict (Ben) and Augustine (August / Auggy)

It seems a big name to pull off, Iggy isn't bad though. At least its different from Archie, Charlie, Jack etc

Makes me think of Iguanas

Absolutely not. It's awful.

I love it.

I like it! And Iggy is a great nn.

Cate Blanchett’s son is Ignatius, so if it’s good enough for her…

Cassian is also great.

And I quite like Fabian

Nate is a good alternative nn also.

I love it personally

Great name 😁

I quite like it and I love Iggy, which what I'd call him day to day.

Are you practising Catholics and if not do you mind if people assume that you are? I know one, in his teens, from a very devoutly Catholic family. It is an unusual name and IME almost unheard of in non-Catholic families.

I love it, and the nn Iggy.

@ZoyaTheDestroyer Why would it matter if people did think that? Presumably there’s no cultural appropriation issue, the way there might be with a foreign or non Christian religious name (if OP wasn’t of that faith)? Most traditional given names in the uk have a biblical origin don’t they?

i agree about the committed catholic thing....IMO its the kind of name you would give a son intended for the priesthood.....and you do know that "Iggy" is what dog people call Italian greyhounds?

I didn't say it would matter in the slightest and I don't suggest there is any cultural appropriation. Nevertheless names have connotations, especially very unusual ones, and parents who are considering the name need to know those connotations to make an informed choice.

FWIW Ignatius doesn't feature in the Bible and is therefore an example of a very religious Christian name which is not biblical.

I'd think that Ignatius's parents were practising Catholics.

Ignatious?, it sounds like an incendiary device and I say that as someone who has Catholic DC with Saints names.

That’s where I’ve seen it too. He’s erm quite a character, an antihero without many, if any, redeeming features IIRC.

I really like it, nick name Nacho.

I think older Irish men would go by 'Iggy' or Ignatius in full, no apology!

I disagree about the ''committed'' catholic thing. I'm Irish and saints names are a different type of classic. They have a solidity to people from catholic countries that is equal to William, Charles, Henry. Names like Dominic, Gregory, Louis, Benedict, Francis, Brendan, Anthony, Vincent and even Kevin may go in and out of fashion but they're established and they sound classic in a European way that works across most countries in Europe and the only country that doesn't ''get it'' and can't ''read this'' is the UK, where solid and established means aristocratic names that sound ok after King or Prince.

I disagree about the ''committed'' catholic thing. I'm Irish

But in the UK it is a name that says 'Catholic'. Same as Benedict, Aloysius etc.

I love it. Was quite keen on it for ds. Also, Bernard.

Ignatius is really lovely in theory - but I agree it does sound a bit much somehow compared to Marina and Helena, which while not popular are still much more widely used/heard of here (But still, Ignatius is no Sixtusat least! ). I think it's liveable, but have you considered the variant Inigo instead? Somehow Inigo sounds a bit less full on to me, while still having the nn Iggy.

Or if you like Nate, Nathaniel is so lovely and works well with Helena and Marina imo as it's style feels very similar to me (it's also used in Shakespeare like them too!)

I also think Cassian is okay, if perhaps slightly trendy now (all the "Cas" names are on the rise for boys). But Moses is too strongly Biblical to me and Fabian not my cup of tea (it somehow sounds a bit feminine imo, although I realise it's more widely used it other countries, similar style to Florian)

You are in a totally different cultural context in a country where Catholicism is the dominant paradigm, whereas in much of the UK Catholics have been a frequently oppressed minority since 1534 (and I am very aware that Irish Catholics need no lessons in oppression from me).

There are still parts of the UK where having a very explicitly Catholic name has political connotations.