Sophia Mary, the Name Story



When it comes to naming each of our children, we are thoughtful, prayerful and deliberate. We've also discovered along the way that their names are all but revealed to us - some in more profound ways than others, but each in a way that makes it clear that this child is to be named this.

When it came to naming baby #6, we were completely stumped. Often we've had a name, or at least a top few, in the first months of pregnancy. With this one, nothing seemed to fit, so we put it off until after my 20 week ultrasound. At least then we could eliminate 50% of the possibilities.

Early in the pregnancy I had a dream of a brunette baby girl. Though pregnancy dreams are often strange and meaningless (like the ones where I'm holding the baby before tucking him/her back inside for the remainder of the pregnancy) this one made me wonder. The night before our 20 week ultrasound I had another dream of a brunette baby girl. We found out that morning that we were indeed having a girl! 

(The brunette piece was noteworthy because of our 5 children, we have 3 redheads, 1 blond and 1 brunette, and our brunette was praying for another brunette.) 

For a couple months after, we thought we had settled on a name, but as the weeks went by, I felt less peaceful about it. It was a beautiful name, a beautiful saint even, but it didn't seem quite right. 

Somewhere along the way, we settled on Mary as a middle name. If we didn't already have a Marianne, it likely would've been in the running for a first name, but even with Marianne going by "Annie" we thought it would get confusing. Mary would be her middle name. But the first name...

Around 7 or 8 months, I took my regular much-needed afternoon nap. When I woke up from my nap, I was fairly certain I knew what our baby girl's name would be:

I dreamed that we were taking our annual MI Lorien vacation. It was a Marian Holy Day of Obligation, and I found myself in the back of the nearby Polish church where we attended Mass, last year. I was alone, and able to have a wonderful peaceful prayer time. I was then joined by the daughters of a family that we'd known growing up, a family of 3 girls. The youngest, whom I babysat on occasion, was named Annie. I always loved her name and it, in part, inspired giving our Annie her nickname. 

But in my dream there were 4 girls. The youngest, a brunette girl around age 4, came over to me and I happily said, "I know you! You're Annie!" and even as I said it, I thought, "No, that's not right, Annie was the youngest of 3." And the little girl in front me laughed and, pointing at the next youngest, said, "That's Annie. I'm Sophie!" ....and even then, in my dream, I knew exactly who that was; that was my daughter.

(Mark has since asked, multiple times, "Did she say Sophia or Sophie?" - and I honestly don't remember. I love the nickname Sophie, and the formal name Sophia, so whether she said one or the other doesn't matter to me - it got the point across.)

When I woke from my dream, I was still flooded with the peace that I'd felt in my dream. It was the peace of a great nap, combined with a wonderful prayer time, and the joy of being fairly certain I had just met my daughter: Sophia Mary.

But why Sophia Mary? I knew Sophia is a fairly popular name, and there is a St. Sophia with a rather apocryphal-sounding story, but it didn't seem enough to inspire a name. So I thought beyond the saints, to the meaning. Sophia means "wisdom" and suddenly the title "Mary, Seat of Wisdom" came at me like a flood. Yes. Her middle name would be Mary, and Wisdom is a Christological name. Mary, who held Wisdom itself in her lap. Mary, Seat of Wisdom. Sophia Mary.

I excitedly sent off a message to Mark that I thought I had a name, wondering what on earth his opinion would be, having spent months coming up empty. The name, the dream, the meaning, it struck all the right notes for both of us, and we both fell madly in love with the nickname Sophie. Our littlest lady's name was settled. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
What a great story! Sometimes we choose the name, and sometimes the saint chooses for us.
Angelique said…
I'm guessing the other saint name you were gonna pick was Angelique. It is always so nice to know how highly you think of me. XOXOX PS Great name and great name story.

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