Religious Names

[MithLuin]

Yes, becoming a religious sister doesn't mean that you don't have to worry about the mundane things of life anymore - you still need to get your drivers' license renewed from time to time, and change residency when you move to a new state, and have W-2 forms, etc (though the religious order takes care of a lot things at a more corporate level).

Personally, I call people by their religious name if they were introduced to me that way, and by their baptismal name if that is how I first knew them. I don't easily make the transition. I know my sister's and cousin's religious names, of course, but I don't really use them.

Legally changing your name isn't impossible (though maybe a little trickier than if you are getting married at the same time), but I don't know of any professed religious who take that step. St. Ignatius of Loyola really didn't like to use Inigo after he took Ignatius, and when he wrote the story of his life, he referred to 'Inigo' in the third person...as if it were someone else. Maybe it was.....

My sister (my [i]other[/i] sister....) was so relieved to be able to legally change her name when she got married, because she grew up with two different legal names - one on her birth certificate (and thus her passport), and the other on her Social Security card (and her driver's license). Now she just has one name, and that suits her just fine! (And she was able to use her confirmation name as her middle name 'officially' now).

[LaPetiteSoeur]

I think it depends on the order and on the person.

I know more traditional orders (say the NDs, DSMMEs, the Salesians, and the Sisters of Life) do change names.

I believe most 'modern' orders do not. However, a SSJ of Philadelphia still goes by Sr. James, while some of her fellow sisters switched back (some before VII had kept their names...).

In Doubt, the real Sr. James went back to Sr. Margaret Mary (her name before).

Dieu vous benisse!

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='LaPetiteSoeur' timestamp='1289054278' post='2185374']
I think it depends on the order and on the person.

I know more traditional orders (say the NDs, DSMMEs, the Salesians, and the Sisters of Life) do change names.

I believe most 'modern' orders do not. However, a SSJ of Philadelphia still goes by Sr. James, while some of her fellow sisters switched back (some before VII had kept their names...).

In Doubt, the real Sr. James went back to Sr. Margaret Mary (her name before).

Dieu vous benisse!
[/quote]

Just for the record, both the Salesians and Sisters of Life give you the option of keeping your baptismal names. I think for the Sisters of Life, the baptismal name must be a Christian name to begin with.

[1catholic]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' timestamp='1288899669' post='2184854']
I don't think I've met any unhabited sisters that go by a religious name. On the other hand, I do know of a few habited sisters who do-- the Salesian Sisters, and some Sisters of Life.
[/quote]

most of the sisters at my school don't wear habits but they have their religious names

[DameAgnes]

I know an unhabited monastic nun who goes by a religious name she took at first vows, and I know a few habited nuns who go by their baptismal names, or their baptismal names with "Mary" added.

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='LaPetiteSoeur' timestamp='1289054278' post='2185374']
I think it depends on the order and on the person.

I know more traditional orders (say the NDs, DSMMEs, the Salesians, and the Sisters of Life) do change names.

I believe most 'modern' orders do not. However, a SSJ of Philadelphia still goes by Sr. James, while some of her fellow sisters switched back (some before VII had kept their names...).

In Doubt, the real Sr. James went back to Sr. Margaret Mary (her name before).

Dieu vous benisse!
[/quote]

The Web site of the ND's says that Sisters get a new religious name at their clothing as a novice, but apparently in some cases, the "new" name isn't that different from a Sister's secular name. In the section of photos from the most recent clothing of novices, one of the pictures is that of a postulant whose secular name was "Sister Cecilia" and her religious name is "Sister Cecilia Rose." (Rose being another version of the name "Mary.")

As for "my" Sisters, the Sisters of Christian Charity (SCC) (not to be confused with the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity) whom Lillibet characterized, accurately I think as "middle of the road" (orthodox in their beliefs and practices, but wear a modified habit consisting of a knee-length black skirt, white blouse, and black sweater (with a few exceptions, e.g. for nursing Sisters, Sisters in warm climates, etc) and a black veil (white veil for novices--but always wearing a veil, and the modified habit is clearly not "lay clothing"), I have never been able to figure out exactly what their practice is with regard to names. (Some day, I am going to get up the courage to ask all the questions I have been afraid to ask for fear of being disrespectful.)

Based on their Web site, novices get new religious names at their clothing. However, quite a few of the Sisters, especially the older Sisters appear to use their baptismal name. I'm pretty sure that my friend Sister Helen uses her baptismal name. (But I could easily be wrong, since "Helen" is a saint's name.) However, in the Western province there are several Sister Helens, and sometimes when I have called her, the Sister on the phone had me clarify which Sister Helen I was asking for. (The duplication of names may not be due to keeping their birth name, but due to a Sister changing Provinces, etc.) Also, particularly in the past (but also nowadays) devout Catholic families often gave (and still give) their daughters the name Mary, often combined with another saint's name (Mary Alice, Mary Ann, Mary Elizabeth, etc) so frequently it is difficult to tell if a Sister's name is her birth name or her birth name. I don't know if there was a time in the past when all Sisters in the Order went back to their birth names, but the custom has changed back, or if Sisters at some point were given a choice, and even if they are still given the choice, for example, to use their birth name (assuming it is an acceptable religious name) along with Mary or some other saint's name.

I wonder what Orders where Sisters normally keep their birth names do if the Sister's name is something like "Brandy," "Daffodill," or "Amber." I'd assume Sisters with these kinds of birth names would take a religious name with the name of a saint or a Blessed, but I have no idea. (It would feel strange to meet a Sister named "Sister Apple"--although with St. Francis' love for animals and nature, maybe "Sister Apple" isn't irreverent, even if there is no St. Apple that I am aware of.)

But, from all the responses in this thread, it seems that the only conclusion we can draw is that the practices of an Order or a Community regarding the changing and use of religious names is that we can't draw a conclusion, since practices regarding names don't appear to be a good indicator of how orthodox, traditional, observant, a Community may be--or an individual Sister, for that matter. Even if Sister Helen uses her birth name (and I don't know that she does), I have never met a more saintly, orthodox, genuinely good woman that Christ must be very proud to have as a bride.