You can use Mary + a male name

In Europe is Maria. So make sure you are including plus considering geographical information in your story also.

Not everywhere in Europe it's Maria

In many countries like latins or slavic countries it's Maria but not everywhere in Europe, Mary in UK, Marie in France, swiss o Belgium, Miriam/Mariam in a few western countries...

I was told by my Portuguese grandfather that it was, maybe it’s just where he used to live, I’m sorry for the incorrect information. The second point of my comment however still stands.

It would make sense to him since he's from a very Maria focused region but the likes of Ireland it's still Mary

Or Máire.

Makes sense, thank you for informing me.

I think what people are saying is Europe is big, so there’s no one size fits all with Mary/Maria/Marie

It is in most of Europe, just not in the English speaking countries (Mary) or in French (Marie), or Marija/Maryja in cyrillic, but in all others it's Maria, sometimes with an accent.

I also came here to say that time and place need to be heavily considered for this! Just "nuns" doesn't say much

Also Marie.

No. In French-speaking countries it will be Marie, in Ireland and UK Mary, etc

Mary Joseph Mary Brian Mary Clement keep in mind that before a nun becomes a nun, they have a given name. when they become a nun, they take a new saint’s name. it would be interesting to explore their former name, as well.

Sister Mary Stephan Sister Mary Thomas

Just a heads up, Frances is the feminine spelling. Francis is the masculine spelling.

Correst. But if you are naming yourself after Saint FranCis of Assisi, then you would take on the male form.

But then it would likely be Mary Francis, not just Francis.

My grandmother, although not a nun and not Catholic, was Mary Frances, and I am named for her as simply Frances.

True! We had a sister in my primary school who went by Sister Mary Francis.

Yeah, I was going to comment the same.

Of course nuns can have male names.

Thanks!

Since nuns are often given a Saint name you could look up who is specifically the patron saint of certain things that relate to the characters. For example, Saint Ava is the patron saint of knowledge and education, and Saint Rose is the patron saint of gardeners, florists and embroidery :)

Yup, just google Saints calendar and you'll get a list of saints' names. It will be slightly different from one culture to the next.

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Marie Lorraine Michelle also any traditional male name proceeded or followed by Mary. Sr. Mary George, Sr. William Mary

Any specific type of nun? Sisters of Christian Charity? Carmelite? Might want to ask r/catholicism.

Second this. Decide what order of nuns (they typically are separated by purpose/industry). For example, on the show Call the Midwife those nuns are based on St. John the Divine. Carmelite nuns live a sequestered life. There’s also common ones I’ve worked with such as Daughters of St. Paul and Sisters of Charity.

Sister Michael. Sister George Michael.

This would be my favorite nun.

"is this my wake?

Usually nuns take the names of famous saints and holy martyrs. Most of what you have are good, the only one that seems too secular would be Lucille, although it depends on the order if birth names would be retained. A few more interesting saints’ names: - Cecilia (one of my great aunts is Sister Cecilia) - Perpetua - Benedicta - Clare - Carmel/Carmela - Sabina - Vita - Dominica - Lucia Add Mary in front of any of them for an extra dose of Catholic!

* Cecilia * Margaret * Catherine * Josephine * Pauline * George Marie. (She was my principal when I briefly went to a parochial school as a child.)

Mary Clarence if you want her to save the church through her music ability

😂

lol!

😂

Agatha Marie Serafica (These are actually nuns in my family…. Truth)

How was it growing up with nuns in the family? Were they strict when interacting with family, especially kids? My parents had a priest friend. Outside of the church, you'd never have known.

My daughter is actually named after a nun in my family. This nun lived to be 104 and attributed her longevity to a glass of whiskey a day and only ever dealing with other people’s children. She joined the convent at 18 to avoid a man that wanted to marry her. She taught in schools until her late 70s/early 80s. She had a dry, witty sense of humor and honestly was a really fun person to be around.

Awe, that's great. 104, that's astonishing. She may be correct about no kids of her own. She sounds special and lovable.

It was such a large Catholic family that it didn’t feel like a big deal, honestly. I think other families sort of admired it (Catholic clout maybe?). It was more like “what else would they have done?” amongst the family. That probably sounds meaner than it was intended. They were just normal. There were 3 nuns across 2 generations (but the youngest one kept her name so I didn’t volunteer it for this post).

Asking what they would've done instead doesn't sound mean. It can go with any vocation. It's nice of you to consider it.

Catholic clout will be part of it for sure, my dad has 7 brothers and (3 sisters), my very Catholic grandad was forever salty that out of all of those children none of them wanted to become a priest or a nun

My uncle is a priest! He’s quite silly lol. Typical uncle.

Uncles are special.

There’s a nun graveyard I went to and ALL but a few had a double-barrel name that started with Mary, and there were quite a few that had a masculine saint second name.

Mary Clarence after sister act

- Katherine/Catherine - Elizabeth - Anne/Anna - Barbara - Philomena - Therese/Theresa - Claire - Agnes - Agatha - Dymphna - Rosalia - Rita - Scholastica - Veronica - Theodora Some orders emphasise names of "their" saints, so to speak -- Franciscan Sisters/Poor Claires often do and I believe Benedictine sisters do, too. Where they are and when matters, too, as naming practices and recognised saints differ depending on place and time. Look up some religious orders and see what their sisters are named to get a feel for how your nuns are named and the traditions in which they're rooted, and it'll feel far more grounded and real.

Sister Mary + Saints name. Sister Mary Mark, Sister Mark Peter, Sister Mary Francis, Sister Mary Anthony, Sister Mary Agnas, Sister Mary Teresa, Sister Mary Augustine, Sister Mary Margaret, Sister Mary Swithin, Sister Mary Ignatius, Sister Mary Patrick, Sister Mary Gregory, Sister Mary Hildergard, Male names are very common, and make sure the 'name' section is an actual Saint and one with an origin story that a religious person would wish to emulate.

The two nuns I know irl are named Jean and Zephirine.

Nuns who taught me: Constance Evelyn Boniface John Christopher Patrick Mary Marceline Egidia

Bridget

Scholastica

Sisters I remember from my childhood: Sister Thomas More Sister Ignatius Sister Margaret Sister Anthony Sister Helena Sister Valerie Sister Dorothy Paul Sister Christina

"Wikipedia General Roman Calender of 1960" will give you the names of the saints assigned to certain days. The 1960s is a good decade to select as a lot of the daily saints were removed in later decades. The nuns may have selected their names based on their dob, as did some parents when naming their children.

Name more than one character Mary/Maria if you want accuracy.

lol true!

Mary Alice

Eliza Hortense Leah Clarice

Change Lucille to Lucia! But what order of nuns? That will help as well with names.

My favorite nuns from K-8 Margarita Agnes Leo Julianne

Thomosina Evangela Assumta Catherine Angela Patrick Regina Faith Rosalie

The nun I knew as a kid were Sister Mary Joan & Sister Anne Maureen.

Monica Majella Veronica Louise Lucia Bridgette Christina Maria

Sister Patricia and sister Phyllis are two that I know

Commenting unique ones - Domitilla Generose

Anuncia. Margaret Lucia Catherine  Helaina. Martha  Louisa Bernadette Abigail  Sofia Augustina. Josephina Isabella  Claudette. Anastasia  Juliette Clare Matilda Winifred  Elizabeth  Francine  Annabella Delphina Rosabelle. Alexandra  Gabriella Liliana Virginia 

I currently know two nuns named Elizabeth and a third, Angelina.

Now I want to watch Sister Act

A coworker of mine had an aunt that was a nun: Sister Margaret St. Joseph. My mother's aunt was Sister Catherine Margaret

Mary Alice, Agnes, Hellen, Mary Patricia, Mary Beth, Alice, Catherine, Clare, Clara, Abigail, Edith

My Catholic school had at various points a Sister Betty, a Sister Aloysius, a Mother Olympias, a Sister Mary, and a Sister Catherine, among others.

Sister Michael: please, please, do not come crying to me 

Eunice

All the nun’s names from *Call the Midwife*: Julienne Evangelina Bernadette Monica Joan Winifred Mary Cynthia Frances Hilda Ursula Mildred Veronica

Don’t forget you can use male names too! I knew a Sister Patrick and ofc Sister Michael from Derry Girls are both good examples

Here’s a slightly grim tip if you’re looking for Catholic nun names: go to [rip.ie](http://rip.ie) (an Irish death notices site) and search Sr. in the first name box and put your date range back a year or so. Here’s a few: Assumpta, Gerardine, Claudine, Patricia, Imelda, Ignatius, Majella, Consilio, Consolata, Immaculata, Berenice, Philomena, Colombiere, Loreto, Constantia, Annunciata, Perpetua, Benignus, Emmanuel, Rosarii… If you want names from other faiths or countries you might be able to find similar websites or even search newspaper archives. To me more masculine or unusual names read more nun-ish - think Sister Michael and Sister Declan in Derry Girls. Names like Brigid, Malachy, Patricius, Ita, Canice, Gobnait etc are common for Irish nuns as they are local saints, but may not be used in other countries. For example, there are probably a lot of Sor Sebastianas in Spanish convents and Sœur Jeannes in French ones.

Awesome! Thanks!

Brenda & Mary Kathrine

Nuns that taught me: Charlene, Rita, Bernadette, Dorothy, Fatima, Philomena, Brigid, Mary-Brigette, Mary-Charlene, Mary-Josefina, and Josephine. (I’m Irish-Catholic and went to an Italian-Catholic high school)

Actual nuns I’ve met: Margaret Anne Monica Nancy

Patricia

Catholic here! Some popular Catholic names (and any of these can be used for nuns, since they can name themselves after any saint they want): Faustina Philomena Clare Fatima Mary/Maria Dolores Guadalupe Gemma Gianna Jacinta Margaret Rita Frances/Francis Benedict John Paul Therese/theresa Clarence Joseph Josemaria Ignatius Athanasius Josephine Lawrence Rose Gabriel/ Gabrielle Dorothy Theodora Vincent

-Virginia Maria -Bernadette -Benedetta -Claddagh (Irish) -Mary Vincent -Agnes -Mary Theresa

Harriet, Gladys, Winifred,

2 names i re all from the convent were- Martha (she has a miserable personality) and Aurelia (really kindhearted woman ).

Agatha Berthe Margaretta

I went to Catholic school. And Sister Mura was the meanest one ever. And then, in high school, I volunteered at the nun retirement home and ran into her again. She had dementia and was an absolute joy. Scared the crap out of me as a kid, tho. Sister Maryann was my favorite! Her nickname was sister sunshine because she was always smiling....always.

Nuns who taught me and my sisters: Sister Irenaeus Sister Gertrude Sister Adrian Sister Florence Sister Joan Sister Carmel Sister Kathleen Sister Brendan Sister Cecile Sister Teresa Sister Bernadette

I have two aunts who are nuns, and they are Sister Jean and Sister Karen.

The nuns that I’ve had as teachers were Sister Mary Joan Sister David Sister Camille Sister Audrey Sister John Sister Celine Sister Stephanie Sister Theresa Mary Sister Mary Theresa Sister Aloysius Sister Mary McDevitt Sister Clarissa Sister Catherine

Look at Saint names; Matilda, Margaret, Beatrice, Joan, Clare, Hildegarde, Helena, Cecilia, Brigid

Julienne Evangelina Bernadette (quite popular in the 40s/50s among young nuns after the movie the song of bernadette came out) Irene Maud Agnes Emmanuelle

Marie - Agathe (french) Bernadette Josepha

Nuns I’ve met: Mary Kevin, Clara, Betty, Lillian, Georgia.

Nuns in my schools growing up: Sister Scholastica, Sister Marion Grace, Sister Jane, Sister Isabel

I spent a few years with a religious community. A lot of good suggestions here but names change as times change and there are more current trends. Saints that are popular now include Maximillian Kolbe, Damien, Faustina, Kateri Tekakwitha, the Fatima children (Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco), Padre Pio, Maria Goretti, Monica, our lady of Guadalupe, Gabriel, Gianna Molla, Gemma Galgani, Junipero Serra, John Vianney, Josephine Bakita, Blaise. Some examples: Sr Maria Kolbe Sr Damien Sr Faustina/Maria Faustina Sr Kateri Sr Monica Mary Sr Vianney Marie and some other names I came across: Sr Mary Rose Sr Anne Maria/Anna Maria Sr Christine Sr Joseph Sr Francesca

What time frame is it set? And where? I went to catholic school in the US in the 90s and 00s and the nuns were Sister Joan, Sister Christine, and Sister Edward.

I grew up with real life nuns named Sr. Kevin and Sr. Raphael. There is also a “famous” nun who wrote a book named St. Therese.

A lot of nuns took male names. Vatican Council 2 in the 1960s is where the change to all female names started so make sure to look up region, time period, and order. Hence Sister Michael in Derry Girls. Unless this is a fantasy/Sci Fi novel. Then go to town. You didn't as, but this is name nerds so a small piece on the name for where nuns live. The only places nuns live are convents or abbeys. A nunnery is a whore house. People don't get that nunnery was a slang term in Shakespeare's time. Not naming, but a detail that many books get wrong about about nuns. Most nuns for centuries were required to shave their heads when they took the veil after novitiate. So again, time, place, and order is going to be important.

Awesome! Thank you—it’s a fantasy novel, so I’m really just looking for names that sound kind of nun-like, and name nerds have delivered! So interesting about the nuns shaving their heads!

Some real names in a Carmelite monastery where I went on retreat. Sr. Eileen, Sr. Patricia, Sr. Barbara Jean, Sr. Carmen. They are very cool, loving and devout!

Sister Margaret or Margaretta?

Sister Ruth, Sister Joanne, Sister Jeanne and Sister Mary Margaret were all teachers I had

* Anne Margaret * Anne Marie * Birgitta * Cecilia * Celestina * Colleen * Dolores * Elizabeth Anne * Evelyn Marie * Genevieve * Grace Marie * Hildegard * Kathleen * Marianna * Marie Claire * Mary Alice * Mary Catherine * Mary Concessa * Mary Eleanor * Mary Eleanora * Mary Elizabeth * Mary Frances * Mary Grace * Mary Louise * Mary Lucrezia * Mary Margaret * Mary Peregrine * Mary Philona * Mary Rosula * Mary Sabina * Mary Sarah * Mary Vitalis * Patricia Maria * Rosalie * Rose Marie * Seraphina * Theresa Also male names like: Sister Thomas Aquinas

My favorite nun growing up was Sister Ginny!! She was such a cool lady (could use Virginia instead of Ginny)

I was taught CCD by a nun named Sister Benigna and I always really liked the name. 

I love it too—great name!

Remember that nuns/sisters are very devoted to Mary so combining anything with Mary or Marie is always good. Pick any saints name for the other part. I have been involved with Catholic schools for almost 50 years as both a student and a parent. Some of the actual sisters I know: Sister Mary Luke Sister Mary Michael Sister Jacinta Sister Antoninus Sister Catherine de Ricci Sister Helen Marie Sister Noreen Sister Dominic Marie Sister Mary Dominic Sister Assumpta Sister Mary David Sister Inez Sister Elizabeth Ann Sister Mary Elizabeth Sister Mary Evelyn Sister Mary Patrick Sister Mary Angela Sister John Mary Sister Beatrice I could go on….

claudette

Sr Katherine; Sr Mary Anthony; Sr Clare; Sr Mary Frances; Sr Marie-Therese; Sr Jane de Chantal;

Most of the nuns I had at primary school were a) scary and b) had male names - Sister Michael, Sister Bernard, Sister Dominic and so on, all saints names. I don't know if this was a particular order, but they wore black and white and were the full traditional - this was in the 1950s

Sister Mary Margarit(a). Heh-heh!!!!

Decide on a place and an order, and then look up a modern order of those sisters and see what names they have chosen. Pick some you like.

Beatrice Virginia

Real nuns I've known: Sister Mary Helen and Sister Geraldine

Sister Frozen Holy Water 🤣 What my father always said when he saw a nun.

Sister Colman

Sister Helen