Today’s Name of the Day is not only an endangered species herself, she’s part of a cluster of names once much in favor in Roman Catholic countries and now seldom heard. They’re the Marians – names taken from titles given to the Virgin Mary, or in some cases, from her major life events or places with shrines to the saint.
Thanks to Katharine for challenging us with Assumpta.
Assumpta is from the Latin for assumption. If you’ve studied your catechism, you’ll know that for Roman Catholics, Mary’s soul and body were assumed into heaven as one. (Those of us who did not give birth to the saviour must shuck our physical selves before entering the pearly gates.) It’s one of many miraculous events associated with the Blessed Virgin. You might hear the name in use in Italian or Irish families – pronounced ah SOOM tah – but most are probably more familiar with Asunción – ah soon see OHN, the Spanish version.
While it’s an undeniably religious choice, compared to some favorites in recent years, it’s actually almost subtle. Consider the popularity of Nevaeh (#31), Trinity (#72) and Genesis (#139), and the Marians don’t sound impossibly holy after all.
Ever since Madonna became a 20th century pop icon and called her firstborn Lourdes – one of the few Marian names that can almost be considered mainstream – the Marians need not be reserved only for Catholics.
Rest assured, though, that most bearers of the name Assumpta in the US were Roman Catholic. Many, in fact, were women who took the name along with religious orders. Check old census records and “Assumpta” or “Mary Assumpta” is frequently preceded by “Sister.” But not always – in fact, enough women were called Assumpta in both the US and Australia that it must’ve been an uncommon, but not unheard of, choice for women in the 19th century.
The name is staggeringly pretty, and today calls to mind the cathedrals of Europe, the smell of incense and the sound of chanting. With plenty of Catholics nostalgic for the Latin mass, it’s easy to imagine that some would consider reviving these old school choices.
Assumpta Serna is a well-known Barcelona-born actress. Back in the 1980s, she even guest-starred on Falcon Crest. In the late 1990s, Assumpta Fitzgerald was the defiant and ill-fated pub owner on the BBC’s drama Ballykissangel, set in Northern Ireland. It’s a throwback name, and one that has never appeared in the Top 1000 in the US, but not one ever completely out of circulation, either.
All that said, Assumpta is among the least wearable of the Marians. There’s no viable nickname option – those first three letters really are a problem, even for those of us disinclined to giggle. And Umpta doesn’t quite work as a diminutive, either.
Here’s a short list of other Marian monikers, some of which might be worth considering:
And, of course, Mary, Marie, Maria and her infinite variants have done just fine through the centuries, too.
Assumpta is a dramatic choice – the kind of name that will never go unnoticed and rarely pass unremarked. We can’t help but feel that while there’s much to love in this spiritual name, it’s ultimately best reserved for the middle spot.