Saints names

In the early years of Christendom, saints names were popular - but they went out of fashion in Protestant countries as they wanted to pick names which were mentioned in the Bible. So names like Sarah, Ruth, Rachel, Jacob, Joseph etc became common. However in Catholic countries the naming of children after saints went on. In Ireland, children were given saints names, well into the 20th century. Bernadette was a very popular one. It is the feminine version of Bernard... who was also a saint and the name means brave as a bear. Bernadette Soubirous was a French country girl who lived in the 19th century. She was a simple girl but she saw a vision of a lady at Lourdes whom she believed to be the Virgin Mary. The Virgin told her to build a church.. and a church was built there where people with illnesses go to bathe and hope for a cure. Bernadette became a nun and died young.. but she was a very popular saint and her name was well used. Abbreviations include Detta, Nadette and Bernie. St Valentine or Valentinus was a martyr during the Roman Empire. He was killed on 13 February.. and on 14 February the Romans celebrated love and marriage... so Valentine's feast day moved to 14 February and he became known as the patron saint of lovers. The name is usually a masculine on, and can be abbreviated to Val.. as with the Irish singer Val Doonican who died a few years ago. Valentine or Valentina can be given to girls.