Confirmation Names

Meet Your New Best Friend: A Guide to Choosing Your Saint 🕊️

So, you’re getting Confirmed! This is a massive milestone where you take ownership of your faith and step into a new chapter. One of the coolest parts of this process? Choosing your Confirmation name.

Think of this as more than just an extra word on a certificate. It’s about choosing a patron saint—someone who becomes your lifelong spiritual ally, your “cheerleader” in heaven, and a person who actually gets what you’re going through.

Why the New Name?

While you can totally use your baptismal name (if it’s a saint’s name), it’s a long-standing tradition in England and Wales to choose a new one. Why?

  • A Fresh Start: It marks your personal choice to follow Jesus.

  • Built-in Support: Prayer can be hard sometimes. Your saint is someone who has been through the “tough stuff” and can offer comfort when things feel heavy.

  • Your New Best Friend: As the OLOV Young Disciples team says, saints are like friends in heaven. They aren’t statues; they were real people with real struggles who now point the way to Jesus.

How to Find “The One” (Your Saint)

With over 10,000 saints, the choice can feel overwhelming. Don’t stress! Start by asking yourself these six questions to narrow it down:

  1. What are my interests? What are your hobbies, passions, or talents? Love music? Check out St. Cecilia. Into sports? St. Sebastian or Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati (he loved hiking!) might be your guy. Looking for a modern-day saint? Then St. Carlo Acutis — a teenage saint who made silly dog videos and watched Pokemon — might be your perfect match.

  2. What’s my struggle? Dealing with anxiety, school stress, or feeling misunderstood? There’s a saint for that.

  3. What do I want to become? Looking for more courage? Patience? Wisdom? Find a saint who lived out those qualities.

  4. Is there a cultural connection? You might want to choose a saint from your family’s country of origin to honor your roots.

  5. Who is calling me? Sometimes you’ll keep seeing a name or hearing a story that just clicks. Trust that feeling—often, the saint chooses you!

  6. What does the Archbishop say? Archbishop Mark (in the 2025 Guidelines) reminds us to choose someone from the official Church calendar and to really understand why their story resonates with you.

💡 Quick Tip: YouCat Wisdom

The Youth Catechism (YouCat) says saints are “aflame with the Holy Spirit.” They aren’t there for us to worship, but to help keep God’s fire burning in us. When we’re close to them, it’s just easier to pray.

“Whoever you are, whatever you like doing… there is definitely a Saint who relates to you!”

🚀 Ready to meet your match?

The OLOV Young Disciples team has picked out the best corners of the internet to help you find your spiritual “cheerleader.” Check these out:

🔥 The “Fast-Track” Lists

Perfect if you want to see the coolest saints grouped by personality or hobbies.

📺 Watch & Learn

Prefer video? These YouTube channels bring the saints’ stories to life.

  • Online with Saints – Modern, high-energy videos that answer the question: “What would this saint do today?”

  • Saints & Feasts – Quick daily deep-dives into the lives of the heroes of our faith.

📚 The Deep Divers

If you have a name in mind and want to check their “stats” and story.

  • Catholic.org Saint Directory – The “Wikipedia” of saints. Search by name, feast day, or what they are the patron of.

  • CatholicSaints.Info – A massive database for when you want to find every tiny detail about a saint’s history.

💡 Quick Search Tip:

Don’t just look for the “famous” ones. Use these sites to search for things you actually care about—like “Patron Saint of Musicians,” “Patron Saint of Social Media,” or even “Patron Saint of Overcoming Fear.”

💎 The “Pro” Guide

If you’re still feeling stuck, you have to check out this guide from our favorite authority on all things holy, Meg Hunter-Kilmer.

Meg is basically a “Saints Encyclopedia.” In fact, she’s the reason why so many of our team are completely mad about saints—her stories make them feel less like statues and more like real, slightly chaotic, and totally inspiring friends.

👉 How to Pick a Confirmation Saint (The Meg Hunter-Kilmer Way)

“The saints aren’t just people who lived a long time ago; they’re your older brothers and sisters in Christ, and they want to help you get to heaven.”

✅ What’s Next?

Once you’ve found a saint that clicks with you, make sure to:

  1. Learn their story: What was their “pivotal moment”?

  2. Find their “Superpower”: What are they the patron of?

  3. Be Ready: You’ll need to tell the team why you chose them and which of their traits you want to “copy” in your own life.