A reader writes:

I’m a fairly recent convert, and I have a question about baptismal and confirmation names. From what I understand, an infant is given a name at baptism, usually a saint’s name.

Frequently this is the case. Current Church law only requires that the name not be "foreign to Christian sensibility" (e.g., if you wanted to name your kid "Lucifer" or something). See canon 855 on that.

This name is also the child’s legal name (usually the first name).

Usually, but there’s no law requiring that.

Let’s say that a boy is named Peter Terry Brooks after St. Peter. Is St. Peter considered the boy’s patron saint at this point?

It is customary to regard saints who share one’s name as one’s patrons. However, one can turn to any saint one wants and ask for his intercession.

At confirmation some years later, that boy can choose another name for a patron saint, say St. Luke.

He can do this, but canon law does not require him to take a new name at confirmation.

Now, is this really a new name he takes, or does he only have St. Luke as a patron saint?

If you take a new name, you take a new name. It may not be recorded anywhere (e.g., in diocesan records, in your county courthouse’s records, by the Social Security Administration), but it’s a new name. It also would be customary to regard St. Luke as a patron if one takes the name "Luke" at confirmation.

Could that boy call himself Peter Luke Terry Brooks or Luke Peter Terry Brooks?

He could call himself either, or he could simply say "My confirmation name is Luke" without trying to fit it into any particular order with his other names.

(Would this make any change in their legal name, or would a legal change need to be done through the government?)

Confirmation names have no bearing on one’s legal name under civil law. One would thus not need to contact the government.

Would the child now have two patron saints?

Yes. At least that is how it would customarily be regarded.

 

This all came to mind after reading your "Jimmy vs. James" post a while back, and thinking about my own confirmation.

No prob! Glad to be of help!

Incidentally, all the above also goes for taking religious names (e.g., if a person named Albert joins a religious order and takes the religious name John then in religious life he’ll be called "John" and be regarded as having St. John as a patron, even though his drivers license and social security card will still say "Albert." This kind of situation can–and has–caused some priests problems since 9/11 with all the new security measures).