This one comes to us via Arthur – and Evelyn Waugh.
We’ll admit that while we haven’t seen the latest big screen adaptation yet, it was tempting to use the movie Brideshead Revisited to talk about the surprisingly popular Sebastian. Or perhaps Cordelia. But then we remembered Lord Flyte’s teddy bear, who inspired today’s Name of the Day: Aloysius.
Aloysius would be a lot of name for a small child. But we’ve covered – and considered using – the equally dramatic Ignatius.
Like Ignatius, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was a Jesuit and left behind a considerable legacy. Schools are named in his honor on six continents; he’s the patron saint of young students. And Aloysius’ personal story is compelling – born into a wealthy and influential 16th century family, he eschewed considerable privilege to follow his faith.
Aloysius was born Luigi. If that seems like a stretch, hold on – it turns out that the almost theatrical Aloysius is a Latinization of the nearly ordinary, but very nice, Louis. Luigi is, of course, the Italian version of the name. Louis can also be linked to Lewis, Ludwig, Ludovic, Ludovicus and Clovis. All names share the same meaning – famous warrior, derived from the German.
You’ll find Alois and Aloys in the historical record. Both have a history of use in German and Czech and are sometimes listed as variants of Aloysius. The opposite appears to be true – Aloys was probably a variant form of Louis that was later Latinized as Aloysius.
Confused? The medieval tendency to use multiple spellings, to translate given names into the vernacular and to adopt the Latin for official purposes does muddy the waters. We think the story goes like this: Charlemagne’s son, Holy Roman Emperor Louis I – commonly known as Louis the Pious – was referred to as Aloys in the Provençal region. So Aloys likely inspired Aloysius, and not the other way around.
That said, Aloysius was not new when it was pressed into service. Instead, it had been a Roman cognomen – sort of a nickname that evolved into a family name – hundreds of years earlier. We couldn’t unearth the derivation of the original; perhaps it is lost to time.
It would be a rare choice for a child today. While it was never a popular name, it appeared in the US Top 1000 most years through 1940. Afterwards, Aloysius disappeared and has not been heard from since.
Aloysius lives in the hearts of children. In addition to the literary teddy bear, it is the first name of Sesame Street’s Mr. Snuffleupagus, once Big Bird’s imaginary friend and now his frequent side kick.
There’s also an old song that went, “Aloysius, Do the Dishes.” Recorded by Detroit-area jazz musician Pat Flowers, it’s tough to track down today.
Our biggest hesitation with Aloysius is the lack of an easy nickname. There’s Al, of course, and the whimsical Wish. Or you could go back to the name’s roots and use Lou.
Still, we find Aloysius interesting – if best reserved for the middle spot.
We’re seriously considering using Alois with the nickname Louie (probably exclusively Louie), if this little one is a boy. He’ll be half Czech (dual US-CZ citizen and bilingual) with a lot of German heritage on both sides, so we figure we can pull off Alois. Plus, my grandmother’s middle is Lois, so I love that subtle honor name! Still on the fence because it’s quite an unusual name, but it’s our current frontrunner.
As a child, my father called me Aloysius. This was not my birth name, which he rarely used. I had been named after my mother who had apparently abandoned us (my brothers, ages one & two. and I) when I was only 3 months old. Inorder to cope with his heart ache he called me Beverly and/or Aloysius. One day when I was about three or four, I overheard one of my father’s friends ask him why he calls me Aloysius? My father’s response was, “because she wants all her whishes”. This was true. After watching a movie about a genie in a bottle granting the barrier of the bottle three wishes, I always said that I would tell the genie, “I only need one wish.” That wish would be, “that all my wishes would come true.” I didn’t know how to spell the name, so I spelled it, “AllAWhishes” after my father’s comment. I’ve always liked this name although I haven’t heard it or used it for many years. Now that I’m all grown with my own children, grandchildren and my first great-grandchild, I realized I have only known one other person named Aloysius. Then I recently found out about St. Aloysius (that makes two more Aloysius). Proving this to be a rarely used name amongst my circle of friends and family. Yet, when I hear or see this name, it brings back a lot of wonderful memories of my childhood .
My son is now 8 I read this post when I was pregnant- Aloysius is the only name I has for him – we gave him a common enough first name and Aloysius for a middle name he has introduced himself as wish his entire life and gets shocked in formal situations like hospital where they use the first name
He toys with the idea of using Aloysius but prefers the ease of writing wish for now.
Lesson that I learnt
Go with the name that’s right for you
Aloysius is definitely much more popular as a middle name than a first name, mostly for Catholics and blacks (don’t ask me why, cuz I’m not black, but black people are usually the only people who know how to spell it, for some strange reason. I couldn’t consistently spell my own middle name right until I was about 13). Another fictional character with the name was Theo Aloysius Huxtable from the Cosby show. My parents were thinking of names and they “laughed so hard, it seemed like a shame not to use it.” Be prepared for playground teasing to the tune of the French song “Alouette”.
My grand fathers name was Ephraim Aloysius. He hated his name but i do love both names.