“We do what we must, and call it by the best names.”
December 4th, 2010It is widely acknowledged that Pope names are in a rut. The tragedy of this is that there are some great Pope names out there. Formosus. Hilarius. Agapetus (tasty Greek influence there). Anastasius…these are some sweet sweet names. So, what’s been going on for the past few hundred years then? Since 1700 we’ve had 4 usages of John and/or Paul, 7 popes named Pius (a bit on the nose, really), 4 named Benedict (ditto) and 4 named Clement (well, ditto again). Sure, there have been a couple of Leos and Gregorys, but isn’t it time to branch out again?
And really - things are looking too rosy on this front, because the last century has only exasperated the problem. There’s been total domination by Benedict, Pius, and John and/or Paul.
Will the 21st century bring more of the same? Yes. Yes it will - but even so, we can always hope (pray?) for a Hyginus II to reside over the Vatican some day.
post script - I was sorely tempted to not post a link to this pope name generator because it’s incredibly dumb. But I couldn’t stop myself. So please, prepare to laugh yourself silly as you are transformed into “Pope Derelict Billy IV”.
Born: c. 816, Ostia, Italy