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Born with his baptismal name of Robert Francis Prevost, his papal name is more of a traditional choice — and one with a storied history.—Rachel Raposas, People.com, 9 May 2025 Of the 266 popes in history, 129 have chosen names different from their baptismal names.—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025 And that then became the custom, with only a handful of popes keeping their baptismal names since, including Marcellus II and Adrian VI, who both served as head of the church in the 16th century.—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 4 May 2025 While popes have the option of keeping their baptismal name, every pope for the last 470 years has chosen to change his name, usually to honor a predecessor and to signal their intention to emulate his example.—Christopher Watson, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2025 Until last year, John Henry Newman, as he is known by his baptismal name, was studying to become a priest at a Roman Catholic seminary in Yangon.—New York Times, 30 Mar. 2022 She was given the name Sister Seraphia and later returned to her baptismal name, Carol Estelle.—Jacques Kelly, baltimoresun.com, 22 May 2021 These homages to Athelstan continued even through the series finale, in which the monk’s son, Alfred (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), gave the Viking’s son, Hvitserk (Marco Ilsø), the baptismal name of Athelstan in one of the show’s stirring final scenes.—Sadie Gennis, Vulture, 11 Jan. 2021 He was later baptized and took the same baptismal name as Hakamada’s, Paulo, and added Miki, the name of a Japanese martyr.—Washington Post, 25 Nov. 2019
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