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There is a custom in many parts of the world of choosing a confirmation name, which the local bishop uses when administering the sacrament.
This usually involves researching saints until you find one who you feel is representative of your faith.
Is there any way you can later "change" your confirmation name?
But first: why take a confirmation name at all?
Confirmation names are not a universal practice, and are largely confined to the English-speaking world. They are not a necessary element of the sacrament of confirmation and millions of Catholics have been confirmed with no "confirmation name" at all.
The practice is devotional, rooted in the many instances in the Bible when a person would take on or be given a new name after a religious conversion or experience. St. Paul was known as "Saul," and Abraham was "Abram."
In the modern world, many men and women take on a religious name when they enter religious life as a way of signifying their new identity.
With this context, with confirmation being the final sacrament of initiation, it makes sense that a person would take on an additional or new name during this rite.
So what if the name doesn't 'fit' any more?
What happens in some cases is that a younger person might end up choosing a saint he or she knows little about, perhaps just because they like the sound of the name, or some other more superficial reason. It might be that later in life, he or she regrets the choice you made.
Sometimes, this happens when your faith matures after confirmation and you become more devoted to a different saint. Other times, you just wish you had just chosen a different saint as your confirmation name.
Obviously can't go back in time to change a decision you made. While it's true that some places don't officially record your confirmation name in a permanent record, you can't change the name the bishop spoke when he anointed you with oil.
But it is the sacrament of confirmation itself, not the name, that leaves a permanent mark on your soul, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:
By this anointing the confirmand receives the "mark," the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a person, a sign of personal authority, or ownership of an oblect. Hence soldiers were marked with their leader's seal and slaves with their master's. A seal authenticates a juridical act or document and occasionally makes it secret. (CCC 1295)
In some places, a confirmation name becomes a person's legal middle name. This is technically something you could have legally changed, but it still doesn't change the historical action of the bishop using that name at confirmation.
Essentially, if we are disappointed at the name or saint we chose at confirmation, we can't "undo" a sacrament and have it redone with a new name.
But that's not all ...
At the same time, there's no need to be stressed out by a past decision. Instead, think seriously about choosing a new "patron" saint who betters suits us at our current state in life.
There is no limit to the number of patron saints a person can have, and the saints in Heaven do not compete. They are not saddened when people choose other saints as a personal patron. This is probably a case of, the more the better!
We can continue to invoke the saint we chose at our confirmation, even if we don't "like" them as much as we may like other saints. That saint still wants to see us succeed, even if we don't feel close to them later in life.
All the saints in Heaven are cheering us on in this race towards the wedding feast of the Lamb. They all want us to get there and will be filled with great joy when they see us at the gates of Heaven.
