Saints' Names (girls E-G) & Their Meanings - Good News Ministries Online

Note: Those with unlisted or ( ) Feast Days are not in the book
Daily Prayers with the Saints for the New Millennium

Feast Day	Name	Meaning	Saint & Patronage
(Oct. 11)	Edith Eadie, Eda, Edythe	happiness	Saint Edith Stein was the youngest in a large Jewish family. After converting to Catholicism, she eventually joined the Carmelite Order and was sent to a convent in Holland. She lived a life of dedication, consecration, prayer, fasting, and penance until she was arrested by the Nazis. With her sister Rose, she was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where died in the gas chambers.
Oct. 12	Edwina Edna	prosperous friend	Saint Edwin was a pagan king who listened to a Christian preacher publicly explain the Gospel. He accepted salvation, renounced his worship of the gods, and commanded his high priest to destroy their altars and temples.
Aug. 18	Eleanor Helen, Helena, Eleanor, Leanore, Lenore, Lenora, Lee, Leora, Nell, Nellie, Nelly	light	The great emperor Constantine gave his mother, Saint Helena, the authority to promote Christianity by building churches throughout the empire and on the holy sites in Israel. She is the patron saint of difficult marriages and divorced people because her husband divorced her for someone with better political connections.
(June 15)	Elissa Alice, Alicia, Alisa, Alison, Alix, Alyce, Elsie, Ilsa	noble cheer	Saint Alice entered a Cistercian convent when seven years old. The community was inspired by her humility. However, she contracted leprosy and suffered greatly. Her greatest consolation came from receiving the Holy Eucharist, and she experienced visions and ecstacies.
Jan. 4 July 4 Nov. 17	Elizabeth	God has sworn	Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was a mother and an educator, and devoted her life to children. Saint Elizabeth of Portugal was married to a king, and her spiritual life was often interrupted by politics and family arguments. She regained her inner peace by spending time in prayer and doing works of charity. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary was a princess who married a prince. Concerned for the poor, she donated to them her portion of the prince’s income and then sold her luxurious possessions to give them more. After her husband died, she renounced worldly wealth, built a hospice for the weak and sickly, and invited the most wretched to dine with her.
(Dec. 24)	Emily Amelia, Emeline, Emilia, Emiliana, Emma	excelling	Saint Gregory the Great had three aunts who led prayerful religious lives in their father's house, Tarsilla, Saint Emiliana, and Gordiana. They encouraged each another to growth in holiness.
(May 18)	Erica Erika	ever-ruler	Saint Eric was a king of Sweden who codified Swedish law under Gospel principles. He used his power and authority to spread the Gospel through his kingdom.
(Dec. 24)	Erma Irmina, Irmine, Irma	strong	Saint Irmina was betrothed to a count, but a jealous suitor lured her fiancée to his death over a cliff. Irmina became a nun at a monastery and helped Saint Willibrord in his missionary work.
(Nov. 7)	Ernestine	serious	Saint Ernest was the abbot of a Benedictine Abbey in Germany. He went on the Crusades, preached in Arabia and Persia, and was captured by the Moors. He was tortured to death in Mecca.
	Esther Edissa, Stella, Estelle, Estella, Estrella, Esther	star	Saint Esther was an Old Testament Jewess who became, by marriage to Xerxes, Queen of Persia. She prevented the king from massacring all the Jews in the kingdom.
(June 2)	Eugenia Gina, Eugenie	well born	Saint Eugene I was a priest who had served in several different positions in the Church and became pope. He was widely known for his charity and holiness.
(Dec. 24)	Evelyn Eva, Eveline, Eve, Evita	life	Eve was the first woman, the wife of Adam. Adam called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. She is the patron of tailors.
(Aug. 1)	Faith Fay, Fidelia	faith	According to legend, there was a Roman widow, Saint Wisdom (or Sofia), who had three daughters, Saint Faith, Saint Hope, and Saint Charity, and they all suffered for Jesus. Faith, age 12, miraculously survived being scourged and thrown into boiling pitch, and was finally beheaded; Hope, age 10, and Charity, age 9, were unharmed when tossed into a furnace, so they also were beheaded; their mother suffered while praying over the bodies of her children.
Mar. 7	Felicity Felicia, Felice, Felicita	happy	Saint Felicity is the of expectant moms, young mothers, women wanting to become pregnant, and children who die prematurely.
Oct. 5	Flora Florence	flowering	Saint Flora of Beaulieu did not like her cloistered life in the convent. She felt tempted to return home to her family, but she stayed in the order and eventually You rewarded her with the gifts of visions and prophecies.
Nov. 13	Frances Cesca, Fanny, Francesca, Franchette, Francine, Francoise, Frannie	free	When Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was a child, she pretended she was a missionary to China as she sailed paper boats on a stream. Although God eventually sent her west to America instead of East to the Orient, her childhood games shaped her desire to serve Him.
Sept. 29	Gabriela Gabriella, Gabrielle, Briel	God's strength	God had given us archangels to assist us during our pilgrimage on earth. Saint Gabriel is a messenger of the Good News; he can help us hear God's voice and to teach us the truth.
	Gail Abigail, Abbie, Abby, Gale	the Father is happy	Abba is the Hebrew word for "Daddy" and is scripture's endearing term for God the Father. He is our Abba, our Daddy. Your patron is Daddy-God!
(April 11)	Gemma	jewel	Saint Gemma Galgani developed a love for prayer at a very early age. Throughout her life, God favored her with mystical experiences, special graces and the stigmata. She was oftened ridiculed because many did not understand these gifts. Gemma accepted this suffering as a reparation, remembering that Jesus had been misunderstood and ridiculed.
Jan. 3	Genevieve Ginette, Yolanda, Blanche	white wave	Saint Genevieve was a small child when she decided to devote her life to God. She allowed nothing to interfere. She had an enthusiastic and single-minded heart for Christ.
April 23	Georgia Georgette, Georgianna, Georgana	farmer	Saint George was nicknamed the "Victory Bringer" because he relied on God's power to defeat evil wherever he went. Starting as a soldier in the army, he converted and became a soldier for Christ. Laying down the world’s armor by giving his wealth to the poor, he forever after carried the shield of faith and won many victories for those who sought God's help.
Oct. 3	Geraldine Geralda, Geralyn	spear ruler	Saint Gerard of Brogne joined a monastery in order to find a quiet, peaceful place to spend his time in prayer, although he willingly left his solitude to help others become stronger in their faith. He believed that if people realized the joy that came from praying, they would pray more often.
(June 15)	Germaine	kin	Saint Germaine Cousin was a severely abused and neglected child. She turned to God, who taught her how to forgive her family and grow in holiness. She entrusted the sheep she tended to God's care while she went to daily Mass, and they were never attacked by wolves. One day when the rains flooded the river, a villager saw the water part so she could get to Mass. She died from her mistreatments at age 22; forty years later her body was exhumed and found incorrupted.
Nov. 16	Gertrude Gerda, Trudy	spear strength	Saint Gertrude was a very gifted student and loved every subject except religion. When she studied philosophy, it began to twist her mind and lead her away from the Faith, so Jesus visited her in a vision and called her back. From then on she studied Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers.
(June 2)	Gina Eugenia, Eugenie	well born	Saint Eugene I was a priest who had served in several different positions in the Church and became pope. He was widely known for his charity and holiness.
	Gloria	glory	Gloria is the song of the angels, as they praise the God of Glory. We remember their song of joy at the birth of Jesus.
(Nov. 16)	Grace	grace	Grace is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (humans, angels) for their eternal salvation. Saint Gratia worked a trade of the sea until, at age thirty, he happened into a church and was deeply moved by a sermon from an Augustinian friar. He joined that order and as a lay-brother. A mysterious light was seen above his cell, and his intercessions resulted in miracles.
July 20 Jan. 19	Gretchen Greta, Margaret, Madge, Maggie, Maisie, Marge, Margery, Margo, Margot, Marina, Margarita, Marguerite, Marjorie, Pearl, Pegeen, Peggy	pearl	Saint Margaret of Antioch’s father was a pagan priest. Her escape from his false beliefs was depicted in a story of being swallowed by a dragon representing paganism, and then escaping from its belly as if being born anew. Because of this tale, she has become the patron saint of pregnancy, labor, and childbirth. Saint Marguerite Bourgeous gave away her inheritance to family members and departed for Canada, where she founded the Congregation of Notre Dame. She helped people survive when food was scarce, opened a vocational school, and taught young people how to run a home and farm.