What are the names that popes have used the most in the history of the Catholic Church?

In the second week of May, white smoke will emerge from one of the roofs of the Sistine Chapel and minutes later, according to the tradition of the Catholic Church, from one of the balconies of the St. Peter’s Basilica the cardinal protodeacon will pronounce the phrase “habemus papam”. Immediately after, he will reveal who the new pontiff is and the name that will accompany him during his papacy.

On March 13, 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose “Francis,” becoming the first pope to bear that name, in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.

It is possible that whoever succeeds him chooses to be “Francis II,” which would be a symbol of continuity with the style of the Argentine pope, and the Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle is the one who could best embody those ideals.

What are the most commonly used names for popes?

The Catholic Church has had 266 popes in its more than two thousand years of history, and the most commonly used names reflect tradition, continuity, and often inspiration from previous popes considered exemplary.

The most common ones are the following:

• John (Ioannes in Latin): 21 times. Very popular in the Middle Ages and in honor of St. John the Evangelist. The last one was John XXIII (1958–1963), who, although he chose the number “23”, officially only 21 popes called “John” are counted. Among those discarded due to clerical errors is the antipope John XVI.
• Gregory (Gregorius): 16 times. Associated with Gregory I, considered the father of the medieval church and a great reformer.
• Benedict (Benedictus): 16 times. The last one was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who succeeded John Paul II.
• Clement (Clemens): 14 times. Clement I was one of the early popes of the Catholic Church and is said to have been ordained by Peter.
• Innocent (Innocentius): 13 times. Very popular among the popes of the Middle Ages.
• Leo (Leo): 13 times. Leo I (440-461) is one of the three popes in history who bears the nickname “the Great” and, among other things, confronted Attila during his invasion of Italy. Leo XIII (1878–1903) tried to align the Catholic Church with the modern world of the early last century.

Do all popes have to choose a name?

The first popes used their baptism names. The first to choose a different name was John II, in 533, who considered his original name Mercury inappropriate due to its association with one of the Roman gods.

But then a thousand more years passed in which many popes continued to use their baptismal names. Pope Marcellus II, in 1555, was the last to use the name he was baptized with.

While there is no name “banned” for the popes, it is assumed that no one will choose “Peter”, the apostle of Jesus, who is formally considered the first pope.