What papal name will the new Pope choose?

[DemPGH]

Well, odds lines are already up and going. Vegas will have a good time with this. Looks like Pius, Peter, and John are early favorites. Ahh, the old days when it was an Italian who chose John, Paul, or Pius. There are odds lines opening on his nationality and age and probably whatever you'd even want to bet on.

Yeah, I like Leo - that's actually not bad. Franky? Nicky? Joe? Probably not. If it were me, I might consider one of those and get someone to coach me on how to talk like Marlon Brando. But I remember when The Godfather III got into all the papal intrigue - good movie.

[DemPGH]

I think it's time for Clement. Clement XV, I believe. "Mild / merciful" in Latin, I think.

Incidentally, two questions: 1) does anyone know if the name a pope chooses has a broad or overall theme attached to its history? At this point probably not but maybe once upon a time, although I don't know, and 2) is there a reasoning process behind a pope choosing a name, or is it just personal? It probably depends upon a lot of factors, but I was wondering if there is any rule of thumb here.

[DemPGH]

Excellent answer, Nathan - thank you. I think that actually answers the first question as well - the part of your answer regarding Pius, anyway. I do recall in 2005 on the news it being said that a previous pope named Benedict was a source of inspiration and influence on the then-newly selected Ratzinger, so I suspect that there are no real broad themes associated with the names, but perhaps limited themes over relative timespans that wouldn't be at all evident to a non-specialist in papal history. As well, anyone in a position to become pope is probably very aware of his predecessors' legacies, so the choosing of a papal name is likely personal on some level if not many.

Anyway, yeah, Sixtus is an odd name. I thought it meant "the 6th," but it apparently means "polished" while Sextus would mean "the 6th."

Anyway, Sergius V, anybody? Agapetus III? Didn't think so.