Dear Manuel,

Thanks for the question.  

It is generally considered more efficacious to mention someone by name; the extra effort itself is a sacrifice that God recognizes.  

In my family, we do a Litany of the Saints and have asked each of those Saints to be a particular patron for a family or friend. My wife leads the litany, and we respond, "Pray for us," after the saint is invoked.  That way,

• we can enlist the help of the Communion of Saints
• Pray for particular family and friends, priests, and others, and
• follow a form that is ancient in its own right.  

We probably have over a hundred in our litany now, so we learn about different Saints in the process too.  The point of this story/sharing is to say we also went through the same issue but found that you can make praying for those you care about fun and more engaging by using a little imagination and making the extra effort.

Once you have lined up the Saint as a patron for that family member, you don't have to say your family member's name each time; their particular person is now implicit. Just the Saint's name will do.

So, whichever way you go, do it with joy!

Peace,