Nameberry Picks: 12 Best Virtue Names

Nice (great?) list! My most favorite, favorite Virtue name is Mercy.<3 In fact, it's easily my #2 or #3 name for a girl. Very surprised to see it mentioned here! The only one I've ever met or heard of is a previous high school teacher's wife. She was (is) very sweet.

Lovely list! I’m fond of Amity, Honor (also Annora), Mercy, and Verity (and also Felicity, which isn’t on the list, but was mentioned in the second paragraph of the post). I really like the names Claire and Clara, but I just can’t get on board with Clarity…it reminds me of eyeglasses and vision rather than a name…but it does have a sweet sound. Thanks for your hard work on the blog posts!

Ooh, I LOVE Prudence! I think Rue (yes, from Hunger Games) could also work as a nn if Prue is too much Shannon Doherty.

My other favorites are Mercy and Verity. I want to like Amity, but all I see is Amityville Horror.

Loyal and Justice – love them, especially as there are so few boys’ virtue names. What about Noble? I could really see Noble on a little boy

I love Verity! It has the additional nerdy namesake of original Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert. It was rare for a woman to have such a powerful position in the 1960s, and even rarer for it to be in science fiction.

I’m with Sarah A on Amity. I want to like it but have trouble getting past the Amityville Horror. I don’t think that’s a reference that would stop too many people, but I was facinated by that book when I was younger.

I am loving Patience as of late, but the potential nn Patty is a turn off. Mercy and Clemency are both gorgeous and the Doctor Who fan in me has to say that Silence is actually a really pleasant sounding word, even if it doesn’t work so well as a first name.

Amity does the Amityville Horror thing for me too, and I’m not that old. (It’s possible I’m older than I think.) It also has a vague ‘Amistad’ ring to it. Hauntings and slave ships. Hrrmmm.

When are we going to have a post all about American Girl names? Did any of the others effect popularity rankings? Is Samantha really a plausible name for a New Yorker born in 1894? Exactly how do you pronounce Marie-Grace?

LOVE virtue names. We have many in our family tree, including multiple people named Patience, Mercy, and COMFORT. Patience and Mercy are two of my favourite names (not so much on Comfort) despite my husband’s objection, and it helps my case that they’re old family names! Thanks for this list!

The top virtue name that always comes to mind for me is Temperance after Dr. Brennan on Bones. I don’t know if I’ll ever use it but her character made the name something strong and modern rather than stuffy. And her dad on the show calls her Tempy! Cute for a little girl.

Prudence/Prue has been a favorite of mine ever since the pilot episode of Charmed. In fact, it may have propelled my name obsession to a higher level!

While not on this list, Solace is another favorite of mine. It’s just so calm and sweet. And I love names that mean peace: all my top names have a peace connotation, like Salem and any name, boy or girl, with Mir in it.

Great blog! I love Clarity, Verity and Clemency.

I travel around East Africa a lot, and virtue names seem to be very popular there. I met a lovely little girl named Promise once. I also have known a Gift(f), Happy(m) and Love(f), along with rather a lot of Mercys, Faiths, Hopes, Graces and Patiences. Never a Charity, though…

Amity makes me think of Amity Island from Jaws. Wish it didn’t.

One that I love that I never see on any lists is Valor.

I love Mercy, Honor (also Honora), Verity, Justice & Loyal! Also, Felicity, Hope (my mn & my niece’s name), Grace (other niece’s mn), Trust & True! I have friends named Charity & Joy & one of my mom’s friends is Faith as well as a few little girls that I know! I know some people from South Africa named Happy, Answer & Comfort (comfort is the english equivalent of his name). I also know 2 boys named Sincere, & girls Nocent (prn. innocent..ugh), Superior, & Beloved. Not sure it’s considered a virtue name but I also know a little boy named Phuture…yes, that’s Future with a “Ph”.

Being a descendant of William Brewster, there are many virtue names in my family’s genealogy. In fact four of Brewster’s six children had virtue names: Love and Wrestling, sons, and Fear and Patience, daughters. (The other two were Mary and Jonathan.) Love and Wrestling continued to be family names for almost a century after the years in Plymouth.

I love Clemency, and even though I was 14 when Jaws came out, I don’t associate Amity with the film — perhaps because I was aware of the name first? Other virtue names I love are Constant, Comfort, and Silence, which were all names used in Union, Maine and the surrounding towns. A great source for Puritan and Revolutionary War names is Ben Ames Williams’s historical novel, Come Spring, about the founding of Union and the surrounding area in colonial Maine. It follows the story of Jemima Robbins and Joel Adams, founding settlers of Union.

Other virtue names that I know of from genealogy are Experience (f), Noble (m), Breed (m), Royal (m), and Worthy (m).

Interesting list and I love the suggesions in the comments! I’d add Liberty (does it count as a virtue?) and Rejoice. I went to elementary school with a boy Liberty (who, perhaps understandably, went by his middle name) and I met a woman from West Africa named Rejoice.

Oh! and I think Truth would make a lovely middle name.

Clemency just makes me think of criminal law, like naming a kid “Penalty.” As for Justice, isn’t there a name Justus? Is it related?

Yes, Justus is the German version.

I read “Playboy of the Western World” in college, and fell in love with the name Honor. (This was pre-Jessica Alba, mind you.)

I also love Amity (although I like it better written than spoken, if that makes sense?) and Mercy, but my favorite lesser-used virtue name is True/Truely (and this is pre-Sister Wives. Damn pop culture!)

I know it’s super popular, but I still find Grace to be a fantastic virtue name.

I love Honor and Felicity. The others don’t do it for me. I’ve known a Verity, a Happy (F), and a Serene.

I’m not really into virtue names, but Amity is okay, and I like nn Libby for Liberty.

I’ve met both a male “Forgiveness” and a female “Cozy”

I adore Amity. Amityville, LI be hanged, it’s all fiction anyway!

I’m also fond of Clemency & Verity. Constance is lovely in full, I just dislike Con & Connie (no offense meant). Noble was my Great Grandfather’s name, his brother was Royal! I love those two too.

Virtue names! I spotted all of these in the SSA records in ’09 ’10. Yes, people are actually using:

Girls:

Vanity
Unity
Modesty
Purity
Providence
Comfort
Innocence
Prosperity
Reality
Mystery
Remedy
Infinity

Boys:
Truth
Freedom
Life
Success
Pride
Courage
Theory
Solace
Reason
Knowledge
Loyalty
Valor
Trust
Merit
Victory
Praise

At the very least, it’s nice to know parents want good things for their children!

We get many positive comments on our daughter’s middle name, Verity. My husband loved the meaning as much as the sound – it was only after the birth certificate was signed that we realized her first name means “Clarity”. So in effect, we double-virtued her

These aren’t my style, but I am quite fond of Clemency.

One of my favourite books is A Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman and the heroine is Makepeace nn Peace. Her mother was Temperance. Great name, possibly not that usable in this day and age though.

Ooh, I olve these!

Ooh, I love these!

I love Honor, Amity and Verity! I also like True for a girl. For boys, I like Noble and Valor, which wasn’t on the list but one that I really like.

Verity is one of my favorite names, virtue or otherwise. I just love it. My cousin recently named his daughter Serenity and I went to school with a boy named True. I’m not a big fan of Honor, but I think Annora is a fantastic alternative.

Noble is a family name, as is Constance! I like Patience nn Patty, Justice/Justus, and Prudence nn Prue/Rue. Great post

Pleasant was my g-grandfather’s middle name. His nickname was Plez. I love Honor and Verity, too.

Mercy has always been a favourite of mine, and Faith and Fidelity would make a cute twinset. And I would love Unity, were it not for Unity Mitford, famous for her crush on Hitler

Ironic someone named Unity had a crush on Hitler, am I right?

I love the list! My faves are Clarity and Honor. I have seen some very odd virtue names, I’ve met a girl named Confident and Confidenze, I also knew a girl named Perfection who went by Perri. My aunt just named her adopted daughter Gloria Rain and called her Glory for short. I thought it was wayy cuter then Gloria, so know Glory is on my top list.

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I really love the names (for boys) Solace, Solidarity, and Braver! I looove Valor and would really us it. I like Amity and Verity for girls. Completely adore Ever and True(th) too. Glory is really fab. Golly gee I love these names!

Amity has been on my list for a few months now. Other virtue names I like are Felicity and Hope.

Prudence is so great. It has this buttoned up yet secretly witchy quality to it, a dark Salem-esque vibe despite its sweetness. Wish my husband didn’t hate it.