Trait and Virtue Names

Amity--what nicer gift to give your little girl than a name that signifies friendship and harmony? This virtue name is also more rhythmic and feminine than the single-syllable Hope, Faith, and Grace.

Enough parents have found naturalist Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, a worthy hero to keep Darwin relatively consistently in the Top 1000. It has a lovely meaning too—"dear friend."

Liev Schreiber's birth name is Isaac Liev, Liev after his mother's favorite Russia author, Leo Tolstoy. Though Liev is increasing in popularity in the secular world thanks to the actor, it originated as a Yiddish diminutive.

One of the rarest of virtue names, Clemency could come back along with the more familiar Puritan virtue names such as Hope and Faith. It has a rhythmic three-syllable sound, and offers a more virtuous alternative to the more popular Clementine.

The Spanish version, with its -eena ending, takes the name out of the Oh My Darlin' realm, which for many American parents may be just the thing.