Names That Mean Virtue

Grace, a simple and pure virtue name which originally referred to divine grace, is a fashionable classic. In the early 2000s, it seemed headed for the Top 10 but pulled back from the upward trajectory, which you may consider a very good thing.

If you love Puritan virtue names and want to move beyond Hope and Faith and Grace, this is a wonderful choice, both for its meaning and its sound. A rare find here, though occasionally heard in England. It was used in Winston Graham's Poldark novels, was Madonna's name as James Bond's fencing instructor in Die Another Day, and made a brief appearance in Harry Potter. Not to mention being a fixture on British and Australian soaps. Verity also appears in one of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries.

Honor is a somewhat more straight-laced virtue name than Hope or Grace, placing a high standard on any girl carrying it, but it's a goal worth setting. By choosing Honor for her daughter, Jessica Alba brought it very much into the modern world.

Patience is a passive virtue turned engaging name, fresher than Hope, Faith, or even Charity. Its resemblance to the trendy Payton may be one reason that it returned to the US charts back in the 90's and 2000s, having been absent for a century.

A classic virtue name for girls stretching back to the Pilgrim times, in more recent years, Honor has become one of the unisex baby names with a near-even gender split. Rarely used on boys before the 2010s, it has nearly doubled in use over the last decade.

Clarity is one of the lightest of the newly rediscovered virtue names, with a bit of three-syllable sparkle, old-fashioned charm and a clear vision for the future. Clarity is a very desirable quality in this confusing world and it also, unlike some other newly coined word names, has real meaning and history as a name.

Grace, meet Grayson. The stylish classic girls' name Grace -- it's in the Top 20 -- and the trendy boys' name Grayson or Greyson, a member of the Jason-Mason-Cason club, combine to create the girls' name Gracen. For a little girl, we'd stop at Grace.

Arete is a minor goddess in Greek mythology who personifies the idea of excellence or perfect virtue. There is also a mythological queen Arete, with her sister an "exacter of justice".

Borne by the first African American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, this name probably originated from the Puritan "Thoroughgood." While Thurgood is still quite clunky, it is certainly less of a mouthful than the original form. In fact, it has a surname-style quality to it that makes it more wearable. Thurgood has only ever appeared in the US stats once and that was in 1993 when 5 boys were given the name, following the death of Thurgood Marshall in the January of that year.

With the return of the less obvious virtue names such as Verity and Prudence, vintage nickname names like Pru may follow in their wake.

Fursey is an ancient Irish saint's name little-used in modern times. St. Fursey was born in the seventh century a noble in Ireland but traveled to England and France to found monasteries and spread Christianity. He is buried in France.

Honor-related names are climbing in popularity, such as Honesty, Honor, and now Honest.

Believe it or not, Prudence is on the rise for girls in both the US and UK. Could Prudent be next?

Prudence is rising again for baby girls. Prudent feels like a more modern spin, even though it too has a Puritan history. Plus, it still gets you to that cute nickname Pru.

Blessed and Blessing are two word and virtue names getting more attention, especially among religious parents.

Honor and Honesty are on the ascent, and now Honest has been introduced into the name pool. Maybe Honestly will be next.

An epithet for the goddess Radha as well as a name for Tulsi, the holy basil plant.

Associated with Erdem Moralioglu, the Turkish-Canadian-British fashion designer.