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Virtue Names

  1. Irie

    • Origin:

      Jamaican

    • Meaning:

      "positive and powerful"

    • Description:

      A name used in the Caribbean, taken from the Rastafarian term that translates best to "positive and powerful." Rastas often greet each other by saying, "Are you feeling Irie today?"
  2. Zen

    • Origin:

      Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "meditation"

    • Description:

      A spiritual word name used by actor Zoe Saldana for her son as well as more recently Nick Cannon and Alyssa Scott for their late son. Zen has been trending in recent years along with other spiritual names such as Bodhi and Zion, and recently entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2022.
  3. Legend

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "hero or fable"

    • Description:

      Legend joins cousins Story, Saga and Fable in the baby name pantheon of narrative words. Unlike Story and Fable, however, Legend comes with additional weight, being used for fame ("living legend") and to denote a person who is fantastic "what a legend"). Who can live up to that?
  4. Brio

    • Origin:

      Italian

    • Meaning:

      "vivacity, zest"

    • Description:

      Musical term with a lot of energy.
  5. Harmony

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Meaning:

      "harmony"

    • Description:

      If Melody and Lyric are on your style sheet, the peaceful Harmony, popularized by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, should be too. Girls names starting with the "Har" sound like Harper, Harley, and Harlow have been trending in recent years. This musical choice fits right in, and it is no wonder that Harmony has been in the Top 200 since 2014.
  6. Just

    • Description:

      Just is a masculine name with Latin roots, derived from the word "justus" meaning "fair" or "righteous." As a given name, it carries strong connotations of morality, integrity, and fairness. Popular primarily in Dutch-speaking regions and parts of continental Europe, Just maintains a simple, strong quality with its single syllable and clear meaning. Though uncommon in English-speaking countries, where it might be confused with the adverb "just," the name has maintained steady usage in the Netherlands and surrounding areas. The name's brevity gives it a direct, unpretentious quality, while its meaning provides a powerful aspirational quality for its bearer.

  7. Bliss

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "great joy"

    • Description:

      A sweet, uplifting and still fairly uncommon modern virtue name. Its single syllable makes it especially good as a middle name, but it would also make a big impact in the first spot; in fact, nearly 90 girls in the US were called Bliss in a recent year.
  8. True

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "true"

    • Description:

      An inspirational and aspirational word name that evokes ideas of loyalty, faith, honesty, and accuracy, True is a unisex name, which is just slightly more popular for boys. Like an updated form of Trudy and Prue and with the virtuous feel of Grace, Faith, and Hope, True was given to around 200 girls in 2024 (and about 225 boys).
  9. Temperance

    • Origin:

      Virtue name

    • Description:

      Not too long ago, Temperance was found only on lists of Puritan baby names.
  10. Reason

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "a statement offered in explanation or justification"

    • Description:

      Provocative word name that may strike the right chord for an adventurous baby namer.
  11. Epiphany

    • Origin:

      Word name, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "manifestation, striking appearance"

    • Description:

      Spiritual in multiple senses of the word, Epiphany has been given to a handful of girls since the late 1980s, peaking in 1988 when it was given to 55 babies, following the release of the movie Angel Heart in 1987, which featured a character of the name, played by Lisa Bonet.
  12. Journey

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "passage from one place to another"

    • Description:

      One of the new word names, appealing to parents attracted to the idea of a spiritual -- or even an actual -- voyage. The Journee spelling is also being used. Unisex alert: Jenna Jameson used Journey for one of her twin boys, as did the Black Eyed Peas rock musician known as Taboo.
  13. Remember

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Description:

      No one will ever forget it. But Remember as a name came over on the Mayflower, so it has deep history as well as modern potential.
  14. Serendipity

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "unexpected good fortune"

    • Description:

      A unique virtue name with a sound as happy and lively as its meaning.
  15. Favor

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "kindness, benefit; approval, support"

    • Description:

      A warm-sounding word and virtue name used by the Puritans and still popular in parts of Africa, especially with the Favour spelling. It might be used as a nickname for the longer, perhaps even bolder form, Godfavor (as in, "favored by God").
  16. Truth

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "the state of being the case"

    • Description:

      True has become an accepted first and middle name; Truth makes an even stronger statement. And with nearly 150 baby boys named Truth in the US in the most recent year counted, as many as were named Ross, the word name is edging up on the Top 1000.
  17. Merry

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "lighthearted, happy"

    • Description:

      She'd better be. Merry is one of the classic names for Christmas babies.
  18. Heavenly

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Description:

      Heavenly, the word that's become a name, has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 for a handful of years now. Heaven and cousins like Nevaeh have been well-used so adding the popular -ly suffix, ala Everly, seems like a natural progression.
  19. Whimsy

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "whimsical or fanciful"

    • Description:

      Whimsy is a new entry to the ever-expanding word name lexicon, sister for Pixie and Bliss. While it has an undeniable offbeat English aristocratic charm (maybe we're thinking of Dorothy Sayers' fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose middle name was Death?), we see this as more fitting for a middle than a first name.
  20. Clarity

    • Origin:

      English virtue name from Latin

    • Meaning:

      "the quality of being clear"

    • Description:

      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.

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