Able takes this name in the direction of the word denoting someone capable and handle, and that is not a bad way to go.

Able

Blessing is among the Top 1000 <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' names</a> in the UK and recently joined the ranks in the US as well. With modern spiritual names like Shiloh, Chosen, and Halo trending upwards, Blessing is likely to continue to rise in popularity.

Blessing

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.

Bliss

Not for the faint of the baby-naming heart. We also like Brave as a middle name.

Brave

Rare word name that works for either gender.

Bright

Believe

One of the original so-weird-it's-cruel <a href="https://nameberry.com/fameberry">celebrity baby names</a> doesn't sound quite so impossible with the resurgence of virtue names. But be charitable and choose Charity instead. Variations: Chasa Dee, Chasadie, Chasady, Chasaty, Chasidee, Chasidey, Chasidie, Chasidy, Chasiti, Chasitie, Chasitti, Chasity, Chassedi, Chassidi, Chassidy, Chassiti, Chassity, Chassy, Chasta, Chastady, Chastidy, Chastin, Chastitee, Chastitie, Chastitey, Chastney, Chasty, Chasydi.

Chastity

So sweet it makes our teeth hurt. It has appeared in the US Top 1000 every year since 2006, though it dropped a significant 136 places from 2014 to 2015, and kept dropping to Number 974 in 2016.

Cherish

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.
 Clarity is preferable to Charity and definitely to Chastity, with the possibility of Clare as a short form.

Clarity

This Puritan virtue name is unstylish, but sympathetic and appealing, in these largely uncomfortable times. 

Comfort

Constance is one of the more subtle of the virtue <a href="https://nameberry.com">baby names</a>, but still has quite a prim and proper image. One impediment to its revival has been the decidedly dated nickname Connie, though modern parents might well opt for using the strong and dignified name in full.
 One of William the Conqueror's daughters was named Constance, and in Shakespeare's King John, Constance is the devoted mother of King Arthur. Constance was widely used in the seventeenth century by Puritans: Constance Hopkins was a young passenger on the Mayflower.
 The fictional Constance Billard School appears in TV's Gossip Girl, and Constance was the first name of the decidedly non-prim and proper Lady Chatterley.
 Oscar Wilde's wife was Constance, and Mozart's spouse was the German form Constanze, nicknamed Stanzi.
 Though Constance has been neglected here for a number of years, it's still ranks at Number 120 in France.
 Trivia tidbit: Constance was the birth name of 1940's peekaboo-hairdo star Veronica Lake and also, not surprisingly, Connie Britton.

Constance

A traditional French male name that could, with American pronunciation, become an admirable word name. 

Constant

A bold, unisex virtue name that first made the charts for boys in 1990 and girls in 2008. Millennials may associate it with the Cartoon Network show Courage the Cowardly Dog, about a timid, good-natured dog by the name.

Courage

Adventurous word choice, but still quite a burden for a child to bear. 

Discovery

Earnest

Experience is a word name used by the New England Puritans but probably too joke-worthy for a modern child...or teenager. It does not have as direct a biblical reference as most Puritan names.

Experience

Maybe if you're planning to have only one child -- and iffy even then. 

Favorite

One of the more unusual word names used by Plymouth pilgrims for their children. Fear Brewster is an example of the usage of this name. Definitely one of the historic pilgrim names best left in the past.

Fear

Fidelity is an admirable virtue, yes, but as a name it tends to sound like a financial institution.  Faith, Honor, or Patience would be easier to live with than Fidelity. 

Fidelity

"Saturday Night Live" cast member Finesse Mitchell often mocks his own and similar names when portraying the character Starkeisha on the show. 

Finesse

Forever

Fortitude is the kind of virtue name the Puritans favored, but would not be easy for a modern boy to carry. Stick with something a little simpler than Fortitude, like Justice or True.

Fortitude

Like Justice and Peace, this word name makes a very strong statement. Ving Rhames chose it for his boy. 

Freedom

Glory sounds fresh and uplifting and a lot more modern than Gloria (which is definitely feeling the stirrings of a revival, though some might still view it as a terminal Old Lady name).  Glory, as in "Glory Be" and "Old Glory," has both a religious and a patriotic flavor.

Glory

A warm and positive English word name, used by the Puritans for both sexes but now given to only around a dozen baby girls each year.

Gracious

Harvest has been occasionally used as a name since the eighteenth century, originally as evenly unisex, though it tips a bit in the girls' direction in the contemporary US. Given the rise of such <a href="https://nameberry.com/popular-names">popular baby names</a> as Harper and August, plus new word names from Heaven to True, Harvest sounds more possible now than ever.

Harvest

Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven. 
 Haven Kimmel is the author of the bestselling memoir A Girl Named Zippy, and Haven Denney is a medal-winning skater. There was also a supernatural TV series called Haven.
 
Jessica Alba's younger daughter and middle child is named Haven, sister of Honor and Hayes. Robert Herjavec and Kym Johnson named their daughter Haven, twin of Hudson.

Haven

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

Honest

Can a name as virtuous as Hope be cool and trendy? Strangely enough -- yes. But though this optimistic Puritan favorite is experiencing substantial popularity, Hope is too pure and elegant to be corrupted, a lovely classic that deserves all the attention it's getting. 
 Hope, along with Faith and Charity, is one of the three theological virtues, first used as a Christian name in the seventeenth century by the Puritans. Hope and Faith have often been given to twins.
 There have been characters named Hope on four different soap operas. The TV show Raising Hope was about, yes, raising a child named Hope--formerly named Princess Beyonce. Brad Garrett has a daughter named Hope.

Hope

Illumination is a many-syllabled entrant in the new-fashioned virtue name group, but doesn't stand much chance of rivaling shorter choices like Hope and Faith. 

Illumination

Innocent, the name of thirteen popes, is rarely heard in a secular setting, where its loaded meaning could open the door to ridicule. 

Innocent

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.
 Some might associate it with the San Francisco rock band Journey.

Journey

Jubilee has a joyous and jubilant aura, but it wouldn't be an easy name to carry, what with all that pressure to be a living, breathing, 24-7 party. Jubilee was the name selected by television's Duggars for their miscarried child.

Jubilee

Justice, one of the rare virtue names for boys, entered the popularity ranks in 1992, and has remained on the list ever since. Parents' search for names implying virtue has led to a mini-revival of this long-neglected name in both its German homonymic form, Justus, and as the word itself. Steven Seagal was ahead of the curve when he used it back in 1976.
 Another plus: Justice is one of the truest nonbinary names, given to nearly equal numbers of girls and boys in the US.
 With the Justus spelling, it was the name of several saints and noted scholars and scientists.

Justice

Some parents, including rapper Ludacris, are literally bestowing good karma on their children; it could just join the new spiritual name congregation. 

Karma

This unusual English word name and surname was the middle name of American sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, after his mother's maiden name. Its striking sound and appealing meaning make it a promising virtue name possibility for either gender.

Kindred

Kyrie may be a name of God used widely in the ancient church refrain Kyrie Elieson, or Lord, have mercy, but it's rising in popularity for boys in the US on the strength of basketball star Kyrie Irving. Irving pronounces the first syllable of Kyrie to rhyme with my, whereas with the religious word it rhymes with fear.

Kyrie

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?
 Legend entered the US Top 1000 in 2010 for the first time, perhaps in connection popular singer John Legend, and is now on the brink of breaking into the Top 100.

Legend

Much more common on girls, but this virtue is occasionally given to boys too. It has the option of Bert(ie) as a nickname.

Liberty

Less common than other virtue names, Liberty is nonetheless a name with a long American heritage. Liberty is seeing a level of popularity not seen since the end of the First World War, but its heyday was probably the mid-19th Century when it became popular in the aftermath of the US Civil War, particularly among African-American freedmen. Liberty was also popular following the American War of Independence and even among some Puritan colonies. Some quirky parents may have considered using this name in the wake of the successful film Juno – Juno’s younger sister is called Liberty-Bell.

There's no reason why Memory shouldn't be a name — it sounds like Melody and Mallory, is a pleasant word, and has great nickname options (Rory! Mimi!). Plus, there's that earworm song from Cats.

Memory

The quality of mercy makes this lovely Puritan virtue name a quiet favorite today. Although it was most popular in the late nineteenth century, Mercy is on its way to a comeback -- it rose 143 spots between 2012 and 2013, making it one of the year's fastest-rising names. Right now, it's still stylish and distinctive, a rare and wonderful combination.
 Mercy is one of the characters with allegorical names in John Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress, and Mercy Pecksniff appears in Dickens's novel Martin Chuzzlewit with the nickname Merry. Mercy Lewis, in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, was based on a real-life person, a witness at the Salem witch trials. Another historic Mercy is Mercy Warren, Revolutionary period patriot and writer of plays, books and poetry.
 Comic/sidekick Andy Richter, when he named his daughter Mercy, joked, "Just in case Puritanism comes back, we'll be ready with a real Puritan name"; Madonna renamed her Malawi-born daughter Mercy James. As a word name and modern virtue name, it's one of the most fashionable <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/501/english-names-for-girls">English names for girls</a>.

Mercy

Merritt is an English surname but spelled Merit it becomes a word name. Both variations are on the rise.

Merit

Modesty is a virtue name dating to Roman times, but never widely used, except for hot 1960s movie spoof heroine, Modesty Blaise, based on a comic strip. 

Modesty

Pretty sound, provocative meaning, but a little over-the-top. 

Mystery

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 for its recent spike in popularity.
 Common in the seventeenth century, Patience is the eponymous heroine of a Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta. In literature, Patience appears in Shakespeare's Henry VIII and in an Anthony Trollope novel.
In the 2004 film Catwoman, the non-superhero name of the protagonist, played by Halle Berry, is Patience Phillips--which may have caused the name's bump in popularity two years later.

Patience

Peace may be an admirable sentiment to convey in a child's name, but the translated and thus more subtle versions, like Pax or Placido, might work better as first names. 

Peace

An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.

Pleasant

Promise is one of those word names with an uplifting meaning that is making inroads as a <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a>, like sisters Dream and Serenity. How promising is Promise as a first name? Our try at cleverness illustrates perhaps the biggest problem with naming your baby girl Promise: It will be difficult for people to resist making bad puns on the name. We promise (argh) you'll be tired of hearing them well before your baby Promise's first birthday.

Promise

In France, pronounced PRO-spare, Prosper is a fairly common name; here it presents a worthy aspirational message for a child. 
 Prosper was the name of several early saints, including a noted fifth century theologian, St. Prosper of Aquitaine, and was a favorite of English Puritans.
 Prosper has strong associations with P.Merimee, who wrote the novel Carmen, upon which the opera is based. Prospers were also the protagonists of two other books, The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff and The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
 The Italian version, Prospero, is another attractive option, with ties to Shakespeare's magician character in The Tempest.

Prosper

Forget Patience and Charity: Here's a Colonial name (and sentiment) that seems perfect for modern times.

Prosperity

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

Reason

A positive, festive English word name with potential.

Rejoice

Relief was a name used by the Puritans in reference to the relief of Christ. Leafy was the common nickname.

Relief

Remarkable Pettibone was a self-important housekeeper in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. Such names were not uncommon in early America, with such choices as Remember and Experience showing up in the records along with Puritan <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/373/virtue-names">virtue names</a> such as Chastity and Patience.

Remarkable

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.

Remember

Mysterious. In 2016, 13 baby girls in the United States were given this unusual word name -- at least according to the Social Security Administration. We can't help but suspect that some of those baker's dozen had parents who just refused to tell the federal government their daughter's name.

Secret

The Puritans used it as a virtue name -- but today it would just be considered weird: silence is no longer golden. 

Silence

A rare unisex word/virtue name that is currently given to around 10 babies of each gender per year in the US. It could make for an unexpected route to bright, easygoing nickname Sol (or trendy nickname Ace). 
There is a male literary namesake in Solace Layfield, a character in Flannery O’Connor’s 1952 novel Wise Blood. Alanis Morrissette and Souleye used it as a middle name for their daughter, Onyx Solace, born in 2016.

Solace

Solstice graduated from word to official first name when author Lionel Shriver used it for a character in her novel Big Brother. But of course, there were people named Solstice before: 16 baby girls were given the name in the US in 2021, and it was last on the charts for boys in 2018, when six baby boys got the name.

The word solstice is derived from the Old French and Latin term meaning "point at which the sun seems to stand still." There are pagan celebrations around the time of the winter and summer solstices, June 21 and December 21, the longest and shortest days of the year, which makes Solstice one of the best <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/577/names-for-december-babies">names for babies born in December</a> or June.

Solstice

Solstice graduated from word to official first name when author Lionel Shriver used it for a character in her novel Big Brother. But of course, there were people named Solstice before: 16 baby girls were given the name in the US in 2021 (and it is occasionally used for boys too).

The word solstice is derived from the Old French and Latin term meaning "point at which the sun seems to stand still." There are pagan celebrations around the time of the winter and summer solstices, June 21 and December 21, the longest and shortest days of the year, which makes Solstice one of the best <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/577/names-for-december-babies">names for babies born in December</a> or June.

Spiritual word names are becoming more and more popular – think Peace, Bodhi, Zen and Psalm – and Spirit is among the rarer options, given to a couple dozen baby girls each year in the US. It's the name of the horse in the kids' TV show Spirit.

Spirit

A conceptual word name that is currently unisex, although girls hold the lead in gender distribution.

Success

Not too long ago, Temperance was found only on lists of Puritan <a href="https://nameberry.com">baby names</a>.
 
With increased increase in virtue names, and Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan on long-running television series Bones, this name has experienced a surprising revival.

Temperance

Tenacity

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names.  It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning.

Thankful

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.

Truth

Like Verity and Amity, this inclusive virtue name used by the colorful British literary Mitford family is ready to join its more popular peers Hope, Faith, and Grace. 
 The name was embraced by the Puritans in the seventeenth century, but was not as common as others. In literature it occurs as a servant in Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes.
 Unity Valkyrie Mitford supposedly inspired the character of Bellatrix Lestrange in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Unity Kincaid is a character In the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.

Unity

Unknown

While this is usually thought of as a girls' name because of the Bond Girl connection, its sound is masculine and there's no reason it couldn't work for boys.

Vesper

A winning unisex word name, fresher than Victoria or Victor.

Victory

Warm and open, but way too much teasing potential. 

Welcome

Likely to be construed as a virtue name (a nice one, at that!), even though Willing is a traditional surname with both English and German roots. As an English name, Willing is a patronymic form of Willa. In German, it's a patronym from Wille, a variation of Ville, which is related to William.

Willing

A bit too self-congratulatory and, understandably, exceedingly rare. Still, if you're looking for a modern virtue name for your daughter, this may be one of the best qualities to exemplify.

Wisdom

Not all words work as baby names, but Wonder would transition seamlessly.

Wonder

No low self-esteem for this kid, or so his parents hope. 

Worth

Cate Juhl's list "Kip's List of Virtue Names" of 79 great name ideas: Able - Worth!