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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Male virtue names.

61 replies

yellowflowers · 08/06/2012 19:52

I love the name Goodluck (as in Goodluck Jonathan, president of Nigeria). Not brave enough to use it though. Other than Innocent what other virtue names can you think of for men? I can think of loads for girls but not boys.

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schroedingersdodo · 11/06/2012 22:20

Has anyone mentioned Augustus?

BibiBelle · 10/06/2012 23:29

Oh how I wanted Ever for one of our DDs but DH said no Sad

LynetteScavo · 10/06/2012 20:17

Clement & Frank are more usable IMO.

LynetteScavo · 10/06/2012 20:13

DS went to school with a boy called Prudence.

DH and I think Goodluck is a fantastic name....wouldn't dare use it though!

Original poster
yellowflowers · 10/06/2012 20:09

I doubt we'll actually use one Smile

OP posts:
MurielTheActor · 10/06/2012 19:39

Some great names here.
Just want to point out that Earnest (as in Importance of Being) was slang for gay. Oscar Wilde's little joke Wink

marriedinwhite · 10/06/2012 18:53

Mathanxiety - what a fantastic list - bows Smile

Thumbwitch · 10/06/2012 16:05

wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Bestiality_Carter - you could try the Sir TP version of male names? Wink

But maybe not.

I don't know that giving virtue names is the greatest idea in the world, in case they turn out completely opposite from their name - but that's just me, I wouldn't do it for that reason.
Certainly some of the names suggested here are lovely.

racingheart · 10/06/2012 10:59

Lowen is lovely. It means lions in German, doesn't it? (Or have I got that wrong?)

Love Prosper and Boniface - the heroes of The Thief Lord - both great names.

What about names like Dominic, Magnus, Benedict - real names that have clear connotations?

LadyClariceCannockMonty · 10/06/2012 09:27

Lowen is beautiful; the name and the sentiment. Although I once knew a (female) horse called Lowen, so it has a slightly different connotation for me ... Smile

tuffinmop · 10/06/2012 08:46

Lowen is cornish for happy, my son is a Lowen

peacefuleasyfeeling · 10/06/2012 08:16

Comfort -I've met two, and they were very lovely men. Both used it as a first name. I only just made the fabric conditioner association when seeing it written down...

herecomesthsun · 10/06/2012 03:54

Oh an awful lot of names mean "Gift of God", including Jonathan, Matthew and Theodore. The thing is, if you hide it in a classic name, the child is less likely to be teased. And can you imagine being chatted up by someone who says "Uh, and my name is ...Gift!"

My son has a "gift" name as a middle name.

Fantail · 10/06/2012 01:35

Makepeace? As in William Makepeace Thackeray - future diplomat or family law solicitor?

Mechavivzilla · 10/06/2012 00:49

I used to work with a lovely Nigerian man called "Gift" and I loved it! I just thought, how wonderful to know that is how your parents saw you?

SchrodingersMew · 10/06/2012 00:37

Eirik (Eternal ruler)

FairPhyllis · 09/06/2012 23:49

Perhaps Puritan names are due a comeback:

Redeemed
Lamentation
Repentance
Kill-Sin
Learn-Wisdom
If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned

I'm joking!

SilentMammoth · 09/06/2012 23:11

There's a character called "Dutiful Penitence" in a Joan Aitken book. Mind you, she deserved it.

Thatisnotitatall · 09/06/2012 23:03

Hiro is a boy's name - but its Japanese and almost certainly doesn't mean hero, though it sounds like it :)

Constantine...
Capability as Poppy said

Lots of names have meanings that would fit but the male equivalents of Faith, Hope and Charity type names (I really knew 3 sisters with those names when growing up) don't come to mind in "bald" English...

misslinnet · 09/06/2012 22:18

Hero is a girl in Greek legend, and in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, but as 'hero' is also a word in English, I don't see why it couldn't be used as a boy's virtue name. It's not like Hero is a popular girl's name. I've never heard of one outside the two examples above.

Gunznroses · 09/06/2012 22:08

Hero sounds like a man's name to me, a very FIT man! Wink

Gunznroses · 09/06/2012 22:07

All the "Patience's" ive ever known have been girls.

Another one is "Great".

SilentMammoth · 09/06/2012 21:42

You can't call a boy Hero!!! It's a girl's name!

Manoodledo · 09/06/2012 20:39

I have a Magnus meaning 'great'!

AgathaTrunchbull · 09/06/2012 16:42

I assume you want it to mean what it says on the tin in English?

Fortitude
Diligence
Wisdom
Steadfast
Integrity