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Baby names

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

Original poster

Puritan style names/virtue names

119 replies

Flutterflybutterby · 27/11/2021 06:36

Some of them are awful and some of them gorgeous and underused.

I love Faith, Joy, Honor, Mercy (which I saw posted about on here recently - which went down very badly) and Hope.

What's your favorite virtue name? (Of all of them, not just the ones I like!)

Assuming you like any, of course Grin

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TheWatersofMarch · 27/11/2021 20:46

Felicity, Clemency, Faith are beautiful names.

KrispyKale · 27/11/2021 20:46

It has a touch of the Endeavour Morse!

Gliderx · 27/11/2021 20:43

@KrispyKale. Self-Belief-and-Strong-Boundaries Smith. The 21st century Puritan!

I suppose I asked for that Grin! How about Shout-Out and Empower for modern virtue names?

Empower Smith has a nice ring.

seriousandloyal · 27/11/2021 20:10

Clemency
Ruth

GlacindaTheTroll · 27/11/2021 20:05

How about twins Smite-The-Unbeliever-With-Cunning-Arguments and Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets?

Kanaloa · 27/11/2021 20:04

@KrispyKale

Self-Belief-and-Strong-Boundaries Smith. The 21st century Puritan!
😂

Think I might rename my kids in this fashion. My eldest can be ‘tidy-thy-room-it-is-a-pigsty.’

KrispyKale · 27/11/2021 19:48

Self-Belief-and-Strong-Boundaries Smith. The 21st century Puritan!

scottishnames · 27/11/2021 19:45

Aunt Dymphna - your *pla-k' might just be relevant, butwe have nearer info to hand:

It could also mean a bright/light distinguishing mark, eg a white nose on a horse, or light marks made to waymark a trail.
www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/blaze_1

Another version ‘a bright flame' and the one referring to a white streak on a horse’s face (from 17th])are probably related, through the idea of shining or brightness.[[ In America the second came to apply to a white mark chipped in a tree to indicate a path or boundary slightly later in the mid 17th century[[

AuntDympna · 27/11/2021 19:10

I doubt Blaze means anything that Wikipedia or any babyname site says. Those are all retrospective explanations. Blaze is funny, it's rare and none of the explanations are at all satisfactory.
It might be related to please, in Proto Indo European *plā-k- (“wide and flat”) and thus in fact to placate and so to peace.
I am guessing but at least that's a nice guess.

RoseMartha · 27/11/2021 18:47

I like Grace and Hope

scottishnames · 27/11/2021 18:41

Capability Brown was a nickname. His given name was Lancelot (which is pretty splendid!)

scottishnames · 27/11/2021 18:36

TabithaTiger
What independent sources does any site give to back up their claim? Normally, one would expect at least two.
Alas - because it's so unfair to parents - many babyname websites are found to be inaccurate, to some degree or another.
For accuracy look here www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198610601.001.0001/acref-9780198610601
or for most of the time here www.behindthename.com/
Even Wikipedia is a useful check.
There are also specialist sites for Irish/Scottish/Welsh etc. But really, it troubles me to think that anyone can start up a baby name website with - it seems - little or no background knowledge.

Gliderx · 27/11/2021 18:18

I'd be afraid if I named my child Honor, Joy or Mercy that they'd turn out to be the school bully and I'd be left with egg on my face!

I think Chastity should be banned as a name for girls from now on, given the amount of patriarchial baggage it comes with. Definitely not a virtue I'd be particularly interested in nurturing in a girl child. Self-belief and strong personal boundaries will do nicely instead.

FindingMeno · 27/11/2021 18:11

Serendipity.

StillWeRise · 27/11/2021 18:10

@AuntDympna

How is Blaze a virtue? For a girl I quite like: Insubordinata Valour Grit Sagacity Justine Meditation
Insubordinata is fab Grin if only I could have another DD
TheMarzipanDildo · 27/11/2021 18:08

@RandomCatGenerator

I love Capability, like Capability Brown the Victorian landscaper. I can’t imagine actually calling a little boy (or little girl) it but it’s so confident!

I know a Temperance - little Tempy, which is very sweet on her but an odd name for the meaning.

I know a Nigerian woman called Precious, which is wonderful. Her sister has a really normal name like Stephanie or something, which I would be offended about if my sister then got ‘Precious’…

Capability is great!

The problem with virtue names is that they must be very hard to live up to. I would be a terrible Capability, Temperance or Chastity.

JurassicShay · 27/11/2021 18:07

I love love love Mercy but exdp wasn't having any of it for DD so I called her Sunday instead. Also like
Sage
Temperance
Patience

HunkyPunk · 27/11/2021 18:02

Blaze is a saints name (patron of suffering and wool combers)

That’s interesting! Wool-combing is quite a niche occupation to have its own saint!

SilverOtter · 27/11/2021 18:01

Another vote here for Temperance, it's a beautiful name.

RandomCatGenerator · 27/11/2021 17:58

I love Capability, like Capability Brown the Victorian landscaper. I can’t imagine actually calling a little boy (or little girl) it but it’s so confident!

I know a Temperance - little Tempy, which is very sweet on her but an odd name for the meaning.

I know a Nigerian woman called Precious, which is wonderful. Her sister has a really normal name like Stephanie or something, which I would be offended about if my sister then got ‘Precious’…

KrispyKale · 27/11/2021 17:55

There is Clement for a boy.

KrispyKale · 27/11/2021 17:54

I like Constance and Verity.
Not Chastity.

OneOfTheGrundys · 27/11/2021 17:53

Martha.

TabithaTiger · 27/11/2021 17:52

[quote scottishnames]Blaze isn't a virtue name.
It's a version of Blaise, which comes from Latin or maybe Ancient Greek words meaning either 'to stammer' or 'bow-legged'. www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Blasius
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Blaise

It just happens to sound similar to a word in some Slavic languages that means 'good', but that is not the origin (or meaning) of the name.
www.behindthename.com/name/blaz18
www.behindthename.com/name/blaze[/quote]
Well according to this list it is nameberry.com/list/373/Virtue-Names

CovoidOfAllHumanity · 27/11/2021 15:52

I also had a lovely colleague called Goodluck (like the former Nigerian president) who went by Lucky. He was incredibly capable, cheerful and a calming presence and I did feel lucky if he was on shift with me. No idea if that had anything to do with his name being a self fulfilling prophecy or if that as just how he was but I can see the attraction in being called after a good thing.