Virtue Names

Promise is one of those word names with an uplifting meaning that is making inroads as a girls' name, 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.

Epiphany is based on the ancient Greek word for a feeling or realization that comes upon you suddenly. It often relates to the divine, as in the realization that Christ is the son of God. The Feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, takes place on January 6, ranking Epiphany among the unique January baby names. As word names and spiritual names become more popular, the attractive Epiphany becomes a more viable choice.

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.

Actor Mark Ruffalo honed this surname down to its basics when he chose it for his son. A more usable expansion might be the Irish surname Keenan/Keenen.

More often spelled VERENA, this name is attached to a third century Swiss saint. But the "virtue" name VERITY, is more appealing and comes more directly to the point.

Mysterious.

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.

Fortune is a middle name choice designed to generate good luck and prosperity.

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.

Could be a sister to Trinity, Genesis, or Heaven.

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

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

Rare word name that works for either gender.

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

Otherworldly.

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

It may have been used by the Puritans, but any modern child would chafe under this name.

Sympathetic new twist on a Puritan virtue name.

One of the rarest of virtue names, Clemency could come back along with the more familiar Puritan virtue names such as Hope and Faith. It has a rhythmic three-syllable sound, and offers a more virtuous alternative to the more popular Clementine.