Virtue Names

If you want to give your child the gift of...gab.

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

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

A modern virtue name, particularly desirable in this pressure-cooker world.

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.

Trying to imbue your child with charisma at birth involves a certain degree of chutzpah. It was brought into the mix by ex. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Charisma Carpenter, who was named after an Avon perfume.

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.

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

A big, bold, ultra-rare virtue name. Could it follow in the footsteps of Justice and Liberty?

One of the newest virtue names, given to only a handful of baby girls in the most recent year on record.

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.

A puritan virtue name that's only slightly less challenging than Chastity. It was used for nearly 20 baby girls in the contemporary US in one recent year.

The mother of all virtue names.

Eternal--or eternally pretentious?

Sound contradicts its meaning.

A handful of baby girls are named Awesome each year, and they better be.

A Puritan-virtue type name that could possibly work for a modern baby with its rhythmic four-syllable sound and admirable meaning.

Chivalry isn't dead, and what better way to prove it than by bestowing it as a name upon a newborn?

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.

This virtue name was the middle name of Alice Liddell — the child who inspired Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books.