Thanksgiving Names

The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Most Ghanaians have a name using this system (think Kofi Annan, whose name means born on a Friday).

Perfect for September babies.

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.

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.

Virtue names are making a comeback, but we don't foresee Humility coming into fashion. A baby named Humility Cooper was a passenger on the Mayflower.

A cool Igbo name with a wonderful meaning.

Full-hearted new virtue choice, though five syllables is a lot to handle.

A traditional day name used by Akan speakers in Ghana.

A beautiful and rare botanical choice belonging to a tiny white flower, and also to the ship that first brought the Pilgrims from England to the New World in 1620.

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.

In many African cultures, it is traditional to name children based on the day of the week they were born. For the Swahili people of eastern Africa, Khamisi is used for boys born on Thursday.

A unisex Shona name most closely associated with Tatenda Taibu, captain of the Zimbabwean cricket team.

Maybe if you really love Autumn.

Cute and wearable.