Kip's List of Virtue Names

Less common than other virtue names, Liberty is nonetheless a name with a long American heritage.

There's no reason why Memory shouldn't be a name — it sounds like Melody and Mallory, is a pleasant word, and has great nickname options (Rory! Mimi!). Plus, there's that earworm song from Cats.

The quality of mercy makes this lovely Puritan virtue name a quiet favorite today. Although it was most popular in the late nineteenth century, Mercy is on its way to a comeback -- it rose 143 spots between 2012 and 2013, making it one of the year's fastest-rising names. Right now, it's still stylish and distinctive, a rare and wonderful combination.

Merritt is an English surname but spelled Merit it becomes a word name. Both variations are on the rise.

Modesty is a virtue name dating to Roman times, but never widely used, except for hot 1960s movie spoof heroine, Modesty Blaise, based on a comic strip.

Pretty sound, provocative meaning, but a little over-the-top.

Patience is a passive virtue turned engaging name, fresher than Hope, Faith, or even Charity. Its resemblance to the trendy Payton may be one reason for its recent spike in popularity.

Peace may be an admirable sentiment to convey in a child's name, but the translated and thus more subtle versions, like Pax or Placido, might work better as first names.

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.

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.

In France, pronounced PRO-spare, Prosper is a fairly common name; here it presents a worthy aspirational message for a child.

Forget Patience and Charity: Here's a Colonial name (and sentiment) that seems perfect for modern times.

Provocative word name that may strike the right chord for an adventurous baby namer.

A positive, festive English word name with potential. Rejoice Chuol is a South Sudanese fashion model.

Relief was a name used by the Puritans in reference to the relief of Christ. Leafy was the common nickname.

Remarkable Pettibone was a self-important housekeeper in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. Such names were not uncommon in early America, with such choices as Remember and Experience showing up in the records along with Puritan virtue names such as Chastity and Patience.

No one will ever forget it. But Remember as a name came over on the Mayflower, so it has deep history as well as modern potential.

Mysterious.

The Puritans used it as a virtue name -- but today it would just be considered weird: silence is no longer golden.