faith9's Personal Name List
Abacuc
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Latin
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Abacucke
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Abel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Georgian, Armenian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: აბელ(Georgian) Աբել(Armenian) הֶבֶל(Ancient Hebrew) Ἄβελ, Ἅβελ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AY-bəl(English) A-BEHL(French) a-BEHL(Spanish, European Portuguese) a-BEW(Brazilian Portuguese) A-bəl(Dutch) ah-BEHL(Eastern Armenian) ah-PEHL(Western Armenian)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
הֶבֶל (Hevel) meaning
"breath". In the
Old Testament he is the second son of
Adam and
Eve, murdered out of envy by his brother
Cain. In England, this name came into use during the Middle Ages, and it was common during the
Puritan era.
Abigail
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical German, Biblical Italian, Biblical Portuguese, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אֲבִיגַיִל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AB-i-gayl(English)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
אֲבִיגָיִל (ʾAviḡayil) meaning
"my father is joy", derived from the roots
אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and
גִּיל (gil) meaning "joy". In the
Old Testament this is the name of Nabal's wife. After Nabal's death she became the third wife of King
David.
As an English name, Abigail first became common after the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the Puritans. The biblical Abigail refers to herself as a servant, and beginning in the 17th century the name became a slang term for a servant, especially after the release of the play The Scornful Lady (1616), which featured a character named Abigail. The name went out of fashion at that point, but it was revived in the 20th century.
Abner
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: אַבְנֵר(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AB-nər(American English) AB-nə(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
אַבְנֵר (ʾAvner) meaning
"my father is a light", derived from
אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and
נֵר (ner) meaning "lamp, light". In the
Old Testament, Abner was a cousin of
Saul and the commander of his army. After he killed Asahel he was himself slain by Asahel's brother
Joab.
A famous bearer was the 14th-century Jewish philosopher Abner of Burgos, called Alfonso of Valladolid after he converted to Christianity. It has been used as an English Christian given name since the Protestant Reformation. It was popular with the Puritans, who brought it to America in the 17th century.
Abstinence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the English word abstinence, referring to the act of abstaining from sin. This name was used by the Puritans.
Abundance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word, ultimately from Latin abundantia "fullness, plenty". This name was used in the 17th century by Puritans, referring to the abundance of God's blessings.
Abuse-not
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: ə-BYOOS-nawt
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
In reference to 1 Corinthians 9:18, "What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my right in the gospel."
Accepted
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: ak-SEHP-tid
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to being accepted into the Kingdom of God.
Achsah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עַכְסָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AK-sə(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means
"anklet, bangle" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of a daughter of
Caleb.
Acts-Apostles
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From Acts of the Apostles, the title of the fifth book of the New Testament. A man named Acts-Apostles Pegden (1795-1865), nicknamed 'Actsy', had four older brothers named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Agony
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: A-gə-nee
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
One of the rarer virtue names introduced by the Puritans, referring to Jesus' agony in the garden of
Gethsemane.
Aholiab
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: אָהֳלִיאָב(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Means "father's tent", derived from the Hebrew nouns אֹהֶל
('ohel) meaning "tent" and אָב
(ʾav) meaning "father". In the Old Testament, Aholiab or Oholiab son of
Ahisamakh, of the tribe of
Dan, worked under
Bezalel as the deputy architect of the Tabernacle (also known as the Tent of Meeting) and the implements which it housed, including the Ark of the Covenant. He is described in Exodus 38:23 as a master of carpentry, weaving and embroidery.
Aid-on-high
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to our aid coming from God.
Aminadab
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Mormon
Pronounced: ə-MIN-ə-dab(Mormon)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Amminadab. According to the Book of
Mormon this was the name of a Nephite who fell away from the church and became associated with the Lamanites. In the Book of
Helaman, after
Nephi and his brother
Lehi go to the land of
Zarahemla to preach the Gospel to the Lamanites, they are imprisoned by the Lamanites and kept under guard. After a heavenly incident, Aminadab clarifies to the surrounding Lamanite prison guards that Nephi and Lehi are conversing with angels.
Amity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: A-mi-tee
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning "friendship", ultimately deriving from Latin amicitia.
Amos
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Biblical Hebrew [2]
Other Scripts: עָמוֹס(Hebrew) Ἀμώς(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: AY-məs(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From Hebrew
עָמַס (ʿamas) meaning
"load, burden" [3]. Amos is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Amos, which speaks against greed, corruption and oppression of the poor. Written about the 8th century BC, it is among the oldest of the prophetic books. As an English name,
Amos has been used since the
Protestant Reformation, and was popular among the
Puritans.
Anammeriah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (British, Archaic)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Anna Maria recorded in 1715 in the parish register of Finchley Church, England, referring to
Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and her elder sister, Queen
Mary II of England.
Anne 1
Gender: Feminine
Usage: French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, German, Dutch, Basque
Pronounced: AN(French, English) A-neh(Swedish) A-nə(Danish, German) AHN-neh(Finnish) AH-nə(Dutch)
Rating: 45% based on 2 votes
French form of
Anna. It was imported to England in the 13th century, but it did not become popular until three centuries later. The spelling variant
Ann was also commonly found from this period, and is still used to this day.
The name was borne by a 17th-century English queen and also by the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (the mother of Queen Elizabeth I), who was eventually beheaded in the Tower of London. Another notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne (Annelies) Frank, a young victim of the Holocaust in 1945. This is also the name of the heroine in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery.
Antipas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Aphrah
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: AH-frah(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the biblical place Aphrah in the Book of Micah, meaning "dust." This name was used by Puritans, but has since become rare.
Approved
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Archaic meaning is, "to prove; show."
Arise
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Ashael
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Ashes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word, given in reference to the biblical story of Job (see
Job-rakt-out-of-the-ashes) and/or the phrase
ashes to ashes, dust to dust, also considered a vernacular form of Hebrew
Aphrah (a place name taken from Micah 1:10).
According to the English antiquarian William Camden (1551-1623), the given names Ashes and Dust were in use during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI and I.
Assurance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From old French assurer, eaning, "a positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise." Referencing the promises of God in the Bible.
Atpeace
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Meaning "at peace."
Azaliah
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
English form of
Atsalyahu via its latinized form
Aslia. This was the name of a character from the Old Testament, who appeared in 2 Kings 22:3 (also known as 4 Kings 22:3). He was a son of
Meshullam and was himself the father of
Shaphan the scribe.
Although this biblical bearer is male, the Puritans used it as a feminine name in the 1600s, probably due to its similarity to other feminine names in use at the time (see Azelia and Azalea).
Barabas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Theatre, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: bə-RAB-əs(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Barabbas. In literature, this is the name of the main character in Christopher Marlowe's play
The Jew of Malta (ca. 1590).
Bartelot
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English, English (Puritan)
Bartholomew
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: bahr-THAHL-ə-myoo(American English) bah-THAWL-ə-myoo(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
English form of
Βαρθολομαῖος (Bartholomaios), which was the Greek form of an Aramaic name meaning
"son of Talmai". In the
New Testament Bartholomew is the byname of an apostle, possibly the same person as the apostle
Nathanael. According to tradition he was a missionary to India before returning westward to Armenia, where he was martyred by flaying. Due to the popularity of this
saint the name became common in England during the Middle Ages.
Bartle
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare), Medieval English
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Barzilla
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American, English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Barzillai. In the United States it was introduced by the Puritans as a masculine name, and first (?) used for girls in the mid-18th century.
Bat
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Archaic), Medieval English
Pronounced: BAT(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Diminutive of
Bartholomew; also compare
Bate. A notable bearer was American gunfighter and lawman Bartholomew 'Bat' Masterson (1853-1921), famed sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas.
Batcock
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Middle English diminutive of
Bartholomew, derived from a diminutive of
Bate.
Batkin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Middle English diminutive of
Bartholomew, from a combination of
Bate and the diminutive suffix -
kin.
Battalion
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "a large, organized group of people pursuing a common aim or sharing a major undertaking." Referring to the army of God (believers).
Batty
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Be-courteous
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to Ephesians 4:32, "And be ye courteous to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Be-faithful
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to Revelation 2:10, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
Belief
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
Meaning, "trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something."
Believe
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: American (Rare), English (Puritan)
Rating: 47% based on 3 votes
Late Old English belȳfan, belēfan, alteration of gelēfan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch geloven and German glauben, also to lief.
Beloved
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 75% based on 2 votes
Meaning, "dearly loved."
Be-steadfast
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Referring to being steadfast in one's faith.
Be-strong
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Referencing being strong despite trials and tribulations.
Be-thankful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
Referring to being thankful for God's blessings.
Bezaleel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Hebrew (Anglicized), English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Anglicized form of Hebrew Betsalel, meaning "in the shadow." In the bible, this is the name of a son of Uri who was one of the architects of the tabernacle, and the name of an Israelite.
Blessed
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), African
Rating: 70% based on 2 votes
From the English word "blessed" meaning "having divine aid, or protection, or other blessing; held in veneration; revered", ultimately from Old English blētsian, blēdsian "to consecrate (with blood)".
Bread-of-life
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Referring to the word of God as the only thing required for subsistence.
Buried-sence
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Caleb
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: כָּלֵב(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: KAY-ləb(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Most likely related to Hebrew
כֶּלֶב (kelev) meaning
"dog" [1]. An alternate theory connects it to Hebrew
כֹּל (kol) meaning "whole, all of"
[2] and
לֵב (lev) meaning "heart"
[3]. In the
Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve spies sent by
Moses into Canaan. Of the Israelites who left Egypt with Moses, Caleb and
Joshua were the only ones who lived to see the Promised Land.
As an English name, Caleb came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was common among the Puritans, who introduced it to America in the 17th century.
Called
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Meaning, "to summon." Referring to the calling to the work of God.
Calybute
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
In the case of Calybute Downing, D.D. (1606-1643), whose father was also named Calybute Downing, it appears to be a slight variation of his paternal grandmother's maiden name,
Calybut. There was a similar name recorded in Domesday Book:
Calebot.
Candace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Κανδάκη(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: KAN-dis(English) KAN-də-see(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the hereditary title of the queens of Ethiopia, as mentioned in Acts in the
New Testament. It is apparently derived from Cushitic
kdke meaning
"queen mother". In some versions of the Bible it is spelled
Kandake, reflecting the Greek spelling
Κανδάκη. It was used as a given name by the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation. It was popularized in the 20th century by a character in the 1942 movie
Meet the Stewarts [1].
Capability
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
From the English word, ultimately from Latin capabilis "able to take, able to understand".
Centurian
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From a frequent misspelling of the English noun centurion, which refers to a Roman army officer that commanded a century (i.e. a group of one hundred). This was recorded as a Puritan given name, presumably used in reference to the centurion who was present at the crucifixion according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (who is widely considered to be the first Christian), or due to other occurrences of centurions in the New Testament.
Changed
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to a "change of heart."
Charity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: CHEHR-ə-tee, CHAR-ə-tee
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the English word
charity, ultimately derived from Late Latin
caritas "generous love", from Latin
carus "dear, beloved".
Caritas was in use as a Roman Christian name. The English name
Charity came into use among the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation. It is currently most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Chephtzibah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Cherubin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Possibly an anglicized form of Italian
Cherubino, or directly from Latin
cherubin meaning "cherubs, cherubim".
Christophilus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Late Greek (Latinized), Dutch (Archaic), English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Clearence
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (American, Rare), South African (Rare), English (Puritan, ?)
Pronounced: KLEER-əns(English (Puritan))
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Confidence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), South African
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Meaning, "the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust." From late Middle English, from Latin confidentia, from confidere ‘have full trust.' Referring to the confidence one may have in God.
Connistant
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English, English (Puritan)
Rating: 55% based on 2 votes
Consider
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Late Middle English from Old French considerer, from Latin considerare "examine", perhaps based on sidus, sider- "star". Possibly referring to Hebrews 10:24, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works" or Matthew 6:28, "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin."
Constance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: KAHN-stəns(American English) KAWN-stəns(British English) KAWNS-TAHNS(French)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Medieval form of
Constantia. The
Normans introduced this name to England (it was the name of a daughter of William the Conqueror).
Constancy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 65% based on 2 votes
From the English word
constancy meaning "the quality of being constant; faithfulness, steadiness" (derived from Latin
constantia). This was used by the Puritans as a vocabulary name, along with the related names
Constance and
Constant, in reference to the constancy of God in one's life.
Constant
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, Dutch (Rare), English (Rare)
Pronounced: KAWN-STAHN(French) KAWN-stahnt(Dutch) KAHN-stənt(American English) KAWN-stənt(British English)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
From the Late Latin name
Constans. It was also used by the
Puritans as a vocabulary name, from the English word
constant.
Contemplation
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Medieval English
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "deep, reflective thought." Referring to contemplation of the Biblical teachings.
Content
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From the English word, meaning "in a state of peaceful happiness", ultimately from Latin contentus meaning "satisfied".
Continent
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English adjective meaning "exercising self-restraint".
Cotton
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Cotton.
Creedence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American)
Variant of
Credence. This spelling likely influenced by the American rock band, Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Cressens
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Cyrus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Old Persian (Latinized)
Other Scripts: Κῦρος(Ancient Greek) 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁(Old Persian)
Pronounced: SIE-rəs(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Latin form of Greek
Κῦρος (Kyros), from the Old Persian name
𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 (Kuruš), possibly meaning
"young" or
"humiliator (of the enemy)" [1]. Alternatively it could be of Elamite origin. The name has sometimes been associated with Greek
κύριος (kyrios) meaning "lord".
The most notable bearer of the name was Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC. He is famous in the Old Testament for freeing the captive Jews and allowing them to return to Israel after his conquest of Babylon. As an English name, it first came into use among the Puritans after the Protestant Reformation.
Dalilah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Damned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Darcas
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Deborah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Other Scripts: דְּבוֹרָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: DEHB-ə-rə(English) DEHB-rə(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
דְּבוֹרָה (Devora) meaning
"bee". In the
Old Testament Book of Judges, Deborah is a heroine and prophetess who leads the Israelites when they are threatened by the Canaanites. She forms an army under the command of
Barak, and together they destroy the army of the Canaanite commander Sisera. Also in the Old Testament, this is the name of the nurse of Rebecca.
Long a common Jewish name, Deborah was first used by English Christians after the Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the Puritans.
Delilah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: דְּלִילָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: di-LIE-lə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means
"delicate, weak, languishing" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament she is the lover of
Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power. Despite her character flaws, the name began to be used by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world since that time.
Deliverance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: də-LIV-ər-əns, də-LIV-rəns
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word deliverance meaning "action of setting free" in physical or spiritual senses. An especially common name given in regard to the perils of child birth.
Delivery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to being delivered from evil.
Depend
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "to rely on." Referring to our dependence on God.
Dependance
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to one's dependance on God.
Desir
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Desire
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Derived from Latin
desidero "to long for; to wish for; to desire" (via Old French
desir). This name was first used in the 16th century by the Puritans, probably with the intended meaning of "desire the Lord". It is also a diminutive or variant of
Desiderata or
Desiderius, etc.
Die-well
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to living, and ultimately dying, a godly life.
Diffidence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From late Middle English (in the sense ‘lacking confidence or trust in someone or something’) from Latin diffident- ‘failing in trust’, from the verb diffidere, from dis- (expressing reversal) + fidere ‘to trust’.
Diligence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "careful and persistent work or effort."
Discipline
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Middle English (in the sense ‘mortification by scourging oneself’) via Old French from Latin disciplina ‘instruction, knowledge’, from discipulus. Referring to Hebrews 12:11.
Discretion
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to Proverbs 2:11, "Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee."
Divine-authority
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
derived from the authority of God, referring to the Scripture. Popular with Puritans
Do-good
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
An exhortatory puritanical name, hence it is very rarely seen.
Donation
Gender: Masculine
Usage: South African, English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the word donation, meaning "an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution."
Do-right
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
An exhortatory puritanical name, thus rarely used. See
Do-good.
Do-well
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
An exhortatory puritanical name, hence it is used rarely. See also
Do-good.
Dust
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word, apparently used as an English translation of Hebrew
Aphrah (see
Aphra) from the biblical passage: 'Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust' (Micah 1:10). According to the antiquarian William Camden, the given names
Dust and
Ashes were in use in the days of Queen Elizabeth I and King James VI and I. It was likely given in reference to the body returning to the earth, as in the phrase
ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Earth
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: URTH(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the English word earth, referring to the planet, the soil, or the alchemical element. Ultimately from Old English eorthe.
Ebed-meleck
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: עֶבֶד-מֶלֶךְ(Hebrew)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Elected
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to the Doctrine of Election.
Eleph
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From a place name mentioned briefly in the Old Testament, namely in Joshua 18:28, where the town of Eleph (or Haeleph in newer translations) near Jerusalem is listed among the lot or inheritance of the Tribe of Benjamin, one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It is derived from the Hebrew noun אלף ('elep) meaning either "cattle" or "a thousand".
Elijah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: אֱלִיָּהוּ(Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-LIE-jə(English) i-LIE-zhə(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
אֱלִיָּהוּ (ʾEliyyahu) meaning
"my God is Yahweh", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) and
יָהּ (yah), both referring to the Hebrew God. Elijah was a Hebrew prophet and miracle worker, as told in the two Books of Kings in the
Old Testament. He was active in the 9th century BC during the reign of King
Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician-born queen
Jezebel. Elijah confronted the king and queen over their idolatry of the Canaanite god
Ba'al and other wicked deeds. At the end of his life he was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire, and was succeeded by
Elisha. In the
New Testament, Elijah and
Moses appear next to
Jesus when he is transfigured.
Because Elijah was a popular figure in medieval tales, and because his name was borne by a few early saints (who are usually known by the Latin form Elias), the name came into general use during the Middle Ages. In medieval England it was usually spelled Elis. It died out there by the 16th century, but it was revived by the Puritans in the form Elijah after the Protestant Reformation. The name became popular during the 1990s and 2000s, especially in America where it broke into the top ten in 2016.
Eli-lama-sabachthani
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From an Aramaic phrase meaning "my God, why have you forsaken me?" It is likely taken from Matthew 27:46 in the New Testament: 'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'
Elizabeth
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: i-LIZ-ə-bəth(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From
Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), the Greek form of the Hebrew name
אֱלִישֶׁבַע (ʾElishevaʿ) meaning
"my God is an oath", derived from the roots
אֵל (ʾel) referring to the Hebrew God and
שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) meaning "oath". The Hebrew form appears in the
Old Testament where Elisheba is the wife of
Aaron, while the Greek form appears in the
New Testament where Elizabeth is the mother of
John the Baptist.
Among Christians, this name was originally more common in Eastern Europe. It was borne in the 12th century by Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a daughter of King Andrew II who used her wealth to help the poor. In medieval England it was occasionally used in honour of the saint, though the form Isabel (from Occitan and Spanish) was more common. It has been very popular in England since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. In American name statistics (as recorded since 1880) it has never ranked lower than 30, making it the most consistently popular name for girls in the United States.
Besides Elizabeth I, this name has been borne (in various spellings) by many other European royals, including a ruling empress of Russia in the 18th century. Famous modern bearers include the British queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and actress Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011).
Emmote
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Endure
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Menaing, "to suffer patiently." Referring to enduring the trials and tribulations of life.
Enecha
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Enoch
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: חֲנוֹך(Ancient Hebrew) Ἐνώχ, Ἑνώχ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EE-nək(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
חֲנוֹך (Ḥanoḵ) meaning
"dedicated". In Genesis in the
Old Testament this is the name of the son of
Cain. It is also the name of a son of
Jared and the father of
Methuselah, who was the supposed author of the apocryphal Books of Enoch.
Epenetus
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Greek (Latinized), Biblical, English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Ephraim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Other Scripts: אֶפְרָיִם(Hebrew) Ἐφραίμ(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: EEF-ree-əm(English) EEF-rəm(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
אֶפְרָיִם (ʾEfrayim) meaning
"fruitful". In the
Old Testament Ephraim is a son of
Joseph and
Asenath and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This name was also borne by two early
saints: Ephraim or Ephrem the Syrian, a 4th-century theologian, and Ephraim of Antioch, a 6th-century patriarch of Antioch.
Exercise
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word exercise, occasionally used as a given name in early New England. The only biblical text upon which it can be based is I Timothy 4:7, "Exercise thyself rather unto godliness."
Experience
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: ex-PEER-ee-ens(English (Puritan))
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word "experience", from the Latin experientia, from experīrī meaning "to try, test". A name occasionally used by Puritans.
Ezechell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Ezeckiell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Ezekiel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: יְחֶזְקֵאל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: i-ZEE-kee-əl(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
יְחֶזְקֵאל (Yeḥezqel) meaning
"God will strengthen", from the roots
חָזַק (ḥazaq) meaning "to strengthen" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Ezekiel is a major prophet of the
Old Testament, the author of the Book of Ezekiel. He lived in Jerusalem until the Babylonian conquest and captivity of Israel, at which time he was taken to Babylon. The Book of Ezekiel describes his vivid symbolic visions that predict the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. As an English given name,
Ezekiel has been used since the
Protestant Reformation.
Faint-not
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
Faith
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: FAYTH
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word
faith, ultimately from Latin
fidere "to trust". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Faithful
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic), English (Puritan), Literature, Nigerian
Pronounced: FAYTH-fuhl(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Virtue name meaning "loyal" or "having faith (in God)" that has been in use since the 16th century, initally mostly for boys, later also for girls.
In John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress", Faithful is a companion of the protagonist, an allegorical symbol of the martyr who is willing to die for his faith. This is also a character in the novel, "Vanity Fair."
Faith-my-joy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Referring to the joy of faith in God. Also, derived from the Purefoy motto, 'Pure Foi ma Joi' meaning "pure faith is my joy."
Famous
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (African), English (Archaic), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: FAY-məs(English, English (Puritan))
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word famous, meaning "well-known".
Fare-well
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Favor
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "to feel or show preference for someone or something."
Favour
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: FAY-vər
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English word favour, ultimately from Latin faveo "to favour". This name is most common in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
Faythe
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Fear
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to reverance toward God. A notable bearer was Fear Brewster (1606-1634), who was one of the passengers aboard the Mayflower.
Feare-god
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to the reverence one must have toward God.
Fear-god
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to a reverence toward God.
Fearing
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to reverencing God.
Fear-not
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not for I am with you."
Fear-the-lord
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the reverence of God.
Feleaman
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Felicity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: fə-LIS-i-tee
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
From the English word
felicity meaning
"happiness", which ultimately derives from Latin
felicitas "good luck". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans around the 17th century. It can sometimes be used as an English form of the Latin name
Felicitas. This name jumped in popularity in the United States after the premiere of the television series
Felicity in 1998. It is more common in the United Kingdom.
Fidelity
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: fi-DEHL-i-tee
From the English word fidelity, ultimately from the Latin word fidelis, a derivative of fidere "to trust". This is one of the virtue names coined by the Puritans in the 17th century.
Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the trials and tribulations one might endure while living out faith in God.
Flee-debate
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to staying away from argument.
Flee-fornication
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Name given to 'bastard' children.
Flye-debate
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to fleeing from argument.
Forsaken
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "abandoned; deserted." Name given to 'bastard' children.
Freedom
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African)
Pronounced: FREE-dəm(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From Old English frēodōm, used in reference to the Biblical verse 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." The name found a resurgence in usage during the American centennial of 1876 and bicentennial of 1976. At present this name is most commonly used in English-speaking Africa.
Free-gift
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to the free gift of salvation.
Free-grace
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Freelove
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American, Archaic), English (Puritan, ?)
Pronounced: FREE-luv(American English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Likely one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century, referring to God's free love for his believers. It also coincides with an English surname that was derived from the Old English given name
Friðulaf meaning "peace-survivor" (see
Freelove).
From-above
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to something coming from God.
Gercyon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Gershom
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: גֵּרְשֹׁם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: GUR-shahm(American English) GU-shawm(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Probably means
"exile" in Hebrew, though the Bible explains that it derives from
גֵּר שָׁם (ger sham) meaning
"a stranger there" (see
Exodus 18:3). This is the name of a son of
Moses in the
Old Testament.
Giant-despair
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Character in Pilgrim's Progress.
Gideon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew, English, Dutch
Other Scripts: גִּדְעוֹן(Hebrew)
Pronounced: GID-ee-ən(English) GHEE-deh-awn(Dutch)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
גִּדְעוֹן (Giḏʿon) meaning
"feller, hewer", derived from
גָּדַע (gaḏaʿ) meaning "to cut, to hew"
[1]. Gideon is a hero and judge of the
Old Testament. He led the vastly outnumbered Israelites against the Midianites, defeated them, and killed their two kings. In the English-speaking world,
Gideon has been used as a given name since the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular among the
Puritans.
Gift
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: GIFT
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word gift, of Old Norse origin. This name is most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Given
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), African
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word
given, meaning "A condition that is assumed to be true without further evaluation.".
From Middle English given, from Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”). Displaced or merged with native Middle English yiven, ȝeven, from Old English ġiefan, from the same Proto-Germanic source (compare the obsolete inherited English doublet yive).
Cognate with Scots gie (“to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Swedish giva, ge (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), North Frisian jiw, jiiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Low German geven (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”).
Given Singuluma is a soccer player for the TP Mazembe, National Assembly F.C., Bay United F.C., Zanaco F.C., and Zambia national football team. Given was born on July 19th, 1986 in Lusaka Province.
Give-thanks
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to giving thanks to God.
God-help
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to a prayer for help if the life of the child or mother was endangered.
God-helpe
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Godly
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to being in a state of grace, i.e. "godly."
Godlye
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "religious or pious."
God-reward
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Godsgift
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: GODS-gift
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Blend of the phrase 'God's gift' into one word.
Good-gift
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
Good-work
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
An exhortatory puritanical name, thus rarely used.
Grace
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: GRAYS
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the English word
grace, which ultimately derives from Latin
gratia. This was one of the virtue names created in the 17th century by the
Puritans. The actress Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was a famous bearer.
This name was very popular in the English-speaking world at the end of the 19th century. Though it declined in use over the next 100 years, it staged a successful comeback at the end of the 20th century. The American sitcom Will and Grace (1998-2006) may have helped, though the name was already strongly rising when it premiered. It was the top name for girls in England and Wales in 2006.
Graceful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
The physical characteristic of displaying "pretty agility", in the form of elegant movement, poise, or balance. The etymological root of grace is the Latin word gratia from gratus, meaning "pleasing."
Gracious
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African), English
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word
gracious, ultimately from Latin
gratiosus, a derivative of
gratia "esteem, favor". This was one of the virtue names coined by the Puritans in the 17th century, possibly inspired by Psalm 145:8: 'The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.'
Habakkuk
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: חֲבַקּוּק(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: HAB-ə-kək(English) hə-BAK-ək(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
חֲבַקּוּק (Ḥavaqquq), probably derived from the root
חָבַק (ḥavaq) meaning
"embrace" [1]. In the
Old Testament this is one of the twelve minor prophets, the author of the Book of Habakkuk.
Haggas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Puritanical variation of
Haggai.
Hamath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
The word signifies a defense or citadel, and such designation was very suitable for this chief royal city of the Hittites, situated between their northern and southern capitals, Carchemish and Kadesh, on a gigantic mound beside the Orontes. In Amos 6:2 it is named Great Hamath, but not necessarily to distinguish it from other places of the same name.
Handmaid
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Possibly referring to, in the Hebrew Bible, the term handmaid applied to a female slave who serves her mistress, as in the case of Hagar being described as Sarai's handmaid.
Hannah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, German, Dutch, Arabic, Biblical
Other Scripts: חַנָּה(Hebrew) حنّة(Arabic)
Pronounced: HAN-ə(English) HA-na(German) HAH-na(Dutch) HAN-na(Arabic)
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
חַנָּה (Ḥanna) meaning
"favour, grace", derived from the root
חָנַן (ḥanan) meaning "to be gracious". In the
Old Testament this is the name of the wife of
Elkanah. Her rival was Elkanah's other wife
Peninnah, who had children while Hannah remained barren. After a blessing from
Eli she finally became pregnant with
Samuel.
As an English name, Hannah was not regularly used until after the Protestant Reformation, unlike the vernacular forms Anne and Ann and the Latin form Anna, which were used from the late Middle Ages. In the last half of the 20th century Hannah surged in popularity and neared the top of the name rankings for both the United States and the United Kingdom.
Hariph
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: חריף(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Derived from the Hebrew verb חרף (harap) which means "to gather, pluck, harvest", "to spend the harvest season" or "to reproach, taunt, scorn". In the Old Testament this name belongs to two male characters.
Has-descendants
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Hate-bad
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Hate-evil
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 2 votes
Referring to Psalm 97:10, "Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked."
Hate-evill
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Hate-ill
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Have-mercy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to a prayer for mercy if the life of the child or mother was endangered.
Hearsay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "information received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate; rumor." Referring to the sin of gossip.
Heavenly-mind
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Refers to keeping one's mind toward heavenly things rather than worldly things. This is the name of a character in John Bunyan's novel The Holy War (1682).
Helpless
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 5% based on 2 votes
Meaning, "unable to defend oneself or to act without help." Referring to the helplessness of man without God.
Help-on-high
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the help we receive from God.
Hester
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Dutch, Biblical Latin
Pronounced: HEHS-tər(American English, Dutch) HEHS-tə(British English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Latin form of
Esther. Like
Esther, it has been used in England since the
Protestant Reformation. Nathaniel Hawthorne used it for the heroine of his novel
The Scarlet Letter (1850), Hester Prynne, a
Puritan woman forced to wear a red letter
A on her chest after giving birth to a child out of wedlock.
Hiram
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: חִירָם(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: HIE-rəm(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From Phoenician
𐤇𐤓𐤌 (Ḥirom) meaning
"exalted brother". This was the name of a king of Tyre according to the
Old Testament. He may have reigned in the 10th century BC. As an English given name,
Hiram came into use after the
Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century the
Puritans brought it to America, where it gained some currency.
Hold-the-world
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
The name of a character in the novel The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan.
Honest
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), African
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning "honorable, virtuous". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the Puritans around the 17th century.
Honesty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: AH-nes-tee
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word "honesty" referring to "fairness and truthfulness". Also the name of a plant with purple flowers, Lunaria annua, also known as 'money plant'. Ultimately from Latin honōrāre 'honor, repute'.
Honour
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: AWN-ə(British English) AHN-ər(American English)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From the English word
honour, which is of Latin origin. This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It can also be viewed as a form of
Honoria or
Honorata, which are ultimately derived from the same source.
Hope
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: HOP
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From the English word
hope, ultimately from Old English
hopian. This name was first used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Hope-for
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Hopeful
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "feeling or inspiring optimism about a future event." Referring to the hope in Christ for eternal life.
Hope-still
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Hopestill
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: HOP-stil
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Hope-well
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Huldah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: חוּלְדָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: HUL-də(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means
"weasel, mole" in Hebrew. This name appears in the
Old Testament belonging to a prophetess.
Humanity
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "humaneness; benevolence."
Humble
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: HUM-bəl(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From an English surname
Humble or from the word
humble, from Middle English
(h)umble,
humel meaning "humble, meek".
In puritan use, it may refer to James 4:10, "humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up."
Humiliation
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word
humiliation, ultimately from the Latin verb
humiliare meaning "to humble". This was a rare Puritan virtue name, given in reference to the humility one must have before God. Also compare
Humility.
Humility
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), History (Ecclesiastical, Anglicized)
Pronounced: hyoo-MIL-i-tee(English)
English form of
Humilitas, or directly from the English word
humility, which is ultimately from Latin
humilitas "lowness" (in Church Latin "humbleness; meekness").
If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
If-Jesus-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means "if Jesus Christ had not died for your sins, you shall be confined to damnation". This was the baptismal name of the English economist, physician and financial speculator Nicholas Barebone (or Barbon; ca. 1640-1698), who helped reconstruct buildings following the Great Fire of London. His father's name was
Praise-God.
Imagination
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Medieval English
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the puritan fear of the imagination and its ability to have free reign beyond scripture.
Increase
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: IN-krees
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Derives from Middle English 'encrease' with the meaning "to turn greater in number". A famous bearer was Increase Mather, the president of Harvard University in 1685, who was a Puritan minister involved with the Salem witch trials. This virtue name fell in usage in the 21st century.
Increased
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to the Biblical command to increase in number.
Independence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means "freedom from control or influence," partly on the pattern of French indépendance. Used much more commonly during the times of the pilgrims (Puritans) who settled in New England in America. The name was used to commemorate independence from British rule and laws then, and perhaps after the American Revolution in 1776 as well.
Inward
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From Old English inweard, inneweard, innanweard. Referring to Psalm 51:6, "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom."
Ira 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: עִירָא(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-rə(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means
"watchful" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament this is the name of King
David's priest. As an English Christian given name,
Ira began to be used after the
Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century the
Puritans brought it to America, where remained moderately common into the 20th century.
Isaac
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Jewish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: יִצְחָק(Hebrew)
Pronounced: IE-zək(English) ee-sa-AK(Spanish) EE-ZAK(French) EE-ZA-AK(French)
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
יִצְחָק (Yitsḥaq) meaning
"he will laugh, he will rejoice", derived from
צָחַק (tsaḥaq) meaning "to laugh". The
Old Testament explains this meaning, by recounting that
Abraham laughed when God told him that his aged wife
Sarah would become pregnant with Isaac (see
Genesis 17:17), and later Sarah laughed when overhearing the same prophecy (see
Genesis 18:12). When Isaac was a boy, God tested Abraham's faith by ordering him to sacrifice his son, though an angel prevented the act at the last moment. Isaac went on to become the father of
Esau and
Jacob with his wife
Rebecca.
As an English Christian name, Isaac was occasionally used during the Middle Ages, though it was more common among Jews. It became more widespread after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers include the physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov (1920-1992).
Jackcock
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Diminutive of
John. Transferred use to the surname
Jacox in modern times.
Jaell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Jeduthan
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan), Biblical Hebrew
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "praising." Jeduthun was one of the chiefs of the temple choir during the time of David. Jeduthun belonged to the Merari family of the tribe of Levi. He is considered to be the same person as Ethan. Jeduthun is described in the Bible as "the king's seer".
Jemima
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: יְמִימָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: jə-MIE-mə(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Traditionally said to mean
"dove", it may actually be related to Hebrew
יוֹמָם (yomam) meaning
"daytime" [1]. This was the oldest of the three daughters of
Job in the
Old Testament. As an English name,
Jemima first became common during the
Puritan era.
Jenkin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval English, Welsh
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Middle English diminutive of
John.
Jenning
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Jesus-christ-came-into-the-world-to-save
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referencing 1 Timothy 1:15, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
Jobe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Australian), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: JOB(Australian English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Jobe. Famous namesakes includes Australian Rules football star Jobe Watson, and soccer player Jobe Wheelhouse.
Puritanical variation of Job.
Job-rakt-out-of-the-ashes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referencing the book of Job in the Christian Bible, particularly Job 2:8.
John
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Biblical
Pronounced: JAHN(American English) JAWN(British English, Dutch) YAWN(Swedish, Norwegian) SHAWN(Dutch) ZHAWN(Dutch)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
English form of
Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name
Ἰωάννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name
יוֹחָנָן (Yoḥanan). It means
"Yahweh is gracious", from the roots
יוֹ (yo) referring to the Hebrew God and
חָנַן (ḥanan) meaning "to be gracious". The Hebrew form occurs in the
Old Testament (spelled
Johanan or
Jehohanan in the English version), but this name owes its popularity to two
New Testament characters, both highly revered
saints. The first is John the Baptist, a Jewish ascetic who is considered the forerunner of
Jesus. He baptized Jesus and was later executed by
Herod Antipas. The second is the apostle John, who is traditionally regarded as the author of the fourth gospel and Revelation. With the apostles
Peter and
James (John's brother), he was part of the inner circle of Jesus.
This name was initially more common among Eastern Christians in the Byzantine Empire, but it flourished in Western Europe after the First Crusade. In England it became extremely popular, typically being the most common male name from the 13th to the 20th century (but sometimes outpaced by William). During the later Middle Ages it was given to approximately a fifth of all English boys. In the United States it was the most common name for boys until 1923.
The name (in various spellings) has been borne by 21 popes and eight Byzantine emperors, as well as rulers of England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary. It was also borne by the poet John Milton (1608-1674), philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), American founding father and president John Adams (1735-1826), and poet John Keats (1795-1821). Famous bearers of the 20th century include author John Steinbeck (1902-1968), assassinated American president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), and musician John Lennon (1940-1980).
The forms Ian (Scottish), Sean (Irish) and Evan (Welsh) have also been frequently used in the English-speaking world, as has the medieval diminutive Jack.
Joy-again
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referencing a birth after a previous loss.
Joy-againe
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Given to a child after a pregnancy or infant loss.
Joy-in-sorrow
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
A name given to children born to mother's who died during or after childbirth.
Judas-not-Iscariot
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the biblical Greek Ἰούδας οὐχ ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης
(Ioudas ouch ho Iskariotes) meaning "
Judas not Iscariot", from John 14:22 in the New Testament, which is assumed to refer to Jude the Apostle, son of James (also called Judas
Thaddaeus). This was used by Puritans who desired the name Judas but did not want it associated with the betrayer of
Jesus, Judas Iscariot.
Just
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Justice
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: JUS-tis
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From an occupational surname meaning "judge, officer of justice" in Old French. This name can also be given in direct reference to the English word justice.
Kill-sin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to Leviticus 14:13, "And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:"
Knowful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Knowledge
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature, English (African)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
From Middle English (originally as a verb in the sense ‘acknowledge, recognize’, later as a noun) from an Old English compound based on
cnāwan meaning "know."
Knowledge Musona is a Zimbabwean football player.
Lament
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "a passionate expression of grief or sorrow." Referring to being sorry for sin. Name given to 'bastard' children.
Lamentation
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Lamentations
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the Old Testament book, a translation of Hebrew אֵיכָה. Referring to having sorrow for sin. Name given to 'bastard' children.
Leafy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Leah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Hebrew, Biblical
Other Scripts: לֵאָה(Hebrew)
Pronounced: LEE-ə(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
לֵאָה (Leʾa), which was probably derived from the Hebrew word
לָאָה (laʾa) meaning
"weary, grieved" [1]. Alternatively it might be related to Akkadian
littu meaning
"cow". In the
Old Testament Leah is the first wife of
Jacob and the mother of seven of his children. Jacob's other wife was Leah's younger sister
Rachel, whom he preferred. Leah later offered Jacob her handmaid
Zilpah in order for him to conceive more children.
Although this name was used by Jews in the Middle Ages, it was not typical as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans.
Learn-wisdom
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to Proverbs 1:2, "To learn wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;"
Learn-wysdome
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to the many entries about wisdom in the Bible.
Lechery
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "excessive or offensive sexual desire; lustfulness." A puritanical name used as a warning.
Life
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Directly taken from the English word
life.
From Middle English lif, lyf, from Old English līf (“life, existence; life-time”), from Proto-Germanic *lībą (“life, body”), from *lībaną (“to remain, stay, be left”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp-, *lip- (“to stick, glue”).
Live-loose
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
The name of a character in the novel The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan.
Lively
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "Full of life, energy." Referring to spiritual manifestations.
Live-well
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to living a godly life.
Love-god
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Lovejoy
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
A combination of
Love 2 and
Joy, which possibly originated as a given name with the Puritans.
This name also exists as a surname (see Lovejoy), in which case it is said to be derived from a Middle English nickname for a joyous person.
Love-lust
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
The name of a character in the novel The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan.
Lovewell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Loyal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: LOI-əl(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning "firm in allegiance, faithful, to a person, cause, or institution", ultimately from Latin lēgalis meaning "legal, law".
Loyalty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: LOI-əl-tee
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word, which was originally borrowed from Old French loiauté, a derivative of loial "loyal", itself derived from Latin legalis "legal".
Magnify
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "to extol; glorify." Referring to the magnification of the name of God.
Magnyfye
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English word magnify meaning "to praise, to glorify".
Mahalel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Mahaliel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Ancient Hebrew, English (Puritan), Jewish
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Mahershalalhashbaz
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז
(Maher-shalal-hash-baz) which is variously interpreted as meaning "quick to plunder and swift to spoil" or "he has made haste to the plunder!" It is a prophetic name or title which occurs in Isaiah 8:1 in the Old Testament and is a reference to the impending plunder of Samaria and Damascus by the king of Assyria.
This is the full name of American actor Mahershala Ali (1974-).
Mary
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: MEHR-ee(English)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
Usual English form of
Maria, the Latin form of the
New Testament Greek names
Μαριάμ (Mariam) and
Μαρία (Maria) — the spellings are interchangeable — which were from Hebrew
מִרְיָם (Miryam), a name borne by the sister of
Moses in the
Old Testament. The meaning is not known for certain, but there are several theories including
"sea of bitterness",
"rebelliousness", and
"wished for child". However it was most likely originally an Egyptian name, perhaps derived in part from
mry "beloved" or
mr "love".
This is the name of several New Testament characters, most importantly Mary the mother of Jesus. According to the gospels, Jesus was conceived in her by the Holy Spirit while she remained a virgin. This name was also borne by Mary Magdalene, a woman cured of demons by Jesus. She became one of his followers and later witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection.
Due to the Virgin Mary this name has been very popular in the Christian world, though at certain times in some cultures it has been considered too holy for everyday use. In England it has been used since the 12th century, and it has been among the most common feminine names since the 16th century. In the United States in 1880 it was given more than twice as often as the next most popular name for girls (Anna). It remained in the top rank in America until 1946 when it was bumped to second (by Linda). Although it regained the top spot for a few more years in the 1950s it was already falling in usage, and has since dropped out of the top 100 names.
This name has been borne by two queens of England, as well as a queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots. Another notable bearer was Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the author of Frankenstein. A famous fictional character by this name is Mary Poppins from the children's books by P. L. Travers, first published in 1934.
The Latinized form of this name, Maria, is also used in English as well as in several other languages.
Meek
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive." Referring to Matthew 5:5.
Mehetabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: מְהֵיטַבְאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: mə-HEHT-ə-behl(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
מְהֵיטַבְאֵל (Meheṭavʾel) meaning
"God makes happy", derived from the roots
יָטַב (yaṭav) meaning "to be happy" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This name is mentioned briefly in the
Old Testament.
Mehetabell
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Mehitabel
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: מְהֵיטַבְאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: mə-HIT-ə-behl(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Melchisedek
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical Greek, English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: Μελχισέδεκ, Μελχισεδέκ(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Greek form of
Melchizedek, as it first appeared in the Septuagint.
Melchizedek
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: מַלְכִּי-צֶדֶק(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: mehl-KI-zə-dehk(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Means "my king is righteousness" from Hebrew מֶלֶךְ
(mélekh) meaning "king" and צֶדֶק
(tzédek) meaning "righteousness". In the Old Testament this is the name of a priest king who gives
Abraham a blessing.
Merciful
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "showing or exercising mercy."
Mercy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: MUR-see(American English) MU-see(British English)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From the English word
mercy, ultimately from Latin
merces "wages, reward", a derivative of
merx "goods, wares". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Meribah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (American)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From an Old Testament place name meaning "quarreling, strife, contention" in Hebrew. This occurs in the Old Testament belonging to one of the locations visited by the Israelites following their exodus from Egypt.
Micah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English
Other Scripts: מִיכָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: MIE-kə(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Contracted form of
Micaiah. Micah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the
Old Testament. He authored the Book of Micah, which alternates between prophesies of doom and prophesies of restoration. This is also the name of a separate person in the Book of Judges, the keeper of an idol. It was occasionally used as an English given name by the
Puritans after the
Protestant Reformation, but it did not become common until the end of the 20th century.
Milcom
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Near Eastern Mythology, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: MIL-kəm(Biblical English, Near Eastern Mythology)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
In the Old Testament, Milcom was the highest of the Ammonite gods. It is generally accepted that this name is a form of the common Semitic noun meaning "king" (Hebrew
melek), and became an epithet of the head of the Ammonite pantheon. See also
Molech.
Mindwell
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to the scripture, “A silent and louing woman is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so much worth, as a mind well instructed.”
Mitty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Mordecai
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Hebrew
Other Scripts: מָרְדֳּכַי, מָרְדְּכַי(Hebrew)
Pronounced: MAWR-də-kie(American English) MAW-də-kie(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Means
"servant of Marduk" in Persian. In the
Old Testament Mordecai is the cousin and foster father of
Esther. He thwarted a plot to kill the Persian king, though he made an enemy of the king's chief advisor
Haman.
Mordecay
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
More-fruit
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the fruit of the Holy Spirit and/or increasing in number.
Moreover
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to Luke 16:21.
More-trial
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
More-triale
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Much-mercy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the overwhelming mercy of God.
My-sake
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Referring to Matthew 5:11, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner. of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
Nazareth
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (Rare), Portuguese (Brazilian), Indian (Christian), Filipino (Rare), Spanish, Armenian (Rare)
Other Scripts: Նազարեթ(Armenian)
Pronounced: NAZ-ə-rəth(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the biblical place name, now an Arabic city in northern Israel. In the New Testament it is referred to as the home town of Jesus Christ, and is used as one of his titles: Jesus of Nazareth. The meaning is uncertain; it may be from Hebrew נֵצֶר
(netzer) meaning "branch, shoot" or נָצַר
(natzar) meaning "watch, guard". It is also a Spanish variant of
Nazaret and an Armenian variant transcription of the same name.
Noah 1
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch (Modern), French (Modern), Biblical
Other Scripts: נֹחַ, נוֹחַ(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: NO-ə(English) NO-a(German)
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
נֹחַ (Noaḥ) meaning
"rest, repose", derived from the root
נוּחַ (nuaḥ). According to the
Old Testament, Noah was the builder of the Ark that allowed him, his family, and animals of each species to survive the Great Flood. After the flood he received the sign of the rainbow as a covenant from God. He was the father of
Shem,
Ham and
Japheth.
As an English Christian name, Noah has been used since the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans. In the United States it was not overly popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, but it began slowly growing in the 1970s. Starting 1994 it increased rapidly — this was when actor Noah Wyle (1971-) began starring on the television series ER. A further boost in 2004 from the main character in the movie The Notebook helped it eventually become the most popular name for boys in America between 2013 and 2016. At the same time it has also been heavily used in other English-speaking countries, as well as Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and France.
A famous bearer was the American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758-1843).
No-merit
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to undeserved mercies from God.
Normal
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Obed-Edom
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Biblical
Other Scripts: עבד־אדום(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means "servant of Edom" in Hebrew, from the verb עבד
('abad) meaning "to work, to serve" and the name
Edom, or possibly the word אדם
('adom) "red". This is the name of several minor characters in the Old Testament.
Obededom
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Obed-Edom. Zaphnaphpaaneah Isaiah Obededom Nicodemus Francis Edward Clarke was baptized on 14 October 1804 in Beccles Church, Suffolk, England.
Obedience
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: ə-BEE-dee-əns, o-BEE-dee-əns
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the English word obedience, the act of obeying.
O-Be-Joyful
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Archaic)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Obey
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "behave in accordance with (a general principle, natural law, etc.)." Referring to fearing and obeying God.
Othniel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: עָתְנִיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: AWTH-nee-əl(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain, possibly
"lion of God" or
"strength of God" in Hebrew. In the
Old Testament he is a nephew or brother of
Caleb who becomes the first of the ruling judges of the Israelites.
Othniell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Oziell
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Pardon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare)
Pronounced: PAR-don
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Patience
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: PAY-shəns
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
From the English word
patience, ultimately from Latin
patientia, a derivative of
pati "to suffer". This was one of the virtue names coined by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It is now most commonly used in African countries where English is widely understood, such as Nigeria and Ghana.
Patient
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French (African), History (Ecclesiastical, Gallicized), English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the Late Latin name
Patiens. It was also used by the Puritans as a vocabulary name, from the English word
patient.
Peaceable
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From Anglo-Norman pesible, peisible, Middle French paisible, from pais (“peace”) + -ible; Meaning, "free from argument or conflict; peaceful."
Pentecost
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Archaic)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the name of the Christian festival which commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles, celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter, ultimately deriving from Greek pentekoste (hemera) "fiftieth (day)". This name was traditionally given to children born at Whitsuntide. It can also be from a nickname given to a person with some connection to that time of year, such as owing a feudal obligation then.
Penticost
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English, English (Puritan, Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: PEHN-ti-kost(Middle English, English (Puritan))
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Penty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Medieval English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: PEN-tee(Middle English, English (Puritan))
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Persecution
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs."
Pharoah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Medieval English
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Phennana
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Biblical Greek, English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: Φεννανά, Φεννάνα(Ancient Greek)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Greek form of
Peninnah, as it first appeared in the Septuagint. Also see
Phenenna.
This name became popular among the Puritans, but is now almost never seen.
Philemon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1], Ancient Greek [2]
Other Scripts: Φιλήμων(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: fi-LEE-mən(English) fie-LEE-mən(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means
"affectionate" in Greek, a derivative of
φίλημα (philema) meaning "kiss". Philemon was the recipient of one of
Paul's epistles in the
New Testament.
Phillips
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: FIL-IPS
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Phillips.
Piety
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: PIE-ə-tee
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning
"piety, devoutness". This was a rare virtue name used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Pilate
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan), English (African, Rare)
Pronounced: PIE-lət(Biblical English, English (Puritan), African English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
English form of the Roman cognomen Pilatus, which meant "armed with a javelin" from Latin pila "javelin". This was most famously borne by Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea ca. AD 26-36 who allegedly tried, judged, and sentenced Jesus during his term of office. It came into use as an English name in the 18th century.
Pilgrim
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Medieval German, English (Rare), English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Medieval German form of both
Biligrim and
Peregrinus (see
Peregrine), as these names were conflated with each other in the Middle Ages. Also compare the Old High German word
piligrim meaning "pilgrim".
In the Anglophone world, Pilgrim is found as a given name from the 16th century onwards. It was first used by the Puritans, in reference to someone undertaking a religious pilgrimage. Later on, however, the use of the name for religious reasons ceased. Instead, people began to use it in reference to the surname Pilgrim.
Placidia
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Late Roman, English (African, Rare), English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Pleasant
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare), Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from the English word, which is derived from Anglo-Norman plaisant "delightful" and ultimately from Latin placens "pleasing; agreeable".
As a given name, Pleasant has been in occasional use in the English-speaking world from the 16th century onwards. It was generally used as a masculine name among the English Romani community.
Potter
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Potter.
Praise-God
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English phrase praise God, referring to giving God glory. A known bearer was Praise-God Barebone (or Barbon; c. 1598-1679), an English preacher and Fifth Monarchist after whom Barebone's Parliament of 1653 was named. He was the father of the economist Nicholas Barbon.
Presela
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Preserved
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: pre-SER-vedd
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Name given to a child when spared from certain death during childbirth.
Pride
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Modern)
Pronounced: PRIED
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From late Old English prȳde ‘excessive self-esteem’, variant of prȳtu, prȳte, from prūd. Referring to "pride cometh before the fall."
Priscilla
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, French, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Biblical
Pronounced: pri-SIL-ə(English) preesh-SHEEL-la(Italian)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Promise
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African)
Pronounced: PRAWM-is
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word promise, from Latin promissum. It is currently most common in parts of English-influenced Africa.
Prosper
Gender: Masculine
Usage: French, English
Pronounced: PRAWS-PEHR(French) PRAHS-pər(American English) PRAWS-pə(British English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the Latin name
Prosperus, which meant
"fortunate, successful". This was the name of a 5th-century
saint, a supporter of Saint
Augustine. It has never been common as an English name, though the
Puritans used it, partly because it is identical to the English word
prosper.
Proverb
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), African
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to the book of Proverbs in the Bible.
Providence
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African), Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Derived from the English word denoting "a manifestation of divine care or direction; an instance of divine intervention".
Prudence
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English, French
Pronounced: PROO-dəns(English) PRUY-DAHNS(French)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Medieval English form of
Prudentia, the feminine form of
Prudentius. In France it is both the feminine form and a rare masculine form. In England it was used during the Middle Ages and was revived in the 17th century by the
Puritans, in part from the English word
prudence, ultimately of the same source.
Psalm
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Rare), Filipino (Rare), Various
Pronounced: sahm(American English) sahlm(American English) sawm(American English) sawlm(American English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word
psalm which refers to a sacred song or poem, especially one of the hymns by
David and others which were collected into the Old Testament
Book of Psalms. It is ultimately derived from Greek ψαλμός
(psalmos) meaning "a song sung to the harp", from ψάλλω
(psallo) "to pluck, to play a stringed instrument with the fingers". This name was used by the television personality Kim Kardashian and rapper Kanye West for their son born 2019.
Purifie
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "to make ceremonially clean." Referring to being purified from sin through Christ's death and resurrection.
Purify
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to purification from sin.
Ramoth-gilead
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: רָמֹת גִּלְעָד(Hebrew)
Meaning "heights of Gilead," it was a Levitical city and city of refuge east of the Jordan river in the Hebrew Bible, also called "Ramoth in Gilead" (Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8; 21:38) or "Ramoth Galaad" in the Douay-Rheims Bible. It was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Gad.
Reason
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Puritanical name.
Rebecca
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Italian, Swedish, German, Dutch, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: רִבְקָה(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: rə-BEHK-ə(English) reh-BEHK-ka(Italian) rə-BEH-ka(Dutch)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
רִבְקָה (Rivqa), probably from a Semitic root meaning
"join, tie, snare". This is the name of the wife of
Isaac and the mother of
Esau and
Jacob in the
Old Testament. It came into use as an English Christian name after the
Protestant Reformation, and it was popular with the
Puritans in the 17th century. It has been consistently used since then, becoming especially common in the second half of the 20th century.
This name is borne by a Jewish woman in Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), as well as the title character (who is deceased and unseen) in Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca (1938).
Redeemed
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Anglicized)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something)." Referring to being redeemed from sin. See also
Redemptus, the Latinized variation used by Puritans prior to evolving to the use of the Anglicized variation.
Redemptus
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan, Latinized)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Rediviva
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Derived from Latin
rediviva meaning "restored to life; renewed, renovated". Compare
Renovata and
Renata.
Reformation
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to the protestant reformation and/or the reformation of the heart.
Refrain
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: rə-FRAYN
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the English word
refrain meaning "restrain, repress", which ultimately derives from Latin
refrenare "bridle, hold in with a bit". This was one of the rarer virtue names adopted by the Puritans, akin to the more popular
Temperance.
Refrayne
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to refraining from sin.
Regard
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
In addition to the puritan usage, it has also seen usage as a diminutive of
Beauregard.
Rejoice
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word rejoice meaning "feel or show great joy or delight".
Rejoyce
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: REE-jois
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Unaware of the puritanical history of the name, modern users tend to consider it an alternate spelling of
Rejoice influenced by the name
Joyce.
Reliance
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Meaning, "dependence on or trust in someone or something." Referring to one's reliance on God.
Relicta
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to relinquishing.
Relief
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to the relief of Christ.
Remarkable
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "worthy of attention; striking."
Remember
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: ri-MEHM-bə(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word remember, ultimately from the Latin rememorārī, "to remember again", containing the root memor, "mindful".
Remembrance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Renata
Gender: Feminine
Usage: Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Croatian, Slovene, Romanian, Late Roman
Pronounced: reh-NA-ta(Italian, Spanish, German, Polish) REH-na-ta(Czech)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Renewed
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Anglicized)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to being "born again." See also
Renata, the Latinized form originally used by Puritans before switching to the Anglicized variant.
Repent
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin." Name given to 'bastard' children.
Repentance
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Middle English: from Old French repentir, from re- (expressing intensive force) + pentir (based on Latin paenitere ‘cause to repent’). Meaning, " the activity of reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs." Referring to being sorry for one's sins. Name often given to children borne out of wedlock.
Replenish
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From late Middle English (in the sense ‘supply abundantly’) from Old French repleniss-, lengthened stem of replenir, from re- ‘again’ (also expressing intensive force) + plenir ‘fill’ (from Latin plenus ‘full’). Meaning, "restore (a stock or supply of something) to the former level or condition." Referring to replenishing of the soul or to the Biblical command to multiply and replenish the earth.
Resolute
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word resolute meaning "determined, unwavering".
Resolved
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "firmly determined to do something."
Restore
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position." Referring to a restoration of faith.
Restraint
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "unemotional, dispassionate, or moderate behavior; self-control."
Return
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare, Archaic)
Pronounced: ree-TURN
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning "to come back" (itself from Old French re- "back" and torner "to turn"), which was given to a boy born in 1708 in Guilford, Connecticut, supposedly in memory of an incident from his parents' courtship; it is popularly claimed that his mother, Hannah Willard (1674-1749) - after repeatedly rejecting his father, Janna Meigs (1672-1739) - finally relented, crying to him as he rode away "Return, Janna, return!" The name has since been borne by more than a dozen of Return Meigs' descendants, including his son, Return Jonathan Meigs (1740-1823), and grandson, Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (1764-1825; the fourth Governor of Ohio and fifth U.S. Postmaster General).
Returne
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to our bodies returning to the earth.
Revolt
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Derived from the English noun revolt, which is a term used to refer to an act of rebellion. This word was used as a given name by Puritans who had arrived in what is nowadays the United States of America.
Riches
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Referring to the spiritual riches found in faith in God.
Rizen
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: Risen
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
My husband has a forefather whose first name was Rizen. As I didn't see this in your list of virtue names, I'm adding it.
Sabbath
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, Rare), Literature
Pronounced: sah-BATH(English (Puritan)) SAH-bith(English (Puritan))
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From the word "sabbath," referring to the day of rest (Saturday).
Safe-deliverance
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to being delivered from evil by God.
Safe-on-high
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
A name given to children when expected that they would die, in reference to being safe with God in heaven.
Safe-on-highe
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Often given to children expected to perish. References the safety of a child in Heaven versus earth.
Safety-on-high
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Samuel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Jewish, Amharic, Biblical
Other Scripts: שְׁמוּאֵל(Hebrew) ሳሙኤል(Amharic)
Pronounced: SAM-yoo-əl(English) SAM-yəl(English) SA-MWEHL(French) ZA-mwehl(German) SA-muy-ehl(Dutch) sa-MWEHL(Spanish) su-moo-EHL(European Portuguese) sa-moo-EW(Brazilian Portuguese) sa-MOO-ehl(Polish) SA-moo-ehl(Czech, Slovak, Swedish) SAH-moo-ehl(Finnish)
Rating: 70% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
שְׁמוּאֵל (Shemuʾel) meaning
"name of God", from the roots
שֵׁם (shem) meaning "name" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". Other interpretations have the first root being
שָׁמַע (shamaʿ) meaning "to hear" leading to a meaning of
"God has heard". As told in the Books of Samuel in the
Old Testament, Samuel was the last of the ruling judges. He led the Israelites during a period of domination by the Philistines, who were ultimately defeated in battle at Mizpah. Later he anointed
Saul to be the first king of Israel, and even later anointed his successor
David.
As a Christian name, Samuel came into common use after the Protestant Reformation. It has been consistently popular in the English-speaking world, ranking yearly in the top 100 names in the United States (as recorded since 1880) and performing similarly well in the United Kingdom.
Famous bearers include English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), American inventor Samuel Morse (1791-1872), Irish writer Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), and American actor Samuel L. Jackson (1948-). This was also the real name, Samuel Clemens, of the American author Mark Twain (1835-1910).
Sarah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, French, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, Hebrew, Arabic, Biblical
Other Scripts: שָׂרָה(Hebrew) سارة(Arabic)
Pronounced: SEHR-ə(English) SAR-ə(English) SA-RA(French) ZA-ra(German) SA-ra(Danish, Dutch, Arabic)
Rating: 100% based on 1 vote
From the Hebrew name
שָׂרָה (Sara) meaning
"lady, princess, noblewoman". In the
Old Testament this is the name of
Abraham's wife, considered the matriarch of the Jewish people. She was barren until she unexpectedly became pregnant with
Isaac at the age of 90. Her name was originally
Sarai, but God changed it at the same time Abraham's name was changed (see
Genesis 17:15).
In England, Sarah came into use after the Protestant Reformation. It was consistently popular in the 20th century throughout the English-speaking world, reaching the top of the charts for England and Wales in the 1970s and 80s.
Notable bearers include Sarah Churchill (1660-1744), an influential British duchess and a close friend of Queen Anne, and the French actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923).
Seaborn
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the surname
Seaborn, though in the case of many Puritans, it was given to children born at sea.
Sea-mercy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Possibly given to a child who was spared during a sea journey.
Search-the-scriptures
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to John 5:39, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
Search-truth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Seek-wisdom
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
See-truth
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Sehon
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Form of
Sihon used in the Douay-Rheims Bible (1582-1610).
Seraphim
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: Greek, English (Puritan), English (Modern, Rare), History (Ecclesiastical)
Other Scripts: Σεραφείμ(Greek)
Pronounced: SEHR-ə-fim(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Directly from the biblical word
seraphim which meant "fiery ones", from Hebrew שרף
(saraf) meaning "to burn", referring to an order of angels described in the Book of Isaiah (see
Seraphina). A famous bearer of the name was Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a 19th-century Russian mystic, in whose case his name was an anglicization of his actual name
Serafim.
Shadrach
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: שַׁדְרַך(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: SHAD-rak(English) SHAY-drak(English)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Means
"command of Aku" in Akkadian,
Aku being the name of the Babylonian god of the moon. In the
Old Testament Shadrach is the Babylonian name of
Hananiah, one of the three men cast into a fiery furnace but saved by God.
Shadrack
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Shermiah
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Sidrach
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Silence
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (African), English (Puritan), Romani (Archaic)
Pronounced: SIE-ləns(English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word
silence, from Middle English from Old French, from Latin
silentium, from
silere "be silent". A popular virtue name amongst the Puritans in the 17th century, it was usually given to girls (very occasionally to boys), ultimately taken from the admonition of Saint Paul: "Let the women learn in silence, with all subjection." Translated into Latin it became
Tace, which "in its turn developed into
Tacey". It was used by Pamela Belle for a Puritan character in her novels
Wintercombe,
Herald of Joy and
Treason's Gift.
Sill
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Up until the 17th century, Sill was a diminutive of
Sybil and
Silas. From the 17th century onwards, however, it became a diminutive of Puritan
Silence.
Sincere
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Modern)
Pronounced: sin-SIR(American English) sin-SEEY(British English)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning genuine or heartfelt.
Sin-deny
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Referring to the refusal to sin.
Sin-denye
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Used in reference to denying sin and turning to God.
Sirs
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
Small-hope
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
So-loved
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From John 3:16 of the New Testament of the Holy Bible, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
Sorry-for-sin
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to repentance.
Sou'wester
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (British, Rare), Obscure
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From the English noun sou'wester, a contracted form of southwester which refers to a strong wind that blows from the southwest and brings warm air from the tropics to the British Isles, often causing rain as it cools while passing over the sea. This has been borne by at least two individuals; Charles W. Bardsley notes in Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature (1880) that an English boy was given the name Sou'wester at his baptism on January 10, 1880, after an uncle who was born at sea in a south-westerly gale and received the same name.
Standfast
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Transferred use of the English surname
Standfast, or simply means "to stand firm, to stand one's ground"; compare the English word
steadfast meaning "firm or unwavering in purpose, resolution or faith" and the name
Stand-fast-on-high.
Stand-fast-on-high
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referencing putting your full trust in God.
Steadfast
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering." Used in reference to God's steadfastness or in reference to one's steadfastness to faith.
Steadfast-love
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Popular Puritan name, derived from the repeated phrase present in the Psalms.
Submit
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (American), English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Success
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word "success" referring to the "achievement of one's aim or goal, or getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame".
Supply
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Swift
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From Old English swift "swift, quick", derived from the Germanic base of Old English swīfan "to move in a course, sweep, intervene". As a name, it is used in reference to the Biblical verse in James 1:19, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."
Tacy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare)
Pronounced: TAY-see
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Tacey. In the
Betsy-Tacy series of children's books by American writer Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980), it is a diminutive of
Anastacia.
Talitha-Cumi
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means "little girl arise" in Aramaic, from the phrase spoken by Jesus in Mark 5:41 in order to restore a young girl to life (see also
Talitha,
Cumi).
Tell-no
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Referring to telling no lies.
Temperance
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: TEHM-prəns, TEHM-pər-əns
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning
"moderation" or
"restraint". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century. It experienced a modest revival in the United States during the run of the television series
Bones (2005-2017), in which the main character bears this name.
Tempy
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Tenacious
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
English Puritan name meaning 'firm' and 'fast'.
Tenty
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Thankful
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Archaic)
Pronounced: THANGK-fəl
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the English word
thankful. This was one of the many virtue names used by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Thankfull
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Thanks
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
An expression of gratitude, in this instance a gratitude toward God.
The-Lord-Is-Near
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Referring to multiple scriptures that state "the day of the Lord is near."
Theobalda
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
The-Peace-of-God
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Referring to Colossians 3:15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."
Tholy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Thomas
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Greek, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek [1]
Other Scripts: Θωμάς(Greek) Θωμᾶς(Ancient Greek) തോമസ്(Malayalam)
Pronounced: TAHM-əs(American English) TAWM-əs(British English) TAW-MA(French) TO-mas(German) TO-mahs(Dutch) tho-MAS(Greek)
Rating: 60% based on 1 vote
Greek form of the Aramaic name
תְּאוֹמָא (Teʾoma) meaning
"twin". In the
New Testament this is the name of an apostle. When he heard that
Jesus had risen from the dead he initially doubted the story, until Jesus appeared before him and he examined his wounds himself. According to tradition he was martyred in India. Due to his renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world.
In England the name was used by the Normans and became very popular due to Saint Thomas Becket, a 12th-century archbishop of Canterbury and martyr. It was reliably among the top five most common English names for boys from the 13th to the 19th century, and it has remained consistently popular to this day.
Another notable saint by this name was the 13th-century Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, who is regarded as a Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), American president Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), and inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931).
Thomasine
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Rare), English (Puritan), Swedish (Rare), Danish (Archaic), French (Archaic)
Pronounced: TAHM-ə-sin(English) TAWM-ə-sin(English) TAW-MA-SEEN(French)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Timothy
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Biblical
Pronounced: TIM-ə-thee(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
English form of the Greek name
Τιμόθεος (Timotheos) meaning
"honouring God", derived from
τιμάω (timao) meaning "to honour" and
θεός (theos) meaning "god".
Saint Timothy was a companion of
Paul on his missionary journeys and was the recipient of two of Paul's epistles that appear in the
New Testament. He was of both Jewish and Greek ancestry. According to tradition, he was martyred at Ephesus after protesting the worship of
Artemis. As an English name,
Timothy was not used until after the
Protestant Reformation.
Timothye
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Variant of
Timothy, notably the name of theologian William Perkins' wife.
Tobel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Said to mean "God is good" from the Hebrew elements טוֹב
(tov) meaning "good" and אֵל
('el) meaning "God". John Aylmer (1521-1594), Bishop of London, used this name for his sixth son. Charles W. Bardsley wrote of Tobel Aylmer: 'Archbishop Whitgift was his godfather, and the reason for his singular appellation was his mother’s being overturned in a coach without injury when she was pregnant'.
Trial
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "to test (something, especially a new product) to assess its suitability or performance." Referring to the trials and tribulations that may come with faith in God.
Tribulation
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Middle English via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin tribulatio(n-), from Latin tribulare ‘press, oppress’, from tribulum ‘threshing board (constructed of sharp points)’, based on terere ‘rub’. Meaning, "a cause of great trouble or suffering." Sometimes given to 'bastard' children. In literature, this was the name of the character Tribulation Wholesome in, "The Alchemist."
True
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (American, Modern)
Pronounced: TROO(American English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
From the English word true, itself from Old English trīewe meaning "trusty, faithful".
True-heart
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Referring to Hebrews 10:22, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."
Truth
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (Modern, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
From the English word "truth" from Old English trīewth, trēowth meaning ‘faithfulness.'
Unfeigned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "genuine; sincere." Referring to being unfeignedly thankful for the blessings of God.
Unless-christ-had-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Unless-jesus-christ-had-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Upright
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "(of a person or their behavior) strictly honorable or honest."
Uzziel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, Biblical Hebrew [1]
Other Scripts: עֻזִּיאֵל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: UZ-ee-əl(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Means
"my power is God" in Hebrew, from the roots
עֹז (ʿoz) meaning "strength, power" and
אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This is the name of several minor characters in the
Old Testament.
Verity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: VEHR-i-tee
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
From the English word meaning
"verity, truth", from Latin
verus "true, real". This was one of the virtue names adopted by the
Puritans in the 17th century.
Victory
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (African), English (Puritan)
Pronounced: VIK-tər-ee(English)
Rating: 50% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word, which is ultimately from Latin
victoria (itself from the past participle stem of
vincere "to conquer", making it a (distant) relative of
Vincent). For Puritans, the name was given in reference to 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"
A male bearer was Victory Birdseye (1782-1853), a U.S. Representative from New York.
Virgin
Gender: Feminine & Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: VIR-jin
Rating: 0% based on 1 vote
Simply from the English word virgin, meaning "pure".
Virtue
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
This name was very occasionally used by Puritan parents in 17th century England. It ltimately derived from Latin virtus "manliness; valor; worth".
Vyctorye
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Puritan variant of
Victory, in reference to Christ's victory over sin and death.
Waitstill
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Pronounced: WAYT-stil
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
A Puritan virtue name. It may have been given in reference to the parents' desire for a child of the opposite sex.
Waity
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Watchful
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan), Literature
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "watching or observing someone or something closely; alert and vigilant." Referring to watching and waiting for the end-times.
Weakly
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "sickly."
Wealth
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), English (African, Rare)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From Middle English
welth,
welthe,
weolthe (“happiness, prosperity”), from Old English
*welþ,
*weleþu, from Proto-Germanic
*waliþō (“wealth”).
Alternatively, possibly an alteration (due to similar words in -th: compare helth (“health”), derth (“dearth”)) of wele (“wealth, well-being, weal”), from Old English wela (“wealth, prosperity”), from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, prosperity”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“good, best”); equivalent to weal + -th.
Wealthy
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan), American (Rare), English (Canadian, Rare), English (African, Rare)
Rating: 40% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "having a great deal of money, resources, or assets; rich." In this case, spiritual blessings from God. From Middle English welthy, welþi, equivalent to wealth + -y.
Weep-not
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
In reference to Luke 7:13, "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not."
Welcome
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English, English (Puritan)
Pronounced: welkəm(English)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
The origin of Welcome is the English language. Derived literally from the common word 'welcome'. It represents the transferred use of the vocabulary word as a given name.
What-God-will
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
English translation of Latin
quod vult Deus meaning "whatever God wants", referring to the will of God. Also see
Quodvultdeus.
Whitsuntide
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Name given in relation to Whitsuntide, referring to the time around Pentecost.
Wholesome
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 30% based on 1 vote
Meaning, "conducive to or promoting moral well-being."
William
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: WIL-yəm
Rating: 80% based on 1 vote
From the Germanic name
Willehelm meaning
"will helmet", composed of the elements
willo "will, desire" and
helm "helmet, protection". An early
saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of
Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the
Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with
John,
Thomas and
Robert).
This name was later borne by three other English kings, as well as rulers of Scotland, Sicily (of Norman origin), the Netherlands and Prussia. Other famous bearers include William Wallace, a 13th-century Scottish hero, and William Tell, a legendary 14th-century Swiss hero (called Wilhelm in German, Guillaume in French and Guglielmo in Italian). In the literary world it was borne by dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616), poet William Blake (1757-1827), poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), dramatist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), author William Faulkner (1897-1962), and author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997).
In the American rankings (since 1880) this name has never been out of the top 20, making it one of the most consistently popular names (although it has never reached the top rank). In modern times its short form, Liam, has periodically been more popular than William itself, in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and the United States in the 2010s.
Willot
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Wrath
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
From English wrath meaning "extreme anger", referring to the wrath of God.
Wrestling
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 10% based on 1 vote
Old English, frequentative of wrǣstan ‘wrest’. Meaning, "The sport or activity of grappling with an opponent and trying to throw or hold them down on the ground, typically according to a code of rules." Referring to Genesis 32:22-32 in which Jacob wrestles with God. May also referring to wrestling with sin.
Zaphnaphpaaneah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Zaphnath-paaneah
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical
Other Scripts: צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ(Ancient Hebrew)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Meaning uncertain. This is the name Pharaoh gave to Joseph in the book of Genesis. Some Egyptologists claim the second element of the name contains the word ˁnḫ "life". Jewish traditional claims the meaning is "revealer of secrets", whereas third century priest and historian Jerome provided the Latin translation salvator mundi "saviour of the world". In the 19th century, German Egyptologist Georg Steindorff offered the translation ḏd pꜣ nṯr iw.f ꜥnḫ "the god speaks (and) he lives", which has become a popular theory.
Zeal-for-god
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
A name used in reference to Romans 10:2, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge."
Zelotes
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English (Puritan, ?), English (Rare)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
From Greek ζηλωτής (zelotes) meaning "zealot, zealous follower". This was a descriptive byname of one of Jesus' twelve apostles, Saint Simon Zelotes, given to distinguish him from the apostle Simon Peter. Besides the apostle, it was borne by an early African martyr.
Zerubbabel
Gender: Masculine
Usage: Biblical, English (Puritan)
Other Scripts: זְרֻבָּבֶל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced: zə-RUB-ə-bəl(English)
Rating: 20% based on 1 vote
Possibly means "conceived and born in
Babylon" from a contraction of either Assyrian-Babylonian
Zəru Bābel "seed of Babylon" or Hebrew זְרוּעַ בָּבֶל
(Zərua‘ Bāvel) "the one sown of Babylon". In the Old Testament Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews out of captivity in Babylon in the first year of the Persian king
Cyrus.
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