Virtue names, from Grace to Justice

Before the names

Here are the virtue names in genuine current use, from the enduring Grace to recent arrivals like Halo and Legacy — each with its live ranking.

The list is really two traditions wearing one label. The inherited layer — Grace, Hope, Faith, Mercy, Patience, Charity — has been in the records essentially since they began in 1880. The newer layer is America coining virtue names of its own: Serenity, Destiny and Genesis all entered the charts after 1950, and Legacy only in 1994.

The two layers are moving in opposite directions. Grace holds the girls' top-50 while Faith, Hope and Charity rest far below their peaks; meanwhile the modern coinages have already crested — Destiny peaked in 2001, Trinity in 2004, Serenity in 2013 — and are easing back. The virtue names climbing right now are quieter ones: Eden and Haven, both at their highest rank ever this year.

Virtue naming is overwhelmingly a girls' tradition — this page carries roughly three girls' names for every boys' name — but the boys' side is where the new coinage is happening: Sincere, Loyal, True, Valor and Honor are all modern arrivals, none of them common, all of them verified in current records.

A practical note the ranks make plain: these names sit further apart than most lists. Grace at #38 is a name every classroom knows; Verity at #1478 will be explained at every introduction. The virtue is constant — the company it brings is not.