not Antimony, though. that's a metal.

[fox]

I was thinking this morning in the car on the way to work, as I sometimes do, about names. Specifically, today, about categories or classes of names - you know, names that come from trades, or flowers, or virtues, or whatever. Of course identifiable classes of names like this usually have more girls' names in them than boys', because - as ellen_fremedon was to point out this afternoon, people generally don't mind naming a girl with what has usually seemed to be a boys' name, but the reverse is not true, so the mobility is one-way. So:

girls' flower names: Rose, Violet, Lily, Lavender, Petunia, Dahlia (though ellen_fremedon expressed an objection to naming girl children with the name of any flower named for a botanist, e.g. wisteria, bougainvillea, fuchsia), Pansy, Magnolia, etc., etc., etc.
boys' flower names: Hyacinth (though not often, these days, unless you spell it Joaquin), ... ? I also submit Valerian, Hawthorn, and Phlox. (I can obviously never use that last. Phlox Fox - no indeed.)

So anyway. Ellen and I talked about months and stars as well, but then we got on to virtues, which is a category of names I always really enjoy pondering.

girls' virtue names: Faith, Hope, Charity, Grace, Chastity, Patience, Prudence, Verity, Liberty, Temperance, Mercy
boys' virtue names: Justice, Honor
toss-up: Fortitude

And after a brief philosophical digression on whether Joy counts as a virtue name, or just a positive-quality name, and whether in fact a virtue somehow means something besides just a positive quality, we got into the entertaining question of vice names (and admitted negative qualities along with them). Vices/negative qualities that could be made to sound like names, that is. Ellen suggested Usury, Penury, Perjury. Malice, of course. Apathy. If you play by Harry Potter rules, of course these could be actual names, and I came to a marvelous conclusion about a name for a character I have invented for the purpose of using the name.

Then I was talking to corvidae9 about this, and we were amused, and a few minutes later, this happened:

corvidae9: So, i really am working
but on and off I've been wandering off thikning about negative quality names
;)) do you see what you have done?
fox: \o/
TRIUMPH
corvidae9: lol!
fox: ooh, there's another virtue name.
i think Triumph is a boy's name.
corvidae9: i like it for girls
fox: it could go either way.
corvidae9: these are my children: Reliability, Punctuality and Spite.
not actually My children
I think that's the next logical step in this game
if you had to give your children Names
what would you choose?
fox: Diligence
corvidae9: Ooooh. Temerity
that one is definitely a girl.
fox:i'm trying to think of the second one - it's on the tip of my tongue
Deference
Guile
except i'd want the names not to be so similar.
the whole thing with rhyming names and alliterating names is Too Damn Much for me
Tenacity is too much like Diligence.
and i'd go ahead and name a kid Sincerity, except i feel like Sincerity and Guile is a little precious.
Serenity is a spaceship.
corvidae9: forever and ever amen
fox: got it!
Diligence, Alacrity, and Guile
[beams]
corvidae9: I think I'm going to go with Temerity, Candor and Spite
fox: Candor is goood.
i wish i'd thought of it.
but, again, i couldn't use it with Guile.

And now I can't stop. Parsimony. Endurance. Valor. Acuity. help meeeeeee...

Comments

[tigerflower]

Perspicacity and Concupiscence. They're twins. Their older sister is Cupidity.

[neotoma]

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (in "Lords and Ladies", which is my favorite), there is a family that has gotten a hold of the idea that if girls are named after virtues, then boys must be named after vices -- so their sons are Anger, Jealousy, Bestiality, and Covetousness Carter.

[sanj]

I met somebody the other day with a niece named Zoe and a daughter named Serenity who had not seen Firefly. Seriously.

I like Tenacity for a name. Also Wit and Persistence. Unity. Apathy. Arrogance.

There are counseling principles which feel like names to me, like Beneficence and Autonomy. (Seriously: Autonomy Brown: Encyclopedia's cousin?)

[fox]

I'm pretty sure I suggested Beneficence as a candidate for my nephew's middle name. They did not choose it, alas. :-)

[reginagiraffe]

I wish corvidae9 luck when her daughter Spite becomes a teenager...

[darthhellokitty]

A local group, the Love Israel Family, gave all members the last name Israel, and first names based on traits they had or wanted. The leader got the best name, of course: Love Israel. Members included Strength Israel, Zeal Israel, Courage Israel, Reality Israel, Integrity Israel, and Encouragement Israel (note that these are all boys' names). We went to a festival at their compound (at their peak) and met Serious Israel, who is now one of the few remaining holdouts.

Oooh, I found another page, with a letter that's signed by:

Certain
Goodness
Definition
Wisdom
Together
Eve (she must've felt rather left out!)
Resolve
Together
Frankness
Humility
Loyalty
Imagination (!!!)
Listening
Helpful
Solidity
Obedience
Fresh
Sure
Logic
Appreciation
Softness
Royalty
Meekness
Simplicity
Virtue

[kiezh]

Would Sophia count, or does the virtue have to be in English?

I'm kind of charmed by the idea of Temerity as a name. Possibly because it makes me think of a particular Chinese-British dragon.

[antisoppist]

When I taught English in Finland, I initially assumed someone on my class register called Toivo, which means "Hope", would be female, but it's a man's name, which makes you wonder whether it's to do with the virtue or the sound of the word and what cultural associations we have with it.

If you are willing to mix your virtues with your plants, you could have Parsimony and Agrimony for twins.