Puritan Names

Puritan names were given names used by the Puritans, a fundamentalist English Protestant sect of the 16th to 18th centuries.

Most Puritans tended to use Old Testament biblical names instead of saint's names. Some, however, thought that using any name from the bible was blasphemous, and took to using vocabulary words (and phrases) instead, such as Prudence, Charity, Constance and Temperance. Some examples of unfamiliar names include Lamentation, Redeemed, Be-faithful, and The-peace-of-God. These virtue names are often equated with Puritan names, though in fact they were used by a small minority of Puritan parents.

Puritan influence on English names subsided in the 18th century, but Puritan names that have survived to this day include Hope, Faith and Joy.