Unusual name, or just old fashioned...?

Question

Memory

Promise

What are some other names in this fashion?

(personally, these remind me of names that my great-great-great-great grandmother might have used as first or middle names...)

Answer 1

Neither. Just tacky.

Virtue names are hard to get right, so I'd leave these for unique middle names. The popular, classic ones such as Faith, Hope, and Grace are overused and boring, and the up-and-coming ones like Serenity, Ever, Harmony, Honor, and Destiny are the epitome of a tacky trend.

I'd go with names that mean virtues, but aren't outright nouns and/or abstract concepts.

Blythe/Blithe - Possibly the only virtue name that is both unusual and classy.

I'd head over to behindthename.com or thinkbabynames.com and use their search feature.

Answer 2

miracle

story

breeze

sky

Answer 3

Names like Love and Bliss were quite popular at the turn of the last century. If you look through the site below, you'll find other odd names:

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decade...

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decade...

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decade...

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decade...

You'll even find Sister and Easter in there =]

Neither Memory or Promise have been popular names over the last 130 years, at least in the US (I'm not American, but that's the country with the best and most accessible name records). That said, you're spot on when saying that they sound like middle names of the past.

Memory sounds like the names:

Emory - a name now used for both girls and boys (originally just male) that peaked in popularity in 1920.

Emery - Same as above, but peaked in 1919.

Melody - A girls name of Greek origin that has been popular since the 1940's.

Volcabulary names were quite popular with Puritans, a small Christian sect that existed throughout the 16th to 18th centuries. To me, a name like Promise would have fitted in perfectly as a Puritan name. Other Puritan names are Silence, Charity and Prudence.

To find out more about Puritan names, check out these websites:

http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/Kat...

http://rjg42.tripod.com/puritan_names.ht...

http://www.behindthename.com/glossary/vi...

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/0/p...

Funnily enough, many of these human virtue names are no longer considered virtue. I mean, in a modern context would you really name your daughter 'Silence'? How backward and anti-feminist is that?

Answer 4

idk , but memory is really pretty.

April

Joy

Hope

Stella

Star

Answer 5

Hope

Grace

Faith

Answer 6

Hope

Charity

My Great Aunt's name was Truth her sister was Evangeline.

I personally veer away from naming offspring with words that are part of a sentence.  Nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. .  

***** Edit ****

What kind of book?  Period type?  I am a writer and many of my way back ancestors have "please God do not let my parents name me that!" type of names.

Answer 7

Names like this strike me as modern-day virtue names.  While your great-great-great-great-grandmother might have named her daughters Mercy or Temperance, her great-great-great-great-granddaughter is more likely to use something like Memory or Promise.

Some others that could be used as modern-day virtue names:

Truth

True

Journey

Story

Bliss

Blythe

Merit (someone suggested this for a boy a while back, and I like it)

Destiny (okay, so this was an 80's virtue name)

Charisma

Ever

Liberty

Honor

Justice

Clarity

3ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddfrdf (sorry, kitten typed that one)

Endeavor

Serenity

Felicity

Amity

Freedom

Sincerity

Verity

Answer 8

rain

stormy

misty

pearl

sunny

rose

willow

Answer 9

Forever

Honesty

Answer 10

I have heard of these ones: (some are for boys)

Constance

Honor

Merit

Brave

Serendipity

Whisper

Legend

Quest

Journey

Purity

Clarity

Free

True/Truth

Reason

Answer 11

Willow

Cypress

Magnolia

Crystal

Faith

Hope

Charity

Answer 12

Harmony

Ollie

Answer 13

mercy

melody

river

storm

pearl

petal

april

may

june

sapphire

rose

Answer 14

I don't think they are old fashioned, just very unusual.  I could see Promise as a name, but Memory...???

Answer 15

i love those as middle names! they are old sounding but still pretty for people today.

Answer 16

Patsy??

Answer 17

those are poooooopy  

Answer 18

Never heard these used as names before

Sorry I dont really like them

xx

Answer 19

They are not old-fashioned nor are they unusual words.  They're a great way to get a kid teased, though.  

Answer 20

Trinity and Destiny - though the group Destiny's Child ruined that name for me!

Answer 21

Sorry, those are nouns not names.

Answer 22

Sympathy