How popular is the baby name Patience in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Patience.

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Popularity of the baby name Patience


Posts that mention the name Patience

Baby name story: Federal Constitution

The U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution

Jonathan and Patience Sprague of Douglas, Massachusetts, welcomed a baby boy on October 16, 1790.

They named him Federal Constitution Sprague.

Why?

Well, he was born a year after the U.S. Constitution went into effect. (It had been was created in 1787 and ratified in 1788.)

As one source put it, “Federal Constitution Sprague evidently had a father to whom the new nation meant something. He was interested evidently in the document for which he named his son.”

Yes, evidently. :)

None of Federal Constitution’s 13 siblings, nine full siblings and four half-siblings, got a name as notable (or as patriotic) as his:

  1. Sarah
  2. Nehemiah
  3. Mercy
  4. Federal Constitution
  5. Amy
  6. Daniel
  7. Preserved
  8. Lee
  9. Patience
  10. Jonathan, Jr.
  11. Almira
  12. Philinda
  13. Elias
  14. Emeline

F.C. ended up having a dozen children, ten from his first marriage and two from his second, but didn’t pass his unique name down to any of them:

  1. Amy
  2. Edward
  3. Nathan
  4. William
  5. Lafayette
  6. Betsey
  7. James
  8. Philander (twin)
  9. Philinda (twin)
  10. Elias
  11. Newton
  12. Della

I’ve also found a handful of other people named Constitution (or some variation thereof). Most were born in France in the 1790s, around the time France adopted several new constitutions during the French Revolution. Several other Constitutions were from countries in South America. One was born in New South Wales in 1855, the year of the New South Wales Constitution Act.

Sources:

  • Crane, Ellery Bicknell. Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester County Massachusetts. New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1907.
  • Sprague, Augustus B. R. Genealogy in part of the Sprague Families in America. Worcester, MA: Augustus B. R. Sprague, 1902.

Image: Archives.gov

How did “Bones” influence baby names?

Characters Seeley Booth and Temperance "Bones" Brennan from Bones.

The TV series “Bones” was on the air from 2005 to 2017, though the most popular years were 2008-2011 (seasons four, five and six).

I’ve never seen the show, but the first names of the two main characters — Seeley Booth (male) and Temperance'”Bones” Brennan (female) — are intriguing, and they made me wonder: did Bones inspire parents to use these names more often for their babies?

Yup, it would seem so!

Here are the numbers for Seeley since 2005:

  • 2018: 38 baby boys and 7 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2017: 36 baby boys and 14 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2016: 40 baby boys and 15 baby girls named Seeley [peak]
  • 2015: 37 baby boys and 15 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2014: 28 baby boys and 7 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2013: 38 baby boys and 8 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2012: 36 baby boys and 11 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2011: 32 baby boys and 12 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2010: 34 baby boys and 9 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2009: 10 baby boys and 8 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2008: unlisted
  • 2007: 7 baby girls named Seeley
  • 2006: unlisted
  • 2005: unlisted

And here are the numbers for Temperance since 2005:

  • 2018: 163 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2017: 190 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2016: 233 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2015: 250 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2014: 322 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 854th]
  • 2013: 289 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 889th]
  • 2012: 320 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 835th]
  • 2011: 274 baby girls named Temperance [rank: 943rd]
  • 2010: 213 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2009: 165 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2008: 88 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2007: 76 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2006: 20 baby girls named Temperance
  • 2005: 8 baby girls named Temperance

I’m a bit surprised by Temperance. Short virtue names like Faith, Grace, Hope and Joy are alive and well, but most of the long virtue names — especially those like Temperance (e.g., Abstinence, Experience, Deliverance, Diligence, Innocence, Obedience, Perseverance, Providence, Reliance, Repentance, Silence) — are not. Only Patience, Constance and Prudence are still around, and they aren’t exactly stylish right now.

How do you feel about the name Temperance?

Sources: Bones (TV series) – Wikipedia, SSA

[Latest update: June 2020]

Baby names needed: Girl names for twin sisters

A reader named Grace would like some help naming her twin girls, due in a couple of months. She and her husband John already have three boys, Jackson, Samuel and Lucas.

So far, their favorite girl names are Juliet, Isla, Susannah and Norah. But they’re also considering a family name:

We would love to honor my mother, Denise Marie, but we despise both names. I would love some ideas on how to use that without actually using those names.

For the middle spots, they’re aiming for virtue names. They already have Honor picked out, and “[i]f there is another virtue name you would suggest so they both had one that would be great!”

Their last name is similar to Cawston.

–
On the current favorites…
I like all of the current favorites. The pairing I like best, though, is Juliet and Susannah. I just think they sound good together. I also like how they can both be shortened, just like the boys’ names — Jack, Sam, Luke, Jules & Sue (or Julie & Susie).

On incorporating Denise Marie…
One way to incorporate Denise Marie would be to find a name that features the sounds of both Denise and Marie (especially those D- and M-sounds). Names with these sounds include Madeline, Demetria, Dominique/Domenica, Damaris, Adamina, Amadea and Idamae.

Another approach would be to use initials — either the initials “D. M.” for one twin or a D-name for twin #1 and an M-name for twin #2. Some possibilities (beyond the names above) include Dahlia, Daisy, Damiana, Daphne, Dara, Delphine, Diana, Dina, Dora, Dorothy and Drusilla for D-names and Mara, Marian, Marlene, Martina, Mina, Mirabelle, Miranda, Miriam, Molly, Monica and Mona for M-names.

On virtuous middles…
My first thought was Mercy, because it sounds a lot like Marie. Other virtue names that might make nice middles are Amity, Charity, Clementine/Clemency, Hope, Joy, Patience, Peace/Pax, Temperance and Verity.

–
Now it’s your turn! Which of Juliet, Isla, Susannah and Norah do you like best for twins? What names can you come up with to honor Denise Marie? Which virtue names do you like best for middle names?

Baby name needed: Middle name for Elle

Patience and her husband are expecting a baby girl in June. They plan to name her Elle, but they’re having a tough time choosing a middle name:

My maiden name is Lewis, and my husband’s middle name is Louis. […] I don’t like Louise…but it would be cool to play on the similarity of our names for her middle name. Then again I don’t know how I feel about: Elle L. Wagner.

(Their real surname isn’t Wagner, but it does start with a W and have two syllables.)

I’m not too sure about “Elle L.” either. Putting a name and a letter that sound exactly alike side-by-side will probably cause a lot of confusion. Also, Elle followed by any L-name is going to be tricky to say aloud.

Unfortunately, though, many Louis-derived female names start with L. Most of those that don’t (e.g. Clovia, Aloysia) are fairly exotic. The only two I’d consider are Gia and Gina, which are distant cousins of Louis via the Italian Luigia.

A compound name might work. Marylou, Marylouisa, Annalou, Annalouisa…any short-ish name could be the first element, and a Louis-based name could be the second. Length would be an issue, but Elle is quite short, so I think a longer middle wouldn’t be too much of a burden.

The only other idea I had was to look at names that have consonants in common with Lewis and Louis, such as:

Celeste
Gwendolyn
Melissa		Phyllis
Sybil
Sylvia		Selena
Salome
Wilhelmina

None of the above are in the Louis family, but they could be seen as “tribute” names in a sense.

What other ideas would guys offer to Patience?