Virtue names range from the mainstream Grace and Faith to the quirky-cool Amity and Verity to the so-good-she’s-bad Chastity.
Which category does this name fit into?
Thanks to Amanda for suggesting Temperance as our Baby Name of the Day.
Temperance is a virtue, but you’re more likely to hear the word moderation.
Before the colonies were settled, Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queen celebrated Temperance in Book Two, but it isn’t the name of a character. But if Spenser wrote in praise of Queen Elizabeth I, the use of Temperance may not be accidental. It is sometimes said that Elizabeth’s half-brother Edward called her “Sweet Sister Temperance.” It may have been a general term of endearment in their circle; Elizabeth, in turn, is said to have referred to Privy Council member Sir John Pakington as “Her Temperance.”
Temperance appears on the lists of Puritan virtue names, but odds are she was relatively rare.
There was a ship called the Temperance that traveled to Virginia in 1621, and a former Virginia colony First Lady born Temperance Flowerdew. Miss Flowerdew’s arrival was many years before the ship’s arrival, so there’s no connection, and it doesn’t appear that she passed the name down to her children.
Temperance appears steadily in the US Census records, but never in the US Top 1000. But the virtue figures even larger in American history. Back in 1874, a handful of reform-minded women formed the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Cleveland, Ohio. The group wasn’t exactly after a complete ban on booze, at least not early days. But the group’s membership varied widely. Some chapters did, indeed, march into saloons singing hymns. Others were more interested in social work, aiding new immigrants and working on a wide range of causes. They’re still around, too.
Odds are we wouldn’t be talking about Temperance as a name at all, if not for the 2005 debut of Bones on Fox. Loosely based on the work of novelist Kathy Reichs, the show follows the adventures of high-achieving brainiac Temperance Brennan. She’s the closest thing the obscure field of forensic anthropology has to a rock star; in a twist, Brennan is paired with FBI agent Seeley Booth. They’ve been catching bad guys ever since.
Bones is the nickname Agent Booth gives to his somewhat reluctant partner. Her backstory is wildly complicated; she was born Joy, but assumed an identity in her teenage years. It is easy to imagine parents wanting their daughter to emulate some of Brennan’s qualities – she’s smart, and driven, too. Some of the show’s materials give her name as Temperence.
The misspelling seems odd, but it turns out that Temperance misspelled is more common that the dictionary-preferred spelling. Nancy gives a long list from the 2009 stats:
- Temperance
- Temperence
- Temprance
- Temprence
It may be that Temp- names are having their day. There’s also Temple and Arizona’s Tempe.
File Temperance with Constance and Prudence. She’s out of step with fashionable sounds, but her status as a virtue name makes her current just the same.
If you’re looking for an under-used option that strikes a balance between historic and modern, Temperance might be one to consider.
I really like Temperance. She is so quirky yet cool.
I actually really like the sound of Temperance — I tend to be a fan of the somewhat despised “er” syllable in names (Ernest, Gertrude, etc.). But the word temperance itself has waaaaaay too loaded a meaning for me to ever consider using. Not that I think the meaning is bad, I just think that, like Chastity, it could become somewhat burdensome to bear.
I LOVE Temperance! I don’t watch Bones, but my parents have read the series so I’m familiar with the character. I fell in love with this name awhile back, around the time I started loving Prudence. My hubby hates Prudence but I think I could get him on board with Temperance because it doesn’t sound quite so old-fashioned to him. I even like Tempe despite my general dislike of nn names.
I think it’s a great underused virtue name, so much fresher than Grace and Faith. I’m also drawn to the meaning of the virtue itself, as moderation is important in Islam. Temperance gets all thumbs up from me!
I didn’t know that the character on Bones was born as Joy…cool!
we watch the tv show “bones” on a regular basis, and strangely enough, my in-laws live in temperance, michigan, which is a suburb of toledo, ohio. i love the name. the husband doesn’t really… to him, it would be like naming your child after any other suburban community. i tried to tell him that plenty of people name their kids brooklyn, but he wasn’t having any of it, lol.
still though, i carry my secret torch for temeperance. 🙂
I love it. 🙂
Temperance sounds like a strong, cool girl! I’d love to name my eventual daughter that (though I don’t know if she would make a good sibset with Daria…)
I love it. I’m also drawn to a variation I heard a while back: Temperly
While I have never watched an episode of Bones, Temperance caught my imagination as soon as I heard it. There is something about it, the history, the different sound, that makes it a winner for me. Unfortunately, my husband is not a fan and I find it is not well received by those I tell it too!
We’re big fans of the t.v. series Bones and I admit to having advocated for the name Temperance for this baby. I think it’s really pretty and I love the nickname Tempe. DH didn’t go for it though… oh well….
I love the nn Tempe, too. And while I wouldn’t name my daughter after, say, a contestant on The Bachelor, Temperance Brennan is admirable.