Wacky, Cruel, Bizarre & Beautiful Puritan Names: Curated by Slate

In 🧐researching my ⬅previous piece on the name 📛Trinity, I stumbled upon 📰Slate's ⏪2013 article originally titled — Puritan names: Lists of bizarre religious nomenclature used by Puritans (then retitled: A Boy Named Humiliation: Some Wacky, Cruel, and Bizarre Puritan Names). Trinity made it to #10 on its '10 of the Sweetest Puritan Names' List joking, "The name saw a burst in popularity in 1999—due to a particular film, I suppose." 

📰Slate goes into a brief history of Puritanism saying: "Puritanism has its roots in the late sixteenth century, after Henry VIII broke ties with the Catholic Church. The Puritans believed that reforms had not gone far enough and advocated for a church entirely divorced from Catholic ceremonies."

📰Slate is adamant, "Perhaps their greatest gift to history, however, is their wonderfully strange taste in names. A wide variety of Hebrew names came into common usage beginning in 1560, when the first readily accessible English Bible was published. But by the late 16th century many Puritan communities in Southern Britain saw common names as too worldly, and opted instead to name children after virtues or with religious slogans as a way of setting the community apart from non-Puritan neighbors. Often, Puritan parents chose names that served to remind the child about sin and pain. Many Puritan  names started to die out after 1662, when the newly restored monarch, Charles II, introduced new laws that cracked down on nonconformist religions and consolidated the power of the Anglican Church. Despite this, some of the names have remained in common use in Anglophone countries."

📰Slate "collected some of the best, worst, and strangest names the English Puritans came up with. Most of these are courtesy of the 1888 book by Charles Bardsley, Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature (seen here on the Public Domain Review’s website), which includes Parish records with details about some of the people who had these names to show some of these names are still in use. Despite their eccentricities, the Puritans did leave us some beautifully resonant names. Names like Verity, Felicity, and Hope more than make up for the Humiliations, Die-wells, and Kill-sins." 

😳 

Well, without further ado...

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...

📃20 Puritan Names That Are Utterly Strange:

1. 📛Dancell-Dallphebo-Mark-Anthony-Gallery-Cesar. Son of Dancell-Dallphebo-Mark-Anthony-Gallery-Cesar, born 1676.
2. 📛Praise-God. Full name, Praise-God Barebone. The Barebones were a rich source of crazy names. This one was a leather-worker, member of a particularly odd Puritan group and an MP. He gave his name to the Barebones Parliament, which ruled Britain in 1653.
3. 📛If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned. Praise-God’s son, he made a name for himself as an economist. But, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to go by the name Nicolas Barbon.
4. 📛Fear-God. Also a Barebone.
5. 📛Job-raked-out-of-the-ashes
6. 📛Has-descendents
7. 📛Wrestling
8. 📛Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith
9. 📛Fly-fornication
10. 📛Jesus-Christ-came-into-the-world- to-save. Brother of “Damned Barebone”. I can only imagine this name shortened to “Save.”
11. 📛Thanks
12. 📛What-God-will
13. 📛Joy-in-sorrow. A name attached to many stories of difficult births.
14. 📛Remember
15. 📛Fear-not. His/her surname was “Helly”, born 1589.
16. 📛Experience
17. 📛Anger
18. 📛Abuse-not
19. 📛Die-Well. A brother of Farewell Sykes, who died in 1865. We can assume they had rather pessimistic parents.
20. 📛Continent. Continent Walker was born in 1594 in Sussex

                📃12 of the Cruelest Puritan Names:

1. 📛Humiliation. Humiliation Hynde had two sons in the 1620s; he called them both Humiliation Hynde.
2. 📛Fly-debate
3. 📛No-merit. NoMerit Vynall was born in Warbleton in Sussex, a fount of beautiful names.
4. 📛Helpless
5. 📛Reformation
6. 📛Abstinence
7. 📛More-triale
8. 📛Handmaid
9. 📛Obedience
10. 📛Forsaken
11. 📛Sorry-for-sin. Sorry-for-sin Coupard was another resident of Warbleton.
12. 📛Lament

📃12 Strangely Pleasant Puritan Names:

1. 📛Silence
2. 📛Creedence
3. 📛Dust
4. 📛Diffidence
5. 📛Desire. In the UK, seven babies were named this in 2012.
6. 📛Make-peace. This name was in use at least until 1863; see William Makepeace Thackeray, the novelist.
7. 📛Ashes
8. 📛Tace. It’s another word for silence, and is of course a female name.
9. 📛Placidia
10. 📛Kill-sin. Kill-sin Pimple did Jury service in the 1650s.
11. 📛Freegift
12. 📛Vanity

📃10 of the Sweetest Puritan Names:

1. 📛Jolly
2. 📛Liberty. 129 were born in the UK in 2012.
3. 📛Tenacious
4. 📛Happy
5. 📛Felicity. 302 babies got this name in 2012.
6. 📛Hope. 416 babies took this name in 2012.
7. 📛Prudence. 13 babies got this name in 2012.
8. 📛Amity. 5 babies got this name in 2012.
9. 📛Verity. 131 babies were born with this name in 2012.
10. 📛Trinity. 69 Trinities were born in 2012. The name saw a burst in popularity in 1999—due to a particular film, I suppose.

My reaction is: OMFG❗😮 to most of these names. They really are unreal 🫠 — especially the lists of strange and cruel 😟 names. A "great" 😅 name that seemingly should be listed is: 📛Misery. 😱 I'm super surprised 📛Lucifer 👿 wasn't given. 😦 That would be the ultimate cruel name right? 😣 First off, all the names with the -'s really irk me 😤 and they are just  ridiculous! 🤡 (Sorry not sorry!🤷🏾‍♀️) I get the "good" intent behind them... but really?! 😏 

📛Thanks?!? 🙏 For what??? NO not a name! 😂 📛Die-Well??? ⚰ Can you get any more morbid? Are 📛Handmaid 🧹 and 📛Humiliation 😔 brother and sister names??? 📛Freegift 🎁 given to a girl is just asking for trouble! 😬 And 📛Abstinence??! 🚫 Just NO! And no, that's not a real name. 🤣 Then there's 📛Wrestling 🤼‍♂️ just randomly sprinkled in. 😆 

The saving grace from this batch of horrendous 😱 names on whole, is that there are some beautiful, interesting and meaningful names on the lists. 👀 I really love 📛Continent 🌎 strangely. 📛Remember is very lovely. 🥰 📛Desire 💋 and 📛Vanity are maybe better stripper 💃 names 😄 but I 🙋🏾‍♀️ still like them. 📛Hope 🤞 is just a great name 👍🏾👍🏾, probably the most normal name on the lists. 😯 📛Felicity is nice too. 📛Liberty as well. 📛Happy 😊 is wonderful and 📛Jolly 😃 is cute. 📛Trinity is of course cool. 😎

After seeing these lists of 🤯outrageous names, it's pretty safe to say that anything goes truly to name one's child 🤦🏾‍♀️as far as ⏪Puritan times, up until ⏩today. I'm one for 🤪wild, 🦄unique names but these make me believe the parent(s) was/were off their rocker(s) 🥴 naming a child e.g.: 📛Experience! It should have been: Experiment, because why not? 🙄 

Today's WTF ⁉️🤬 and 😲shocking first names have nothing 🙅🏾‍♀️ on Puritan 🥇 names. I think 🤔 I change my mind: 📛🌊Aquaman is ✔tame, ✔great and ✔makes sense compared to 🫣obscene: 📛Fly-fornication! 😖 

NAME OF THE DAY: Trinity

📺Reality show 💘Love 🏝Island USA (season 8) has a female cast member with the 🗣lively, ✝holy, number 3️⃣three oriented name of: 📛Trinity. 

Trinity is a word with religious meaning of: "a group of three; triad. Also called Blessed Trinity. Also called Holy Trinity. The Trinity. The union of three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ) in one Godhead, or the threefold personality of the one Supreme Being."

📖Bible Hub explains: "The doctrine of the Trinity is a central tenet of Christian theology, describing the nature of God as three distinct persons in one essence: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This concept, while not explicitly named in Scripture, is derived from a comprehensive interpretation of biblical texts and has been affirmed by the historic creeds of the Christian faith. The New Testament provides clearer revelation of the Trinity. The baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17 presents all three persons: "As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" Here, the Father speaks, the Son is baptized, and the Spirit descends."

📖Bible Gateway interestingly points out in a think piece written by a Christian believer: "The word Trinity itself never shows up in Scripture. Anywhere. So I’ve also long wondered: For a belief that sits at the center of the Christian faith, what should we make of this big, important word missing from the Bible’s vocabulary? Is the Trinity in the Bible? If the actual word cannot be found, I have concluded again and again, the Trinity’s truth stretches across the Bible’s many pages. It interweaves so much of what we see of God in God’s character and work. And the Trinity, as the early church found, provides the best explanation for how the three persons belong together, work together, operate together for our life and salvation."  

In terms of 📛Trinity used as a first name, Behind The Name says, it has only been in use as a given name since the 20th century. 

⏪1964 seems to be the year Trinity entered onto US name 📊charts - 📛Nameberry's🍒 data shows.

📛NB🍒 says, "For 12 years, Trinity appeared in the US Top 100. Nevertheless, it remains in the US Top 500, and was given to nearly 900 girls in 2023." Currently Trinity ranks #428 in US Top 1000.

The reason for Trinity rising📈 in popularity for 👶baby 💗girls is due to the huge, futuristic film 🎥The Matrix in 1999. 😎Trinity was played by actress Carrie Ann Moss. "Trinity surged up the charts in the early 2000s, following the release of The Matrix. In The Matrix, the name is used to suggest a parallel between the character and God and to create a sense of mystery and power around her. Interestingly, however, the movie actually made Trinity feel more usable, familiar, and cool as a name option. In just two years, it made an impressive jump from the latter end of the charts to the US Top 100, where it remained for more than a decade," 📛NB🍒 says. 

Trinity made it to #10 on 📰Slate's '10 of the Sweetest Puritan Names' List joking, "The name saw a burst in popularity in 1999—due to a particular film, I suppose."

📛Nameberry🍒 describes the of Latin origin Trinity as a name that "feels both spiritual and trendy." 📛NB🍒 expands asking and answering, "What does the future hold for Trinity? It's religious aspects may well keep it in use for years to come and with Genesis in the Top 100, and other religious word choices like Chosen and Halo rising up the charts, it might just have a resurgence in the future."

📍Texas & 📍District of Columbia are where the most people named Trinity live. 

I like the name 📛Trinity, it's a 🎉fun name (due do the 🎦film history behind it) yet it's a 💭thoughtful, deep name (due to 🙏religious aspect to it). It definitely fits the personality of the bubbly Trinity Tatum on 💘Love 🏝Island. I actually knew two Trinities. 😮 One Trinity I met during college, she was nice from what I remember. The other I met a few years ago, however her name was spelled cutely 📛Trinitee - she had a bold personality. I like 👍🏾👍🏾 the other used variation 📛Triniti - it's adorable. 🥰

📛Trinity is also used as a 💙boy's name, peaking at #779 in ⏪1975. I prefer it used for 💗girls more so because I'm used to hearing it as a girl's name but I don't mind it on a boy. 🤷🏾‍♀️ And it really makes more sense 🤔 it should be given to boys more as the Trinity is masculine in nature. 

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛TRINITIES:

📛Trinity Rodman (💗daughter of 🏀basketball player Dennis Rodman)

📛Trinity Bosh (💗daughter of 🏀basketball Chris Bosh)

📛Trinity Adkins (💗daughter of 🤠🎤country singer Trace Adkins) 

📛Coco Trinity Chung (👯‍♀️twin 💗daughter of 🎥actress Diane Farr & Seung Yong Chung) 

📛Trinity McCray Fatu aka "Naomi" 🤼‍♀️ (pro. wrestler) 

📛Stephanie "Trinity" Finochio  🤼‍♀️ (former pro. wrestler) 

📛Trinity Byars ⚽ (pro. soccer player) 

📛Joshua "Trinity Kardashian Bonet" Jones 👑📺(personality from RuPaul's reality show Drag Race)

📛Ryan "Trinity Taylor" Taylor 👑📺(personality from RuPaul's reality show Drag Race)

📛Wade "Trinity" Brammer 🎶🎧 (DJ) 

📛Trinity 🎥 (character in movie They Call Me Trinity)

📛Trinity "Trini" Kwan 💛💥📺 (character on show Power Rangers)  

📛Trinity Ashby 🏍📺 (character on show Sons of Anarchy) 

📛Trinity Santos 🏥📺 (character on show The Pitt)  

📛Trinity Wells 📺 (character on show Doctor Who, Torchwood & The Sarah Jane Adventures)  

📛Trinity 📺 (character on show Trailer Park Boys)  

📛Trinity Magewood 📕 (👯‍♀️twin character in the book The Children of the Red King by Jenny Nimmo)

📛Trinity Foxx 📕 (character in the book series Scorched by Mari Mancusi)

📛Trinity 🖊🗯 (comic book character in Brotherhood of Evil)  

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Trinity:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/T/TR/TRINITY/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Trinity: 👍 OR 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗/10

NAME OF THE DAY: Sincere

📺Reality show 💘Love 🏝Island USA (season 8) has a male cast member with the 💌heartfelt name of 📛Sincere. 

Sincere's introduction on 💘Love 🏝Island is cute 👌🏾: 

"My name is Sincere. I'm 25 years old and I'm from Cape May, New Jersey. I love my name. I like to be cheesy. I often end my emails or letters, I be like, Sincerely, Sincere."

Ariana Madix (host): "Sincere, I love your name. Do you feel like you live up to your name?"

Sincere: "100%"

Sincere is an English word:

Sincere is derived from the Latin word sincerus meaning "pure and clean", 📛Nameberry🍒 says. "Sincere is associated with being honest, acting from the heart, and feeling deeply - qualities many parents hope their children grow up to possess. Reminiscent of Puritan and Pilgrim name choices, Sincere is a relatively modern virtue name that has been in the US Top 1000 since the 2000s. The name was given to nearly 500 boys in 2023, placing it within the Top 600, and while the name does feel bold, it also fits in besides Chosen, Loyal, and Boone," 📛NB🍒 further explains. 📛Sincere can also be used as a 💗girl's name. Sincere for baby 💙boys currently ranks at #631 in US Top 1000. 

📍New Jersey is where the most Sinceres live (✔💘Love 🏝Island's Sincere is from the state). 

I love 😍 the name 📛Sincere. I 👂🏾heard Sincere first as a name in a urban crime 🎥film character during the ⏪90s. But never as a real first name until recently. I like the duality of the name Sincere 🤷🏾‍♀️ — on one hand by definition it means 'honest' 😇 but... that 'Sin' 😈 start of the name spells trouble (and that seems to be the case with 💘Love 🏝Island's Sincere. He's being referred to as a "villain" in the villa due to him making a 🐠fish comment about women 😮). I see someone named Sincere as someone nice but with a naughty 😘 side. I think it's a really cool 😎 name to give and have. Plus it could be fun for the wearer of 📛Sincere to truly play up either the 🙂"good" or 🙃"bad" sides — within their genuinely, really great name. 

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛SINCERES:

📛Sincere McCormick 🏈 (pro. football player)

📛Dion "Sincere Lizzy" Hamilton 🎙/ 🎶/ 🧥 (former rapper & music manager, fashion entrepreneur)

📛Vincent "Sincere Show" Coffey 🎶🎧 (dj)

📛Albert "Lamont Sincere" Brown 🎶🎛 (engineer)

📛 Sincere aka "Sin" 🎥 (character in the movie Belly played by 🎙rapper Nas [born: Nasir Jones])  

📛Sincere Jackson 🎵 (TikTok content creator) 

♀️Female Version of 📛SINCERE:

📛SINCERELY

💭I love Sincerely more, over naming a girl Sincere, because Sincerely just looks & sounds more feminine, pretty & sweet. 🥰

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Sincere:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/S/SI/SINCERE/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Sincere: 👍 OR 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙/10