Faith

Faith is a Puritan virtue name — one of a trio with Hope and Charity — and comes directly from the Middle English word for belief, itself from the Latin fides. The Puritans brought it into regular English-speaking use in the seventeenth century, stripping away saints' names and choosing plainspoken English virtues instead. It held a modest spot on American charts for centuries, then surged in the 1990s with the rise of Faith Hill and the broader revival of single-syllable girl names. Faith now sits comfortably in the top 250. One breath, one concept, no ornament. A name that says exactly what it means.