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I looked up Chastity on Rootsweb, and it seems to be a genuine Puritan name (even though I've heard some sites claim that Chastity was not used by the Puritans), and seems to have been used occasionally until about the late 19th century, when it pretty much died out. Modern usage of the name most likely stems from Chastity Bono, since the popularity charts make it pretty obvious.

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Chasity might have arisen due to confusion with the similar-sounding virtue name Charity (which was traditionally more common than Chastity). It seems that even in the old days, Chastity and Charity were frequently confused.

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Considering that the Puritans were quite prudish, I highly doubt that Chastity had sexual connotations to them. I also doubt Cher and Sonny Bono had such connotations in mind when they named their daughter. Chastity probably didn't gain its modern sexual connotations until years after Chastity Bono was born. (My guess for when it did would be at least the early 80s, when the name was decreasing in popularity.) I've heard numerous times that many names that are now considered trashy started out as more upscale choices. Chastity might have been more upscale to parents 45 years ago than parents today.

This message was edited 6/4/2017, 10:51 AM