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They sound like ironic stripper pseudonyms.

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For a name with a pure, chaste association or meaning, I would go with Katherine or Phoebe for a girl and maybe Tahir for a boy.

I don’t like either. If you want to use a Puritan type name you can use Charity or Mercy.

My mother is named Susannah. As a child, her maternal grandmother would always tell her that it means "Lily" and that lilies are symbols of those with pure hearts. It's very fitting characterization for my mother for those who know her IRL. Pure in Soul. That I think is a more beautiful connection than that of perpetual abstinence.

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*I am only just now realizing my great grandmother might have been a covert name nerd for her times*

This message was edited 7/1/2023, 12:02 PM

The concepts are not inherently undesirable. Purity for one can also mean Purity of the heart in addition to the body. But I think no matter where you stand on sexuality expression related opinions.... it's a heavy concept to be strapped to for an entire lifetime. It would be awkward to have when you are still "inactive", and it would be awkward to have after you are "active". Imagine being a Mom with this name. Almost bewildering. I like my fair share of virtue names, and do think there are plenty better alternatives. Patience, Charity and Clarity are similar sounding without being as burdensome a concept.

Chastity is terrible, Purity is marginally better since it can apply to non-sexual notions.

I think Chastity is ok. I might have met one before but know I used to mix it up with Charity (which I do prefer but not by that much) and don't remember specifically. Purity has too many other connotations for it to be a good word name imo, for example my 1st association would be "blood purity", my 2nd association is "purity test" or corruption, and it just sounds snooty/extreme even though in theory they could be the same value (which doesn't seem negative to me); and, I've never met one.

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It's a toss up whether I'd rather be Agnes or Chastity, but I'd definitely rather be Agnes than Purity.

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I do like Modesty / Modesta and prefer that to both.

This message was edited 7/1/2023, 10:31 AM

Chastity (more often spelled and pronounced Chasity) is quite dated to the seventies and eighties. I blame Cher and Sonny. It's also quite low-rent. Despite its being a virtue name and thus similar to Puritan standards like Charity and Prudence, it manages to convey the exact opposite.

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Purity sounds like it might have gotten some use in Puritan times, but I don't know that it actually did. Today it just sounds like a brand name, like for detergent or a colon-cleanse.
I do know that parents who espouse the whole purity/chastity philosophy for their daughters don't use either one as names.

Dislike. Too many jokes and expectation on a person.

I dunno, they strike me immediately as almost ironic ... I say so kinda sadly. Since neither of those are values honored in mainstream society where I live, and in fact for some people they seem to be thought of as the opposite of values, things to be scoffed at. They don't seem like they could be given sincerely - rather, they seem more reactionary. They're just obsolete, basically. I would not object to someone using them sincerely, but I wouldn't really want to be a bearer of either name. If I had to choose one, it'd be Chastity. I can imagine even liking either name, if I had not been cultured to think they mean things they haven't always meant.

Perhaps a chapter heading in a book about evangelical religions? I'd expect anyone with one of those names to become a prostitute at age 16, having first changed her name to something normal like Cucumber or Velocipede.

For your own safety, RUN from anyone who thinks about naming their daughters that.

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