Entry № 1884 · Latin, English origin

Patience Patience — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ PAY-shens /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Latin, English
Meaning
"Forbearance (Puritan virtue name)"
Syllables
2
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Medieval (English)

A name that means "forbearance (puritan virtue name)".

Patience is from the Latin patientia ("endurance, forbearance") — a Christian theological virtue. **A characteristic Puritan virtue name introduced in 17th-century England and brought to colonial New England by the Pilgrims** — alongside Charity, Mercy, Honor, Verity, and Constance. **Patience Worth** — the alleged "spirit" that the St. Louis housewife Pearl Curran said dictated novels and poems to her via Ouija board from 1913 to 1937, producing approximately 4,000 poems and 7 novels. **Saint Patience of Cardiff** — early Welsh Christian martyr.

Featured in countless 17th-century New England town records as one of the most popular Puritan feminine names.

Forbearance. Puritan virtue brought to New England by the Pilgrims.

The name in its native script.

Patience
Transliteration
Patience
Pronunciation
/ ˈpeɪ.ʃəns /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Patience stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 0 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 700 in 1880
Babies named Patience · last year
110 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1880
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · #700 NOW · —

Patiences before her.

Real people
Patience Worth
Alleged spirit-dictator of Pearl Curran.
1913 – 1937
In fiction
Patience
The Mayflower Compact.
1620

Names connected to Patience.

The number behind Patience.

3

The Communicator

Patience reduces to three — the number of Puritan virtue.

Why families chose this name.

"Puritan virtue. Eight letters. Patience."
Catherine · Mother of one · Plymouth