Entry № 2396 · Latin, English origin

Temperance Temperance — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ TEM-per-ens /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Latin, English
Meaning
"Moderation (Puritan virtue; Temperance Brennan of Bones)"
Syllables
3
Rank · US 2025
№ 0
First recorded
Medieval (English)

A name that means "moderation (puritan virtue; temperance brennan of bones)".

Temperance is from the Latin temperantia ("moderation, self-control") — one of the four classical cardinal virtues. **A Puritan virtue name brought to colonial America by the Pilgrims; Temperance Wilkinson was among the early settlers of Plymouth Colony in 1620**. **The American Temperance Movement (1820s-1933) drove women's organized political activity in the United States** — culminating in both the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) and, two months earlier, the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage). **Frances Willard's Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was the largest American women's organization of the 19th century**. **Temperance "Bones" Brennan** of the TV series *Bones* (2005-2017) — forensic anthropologist played by Emily Deschanel.

Subject of Daniel Okrent's *Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition* (2010).

Moderation. Puritan virtue; Frances Willard's WCTU drove women into US political life.

The name in its native script.

Temperance
Transliteration
Temperance
Pronunciation
/ ˈtɛm.pər.əns /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Temperance stands.

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

Temperances before her.

Real people
Frances Willard
Founder of the WCTU.
1839 – 1898
In fiction
Temperance Brennan
Bones.
2005

Names connected to Temperance.

The number behind Temperance.

1

The Pioneer

Temperance reduces to one — the number of cardinal virtue.

Why families chose this name.

"Cardinal virtue. Ten letters. Temperance."
Catherine · Mother of one · Plymouth