The name Faith unsurprisingly derives from the English word 'faith', which itself comes from the Latin word 'fides', which means trust, loyalty or a firm belief.
Along with Clemency and Temperance, Faith is one of the 'virtue' names adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century. The Puritans often incorporated Faith into longer phrase names, such as Faithful and Faith-my-joy.
One of the early Christian saints was called Saint Faith. She was martyred as a child alongside her sisters Hope and Charity. In America there is a tradition of naming triplet girls after these three sisters.
Among new parents Faith is currently the most popular one of this trio of names. In 2012, 868 baby girls were called Faith, making it the 73rd most popular girl's name in the UK. (Just 416 girls were called Hope and not a single baby was called Charity, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics.)
To this day, Faith is still a popular choice for combination names such as Faith-Louise, Amelia-Faith or Ava-Faith.
Famous people called Faith:
Faith Evans, singer
Faith Hill, singer
Faith Domergue, actor
Can be shortened to: Fay
Surnames to avoid pairing Faith with:
Surnames beginning with a 'Th' sound may prove to be a bit of a tongue twister when coupled with the name Faith.
Similar names:
Fay, Faye,
Masculine variants:
Faegan, Faysal
Celebrities who called their baby Faith:
Nicole Kidman, actor
Michelle Heaton, Liberty X singer and TV presenter
Kelsey Grammer, actor
Rick Shroder, actor