Colonial American names tell the story of a society in motion: English Puritan theology, Dutch merchant culture, French Huguenot influence, and the ancient classical world all left their marks on the naming books kept by colonial ministers and midwives. If you are drawn to names with genuine historical weight, the colonial era is one of the richest veins to mine.
The names below come directly from colonial church records, census documents, and the personal papers of real families who lived in the American colonies between roughly 1620 and 1776. Every one of them was worn by a real person walking real ground in that world.
Puritan Virtue Names for Girls
New England Puritans had a habit of naming daughters after the qualities they hoped those daughters would embody. These names went far beyond the familiar Patience and Prudence.
Mercy
One of the most-used virtue names in 17th-century New England, Mercy was considered both a theological concept and a daily aspiration. It appears in Massachusetts Bay Colony records from the 1630s onward and feels surprisingly gentle on the ear today.
Temperance
Temperance was a top-tier Puritan choice, reflecting the value placed on self-restraint and moderation. It turns up frequently in Virginia and Plymouth Colony records alike, crossing denominational lines.
Patience
A staple of colonial New England, Patience was considered one of the cardinal Christian virtues and appears in records from Plymouth all the way through the mid-18th century. It has a quiet, grounded quality that ages well.
Prudence
Prudence was widely used among both Puritan and Anglican families in the colonies. The name comes from the Latin prudentia, meaning wisdom or foresight, and it carried genuine theological resonance rather than being merely decorative.
Thankful
Uniquely Puritan in flavor, Thankful expressed gratitude to God for a child’s safe arrival. It appears in Connecticut and Massachusetts records through the early 18th century and is so thoroughly of its era that it reads almost like a time capsule.
Submit
Submit strikes modern ears as startling, but it was a sincere expression of religious humility in 17th-century New England. It surfaces in Connecticut records in particular and represents the Puritan naming tradition at its most doctrinally earnest.
Comfort
Comfort was given to girls born after a period of hardship or loss, making it one of the most emotionally charged of the virtue names. It appears in Massachusetts and Rhode Island records and has a warmth that sets it apart from sterner choices.
Deliverance
Deliverance referenced the Puritan sense of being delivered by God from spiritual danger or, sometimes, from a difficult birth. It shows up in Plymouth Colony records from the mid-17th century and is one of the more dramatic names of the era.
Puritan Virtue Names for Boys
Boys got virtue names too, though the practice was less common than for girls. When it did happen, the names tended toward the austere and theologically precise.
Preserved
Preserved was given to boys who survived a dangerous illness or birth, expressing parental gratitude that the child had been kept alive by divine will. It appears in Massachusetts records and is one of the most striking colonial names of any gender.
Increase
Increase meant growth in godliness and prosperity, reflecting the Puritan hope that the colony would flourish. The name is inseparable from the Massachusetts minister Increase Mather, one of the most powerful figures in late 17th-century New England.
Experience
Experience was used for both boys and girls in early New England, expressing the idea of spiritual experience and trial. It is rare enough to feel genuinely unusual today while being completely documented in colonial records.
Biblical Names for Girls
Across all colonial regions and denominations, the King James Bible was the primary naming reference. These biblical names were workhorses of the era, carried by women in every colony from Georgia to Massachusetts.
Abigail
Abigail, from the Hebrew meaning “my father’s joy,” was one of the most common women’s names in colonial New England. It is inseparable from Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and one of the most intellectually formidable women of the founding era.
Mehitable
From the Hebrew Mehetabel, meaning “God does good,” Mehitable was genuinely popular in 17th- and 18th-century New England despite being almost entirely absent today. Its nickname Hitty gives it a surprising approachability.
Priscilla
Priscilla appears in the New Testament as a leader of the early church, and colonial families drew on that association heavily. It was common in Massachusetts and Virginia through the 18th century and carries a quiet dignity.
Deborah
Deborah, the Hebrew judge and prophetess, was a popular namesake for colonial girls whose parents valued strong biblical womanhood. The name was used consistently across all colonial regions from the early 1600s onward.
Kezia
Kezia, sometimes spelled Keziah, comes from the Hebrew name of one of Job’s daughters and means “cassia,” a fragrant spice. It was in regular use in New England and the Middle Colonies and has an exotic sound for a name with deep Puritan roots.
Bathsheba
Bathsheba was a genuine staple of colonial New England naming, drawn directly from the Old Testament. It feels bold today, but in 17th-century Massachusetts it was simply a normal, respectable name for a girl.
Tabitha
Tabitha comes from the Aramaic and appears in the New Testament as a woman restored to life by the apostle Peter. It was used throughout the colonies and has a soft, almost folk-tale quality that makes it feel more approachable than many of its peers.
Freelove
Freelove is not a virtue name in the modern sense but a Quaker and Baptist expression meaning free in God’s love, liberated from sin. It appears in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania records and is one of the most unusual authentic colonial names for girls.
Biblical Names for Boys
The Old Testament in particular supplied the backbone of male naming in the colonies. These names came loaded with associations that colonial parents knew intimately from weekly sermons and daily Bible reading.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel, from the Hebrew meaning “God strengthens,” was a solid, well-used name in colonial New England and the Middle Colonies. It was never the most common name in any given register, but it appears steadily across a century of records.
Ebenezer
Ebenezer means “stone of help” in Hebrew and was a fixture of New England naming from the mid-17th century onward. It sounds heavy now, but in colonial Boston it was as ordinary as James or Thomas.
Nehemiah
Nehemiah, the Hebrew leader who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, was a popular namesake among colonists who saw themselves in analogous nation-building terms. It appears across New England and Virginia records through the 18th century.
Jabez
Jabez comes from the Hebrew and appears in 1 Chronicles as a man who prayed for blessing and received it. Colonial parents clearly found that narrative compelling, and the name turns up in Massachusetts and Connecticut records from the 1650s onward.
Eliakim
Eliakim, meaning “God raises up” in Hebrew, was used in colonial New England with enough regularity to appear in multiple generations of certain families. It is one of the more genuinely obscure authentic options on this list.
Caleb
Caleb, the steadfast Israelite scout of the Exodus narrative, was beloved in Puritan New England for his biblical loyalty and courage. The name has never fully left American usage and is currently thriving again, making it one of the most naturally wearable colonial names available today.
Nathaniel
Nathaniel, from the Hebrew meaning “God has given,” was in steady use across all colonial regions. It is a name that aged gracefully through every subsequent century and remains completely current.
Eleazar
Eleazar, a Hebrew priestly name meaning “God has helped,” appears in New England records from the 17th century. It is the kind of name that colonial parents chose when they wanted something unmistakably biblical but slightly less common than the top-tier choices.
Classical and Latin-Influenced Names
Particularly among the educated gentry of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Maryland, the classical world provided a parallel naming tradition to the biblical one. Latin and Greek names signaled learning and social standing.
Cornelius
Cornelius, from the Latin cornu meaning “horn,” was used by Dutch colonial families in New York and New Netherland as well as by English gentry families further south. It has a sturdy, patrician quality that still reads as distinguished.
Augustus
Augustus, the Latin imperial name meaning “venerable” or “majestic,” was used among the colonial gentry in the 18th century, particularly in Virginia and the Carolinas. It is grand without being cartoonish.
Tertius
Tertius, Latin for “third,” was used in colonial families as a literal birth-order name for a third son. It appears in New England records and is one of the more honest naming conventions of the era.
Octavia
Octavia, the feminine of the Latin Octavius meaning “eighth,” was used in colonial Virginia among families with classical naming tastes. It has a strong, elegant sound that suits the era’s gentry aesthetic.
Reginald
Reginald, from the Germanic via Latin meaning “counsel power,” was used in colonial Virginia and Maryland among families tracing English gentry roots. It is formal in the way that the colonial planter class tended to be formal.
Dutch Colonial Names
New Netherland and its successor colony of New York left a distinct Dutch naming tradition that persisted well into the 18th century. These names are genuinely of the colonial American record, not just Dutch names in the abstract.
Annetje
Annetje is the Dutch diminutive of Anna and appears frequently in the records of New Amsterdam and the Hudson Valley from the 1640s onward. It is the kind of name that sounds completely fresh to modern ears while being thoroughly documented in colonial history.
Hendrick
Hendrick, the Dutch form of Henry meaning “home ruler,” was one of the most common male names in New Netherland and continued to be used in New York Dutch families well into the 18th century.
Maritje
Maritje, the Dutch pet form of Maria, appears repeatedly in New Amsterdam church records and wills. It is a warm, approachable name with a distinctly Dutch colonial flavor that sets it apart from the English-dominated mainstream of colonial naming.
Pieter
Pieter, the Dutch form of Peter, was a staple of New Netherland records and remained in use among Dutch-heritage families in New York for generations after English rule began. It carries the weight of a major colonial community.
Catalina
Catalina, the Spanish and Dutch form of Katherine, was used in New Netherland among families with Dutch, Flemish, and sometimes Sephardic Jewish backgrounds. It appears in New Amsterdam records from the mid-17th century and has a warmth that the starker English forms lack.
Quaker and Plain-Sect Names
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island Quaker communities had their own naming culture, overlapping with but distinct from Puritan New England. Plain names, some unique to the Quaker community, characterize this tradition.
Penelope
Penelope was used in Quaker Pennsylvania as well as in Anglican Virginia, giving it a cross-denominational appeal. Its Greek roots tie it to the Odyssey, but colonial families simply knew it as a solid, dignified woman’s name.
Hannah
Hannah, from the Hebrew meaning “grace” or “favor,” was one of the most universally used women’s names across all colonial regions and denominations. It never fell out of use and is a top choice today for exactly the same reasons colonial parents loved it.
Lydia
Lydia, the New Testament merchant woman of Philippi, was a favorite in Quaker and Baptist communities for her independence and business acumen. It appears in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island records consistently through the 18th century.
Resolved
Resolved was used in Quaker and Separatist communities as a name expressing spiritual determination. It appears in Plymouth Colony records and carries one of the most striking sounds of any authentic colonial name for boys.
Obadiah
Obadiah, from the Hebrew meaning “servant of God,” was used in Quaker and Puritan communities alike. It is emphatically of the colonial world and has a gruff, no-nonsense quality that suits its era perfectly.
Names from the Southern Colonies
Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas had a distinct naming culture shaped by Anglican church practice, English gentry tradition, and a strong habit of using family surnames as given names. These names reflect that world.
Beverley
Beverley was used as a given name in colonial Virginia, drawn from the prominent Beverley family surname. The practice of using family surnames as first names was a Virginia gentry habit that eventually spread throughout American naming culture.
Peregrine
Peregrine, from the Latin peregrinus meaning “traveler” or “pilgrim,” was used in both New England and the southern colonies. It has a literary, adventurous quality and was genuinely present in colonial records on both ends of the Atlantic seaboard.
Westwood
Westwood appears in Virginia colonial records as a given name drawn from a family surname, consistent with the gentry naming tradition of the Chesapeake region. It is one of the more unusual authentic examples of that practice.
Susannah
Susannah, from the Hebrew meaning “lily,” was widely used across the southern colonies and appears in Virginia and Maryland records from the early colonial period onward. It has a flowing, musical quality and was the formal version of the ubiquitous Susie and Sue.
Edmund
Edmund, from the Old English meaning “wealthy protector,” was a staple of Virginia and Maryland Anglican families. It appears in the records of the major planter families and has a solid, unpretentious dignity.
Names Shared Across the Colonies
Some colonial American names were simply everywhere, cutting across region, denomination, and class. These are the names that appear on every census, in every church register, from Plymouth to Savannah.
Eleanora
Eleanora, a Latinate form of Eleanor, appears in colonial records as a more formal variant of the familiar Eleanor. It signals the colonial tendency to Latinize and formalize names for official church and legal documents.
Mehitabel
Mehitabel is the fuller form of Mehitable noted above and appears as its own distinct spelling in many New England records. The two forms were used interchangeably, but Mehitabel has a slightly more archaic, formal feel.
Theophilus
Theophilus, from the Greek meaning “friend of God” or “loved by God,” was the name to whom the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed. Colonial Puritan and Anglican families both drew on it, and it appears in records across the northern and southern colonies.
Silence
Silence was used as a woman’s name in Puritan New England, expressing the ideal of quiet, contemplative piety. It is perhaps the most arresting of the colonial virtue names and was used in the family of Benjamin Franklin, whose mother was Abiah Folger and whose aunt bore the name.
Jedediah
Jedediah, from the Hebrew meaning “beloved of God” and the birth name of Solomon in the Bible, was used across New England and the Middle Colonies. It is a name with deep roots and a sound that is both weighty and, in the nickname Jed, surprisingly accessible.
How to Choose a Colonial American Name for a Child Today
The first thing worth asking is whether you want a name that reads as historical or one that has already found its way back into mainstream use. Caleb, Hannah, Nathaniel, and Lydia are all genuinely colonial American names that require no explanation and no courage to use. Mehitable, Jabez, Preserved, and Freelove are equally authentic but will prompt questions at the school pickup line. Neither approach is wrong, but knowing which one you want will narrow the list quickly.
Think about the nickname situation. Many colonial names that look unwieldy in full form are perfectly livable in their short versions. Theophilus becomes Theo, which is currently one of the trendiest names around. Jedediah becomes Jed. Mehitable becomes Hitty or Hetty. The full name goes on the birth certificate; the nickname is what the child actually answers to.
Consider the family connection. Colonial names work especially well when there is a genuine ancestral tie. If your family tree includes New England Puritans, Dutch New Yorkers, or Virginia planters, choosing a name from that specific tradition gives the child a story to tell. A name like Hendrick means something different when it comes from a real Hendrick in your own family’s records.
Finally, think about sound alongside meaning. The colonial era produced some names that are genuinely beautiful by any modern standard (Susannah, Priscilla, Cornelius, Penelope) and some that are more of an acquired taste (Submit, Increase, Silence). Both categories are historically valid. The question is which ones you can imagine calling across a backyard.
Colonial American names are one of the most underused resources in baby naming. They are distinctive without being invented, historical without being foreign, and every one of them has the kind of story behind it that a child can actually use.
