Charity

Charity is an English feminine given name derived from the English word charity. It was used by the Puritans as a virtue name. An earlier form of the name, Caritas, was an early Christian name in use by Romans.
Charity is also the usual English form of the name of Saint Charity, an early Christian child martyr, who was tortured to death with her sisters Faith and Hope. She is known as Agape in Biblical Greek and as Caritas in Church Latin and her name is translated differently in other languages.
Faith, Hope and Charity, the three theological virtues, are names traditionally given to triplet girls, just as Faith and Hope remain common names for twin girls. One example were the American triplets Faith, Hope and Charity Cardwell, who were born in 1899 in Texas and were recognized in 1994 by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest lived triplets.
Charity has never been as popular a name in the United States as Faith or Hope. It ranked in the top 500 names for American girls between 1880 and 1898 and in the top 1,000 between 1880 and 1927, when it disappeared from the top 1,000 names until it reemerged among the top 1,000 names in 1968 at No. 968. It was most popular between 1973 and 1986, when it ranked among the top 300 names in the United States. It has since declined in popularity and was ranked at No. 852 in 2011.

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Mid-12c., "benevolence for the poor," from Old French charité "(Christian) charity, mercy, compassion; alms; charitable foundation" (12c., Old North French carité), from Latin caritatem (nominative caritas) "costliness, esteem, affection" (in Vulgate often used as translation of Greek agape "love" -- especially Christian love of fellow man -- perhaps to avoid the sexual suggestion of Latin amor), from carus "dear, valued," from PIE *karo-, from root *ka- "to like, desire" (see whore (n.)). Vulgate also sometimes translated agape by Latin dilectio, noun of action from diligere "to esteem highly, to love" (see diligence). Wyclif and the Rhemish version regularly rendered the Vulgate dilectio by 'love,' caritas by 'charity.' But the 16th c. Eng. versions from Tindale to 1611, while rendering agape sometimes 'love,' sometimes 'charity,' did not follow the dilectio and caritas of the Vulgate, but used 'love' more often (about 86 times), confining 'charity' to 26 passages in the Pauline and certain of the Catholic Epistles (not in I John), and the Apocalypse .... In the Revised Version 1881, 'love' has been substituted in all these instances, so that it now stands as the uniform rendering of agape. [OED] Sense of "charitable foundation or institution" in English attested by 1690s.

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From the English word charity, ultimately derived from Late Latin caritas, means: generous love; from Latin carus: dear, beloved. Derived from charity, which denotes the love of God for mankind or the love of mankind for others. Charity is derived from the Latin carus: dear, valued.

Popularity	Name	Birth Year	Description
1	Charity Wakefield	1980	British actress
2	Charity Tate
3	Charity Shea	1983	Television actress
4	Charity Ngilu	1952	Kenyan politician
5	Charity Adams Earley	1917	United States African American woman officer
6	Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick	1983	American operatic soprano, composer and presenter
7	Charity Brown		Canadian actor and singer
8	Charity Opara	1972	Nigerian sprinter
9	Charity Nebbe
10	Charity Williams	1996
11	Charity Bick	1926	RAF servicewoman and George Medal recipient
12	Charity Waciuma	1936	Kenyan writer
13	Charity Ogbenyealu Adule	1993	Nigerian footballer
14	Charity Taylor	1914	British prison governor
15	Sister Charity	1980
16	Charity Gaye Finnestad	1973	American writer
17	Charity Elliott	1969	American basketball player-coach
18	Charity Basaza Mulenga	1979	Ugandan electric engineer
19	Amy Charity	1976	Cyclist
20	Charity Zisengwe		Zimbabwean intercessor, inspirational speaker, musician-songwriter, and religious worship leader
21	Charity Zormelo	1904	Ghanian educator
22	Charity Angya		Vice Chancellor in Nigeria
23	Charity Sanoy	1987	American singer
24	Charity Szczechowiak
25	Charity Bryant
26	Charity Rahmer	1979	American actress
27	Charity Folks