Name of the Week

A fresh and sprightly virtue name 
that doubles as a more intuitive longer form for Libby.

Origin:

As a name, Liberty comes directly from the English vocabulary word 'liberty' meaning freedom, free choice. The word came from the Latin libertas "freedom, a free man," which became liberté in Old French, and eventually liberty in English. Originally, libertas denoted the status of a 'liber' — a person who was not a slave. Only a citizen of Rome was able to enjoy all the rights that constituted libertas and it was a highly prized state of being. Indeed, this concept of liberty was so important to the Romans that, to them, Libertas, the personification of Liberty, was an actual goddess who bestowed liberty upon the citizens of Rome. Like other Roman virtues-turned-goddesses such as Victoria, Clementia, Felicitas, Veritas and Laetitia — who have all formed the basis for feminine first names — Libertas had several temples dedicated in her honour; the first of which, situated on the Aventine Hill in Rome, was dedicated around 238 BCE. Originally Libertas represented personal freedom, but by imperial times she also represented the rights attached to constitutional government. As such an important Virtue, she was also associated with the chief god Jupiter, in the form Jupiter Libertas. Her Greek counterpart was the goddess Eleutheria/Eleftheria "liberty" — a name which is still used for Greek girls today.

Usage:

The goddess Libertas became the model upon which the modern figure of "Lady Liberty" was based. She can be found as the inspiration for France's national emblem, the Marianne, and the Statue of Liberty in New York. Liberty came into use as a name in Britain in the 18th century and, at first, it was in use as a name for both boys and girls. A whole spate of baptisms from 1760-1799 for babies named Liberty come from Kent in particular and, in general, the name seems to have been located majoritively in the South East of England. From the records I have found, the gender divide was roughly 2/3 female to 1/3 male usage in the 18th century; but by the mid-19th century the name had swung to mostly masculine in usage.  On the 1841 UK census there were 31 Libertys (30 male, 1 female) while in 1861 there were 39 (35 male, 4 female). By 1881 the figure was still consistent at 37 (33 male, 4 female) and had risen slightly to 43 (40 male, 3 female) in 1901, and 43 (36 male, 7 female) again in 1911. All of the cases were registered in England, showing the name was barely used in Scotland and Wales.  Liberty continued with much the same usage throughout the 20th century — with only a handful of births per year as had been the case in the previous century. What changed was that the name swung back into to being majoritively female again. In 1996, Liberty ranked #260 with 144 births. It was #197 (224 births) in 1999, #165 (262 births) in 2001, #151 (308) in 2003, #200 (241 births) in 2005, #289 (163 births), #390 (108 births) in 2009 and #380 (123 births) in 2011. Some of Libertys rising use in England and Wales at the end of the 20th century can be attributed to the popularity of Libby which, after years of steady climbing, finally entered the Top 100 in 2000 and peaked in 2005 at #48. Strangely, though Liberty is a key figure in both American and French history and national symbolism, Liberty (or Liberté) has had far less use (looking at popularity rankings) in those countries than in England. Perhaps it is because the name is more blatantly patriotic there than it is in Britain.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843—1917), British businessman who founded the exclusive West End “Liberty & Co." department store in 1875. Contemporary: * Liberty Ross (b.1978), British model and actress.  Literature and Other Media: * The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), a movie starring John Wayne. Other: * Lady Liberty, an alternate name for the Statue of Liberty in New York. * The Liberty Bell, an iconic American symbol. * Liberty is a name given to locations in Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, USA

Variants:

Libertas (Roman), Eleutheria, Eleftheria (Greek), Libertad (Spanish), Libertie

Pronunciation:

LIB-ə-tee  [key]

Possible  Ldiminutives:

Libby, Bertie, Bibi, Tilly

Sibling Names:

Esmee     Scarlett      Tallulah     Harper     Elysia     Summer  Preston     Bailey     Oakley     Sonny     Ashton      Spencer

Name Lists:

Word Names

 

If you like Liberty you may also like:   Harmony, Elodie, Talia, Layla, Felicity, Verity, Alyssa, Bethany, Eden, Serenity

 

Thanks to pinkmonkey for requesting Liberty.