Temperance is an English virtue name from the Latin temperantia, meaning "moderation" or "self-restraint", one of the four cardinal virtues. Puritan families in colonial New England used it alongside Patience and Prudence, and the forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan of the TV series Bones brought it back into view. The name entered the top 1000 in 2011, peaked at number 836 in 2012 and has drifted down to number 2034 in 2025.