A female name. Latin constantia ‘constancy’. There was a saint of the name, a d. of Constantine the Great. The name was introduced to England at the Norman Conquest (it was borne by one of the dd. of the Conqueror, who m. Alain de Bretagne), and soon became common, being anglicized to Custance, which is found as late as 1561. In the 16th and 17th C Constancy came into use among the Puritans, but was not common. In the 19th C the Latin form Constantia was introduced, and Charlotte Mary Yonge, History of ChristianNames, 2 vols. 1863. Revised ed. 1884 says of it that it ‘at present reigns among the favourite fancy names, scarcely less inevitable than Alice or Edith’. Constantia has now given way to the simpler Constance. It is sometimes abbreviated to Connie.

Constancia Curia Regis Rolls 1199, Feudal Aids 1346. Custancia Curia Regis Rolls 1199. Constance Hundred Rolls 1273. Custance Hundred Rolls 1273, Poll Tax of West Riding of Yorkshire 1379 1379. Custans Poll Tax of West Riding of Yorkshire 1379 1379.

Less probably from Latin constans (see at Constantine) than from constantia (see at Constantia), though admittedly constantia is, in Latin, a derivative of constans. It seems to have come to England from France, where it was for centuries a noble, a royal name; its general French use arose in Provence, which took it from the other Romance countries, especially Italy. It fell away in post-Reformation England, but renewed its popularity in C17, mainly, it would seem, because of its prevalence among royalty and aristocrats. As Custance, now rather uncommon, it took a typically English shape as early as Chaucer.

From the Latin name Constantia, a feminine of Constantius, from constantia, constancy, steadfastness.

A Latin name, meaning: Faithful.