A female name. Latin gratia ‘grace’. Gracia, Grecia, Gricia occur as a woman’s name in Latin records of the 13 th and 14th C and possibly represent this name, though they may be a latinization of some name derived from Old German grisja ‘grey’. Grace, like Faith, Hope, Charity, Patience, &c., came into use as a christian name after the Reformation, but it is also found fairly frequently in lists of Roman recusants in the early 17th C. It was sometimes also given to boys in the 17th C. It went out of fashion in the 18th C and its revival in the Victorian period may have been influenced by the fame of Grace Darling (1815-42). In Ireland it has been used to render the native Grainne (q.v.).

Gracia Curia Regis Rolls 1200, Feudal Aids 1303, 1346. Grecia Curia Regis Rolls 1213, Feudal Aids 1346. Gricia Feudal Aids 1346. Grace Chester 1562.

Cf. those other theological abstractions: Faith, Hope, Charity, Mercy, and Prudence, qq. v., and yet others—mostly obsolete. Like them it became popular so soon as parents perceived that the Reformation was firmly established. Its survival is in part the result of that very amiable mistake made by the Irish in which they equated it to their Grainé (q. v.) and so whole-heartedly adopted it that Grace (or Gracie) may usually be found wherever there are Irish associations and connexions. Not ‘graceful’ or ‘slight of stature’ (L. gracilis), as some have supposed, but ‘thanks’ or ‘gratitude’, ‘favour’ or ‘bounty’; more relevantly, it served to translate the Greek χάρις,—see both Charis and Charity. (Yonge.)

A feminine form of the Roman name Gratius; from gratia, grace, favour, goodwill, kindness. Conf. the name Charis, a goddess among the Greeks, and wife of ulcan: from χάρις, grace.

Latin (feminine) - Courteous, kindly.

Latin (feminine) - Graceful, winsome, charming.

A Latin name, meaning: Elegance or beauty of form, manner, movement, carriage, deportment, language, etc., pleas­ing or agreeable. (Old French) Fat.