Verity is a female first name and a surname. As a first name it derives from the Latin feminine noun veritas, meaning "truth". It is thus an equivalent of Alethea, a female first name first used in England circa 1585, derived from the ancient and modern Greek feminine noun αλήθεια, meaning "truth". It was adopted in England as a Puritan and Quaker virtue name, truthfulness being considered as a desirable attribute especially in women, and following a new Protestant tradition of naming children after virtues instead of saints in order to avoid idolatry.