Boy names that mean truth
Twelve names, and the list is short because the honest one is. Truth turns up as a naming element in Old Iranian arta, in Japanese makoto, in Hawaiian pono, and in the older Germanic sense of true that meant faithful before it meant factual. Outside those, most claimed truth names are wishful reading.
- Ardeshirar-deh-SHEERPersian
Whose reign is through truth — arta (truth, right order; Avestan aša) + xšaça (kingship). Greek turned it into Artaxerxes.
- Artashesar-tah-SHESSArmenian
The Armenian form of the same royal claim, from the same Old Iranian arta. Greek historians write it Artaxias.
- MakotoMAH-koh-tohJapanese
Sincerity, truthfulness, the real thing. Unusually, all its writings agree: 誠, 真, 信, 実 and 眞 land inside one idea.
- MertMEHRTTurkish
Persian mard is simply "man"; Turkish narrowed it to a character reference. A mert man keeps his word.
- PonoPOH-nohHawaiian
Goodness, uprightness, righteousness, correct procedure — the condition of being in proper order. It is in the state motto.
- Kūponokoo-POH-nohHawaiian
Upright, honest, fair: kū (to stand) + pono. Literally standing straight, standing where one should.
- LeiLAYChinese
磊 — three 石 stones stacked in a pyramid, and so open, upright, with nothing hidden. The other 雷 is thunder.
- TrungCHOONGVietnamese
忠 — loyalty and faithfulness, drawn as 中 (centre) over 心 (heart): a heart held steady. Northern CHOONG, southern TROONG.
- TrygveTRIG-vehNorwegian
From Old Norse tryggr, trustworthy, faithful, safe. An adjective made into a name rather than a compound.
- Konstantinkon-stun-TEENRussian
Steadfast, constant, from Latin constare, to stand firm. Truth as the quality of not moving.
- IestynYES-tinWelsh
From Latin iustus, just, fair, upright — the root of justice and justify, through Iustinus.
- JoostYOHSTDutch
If from Justus, then just and righteous; if from the Breton saint Judocus, then iud, lord. Dutch fed both into one name.
Four honest kinds of true
This is a short list on purpose. Twelve names, and adding a thirteenth would mean stretching. Truth is an abstraction that most naming traditions approach obliquely, through a related virtue rather than the word itself, so a long page here would be a padded one. What follows is the honest sort.
Truth as the order of the world. The strongest entries are Iranian. Arta, Avestan aša, is the Zoroastrian word for truth understood as the right ordering of things, the opposite of the lie, and it sits at the head of Ardeshir and Armenian Artashes — both of which are claims about legitimacy rather than compliments about honesty. Hawaiian pono is startlingly close in shape: not accuracy but propriety, the condition of things being as they should be, which is why Pono and Kūpono cover righteousness, fairness and correct procedure in one word.
Truth as sincerity. Japanese Makoto is the clearest case in any language on this site — sincerity and truthfulness, with every one of its kanji spellings agreeing for once. Turkish Mert is the same virtue described from outside: a man who keeps his word. Chinese Lei stacks three stones and means open, with nothing hidden.
And the older sense of "true". English true did not originally mean factually correct. Old English trēowe meant faithful and trustworthy, which is why true, trust and truce are relatives, and the factual sense came later. Read that way, Norwegian Trygve (Old Norse tryggr, trustworthy), Vietnamese Trung (忠, loyalty) and Russian Konstantin (steadfast) are truth names in the oldest sense of the English word, and Welsh Iestyn and Dutch Joost carry the justice end of it. If loyalty is what you actually want, names that mean loyal is the closer list. Everything else is indexed on the meanings hub.