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 (pronounced "al-ee-thia"), meaning "truth".

It was adopted in England as a Puritan[1] 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.

Verity is also a surname, which may have more ancient unrelated origins, possibly being a corruption of a similar word.