Looking for flower names that aren’t as run-of-the-mill as Lily, Daisy and Rose? Here are ten great botanical baby names that have never ranked in the U.S. top 1,000:
- Zinnia – Cute and quirky. Many people I talk to really like this name.
- Cedar – I see this name being used more and more often for both genders.
- Maile (MY-lee) – Hawaiian flowering vine commonly used for making leis.
- Bryony – The variant Briony was the name of the protagonist in Ian McEwan’s book Atonement.
- Camellia – Especially appropriate for tea-lovers, as tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant.
Poppy– Currently the 30th most popular baby name in England and Wales.Azalea– Very distinguished-sounding.- Tansy – Said to be derived from a Late Latin word meaning “undying.”
- Acacia – A genus of thorny tress and shrubs. Reminds me of the name Alicia.
Juniper– Bears a resemblance to Jennifer and shortens neatly to June.
There are other good, uncommon floral names (Jonquil, Betony, Saffron) out there as well, but I thought the 10 above would be the most appealing to today’s parents.
UPDATE, 1/5/14: Azalea and Juniper are no longer never-ranked names! Juniper entered the top 1,000 in 2011 and Azalea in 2012.
UPDATE, 4/24/18: Poppy has been demoted as well. It entered the top 1,000 in 2016.
Image: Adapted from Atlas roslin pl Wrotycz pospolity by Joanna Boisse under CC BY-SA 4.0.
