A Rose by Any Other Name? Violet? Fern? — Flower Baby Names

flower baby names

In Shakespeare’s most famous play, the line “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” refers to Juliet’s love. Young Juliet declares that she will still love Romeo even though he is a Montague, a family Juliet’s family (the Capulets) are fiercely feuding with.

Girls’ Names That Are Also Flowers

The actual name – Rose – is old-fashioned. A number of people have an “Aunt Rose” somewhere in their family shrubs. But recently, the name has made a comeback. There are adorable little girls in nursery schools named Rose – though more often than not, they are called Rosie.

I’ve always loved girls’ names which are also flowers. There’s something so pretty and feminine about them. When I was a little girl and imagined having lots of children, I created a bouquet of little girls: Lily, Rosie, and Daisy. Others like girls’ flower names as well.

Top Flower Baby Names

The Social Security Administration’s top baby names in recent years include some flowery feminity.

Chloe is a name with Greek origins that refers to a blooming plant or a growing shoot.

Jasmine is a climbing plant with particularly fragrant flowers.  The Persian origin is popular, “Yasmin.”

Lily is lovely and represents purity, innocence, and beauty.  Old fashioned but quite popular on the elementary school roll calls of today.

Heather is the English word for the variety of shrubs with pink or white flowers which commonly grow in rocky areas. Heather is also a color, a light purple shade.

Less Popular Baby Flower Names

Daisy is often used as a nickname for Margaret since the flower is called a “marguerite” in France.  Henry James named the typical American girl Daisy Miller in his novel.

Iris comes from the Greek word for rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species.

Lantana has attractive tiny orange and purple blossoms, but the leaves are somewhat poisonous to most animals.

Posy can also be short for Josephine.

Pansy recalls those velvety spring flowers in pinks and deep purples

Petula has  English origins, though uncertain derivation and meaning. Some believe it to be a fanciful invention based on the flower names petunia and tulip. The most notable Petula is singer Petula Clark (b. 1932), whose father said he invented the name.

Tamara is a Hebrew name meaning palm tree; the name also occurs in Sanscrit writing as “spice.”  It was in the top 100 names in the United States during the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Violet is of Latin origin and one of the earliest flower names. Probably used in the early 1800s.

Flower monikers named after botanists include:

Dahlia was named after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl

Magnolia was named after French botanist Pierre Magnol

Zinnia was named after 18th-century German botanist Johann Zinn

Fern – my name is decidedly old-fashioned and is not moving up on the charts. In decades of teaching school, I have yet to have a little Fern in one of my classes. At this point in my life, I don’t even know if I like or dislike the name. I can’t separate it from just being me!

 

 

 

© Featured photo by Valeria Boltneva from Pexels