Nature Baby Names Are Having A Moment — Here Are 15 Flowering Ones
There are endless possibilities when it comes to choosing a name for your baby, and looking to nature is very popular.
Nature-inspired baby names have a certain calming je ne sais quoi — they bring to mind sprawling verdant vistas, lush, floral gardens, and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. It’s a baby-naming genre that feels classic and original all at the same time. And trendy, too: in May of 2023, Baby Center, a pre-eminent baby naming source, said that nature-inspired baby names were one of the trendiest “trends” of the year. Plus, the names are downright pretty — from flower-inspired names like Violet or Daisy, or plant-inspired names like Oliver, to tree-inspired names like Willow or Holly, throw a stone and you’ll find a baby name inspired by our forests, rivers, plants, and flowers.
So what’s your nature baby going to be named? MG Timber, a company that makes outdoor garden furniture based in the U.K., wanted to find out which nature-inspired names were the most popular for boys and girls in the U.K. and Wales. While it’s not a perfect 1-for-1 in terms of what names in the United States may be the most popular, it’s a treasure trove of baby name inspo for the nature-minded.
One plain and obvious trend? Baby girl names inspired by nature are way more common than baby boy names inspired by nature.
As a result, in the top 10 most popular nature-inspired names, there were seven names typical for girls and only three names typically given to boys.
Here are some ultra-popular baby names inspired by nature:
- Oliver
- Ivy
- Lily
- Willow
- Daisy
- Poppy
- Luna
- Rowan
- Oakley
- Ayla
- Rose
- Iris
- Olive
- Holly
- Lilly
These ultra-popular nature-inspired baby girl names align with common trends in baby naming right now. For example, the names on this list more popularly given to girls are all shorter names that are heavy on vowels, like Ivy, Lily, Daisy, Poppy, Luna, and Ayla. They are reminiscent of names like Emma and Ava, which are very popular in the United States.
The most popular nature-inspired name, Oliver, happens to be the third most popular boy's name in general in the United States. Olive is on this list as a girl’s name and is very short and sweet. The other two boy names on the list, Rowan and Oakley, fall more into the gender-neutral categories, which are having a big moment right now.
These nature-inspired names not only hold sweet and powerful meanings, but they've also stood the test of time, making them popular, trendy, and perennially (ha ha!) good taste. Oliver has never fallen out of the top 500 most popular baby boy names in the United States in the 123 years it's been tracked. Ivy, too, has been in the top name charts since the 1900s, only dropping off the list for just one year in 1946.
To check out the complete list of popular nature-inspired baby names, check out MG Timber’s full list.
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