More uncommon and powerful than garden varieties like Rose and Lily. Named for Scottish botanist Dr Alexander Garden.

A word name with fashionable o-ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago, while it was selected more recently by influencer Paige R Williams for her daughter in 2025.

The nature boy version of the Scandinavian Leif, which actually means "heir". In the creative-naming Phoenix family, Leaf is the former name of the actor we know as Joaquin.

Actress Tilda Swinton injected this dated nickname name with some modern charm.

Isla is hot, Iona is cool – maybe it's time Iola got a second look? Last heard from on Carol Burnett's Mama's Family show, Iola feels like just the sort of uncommon, vowel-rich, vintage name that should be ripe for rediscovery.

One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.

Fauna is the Roman goddess of the earth as well as one of the fairies who protected Disney's "Sleeping Beauty". It can also be considered a word name with a scientific, nature focused feel. Used to as a way to refer to all the animals in a particular area, habitat, or time period, many might think of the phrase "Flora and Fauna" on seeing the name.

Harvest has been occasionally used as a name since the eighteenth century, originally as evenly unisex, but in the US data for last year was starting to lean more female, given to 29 girls and 11 boys. Harvest can be seen as pleasantly archaic, rich and ripe, fitting in with popular baby names like Harper and Harry, and is also a fresh take on names like Autumn and August and one of the best names for autumn babies.

A name with an obvious meaning, for a long time associated with Golda Meir, the fourth Prime Minister of Israel. Nickname Goldie seems to be catching on in the celebrity community.

Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree.

Wilda (or Wylda) has two widely divergent images. Pronounced vill-da, it feels like a cousin of Hilda: a sturdy and none-too-attractive prairie settler. But you can also think of her as wild-ah, as in the feminine of wild and wilder.

This floral name, related to bloom and Blossom, is common in the Jewish community, but not often heard outside it. Other Yiddish nature names are Ita (star), Masha (rising water), and Mayim (water).

This herb is also known as cilantro. It's meaning, "bed bug" is on account of its smell, characterized by the ancient Greeks as bed bug-like.

Hortensia is an ancient Roman name that's also the common name of the flower hydrangea. The French form of the name is Hortense, which is coming back into style in Paris but has never caught on in English-speaking countries. A secondary character in Roald Dahl's Matilda is named Hortensia.

This name of the Roman goddess of fruit trees is also associated with a suburban town in Southern California.

With related choices such as Lark and Phoenix gaining popularity, why not Sparrow? Though it's usually thought of as a female name, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden chose it for their son.

There is a whole new species of bird names open to the baby namer, from the light and feminine Lark to the sleek and powerful Falcon.

We've seen Beatrice and Beatrix climb in popularity, along with traditional nickname Bea. And now there's Bee, giving it a buzzy nature world spin, plus a tie to popular late night TV''s Samantha Bee, not to mention Aunt Bee on the old The Andy Griffith Show TV show. Bee can theoretically be short for any girl names starting with B.

Though some forward-looking parents are now choosing wood-related names like Oak, Pine, and Ash, this generic option would be even more avant garde.