Lavender
About Lavender
Lavender lags far behind sweet-smelling purple-hued sister names Violet and Lila, but is starting to get some enthusiastic attention from cutting-edge namers along with other adventurous nature names like Clementine and Marigold. In fact, 2024 saw it enter the US Top 1000 for the first time, when it was given to nearly 260 girls.
The flower's name derives from Latin lividus "bluish", influenced by lavō "wash" due to use of lavender in washing clothes. It has long been used in traditional medicine and in cooking for its sweet fragrance and soothing properties. But it also has a long history as a name, going back to the eighteenth century, when it was also used for boys.
Famous fictional namesakes include Lavender Brown, a witch character in the Harry Potter saga, and the eponymous heroine's best friend in Roald Dahl's Matilda.
Pronounced LAV-en-der.
As of October 2026, Lavender ranked #1095 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #998 in 2024, Nameberry popularity #694.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,351 | 48 | 26.9 |
| 2015 | #2,867 | 61 | 34.2 |
| 2016 | #2,259 | 85 | 48 |
| 2017 | #2,211 | 86 | 49.8 |
| 2018 | #1,958 | 101 | 59.4 |
| 2019 | #1,780 | 115 | 68.5 |
| 2020 | #1,428 | 153 | 94.6 |
| 2021 | #1,394 | 157 | 95.7 |
| 2022 | #1,269 | 189 | 115.2 |
| 2023 | #1,179 | 203 | 126.5 |
| 2024 | #998 | 258 | 159.2 |
| 2025 | #1,095 | 220 | 136.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
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Lavender on lists
Famous Lavenders
- Lavender Rosamund Marguerite "Pinkie" Barnes
English table tennis player
- Lavender May Avery
first daughter of pop singer Jack Avery and Instagram star Gabriela Gonzalez
Lavender in pop culture
- Lavender Brown
character in the Harry Potter series
- Lavender Rolt
main character in play "Sweet Lavender" by Arthur Wing Pinero
- Lavender
character in 1996 film "Matilda"
- Lady Lavander
Griselda's godmother in The Cuckoo Clock (1877) by Mrs Molesworth
- Lavender
character in Canadian animated series "Little Charmers"
- Lavender Town
a town in Kanto in the Pokemon video games
- Lavender's Blue
English folk song
- Lavender Wolfmeyer
character in film "The Upside of Anger'
- Lavender Shade Johnson
older brother in Sheila Turnage's 'Three Times Lucky'
- "Lavender Haze"
Song by Taylor Swift featured on "Midnights"
Variations & nicknames
- Lavvy