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Names That Mean Purple

Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Thu Feb 08 2024
Names That Mean Purple

Names that mean purple are lovely representations of the rich, lush color. They may also include names with meanings such as violet or lilac or lavender.

Violet itself is the most popular of the girl names that mean purple. In addition to Violet, the only other girl name meaning purple in the US Top 1000 is Iris.

Boy names that mean purple are few and far between, with Hayden the only Top 1000 boys' name with a somewhat purple-related meaning.

Unique names meaning purple include Lilac, Lavender, and Ione. Also included here are names related to symbols that are purple or are associated with the color, such as Amethyst, a purple gemstone, and Jacinto, a Spanish name for boys that mean, a violet-colored flower.

If you're a purple person, here are all the names meaning violet or purple on Nameberry, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

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Color Names for Babies

Search Names by Meaning

  1. Violet

    • Origin:

      English from Latin

    • Meaning:

      "purple"

    • Description:

      Violet is soft and sweet, yet with a vivacious edge. Today, Violet is the top flower name for girls, outranking Lily and Iris in the Top 100, and the second most popular color name for girls after Scarlett.
  2. Iris

    • Origin:

      Flower name; Greek

    • Meaning:

      "rainbow"

    • Description:

      Iris has so much going for it. It's a fashionable flower name. It's a mythological name, from the Greek goddess of the rainbow. And it's a classic name, always ranking in the girls' Top 1000 but now at its highest point ever.
  3. Hayden

    • Origin:

      English place name

    • Meaning:

      "hay valley"

    • Description:

      Hayden – a formerly obscure name that's risen to huge popularity – has dipped in this year's ratings. Though Hayden is among the most distinctive of the bunch, it gets lost in the crowd of Jaidens, Bradens, Aidans, and endless variations. Associated with Hayden Christensen, of Star Wars fame.
  4. Indigo

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "Indian dye"

    • Description:

      Indigo is one of the most appealing and evocative of the new generation of color names. Color names have joined flower and jewel names -- in a big way -- and Indigo, a deep blue-purple dye from plants native to India, is particularly striking for both girls and boys. Indigo is the name of a character in the Ntozake Shange novel Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, and was used for his daughter by Lou Diamond Phillips.
  5. Ianthe

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "purple flower"

    • Description:

      Like Violet, Lavender and Lilac, Ianthe is a purple flower name. Chosen by the poet Shelley for his daughter, Ianthe has a poetic, romantic, almost ethereal quality. In the ancient myth, she was the daughter of Oceanus, supreme ruler of the sea, and also a Cretan woman so beautiful that when she died the Gods made purple flowers grow around her grave.
  6. Heather

    • Origin:

      English botanical name

    • Meaning:

      "small shrub"

    • Description:

      This flower name was one of the most popular in her class in the seventies and eighties, a fact reflected in the 1989 movie Heathers, in which every snobby girl in the high school clique bears the name. Now, though still pretty and evocative of the Scottish moors, it has faded in favor of other purplish blooms. It fell out of the Top 1000 in 2016 after having been as high as Number 3 in 1975, when it was given to close to 25,000 girls. Across the pond in the UK however, it remains near the latter end of the Top 1000.
  7. Viola

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "violet"

    • Description:

      Viola has plenty of positive elements going for it: the rhythm of the musical instrument, the association with the flower, the trending 'Vi' beginning and its leading role in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. With a touch of international flair, it also avoids the violent/Violet some parents have.
  8. Aster

    • Origin:

      English; Amharic

    • Meaning:

      "star"

    • Description:

      This is a fresh new addition to the botanical list; comedian Gilbert Gottfried made it a real bouquet when he named his daughter Lily Aster. And the name of the little girl on television's Dexter sounds like Aster, but is actually spelled Astor, which brings it more high society name. Aster relates to the Greek word for star. In Ethiopia, Aster is pronounced "ah-STAIR", and is the Amharic variation of Biblical Esther.
  9. Ione

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "violet flower"

    • Description:

      This unusual Greek flower and color name has gained considerable recent attention via actress Ione Skye, who is the daughter of sixties folksinger Donovan.
  10. Lavender

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "purple flower"

    • Description:

      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.
  11. Hadley

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "heather field"

    • Description:

      Hadley, most famous as the name of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, is more sophisticated, professional, and modern than cousins Harley, Haley, or Hayden. The hit book The Paris Wife, a novel by Paula McLain told from the point of view of Hadley Hemingway (born Elizabeth Hadley Richardson), has helped popularize the name, which also appears on the vampire show True Blood. Hadley could become this generation's Hailey. Adley, a mashup of Hadley and Addie, has also appeared on the scene.
  12. Hyacinth

    • Origin:

      Flower name, from Greek

    • Meaning:

      "blue larkspur; precious stone"

    • Description:

      Though it may not be as sweet and gentle as, say, Violet, the purple-hued Hyacinth still might hold some appeal for the parent seeking a truly unusual flower name.
  13. Amethyst

    • Origin:

      Gem and Color name

    • Description:

      As flower names become more unique, so can gem names move beyond Ruby and Pearl to names like Topaz, Sapphire, and Peridot. Amethyst, the purple birthstone for February, has never been in the Top 1000, but could have some appeal, joining similarly-hued Violet and Lilac, all of which make great names for Aquarius babies or names for February babies.
  14. Violetta

    • Origin:

      Italian, Russian and Hungarian variation of Violet, English

    • Meaning:

      "purple"

    • Description:

      With Violet in vogue, this vibrant international variation has been on the rise since the 2010s. Vintage and floral like its more popular sister, Violetta has a slightly softer sound and a touch of extra flair. Given to 135 girls in a recent year, it also gets you to nicknames Etta, Vita, and Lettie.
  15. Wisteria

    • Origin:

      Flower name, from English surname

    • Meaning:

      "Wister's flower"

    • Description:

      A frilly southern-accented flower name yet to be planted on many birth certificates. In the language of flowers, the wisteria is a symbol of devotion. It is named for American horticulturalist John Caspar Wister.
  16. Lilac

    • Origin:

      English, from Persian

    • Meaning:

      "bluish or lilac"

    • Description:

      Could Lilac be the next Lila or Lily or Violet? It certainly has a lot going for it--those lilting double 'l's, the fabulous fragrance it exudes, and the fact that it's a color name as well, providing a ready made nursery theme. In addition, the lilac is symbolic of first love.
  17. Iolanthe

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "violet flower"

    • Description:

      Iolanthe is known primarily through the 1882 Gilbert & Sullivan operetta of that name, in which the title character is a fairy. Iolanthe is a softer version of Yolanda, and is the kind of multi-syllabic classical name once considered too weighty for a modern baby girl, but now within the realm of possibility--this one as a dramatic twist on Violet. The biggest drawback is its variety of legitimate pronunciations in English.
  18. Plum

    • Origin:

      Fruit name

    • Description:

      British-born novelist Plum Sykes has taken this rich, fruity name out of the produce section and put it into the baby name basket. It's more appealing than Apple, more presentable than Peaches. The French equivalent, Prune, is very fashionable there but would not fly with English speakers.
  19. Mauve

    • Origin:

      French

    • Meaning:

      "violet-colored"

    • Description:

      Mauve is an offbeat color name whose soft and sentimental Victorian spirit is conveyed by the name. One of the newer color names like Blue, Gray and Plum that are increasingly being used as novel middle names.
  20. Violette

    • Origin:

      French

    • Meaning:

      "purple"

    • Description:

      Now that Violet is becoming more popular, parents are starting to explore same-but-different options such as the French Violette, which would properly be pronounced with a long e sound in the first syllable and three syllables -- vee-oh-let -- as well as the Spanish Violeta — both of which were among the fastest-rising girl names of 2023.