Less Common Flower and Plant Names

  1. Shasta
    • Origin:

      Place-name, Sanskrit
    • Meaning:

      "teacher, guide, ruler"
    • Description:

      A Californian mountain name revered by healers and spiritualists, Shasta has a New Age, cowboy feel. The mountain takes its name from the Indigenous American tribe, the Shasta people - though this name is believed to have been given to them either by white people, or by the nearby Klamath people.
  2. Verbena
    • Origin:

      Latin
    • Meaning:

      "sacred foliage"
    • Description:

      This name of a showy, lemony plant makes an unusual entry into the name garden.
  3. Quince
    • Origin:

      Latin
    • Meaning:

      "applelike fruit"
    • Description:

      The girls have Apple, Plum, Peaches, Cherry, and Berry: here's one variety of fruit suitable for a boy.
  4. Fuchsia
    • Origin:

      Plant and color name
    • Meaning:

      "vivid purplish-red; tubular flower"
    • Description:

      A plausible color name, it was chosen by the singer Sting as a middle name for his daughter, after a character in the Gormenghast fantasy trilogy, of which he's a big fan. Another bearer is Fuchsia Voremberg, a member of the BBC Show, Antiques Roadshow who specializes in diaries and manuscripts.
  5. Leaf
    • Origin:

      Nature name
    • Description:

      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.
  6. Freesia
    • Origin:

      Flower name, from German surname
    • Meaning:

      "Freese's flower"
    • Description:

      A rare, free-feeling flower name for the parent who wants to move far, far beyond Rose and Daisy. Named for German physician Friedrich Freese.
  7. Sakura
    • Origin:

      Japanese
    • Meaning:

      "cherry blossom"
    • Description:

      Lovely Japanese name that would certainly be appreciated in Europe and the U.S. It was rarely used in Japan until the 1990s, and draws its current popularity from the fact that it is deeply connected to Japanese traditional culture without sounding frumpy and old-fashioned.
  8. Lilium
    • Origin:

      Flower name, Latin
    • Meaning:

      "lily"
    • Description:

      Lilium is the genus of the lily family and may make an interesting spin on Lillian, for those looking for something distinctive but familiar, wearable but with a touch of unexpected flair. Since the 2000s, a small handful of girls have been given this name in the US.
  9. Nigella
    • Origin:

      Feminine variation of Nigel; botanical name from Latin
    • Meaning:

      "black"
    • Description:

      A name that sounded unthinkably priggish until it became attached to Domestic Goddess British TV chef Nigella Lawson (named for her father), who gave it a big dollop of glamour.
  10. Fuji
    • Origin:

      Japanese
    • Meaning:

      "dweller near the river where wisteria grows"
    • Description:

      To honor the majestic mountain.
  11. Nolana
    • Description:

      Nolana is a feminine name with Latin origins, derived from 'nolanus' meaning 'from Nola,' referring to an ancient city near Naples, Italy. The name also has connections to the botanical world, as Nolana is a genus of flowering plants native to Chile and Peru, featuring bell-shaped blooms. As a given name, Nolana remains quite rare, offering parents a unique choice that carries subtle natural associations. Its melodic sound with the soft 'n' consonants gives it an elegant, flowing quality. While uncommon in mainstream usage, Nolana appeals to those seeking a distinctive name with classical roots and botanical undertones.
  12. Chan
    • Origin:

      Cambodian
    • Meaning:

      "sweet smelling tree"
    • Description:

      Whether it's an Asian surname-name or short for Channing, has a sound and feel that's both simple and stand-out.
  13. Anemone
    • Origin:

      Flower name; Greek
    • Meaning:

      "daughter of the wind"
    • Description:

      Anemone is a floral name that relates to the ancient Greek myth of the famous love story of Aphrodite and Adonis, in which Aphrodite transforms her wounded lover's blood into a flower, the crimson anemone, whose blossoms are opened by the wind — accounting for its other name, windflower.
  14. Vine
    • Origin:

      English nature name
    • Description:

      Unusual and simple nature name worthy of further consideration.
  15. Campion
    • Clarkia
      • Dandelion
        • Alchemilla
          • Lantana
            • Lupin

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