Offbeat Florals

A botanical name belonging to a small yellow flower in the poppy family. The word ultimately derives from chelidon, the Ancient Greek for "swallow (bird)".

Feminine form of Chrysanthos, meaning "golden flower". A unique option for a November baby (the November birth flower is a chrysanthemum) or to honor an ancestral Chris, Chrysanthe feels more wearable than the full Chrysanthemum, despite the storybook mouse.

Ixora is a type of flowering plant which in tropical climates flower all year round. Ixora is important in Hindu worship. Ixora is also the name of an album by Florida-based band Copeland.

An unusual flower name deriving from the Latin word for lily (lilium), this variant has always been popular in Scotland.

Like many a popular name, Ornella is a theatrical creation. Italian playwright Gabriele d'Annunzio created this name for his dramatic heroine in the 1904 play La Figlia di Iorio. Ornella is a feminization of the orno or ornello, which is the Italian word for the Fraxinus Ornus, a type of tree which produces such sweet sap that it was compared to biblical manna.

A rare and striking flower name, in use in English since the late 19th century, which takes its name from the Greek word for "flame".

The Norwegian word for "honeysuckle" could make for a fresh and vibrant nature-inspired choice.

Zinnia is an unusual floral choice with a bit more edge and energy than most and beginning to find its way onto namers' wish lists of botanical possibilities. Named after an eighteenth German botanist called Johann Gottfried Zinn, it appears in Roald Dahl's Matilda as the young protagonist's mother.