Flower and color names

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.

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.

Hazel has a pleasantly hazy, brownish-green-eyed, old-fashioned image that more and more parents are choosing to share. Former Old Lady name Hazel reentered the popularity lists in 1998 and now is near the top of the charts.

Olivia, a lovely Shakespearean name with an admirable balance of strength and femininity, is the Number 1 name for baby girls in the US and one of the top girls' names around the world.

Vibrant, sassy, and bubbly, Ruby is a vintage gem that hasn't lost any of its sparkle. Currently popular in a number of English-speaking countries, Ruby is proof of the 100 Year Rule, trending again for the first time since its heyday in the 1910s.

Lily is the most popular of the popular delicate century-old flower names now making a return, thanks to its many irresistible attributes: a cool elegance and a lovely sound, a symbol of purity and innocence, and a role in Christian imagery.

Juniper is a fresh-feeling nature name -- it's a small evergreen shrub -- with lots of energy. A new favorite of fashionable parents, Juniper joins such other tree and shrub names as Hazel, Acacia, and Willow.

The quirky, offbeat and energetic botanical name Ivy is enjoying a deserved revival, propelled even higher by its choice by high-profile parents Beyonce and Jay-Z for daughter Blue Ivy. Ivy is also traditionally used at Christmas, make this one of the perfect names for December babies.

Rose is derived from the Latin rosa, which referred to the flower. There is also evidence to suggest it was a Norman variation of the Germanic name Hrodohaidis, meaning "famous type," and also Hros, "horse". In Old English it was translated as Roese and Rohese.

Though greatly overshadowed by the trendy Olivia, Olive has a quiet, subtle appeal of its own -- and is now enjoying a remarkable comeback. Olive is one of only four girl names starting with O on the US Top 1000. Cool couple Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen chose it for their daughter, reviving the name to stylishness, and now Drew Barrymore has a little Olive too, as has country singer Jake Owen.

Melodic and lively, Delilah has cut itself (mostly) free from its treacherous past to become a contemporary favorite.

Scarlett Johansson is doing more for this sparky southern name than Scarlett O'Hara ever did. Since the turn of the 21st century, Scarlett has gone from an obscure literary name to one of the most popular girls' names starting with S, right after longtime favorites Sophia and Sofia.

As a precious stone, Jade is known for its cool green hues, its importance in Chinese art, and its ability to transmit wisdom, confidence, and clarity. As a name, however, Jade is a 90s throwback in the UK, a Top 5 choice in France, and a returning gem in the US right now.

Marigold, once found almost exclusively in English novels and aristocratic nurseries, is beginning to be talked about and considered here. It has a sweet, sunny, quirky feel. The marigold was the symbol of the Virgin Mary.

Grayson, which you might think of as a Jason-Mason substitute, has been rising through the US Top 1000 since 1984 and has ranked in the Top 100 since 2011.

Of all the botanicals, Fern has been one of the slowest to move back from the front parlor into the nursery, despite the appealing girl character in the children's classic Charlotte's Web. Fern was most popular from the turn of the last century through the 1940s, reaching a high of #152 in 1916. We can certainly see her rejoining the long list of popular greenery names.

Jasmine was derived from the Persian word yasmin, referring to the jasmine flower. Scented oil was made from the plant, and it was used as a perfume throughout the Persian Empire. Variants include Jazmin, Yasmin, Yasmine, and Jessamine.

The Spanish Camila, pronounced ka-MEE-la, is the fastest rising version of this ancient Roman name, but recent royal Camilla may have helped promote the British brand.

As sturdy as Oak, but with stronger roots as a first name, Oakley ticks lots of boxes for modern trends. With its unisex vibe, its nature-based meaning, its surname-y feel, and its popular -lee ending, it's not wonder Oakley is on the rise.

A modern, multifaceted name, Sage is short, sweet, and strong. A unisex possibility, it is also a virtuous word name associated with wisdom, and a nature name linked to a fragrant herb.