Millennials Are Naming Their Babies After Houseplants
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It's official! Millennials are naming their babies after houseplants.
Not just content with having a few potted plants dotted around the house, parents born between 1981 and 1996 are taking the theme to the extreme, by naming their children after their favourite succulents.
From Lily to Bay, green-inspired names have become even more popular in the past year, with thousands of babies named after flowers or houseplants.
According to research by online garden centre Primrose, the UK's love of plants - especially during lockdown - has inspired the top baby names of the past year.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently revealed the most popular baby names of 2020 and topping the list for plant-inspired girls' names is Lily.
Inspired by peace lilies, one of the nation's favourite houseplants, 2,931 babies were named Lily in 2020, according to the study.
Next on the list was Poppy - with 2,457 babies named after the Remembrance Day flower in 2020 - followed by Daisy.
Holly, Summer and Jasmine came in at numbers 4, 5 and 6 on the list, while Rose, Willow, Violet and Iris were also popular girls' names for babies born in 2020.
While not inspired by house plants, the names Ivy and Rosie have also grown in popularity in recent years. Since 2010, Ivy has risen 221 places to become the sixth most popular girls name in England and Wales in 2020, says the ONS.
See the full list of plant-inspired girls names below:
1. Lily
2. Poppy
3. Daisy
4. Holly
5. Summer
6. Jasmine
7. Rose
8. Willow
9. Violet
10. Iris
Meanwhile, the name Rowan came out on top as the most popular plant-inspired boys name for 2020.
In contrast to Lily, just 395 babies were called Rowan in 2020, a name also shared by a tree that produces scarlet berries, but it was the most popular green-themed boys name of the year.
The research found: "The most popular boy name in Primrose's research is inspired by the Rowan tree, a fairly small plant growing vibrant red berries towards the end of summer."
The name Robin, shared by both a houseplant and a bird, came in in second place, with 121 little ones being given the festive-inspired name in 2020.
This was closely followed by Oakley, Basil and Acer, which is also the name of a maple tree.
Florian - a plant ideal for growing in hanging baskets on a sunny patio - scored highly on the list, while Bay, Forrest, Woodrow and Wren also proved popular names to call baby boys in 2020.
See the full list of plant-inspired boys names below:
1. Rowan
2. Robin
3. Oakley
4. Basil
5. Acer
6. Florian
7. Bay
8. Forrest
9. Woodrow
10. Wren
Primrose analysed ONS baby name data to decipher the way in which our love for plants inspired name choices during lockdown.
Interestingly, the research found that parents were more likely to choose green-themed names for girls rather than boys.
The website's gardening expert, Evie Lane, said: "Over the last few years, our love for gardening and plants has grown dramatically. Online searches show that since 2010, the demand for gardening and plants has risen every year. In fact, searches for plants increased by a huge 900 per cent in April 2020 during our first lockdown.
"While the demand this year isn't as high as in lockdown, plants are still very much on trend, with Google searches increasing by 560% in the last decade.
"The trend is very likely to have influenced our baby name choices, as we associate gardening with growing new life. Plus, plants are very beautiful to look at, so of course you would want to give your baby an equally beautiful name.
"House plants are proving to be very popular still, with a 944 per cent increase in online searches since 2010. Maybe our 2021 and 2022 babies will be named Aloe or Peace Lily!"
