New parents are looking to nature for inspiration when it comes to naming their offspring.
Trend analysts McCrindle has released a report into the top 100 names given to babies in Australia for 2018.
Each year, the states and territories around Australia reveal the top names given to babies in the previous year and McCrindle has looked at what’s trending amongst the newborn monikers in its 2019 report.
One theme it noticed was that young parents were increasingly using botanicals as a source for naming.
Of the top five girls’ names that most significantly increased in popularity in the 2010s, three were a nod to nature – Willow, Violet and Ivy.
From 2010 to 2018, Willow increased 64 positions to now sit at 10th position. While Violet increased 53 positions to sit at 39 on the list.
Two of the top five names that most increased in popularity between 2017 and 2018 were plants – Daisy and Olive.
The most popular nature names in the top 100 girl names are:
Willow (10th)
Ivy (18th)
Lily (22nd)
Violet (39th)
Poppy (41st)
Daisy (47th)
Rose (56th)
Jasmine (63rd)
Olive (79th)
In contrast, no Top 100 boys’ names have botanic influences.
Baby name site Nameberry also reveals the nature theme is popular amongst its US residents. Along with Willow and Ivy, other nature-inspired names in the US Top 1000 include Briar, Dahlia, Sage, River, Laurel, Magnolia and Wren.
Who knows if it’s a generation impacted by social change, activism or the environment or just people paying tribute to their favourite scent or flower – either way we are fans of the pretty trend.