Floral Theme Naming

Malus: I am warning you, you tell me another and I'll arrest you myself. That is a promise, Miss...
Rose: Rose. Sister Rose.
Malus: Of course. Another plant!

— The Wicker Man (2006)

A simple and common form of Theme Naming is to name characters after flowers or other plants. This has the advantage of being less conspicuous than other forms of theme naming, as many of these names are common Real Life names, particularly for girls. Furthermore, many flowers and other plants already have strong symbolic associations.

Common English language plant names for girls include Alyssa^note Commonly regarded as a variant of Alice, the name is more likely derived from the Alyssum plant, Angelica^note It's a genus, along with Erica and Veronica, Anthea^note more common in British works, it's derived from the Greek word for "blossom", Dahlia, Daisy, Erica, Ginger, Hazel, Heather, Holly, Iris, Ivy, Jasmine, Kayla^note In Hebrew, this means "wreath of laurels", Laurel^note along with Lauren, Laura, and other variants, Lily, Marigold, Olive, Olivia, Petunia, Poppy, Rose, Rosemary, Sharon^note as in the Rose of Sharon, Susan^note From the Hebrew word for "lily," also gives its name to the black-eyed Susan, Veronica, Violet and Willow. Creates something of a problem if they later have a son, since there are not many plant names that could work for boys, though Ash, Basil, Heath, Herb^note This one works better in written works than spoken works, as at least in American English where the "H" is silent in the plant herb but not the name Herb, Joshua, Logan, Oliver and Rowan are some examples.

If there's a female skunk in a story, chances are she'll have this, for obvious reasons. A more eco-conscious New-Age Retro Hippie who has kids will often name them after nature.

A Sub-Trope of Scientific and Technological Theme Naming, as its botanical branch. See also Cherry Blossom Girl, and, of course, Flower Motifs. The Tragic Rose is a subtrope about the poignant relationship between roses and pain which also applies to persons named Rose. See also Queer Flowers, when the floral name and LGBT character's romantic feelings are connected.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Most of the members of the guild Moon Tree in .hack//G.U. are named after plants.
• In Blue Seed all of the major characters are named after either trees or plants. Koume for example means "little plum", Matsudaira's first name Azusa means "catalpa tree", Momiji and Kaede are both names for maple, 'Take' from Takeuchi's name means "bamboo", Kusanagi means "mower of grass", Sakura is "cherry blossom", and so on and so forth.
• The entire Kinomoto family in Cardcaptor Sakura. There's the titular character Sakura, her mother Nadeshiko (Japanese name for an entire family of flowering plants), her brother Touya whose name contains the kanji for Peach Blossom and her father Fujitaka (wisteria). It's emphasized in the manga with the character profiles, which name each of the family's favourite flower as the one they're named after, except Nadeshiko - whose favourite flower was cherry blossom, hence why she named her daughter 'Sakura'.
• The titular mecha from DARLING in the FRANXX are all named after genera of flowering plants, such as Strelizia (bird-of-paradise), Delphinium (larkspur), and Chlorophytum (spider plant). Taking it a step further, each Franxx is piloted by a male-female couple known respectively as stamen and pistil, after the male and female sexual organs of flowers.
• Granbelm: Each of the Armonox used by the mages have a flower-related name such as Lily, Viola, and Baika.
• In HeartCatch Pretty Cure!, all the Cures have flower-related names: Tsubomi ("flower bud"), Erika (after the flower, "erica"), Itsuki ("flowering tree") and Yuri ("lily"). Also, one of the fairy mascots is named Potpourri, and their mothers follow the pattern too: Tsubomi's mother Mizuki ("ki" = "tree"), Erika's mother Sakura ("cherry blossom"), Itsuki's mother Tsubaki ("camellia"), and Yuri's mother Haruna ("haru" = "spring").
• In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki: The names of each character translates to the name of a flower, plant, or something connected to both. Most prominent are Tsubaki (Camellia japonica) and Sazanka (Camellia sasanqua), who share a sisterly bond due to their namesake flowers being of the same family.
• Fujiwara's family in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War all have names that relate to plants in some way (Daichi, the family patriarch, being the most indirect as his name translates to "large field"). It ties into the overall Shout-Out Theme Naming of the series, as Fujiwara's counterpart from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter was tasked by Kaguya-hime with collecting the Jeweled Branch from Hourai.
• Flower names appear throughout Knight Hunters. Ran means "orchid" and is referenced several times within the series; Sakura, of course, refers to Cherry Blossoms; Yoji may refer to Mirabilis jalapa; Weiss has a handler codenamed Botan. All of the Aoba Center Kritiker personnel have flower names (although these are probably codenames): Shion (Tatarian aster), Kikyou (Chinese bellflower), Kuroyuri (black lily), and Tsubaki (camellia). The members of La Mort use flower-themed names as well: Azami (thistle flower), Ayame (iris), and Rindou (Japanese gentian).
• The Kagamihara sisters in Laid-Back Camp are called Nadeshiko and Sakura, after the dianthus flower and Cherry Blossoms respectively.
• Most of the various ships and ship classes, mecha and alien devices in Martian Successor Nadesico are also named after flowers — although this is deliberately obscured at times in the North American dub. ("Chulips" are, in fact, "tulips".)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory has all of the mobile suits created as part of the EFSF's Gundam Development Project named after flowers, namely the RX-78GP01 Zephyranthes, the RX-78GP02A Physalis, the RX-78GP03 Dendrobium Orchis/Stamen and the prototypes RX-78GP00 Blossom and RX-78GP04G Gerbera.
• In The Morose Mononokean, one of the main characters, Hanae, and his sister both have flower-themed names; the name of their mom, a florist, means 'oak'.
• Naruto:
  • With one exception, all of Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku techniques are named after plants, including Camellia, Clematis, Larch, Fern, and Willow.
  • A subtle example is the Haruno family. Sakura is obvious, but her parents' names, while not referring to flowers, do allude to the life cycle of a plant: Kizashi is Japanese for sprouting, while Mebuki is Japanese for budding.
• One Piece: The Kuja tribe usually have flower-related names. A full list: Sandersonia, Marigold, Ran ("orchid"), Rindo ("Japanese gentian"), Daisy, Cosmos, Blue Fan, Sweet Pea, Marguerite, Aphelandra, Gloriosa, Kikyo ("Chinese bellflower"), Belladonna ("nightshade"), Kiku ("Chrysanthemum"), Poppy, Pansy, Shion ("aster"), Enishida ("broom") and Nerine. It isn't known for sure where their empress Hancock's name is taken from, but it's probably either from Thomas Hancock, (founder of the British rubber industry), or from the Latin name for snowberry.
• In Oresuki, the female characters all have flower-themed nicknames derived from the kanji in their real names; for example, Sumireko Sanshokuin (written as 三色院 菫子), is nicknamed Pansy (三色菫, pronounced as "Panjii"). Some of their real names also refer to flowers (e.g. Cosmos’s real name, Sakura, means "cherry blossom", while Pansy's real name, Sumireko, has the kanji for "violet"). Relatedly, the Theme Naming for the male characters’ nicknames is stuff that nourishes flowers. e.g. Protagonist Amatsuyu Kisaragi aka Joro = Watering Can, Bromantic Foil Taiyo Ōga aka Sun-chan.
• Please Save My Earth: Being aliens watching over earth, Moku Ren finds out that by pronouncing their names without pauses in it, their names all are a type of flower or plant found on Earth.
• Pokémon: The Series: Multiple:
  • In the Japanese and English version of the anime, Misty's three sisters are named after flowers. In the Japanese version, they're Sakura (cherry blossom), Ayame (iris), and Botan (peony), while Misty's Japanese name, "Kasumi", can mean either "baby's breath" or "mist". In the English version, the sisters are Daisy, Violet, and Lily. Misty loses out on the theme naming in order to keep her Meaningful Name relating to her being the water-type Gym Leader (and having the Odd Name Out emphasizes how her sisters consider her The Runt at the End).
  • Gary Oak's name is also a pun; there's a type of tree called a Garry Oak. He is the rival of Ash, who also happens to have a tree name.
  • The Orange Islands' professor continues the Pokémon Professors' tradition towards names like these with Felina Ivy (not a tree, but she was made before that rule was set in stone for the girls too).
• In Raise Wa Tanin Ga Ii most of the main characters are named after flowers. Miyama Kirishima is type of azalea and the "symbol flower" of Kagoshima. Somei Yoshino is a common type of cherry blossom originating from the "King cherry" on Jeju Island. Akashigata Tsubaki is a type of camellia that is considered the "rose of Japan". Author hasn't said why they chose this convention but given the nature of the manga it might be a reference to the delicacy and fleeting beauty of seasonal flowers. Kinda like a life cut brutally short.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena, is rife with floral imagery. "Anthy" is a Greek name meaning "flower". "Utena" is the Japanese word for "calyx", the protective covering that shields a developing blossom.
• The villains from the first Sailor Moon movie have floral names. Fiore is Italian for flower, the Flower Youma are named after types of plants, and the Xenian Flower's name refers to "xenia", the effect of pollen on a seed or fruit.
• Sakura Discord's entire premise revolves around the main characters all having "sakura" in their names, which helps to bring them closer as if it was some kind of destiny.
• Magical Flowers, a Show Within a Show in Servant × Service, features a combination of this trope and Colourful Theme Naming for the names of its main characters; namely Gerbera Pink, Rose Black, Hydrangea Blue, Mimosa Yellow and Lupin Purple.
• Shaman King:
  • The Asakura family also has something of a theme going, with all of its members having kanji representing parts of plants in their names. The most common is "leaf", found in Hao ("leaf emperor"), Yoh ("leaf"), Yohmei ("bright leaf"), and Yohken ("wise leaf"), but there's also Keiko ("stem child"), Mikihisa ("long-lasting tree trunk"), and Kino ("of wood"). Yoh's son Hana ("flower") also fits the bill.
  • Tao Ren and Tao Ran deserve mention as well as Ren's Chinese name, Lián, means "lotus" while Ran's Chinese name, Lán, means "orchid".
• In Sonic X, Cosmo's species are all named after plants, given their floral features (though the 4kids version had the names space-themed).
  • This also applies to Dark Oak and the other Metarex leaders sincethey are revealed to be the last surviving males of the same species.
• Tamagotchi: The two members of D2, Daisy and Dahlia, are named after different kinds of flowers.
• In tsuritama, the girls: Koko (coconut), Misaki (doesn't seem to be an actual plant, although it literally translates to "ocean blossom"), Sakura ("cherry blossom"), Erika ("heather"), and Keito/Kate ("plumed cockscomb").
• Urusei Yatsura has two characters, who are related to each other, named Sakura (means "cherry tree" or "cherry flower") and Sakuranbo (means either "cherry fruit" or "deranged monk", depending on which kanji it's written with; he prefers to be called "Cherry" because of the latter meaning).
• In Wedding Peach, Momoko and her friends are all named after flowers, both in their Love Angel forms and as civilians.
• In Violet Evergarden most of the characters incorporate a flowering plant in their name somehow — Violet Evergarden, Gilbert Bougainvillea, Cattleya Baudelaire, Iris Cannary, Erica Brown, Ann Magnolia, Leon Stephanotis.
• In YuruYuri, the Ohmuro sisters' names all have something to do with flowers; Sakurako's name means "cherry blossom child", Nadeshiko's name is the Japanese name for the dianthus flower, and Hanako's name means "flower child".
• The ferry girls in YuYu Hakusho: Botan (peony), Ayame (iris) and movie-only Hinageshi (red poppy). Sensui is an anagram of "suisen," meaning daffodil, while Itsuki means "flowering tree." As they also worked for Spirit World, this is likely deliberate and a play on their Face–Heel Turn.

Asian Animation

• In Boonie Bears, the bears' English names, Briar and Bramble, are also names for shrubs.

Comic Books

• The Archie Comics story "Flower Power" mixes it with Family Theme Naming: The triplets Daisy, Rose, and Iris Gardener, who take turns dating Archie... all in one night, by pretending to be the same person.
• Bone has Thorn, her grandma Rose, and Rose's sister Briar. The names were chosen as an homage to "Sleeping Beauty".
• All of the characters in Goodbye, Battle Princess Peony are named after flowers: Peony, Dianthus, Lovelace (a variety of clematis), Moonshine (a variety of yarrow), Nightsky (a variety of petunia), and Silkrose. Silkrose is an interesting case, because there's no such variety of rose called the silkrose... unless her name is meant to refer to actual silk roses, as in fake flowers. This could be meant to be a hint that her cold, cruel demeanor is nothing more than a façade.

Eastern European Animation

• In Krisztofóró, Bőfejű's 13 heads are all named after plants, with a "B" at the beginning replacing whatever letter the plant would actually start with. They are named Bályva, Befelejts, Berbera, Baktusz, Bipacs, Begfű, Bibolya, Bulipán, Borgona, Bargaréta, Brizantém, Biliom and Bankalin, which would translate to "Ballow", "Borget-Me-Not", "Berbera", "Bactus", "Boppy", "Barnation", "Biolet", "Bulip", "Bilac", "Baisy", "Brysanthemum", "Bily", and "Brimrose" in English respectively.

Fan Works

• Dungeon Keeper Ami: The seven sisters that make up the Sixth Full-Fairy Aerial Recon Force of the Shining Concord Empire: Camilla, Melissa, Anise, Roselle, Cerasse, Dandel, and Tilia.
• Frostbitten Flower: Celia and Muffy discuss female baby names. Celia mentions she likes the name "Lily", which causes Muffy to tease her over farming so much:
  Celia: But I've always liked the name Lily.
  Muffy: A flower name, huh? That doesn't surprise me, Celia. Petunia, Rose, Violet, Lily-you've been a farmer for so long, I guess plants just pop into your brain like that.
  Celia: But that's not really fair, Muffy. I don't accuse you of naming your children after designer brands.
  Muffy: Because you know I've just got so many children running around, Celia. Little Prada and Gucci will just about drive me mad.
• In Gensokyo 20XX, it is interesting to note that both Ran and Ren are named after some kind of flower, as Ran's name could either translate to "orchid" or "indgo", and Ren's name could translate to "water lily" or, as a favorite way of writing his name dictates, "lotus". It should also be noted that both are wife and husband.
• In Harry, Just Harry Poppy Pomfrey has a brother named Woodruff and a sister named Calendula. Two of the latter and her husband Rowan's three children are named Heather and Ivy.
• In Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail, characters in the Pokémon world are given last names based off of trees or flowers. A partial list includes:
  • Trip Espinosa: Hawthorn.
  • Tokio Chisou: Zinnia
  • Goh Fujihachi: Wisteria.
  • Sara Diktalyis: Foxglove
  • Hop/Leon Hyacin: Hyacinth
  • Paul/Reggie Drangea: Hydrangea
• Magical Metamorphosis: In keeping with the canonical theme naming of Evans family women, Lily and James's child changes her name to Holly when she comes out as transgender.
• Ilex the Elder, writer of such fics as Mended and Til Death Do Us Part, depicts Professor Oak's deceased wife as being named "Rose Oak" This also doubles as The Tragic Rose.
• The Night Unfurls: Lily, a nun who becomes Kyril's third apprentice, and the Knights of Iris, a light cavalry force. Both are named after flowers.
• Oversaturated World: Apple Bloom's family has apple-type Family Theme Naming: Her sister Applejack, and grandmother Granny Smith.
• In A Period of Silence, Shego's name is Lily Kedar. It's an unusually pleasant sounding name for a Dark Action Girl like Shego, but it's a Meaningful Name due to lilies being frequently used at funerals.
• The "Professor Ash" snippet series continues the theme of Pokémon Professors being named after trees, since Ash is also a kind of tree.
• The Palaververse: Apple Bloom's family has implied apple-type Family Theme Naming, since it's not explicitly stated that Applejack is Apple Bloom's sister, like in the source work.
• Past Sins: Apple Bloom's family has apple-type Family Theme Naming: Her sister Applejack, and grandmother Granny Smith.
• Psychedelic Epiphany Series: Family Theme Naming with Treehugger, and her parents, Meadow Dan and Willow Song.
• Used in Some Semblance of Meaning, which makes sense, seeing as it's a Hunger Games fanfiction. Several characters are given floral names: Laurel, Briony, Phlox, Cassia (a type of tree), Tansy (the real name of Lavinia Gilden), etc. Also, the author's pen name is Volcanic Lily.
• Yamujiburo: May and Drew's son is named "Fern", fitting how his father loves grass-types and flowers.
• In Yearning to be free the Potter family elves are named Magnolia, Hawthorn, Sabal, Sequoia, Mugo, Ginkgo, Bebb, Sitka, Ponderosa, Redwood, Cypress, Willow, Mulberry, Bristlecone and Lodgepole.

Films — Animation

• In Turning Red, in the Cantonese dub, Mei's given name is transcribed as 美蓮 (Méih-lìhn, or Mei-lin), meaning "beautiful lotus". In traditional Chinese literature, the lotus flower symbolizes purity and incorruptibility, as it is clean even though it grows in the mud, which may hint towards her mother's perfectionistic expectations towards her.

Film — Live Action

• In Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny, all the women that the main character meets on his journey have flower names. Because his ex-girlfriend's name was Daisy, this suggests that these interactions are all in his head, as is his interaction with Daisy, who is actually dead.
• In Chai Lai Angels: Dangerous Flowers, the Chai Lai agents are all codenamed after flowers: Lotus, Hibiscus, Rose, Spadix and Crown of Thorns (a.k.a. Poy-sian).
• Damsels in Distress: the Damsels are Violet, Rose, Heather and Lily.
• In Dr. No, the staff in No's Elaborate Underground Base include a pair of female warders named Sister Rose and Sister Lily. The theme extends further, with his mole in Government House being Miss Taro (taro is a species of edible tropical plant).
• The Hunger Games: Katniss is named after a plant that is also called "arrowhead," referring to her weapon of choice. "Primrose" means "eternal love". "Rue" means "regret," referring to Kat's regret over her death.
• There have been four films in the Poison Ivy series, and each has kept the tradition alive and given its protagonist a floral name (Ivy, Lily, Violet, and Daisy.)
• In the Sex and the City movie, Charlotte's daughters are Rose and Lily.
• In both the original version of The Wicker Man (1973) and its 2006 remake of the citizens of Summerisle all have plant names to reflect their Pagan religion, including rare male examples like Ash, Oak, and Alder. (This is especially noticeable when Howie is browsing the list of students◊ at the school.) While in the remake it's Lampshaded with the page quote, in the original Howie remarks on it when he looks up the death certificates for the family of the missing girl.
  Howie: "Benjamin and Rachel Morrison." (pleased) Rachel and Benjamin, names from the Bible.
  Librarian: (dismissively) Yes. They were very old.

Literature

• In The Alice Network, Lili, Violette, "Marguerite," and Rose all have flower names, which ties into the "fleurs du mal" metaphor.
• In the Anne of Green Gables series, we have Lavendar Lewis, Hazel Marr, Ivy Trent, Rose Elliott and Rosemary West.
• Artemis Fowl offers Holly Short, Julius and Turnball Root, Mulch Diggums, Grub and Trouble Kelp, and Briar Cudgeon.
• MG and Pete, the Caldecott sisters of the Black London series by Caitlin Kittredge are Morning Glory and Petunia, respectively.
• The Bliss Bakery: Rosemary, her brother Thyme, and their Aunt Lily are all named after plants, and Rosemary, Thyme are also both plants used as seasoning.
• In Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Changeling 1970, Ivy, Martha and Josie have a sustained fantasy game about a faraway planet, The Land of the Green Sky, populated by peaceful Tree People. (You can see where this is going). The characters in the little girls' game are all named for flowers, trees or plants; there's Prince Willow, Princess Wisteria and their advisor Lord Lilac; in the opposite corner (down below the earth) there's Princess Mistletoe, her dad Lord Hemlock (apparently a Consort), and her mom, the reigning monarch, Queen Oleander.
• In P.C. Hodgell's Chronicles of the Kencyrath series, female Kendar almost universally have plant-based names, both flowering and non-flowering: Rue, Brier, Rose, Larch, Nightshade, Cherry, Hawthorn being just a few examples.
• Deconstructed and then reconstructed in the children's picture book, Chrysanthemum. The title character loves her name until her first day of school comes, at which all the other students laugh at her because her name is so long and doesn't fit on her name tag ("I'm named after my grandmother; you're named after a flower!") However, the music teacher, who the students admire deeply, comes to Chrysanthemum's rescue by showing them that she's also named after a flower and wants to name her daughter after the same one as the protagonist.
• Dedicates and some mages in the Circle of Magic universe normally pick nature-y names, with plant mages having, well, plant names. Two of them are Rosethorn and Briar Moss, with another healer called Henna.
• Starring badgers in the woodlands of Wales, The Cold Moons features a number of characters with botanical names. Examples include Fern, Dandelion, Bamber, Corntop, and Fircone.
• In the Dear America book A Coal Miner's Bride the main character meets the daughters of the man she is going to marry, Violet, Rose, and Lily. All she could come up with to say is, "What a beautiful garden."
• Heather Dixon's Entwined, also based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, not only names all twelve princesses after flowers and plants, but alphabetically in order of birth as well: Azalea, Bramble, Clover, Delphinium, Evening Primrose, Flora, Goldenrod, Hollyhock, Ivy, Jessamine, Kale, and Lily.
• In Nina Kiriki Hoffman's book A Fistful of Sky, the mother Anise and the mother's sister Hazel are named for plants.
• Technically, the Easter Bunny from The Guardians of Childhood series as his full name is E. Aster Bunnymund — 'Aster' being an entire genus of flowering plants. Given his portrayal in the books, the association is likely unintentional, but it's given more meaning in his movie portrayal, where he's a spirit of spring. This has led to a fandom trend of using this trope for original Pooka characters including, occasionally, AU versions of Jack Frost.
• Harry Potter:
  • His mother, Lily (symbolic of purity and death) and aunt, Petunia (symbolic of resentment) Evans.
  • At least six girls in Harry's year have floral names: Susan Bones, Lavender Brown, Daphne Greengrass (means laurel), Lily Moon, Pansy Parkinson, and Padma Patil (means lotus).
  • From the Hogwarts staff, there's Poppy Pomfrey the nurse (poppies relieve pain) and Pomona (goddess of gardens and fruits) Sprout the Herbology professor.
  • Others include Moaning Myrtle (it's a shrub like a blueberry), Narcissa (egotism, derived from the narcissus flower) Malfoy, Fleur Delacour (French for flower), Arabella Figg, Dorcas Meadowes, and Ron and Hermione's daughter, Rose.
  • Lupin. Tends to be overlooked in favour of wolf-ishness, but it's a flower genus that includes the bluebonnet (as Texans may know of them).
• Katniss from The Hunger Games comes from an aquatic plant while her sister Primrose received her name from a bush (Primrose bush). Prim named the cat Buttercup because she insisted that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. Rue, another tribute, received her name from a small mountain flower (Ruta graveolens). Symbolically, both Ruta graveolens and primrose blossoms close at night. Rumor has it Suzanne Collins says Katniss and Peeta's daughter is named Willow.
• In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth (The Lord of the Rings, etc.), the hobbits do have an acknowledged tradition of most often naming their daughters after flowers or gemstones. E.g. among Sam's six daughters are four with flower-names: Elanor (a flower growing in Lothlórien), Rose (named after her mother), Daisy, Primrose.
  • It's also mentioned that many humans and some hobbits from Bree have plant-names, including the innkeeper Barliman Butterbur and Saruman's agent Bill Ferny.
  • Bilbo's mother was Belladonna; it means 'beautiful lady', but is another name for deadly nightshade. As she's dead before the beginning of the book, we don't know if either meaning is significant.
• In The Man with the Golden Gun, Tiffy tells James Bond that she is the youngest of six girls. Her mother named them all after flowers; Violet, Rose, Cherry, Pansy, and Lily. When Tiffy was born she couldn't think of another flower related name so she dubbed her "Artificial".
• In Mirror Dance, the women of the Durona group are all named after plants because their clone mother is named Lily. The men have avian-themed names, instead.
• In the Perfectly Princess book Yellow Princess Gets a Pet, Abby loves flowers names, and as such her first two pets are named Lily and Daisy.
• Princesses of the Pizza Parlor: The three Plant Persons of Episode 2, Thistle, Sweetbriar, Princess Rosalind.
• Jessica Day George's Princess of the Midnight Ball, based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, names all twelve of the princesses after flowers. From eldest to youngest, they are Rose, Lily, Jonquil, Hyacinth, Violet, the twins Poppy and Daisy, Iris, Lilac, Orchid, Pansy, and Petunia.
• In Dick King-Smith's The Schoolmouse, Hyacintha is fond of that. The only surviving daughter of her first litter is called Flora, and the second litter is named entirely after flowers, combined with Alliterative Family (Lavender, Lobelia, Lily etc.).
• In The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson, the three nurses are called Lily, Rose and Violet. For added fun, they are identical triplets.
• Happens a lot in Redwall, with instances such as Cornflower, Rose, and Columbine.
• Old Sage Brush of Run Wild is named after the shrub sagebrush.
• Kate Morton's novel The Secret Keeper has four sisters: Laurel, Daphne, Iris, and Rose. (And their brother, Gerald.)
• Sisterland has identical twins Violet and Daisy Shramm. Daisy dislikes her name and starts going by Kate as an adult, but she still names her first child Rosie.
• In Connie Willis' novel To Say Nothing of the Dog, the Chattisbourne sisters are named Rose, Iris, Pansy, and Eglantine. Their mother even introduces them as her flower garden.
• There are lots of plant-based names in Warrior Cats, since the characters name their children after what they know, and they live in the forest. A few examples include Mapleshade, Spottedleaf, Poppydawn, Moonflower, Willowpelt, Birchfall, Honeyfern, Leafpool, Rosepetal, and Daisy (who was actually named by humans).
• Every single rabbit in Watership Down except Fiver and Bigwig (which are both nicknames) is named after a type of flower or type of low-growing plant. This even allows Names to Run Away from Really Fast, with "General Woundwort". (It also started a trend among writers and pet owners, as mentioned over in Stock Animal Names.)
• Worth the Candle has the sprawling royal Penndraig family, all known members of which have been named after flowers for the past several centuries. By earth standards, the names range from the ordinary, like Hyacinth, to the odd, like Onion.

Live-Action TV

• Carnivàle has Iris Crowe, though that isn't her birth name. It's nicely subverted by the fact that she's one of the bad guys (being big sister to The Antichrist will do that), and that irises are a symbol of heaven. She does, however, wear a lot of blue, and traditionally, blue irises were symbols of faith and hope, which Iris does embody, in a dark way.
• Cleopatra 2525 features Sarge (whose real name is Rose) and her sister Lily.
• In The Golden Girls, Rose has two sisters, Lily and Holly.
• In How I Met Your Mother, Lily has a daughter named Daisy.
• Kamen Rider Revice has two major female characters, Sakura (cherry blossom) and Hana (flower). Then you have Sakura's mom, Yukimi (the mi using the kanji for "seed") and Hana's "sister", Yuriko ("yuri" being lily).
• In Keeping Up Appearances, Hyacinth and her three sisters, Violet (the one with a Mercedes, sauna, and room for a pony), Daisy (not the one with a Mercedes, sauna, and room for a pony), and Rose (also without a Mercedes, sauna, and room for a pony, and in point in fact an aging village bicycle) are all named after flowers. Hyacinth insists on her last name to be pronounced Bouquet. "Bucket" is Richard's name, and she's being snotty.
• Constable Crabtree's massively numbered aunts in Murdoch Mysteries. In one episode, Murdoch asks how many aunts he has: "Well let's see, there's Aunt Amaryllis, Aunt Aster, Aunt Azalea, Aunt Begonia, Aunt Briony..." These were just A's and B's. Fifteen identified: Aunt Amaryllis, Aunt Aster, Aunt Azalea, Aunt Begonia, Aunt Briony, Aunt Clematis, Aunt Dahlia (though George managed to pronounce just "Dahl-" before he's cut off), Aunt Hyacinth, Aunt Iris, Aunt Ivy, Aunt Lily, Aunt Marigold, Aunt Nettle, Aunt Petunia, Aunt Primrose. The ones mentioned most often are Aunt Iris, Aunt Primrose, Aunt Petunia or Aunt Begonia. And it turns out that the Aunts aren't technically aunts, but a group of prostitutes who adopted the names as a selling point.
• The Cozy Mystery series Rosemary & Thyme has academic horticulturist and professional gardener Rosemary Boxer and her friend Laura Thyme, a retired police officer. Laura's name, related to laurel, and the surname Boxer may be more plant terms the creators slipped in; box or boxwood is a common bush in England and Europe, characterized by hardiness and a pleasant scent.
• Schitt's Creek concerns the lives of the Rose family, who after losing their fortune and presumably sweet-smelling opulent existence, are forced to move to the rural town of Schitt's Creek and become friendly with the Schitt Family. They also meet sardonic motel clerk Stevie Budd, who gradually becomes integrated into the Rose family. When Johnny Rose and Stevie decide to partner in owning and running the motel, he renames it The Rosebud Motel to honor their partnership and thereafter all four of the Roses treat Stevie like family.
• Super Sentai:
  • Ninja Sentai Kakuranger has the Flower Kunoichi Gang, a group of five girls who are all named after flowers.
  • GoGo Sentai Boukenger has Sakura (cherry blossom) and Natsuki, whose name contains the kanji for cole blossom. Their Power Rangers Operation Overdrive counterparts are also named Rose and Veronica.
  • In Juken Sentai Gekiranger the lone female is named Ran (orchid) and her Power Rangers Jungle Fury counterpart is named Lily. Gekiranger also had a female gang of thieves with the names Rose, Lily and Cherry.

Music

• Doll Skin originally planned to name all of the songs on their album Manic Pixie Dream Girl after flowers, but ultimately only named three ("Sunflower", "Sweet Pea", and "Baby's Breath") using this theme out of a desire to avoid sticking songs with names that didn't fit.

Mythology

• Many Greek Nymphs. Obviously justified, since they are nature spirits. Bonus when turned to a flower by a miffed deity. Sometimes it's inverted, though, since the stories that these characters feature in are explanations for how and why a plant came to be—Daphne, for example, was turned into a laurel tree as an origin story for those plants rather than because her name means "laurel."

Newspaper Comics

• An unusual example: On the Fastrack's Rose Trellis (double whammy!), whose second husband is Thornton Saguaro.

Tabletop Games

• Yu-Gi-Oh!: Each of the Aromage are named after a species of flower that can be used to produce essential oils.

Theatre

• In The Secret Garden musical, Colin's mother Lily has a duet at the start of Act 2 (as part of a quartet) with her sister, Rose.

Video Games

• In Artery Gear: Fusion, many Artery Gears are named after plants or flowers, including Rosemary, Acacia, Nemophila, Verbena, Angelica, Lewisia...
• In a meta example, the internal names for Borderlands 3 and its four expansions are named after a type of plant or flower, and they are as follows:
  • The game itself: Oak
  • Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot: Dandelion
  • Guns, Love and Tentacles: Hibiscus
  • Bounty of Blood: Geranium
  • Psycho Krieg and the Fantastic Fustercluck: Alisma
• The Caligula Effect has Sweet-P (sweet pea) and her Princesses — Rose, Lily, and Iris.
• In Chicory: A Colorful Tale, the bugs living in Feast are named after various plants such as Drosera, Prunus, Wisteria, and Melaleuca.
• The majority of names and places in Duel Savior Destiny are named for plants including such obvious things as Floria academy, Lily or Lobelia.
• The Sakura Five of Fate CCC EXTRA have names based on flowers, like the original Sakura Matou: Meltryllis (amaryllis), Passionlip (passion flower and tulip), Kazuradrop (utsubokazura (the Japanese name for pitcher plants) and snowdrop), Violet, and Kingprotea.
• Final Fantasy X: Yuna's name is Okinawan for the sea hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus), a flower that naturally grows in tropical Pacific region, tying in to Spira being a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Southeast Asia and the game's heavy theme around water. Her obi, ring, and necklace all feature the flower's motif in it. The only other Okinawan name in the game? Tidus, whose name is Okinawan for sun.
• Elusian characters in Fire Emblem Engage derive their names from plants, most notably Princess Ivy and her sister Hortensia.
• A majority of the characters featured in Flower Knight Girl, due to them representing various species of flowers/plants in human girl form, all are named after their respective namesake plants. From names like Rose, Dancing Lady Orchid, Edelweiss, or Sakura — even instances of Edible Theme Naming in Strawberry, Apple, and Pineapple. The few exceptions are those who don't represent a flower in the first place, such as the Seven Sages of the Sun, since they're outsiders who don't originate from the region of Spring Garden.
• Not all the Omen in Harvestella are thematically named (though more than a few draw from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), but two of them meant to keep the world inhabitable most assuredly do. Dianthus uses the language of flowers in her name to denote her boldness and willingness to strive, while Magnolia's name indicates their goal of stability, repairing the coral reefs no matter how long it might take.
• In I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, some colonists are named after plants or plant taxons such as Geranium, Eudicot^note a clade of flowering plants that sprout two leaves upon germination, and Echinacea^note a genus of flowers in the daisy family, more commonly known as coneflowers.
• Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days: Xion (pronounced SHEE-on) is the Japanese word for aster tataricus, which symbolizes remembrance in Japanese culture. Ironic, considering what happens to her...
• In Little King's Story, the names of the princesses are plant-related: Scarlet Bouquet, Shizuka^note depending on the kanji, it can mean "flower" along with "quiet, calm", Martel Daisy, Apricot, Spumoni^note kind of a stretch, since it's an Italian ice cream typically flavored cherry, pistachio, and chocolate or vanilla, and containing candied fruits and nuts, Ferne and Pine. The non-princess you can take with you to the end is Verde, meaning "green", a color commonly associated with plants.
• Sisters Poppy and Violet from MySims.
• In No More Heroes, all of Travis's beam katanas (except the Blood Berry) are named after flowers. The Tsubaki models in the first game, and the Camellia, Peony, and Rose Nasty in the second.
• A major supporting character in OMORI, who's often associated with flowers and has gardening as a hobby, is named Basil.
• Just like Outer Wilds' Hearthians have Rock Themed Naming, the Nomai are all named after plants. This is done more subtly than most of the examples on this page, as most of the plants are either fairly obscure or are referenced by their scientific names, or both.
• Pokémon
  • In the Japanese versions of the games, every single significant NPC has a plant-based name.
  • In the English version of Platinum, the Frontier Brains have plant-based names.
  • Johto's towns and cities also have a plant motif in both English and Japanese.
  • The Pokemon Professors are all named for trees: Oak, Elm, Birch, Rowan, Juniper, Sycamore, Kukui, and Magnolia.
  • Most of the characters keep their puns in English or use altered versions. They are just harder to find. For example, Candice, R(ye)iley, Thor(n)ton, Palmer, and so on.
  • Gym leaders who use Grass Pokémon (Erika, Gardenia, Ramos) tend to have names with plant-related meanings.
  • Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire introduces Zinnia and her Whismur, Aster.
  • Pokémon Sun and Moon: Besides Prof. Kukui, all the trial captains' and kahunas' names reference flowering plants in some way. For example, there's Hala, Hau, Kiawe (though in Japanese his name is Kaki (Japanese persimmon)), Suiren (Japanese for water lily, renamed "Lana" in English^note derived from the Hawaiian term for water lily, lilia-lana-i-ka-wai also the word for "afloat", Mao (Hawaiian cotton (renamed "Mallow" in English^note The common name of many flowering plants)), Māmane (Hawaiian for Sophora chrysophylla, renamed "Sophocles" in English), and Lillie (just lily).
  • Pokémon Scarlet and Violet breaks this trend somewhat: The Pokémon professors, Sada and Turo (depending on version), are named after Spanish words for past (pasada) and future (futuro) instead, but the character who gives you your starter Pokémon, Clavell, follows the plant-named theme.
• Most of the members of the Imperial Floral Assault Division in Sakura Wars have names taken from flowers (In contrast, the New York Star Division of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love all have names with astronomical or astrological significance). For example:
  • Sakura Shinguji: Cherry blossoms
  • Sumire Kanzaki: Manchurian violets
  • Maria Tachibana: Tachibana oranges
  • Iris Chateaubriand: Irises
  • Kohran Li: Crimson orchids and Japanese plums
  • Kanna Kirishima: Canna lilies and Kirishima azaleas
  • Erica Fontaine: The Erica genus of heathers
  • Glycine Bleumer: The Glycine genus of soybeans
  • Coquelicot: Corn poppies
  • Lobelia Carlini: Two different genera of plant
  • Hanabi Kitaoji: A breed of hydrangea, as well as a homophone for the Japanese word for fireworks (which uses the kanji for flower and fire)
• Most everyone in Steambot Chronicles of any significance is named after a plant. Most are seasonings and overlap with Edible Theme Naming, but a few are just plain plants.
• Story of Seasons: The local flower shop in Harvest Moon 64 is owned by a family consisting of Basil, Popuri, and Lillia. In Harvest Moon: Back to Nature they are chicken farmers (though they still love plants) and keep their theme, however Rick ruins it (in 64 he was related to Ann, not Popuri).
• Two of the customers in Style Savvy Trendsetters are twin sisters named Violet and Rose.
• Princess Daisy from the Super Mario Bros. series is a well known example, followed years later by Prince Florian of the Flower Kingdom in Super Mario Bros. Wonder^* (which, incidentally, would be Daisy's first playable appearance in a main series console game).
• Tales Series:
  • Tales of Graces invokes this - Sophie is named after an in-universe flower, the sopheria.
  • The Heartless in Tales of Hearts are all named after plants, and the biggest one is named Gardenia. Ironically, the character named Flora is the one who worked against them and created the countermeasure/antidote. Flora was the goddess of flowers and other plants, after all.
• Toontown: Corporate Clash: In the original Toontown Online, the streets of Daisy Gardens are named after trees; in Corporate Clash, its renamed counterpart's streets are all named after flowers, with the names in question being alliterative to fit in with the rest of Toontown's street naming schemes. They are Daisy Drive, Petunia Place, Sunflower Street, and Tulip Terrace.
• A Very Long Rope to the Top of the Sky: Ivy, Mint, and their mother, Rose are all named after plants. Lampshaded in Rose's soul tear, where Claire jokes that Rose always has her mind on the garden.
• Neku Sakuraba and his three successive game partners in The World Ends with You have this going in a relatively subtle way in their surnames— Sakuraba means "cherry garden", Misaki means "beautiful blossom", Bito includes the character for "wisteria", and Kiryuu has the character for "Paulownia". Arguably, they're all fitting beyond just matching the theme— Neku spends the whole game learning that the world is worthwhile and to break out of his own mental "garden"; Shiki Misaki has major self image issues, making her name a little painfully ironic; Beat is nothing if not tenacious, reflecting the strength of wisteria vines, and paulownia is sometimes called the "princess tree", which is pretty funny given Joshua's campness and flirtation. Or, more relevantly, it also has a whole host of supernatural implications, particularly an association with the Phoenix and therefore death and rebirth; very appropriate for the Physical God in charge of running the Reapers' Game.
• The artificial Blades in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 tend towards being named after flowers. Those encountered in-game are named Poppi^note 'Hana' ('flower') in the original Japanese, Lila^note 'Kiku' ('chrysanthemum') in the original Japanese, and Rosa^note 'Sakura' ('cherry blossom') in the original Japanese.

Visual Novels

• Ace Attorney:
  • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney has Dahlia and Iris Hawthorne, which has another bonus: the last name could be seen as "Has thorns", which is plant-related and is indicative of Dahlia's behavior. Sorta kept in the original Japanese: while Dahlia's original name "Chinami" is written in hiragana and thus has no fixed meaning ^note though it may come from the phrase chi mo namida mo nai which means ("bloodless and tearless", essentially "heartless") , her last name "Miyanagi" means "beautiful willow"; also, Iris's name is "Ayame" meaning "Iris" and being a symbol of hope... something that she sorta gives to Phoenix. Another bonus: Dahlia may come from the gruesome murder of "Elizabeth "Black Dahlia" Short and/or the novel written about it.
  • There are a few plant-themed names in Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, probably to reflect that the villains are all part of a ring run from the flower-themed Allebahst. They include defense attorney Calisto Yew, flight attendant Cammy Meele (chamomile), and ambassador Quercus Alba (the white oak). Yew and Alba's Japanese names are also floral-themed: Yew is called "Himiko Kazura" ("kazura" means "ivy"), and Alba's full name is Kāneiji Onreddo (which sounds like "carnation red" when spoken aloud).

Web Animation

• In Etra chan saw it!, the main cast is named after flowers and plants (ex. Azami means "thistle", Yuzuriha means "false daphne", Tsutsuji means "azalea", Akamatsu means "red pine", Kuroki means "black wood", etc.)
• Happy Tree Friends has a skunk named Petunia, who wears a flower on her head.
• Parodied in Pokémon Rusty, which features a character named Professor Tree as a reference to the fact that the professors from the Pokémon games are all named after different types of trees (Oak, Elm, Birch, Rowan, etc.).
• RWBY:
  • Team RWBY's weapons have names shared in common with types of flowers: roses for Ruby's Crescent Rose; myrtle and aster for Weiss's Myrtenaster; golden gambol (a type of orchid) for Blake's Gambol Shroud; and celica (a type of amaryllis) for Yang's Ember Celica.
  • Anima is an Asian-themed continent with a flower-theme for the naming of towns and villages. Examples include the Japanese-influenced locations: Lake Matsu (pine trees), Kuchinashi (gardenia), Kuroyuri (Fritillaria camschatcensis; directly translates to "black lily"), Oniyuri (tiger lily; directly translates to "demon lily"), Higanbana (red spider lily), and Shion (Aster tataricus). In either flower language or other symbolism, these names are plot hints for events that occur when the characters arrive at these locations.

Web Original

• Empires SMP Season 1: Shrub and her family all have names related to plants. Her father's name was Fern, her mother's name was Rose, and their family name is Berry.

Web Serial Novel

• An in-universe example in A Test Of Fayth as most women and girls in the fictional city of Lome (where the story takes place) have names taken from flowers. This is a long standing tradition rising from the city and its love of flowers. Characters like Rose, Lily, and Fayth's mother Heather are all indicative of this. While you might think that the name Flora should be included, it's revealed that her full name is actually Florentine, so it doesn't actually relate to flowers that much.

Webcomics

• The Spriggs from Beyond the Canopy. Bramble, Glade, Elmsly, Stump, Redwood, Thistle. There's also an indirect example in Glenn, whereas "glen" is a synonym for glade.
• The Rose sisters from Charby the Vampirate all have Rose in their name and the Bensons are a fairy family with the names Azelea, Oleander, Hydrangea and Begonia.
• Demi-floras in Countdown to Countdown seem to have this with Iris, Lilium, Begonia...
• In Cucumber Quest, the denizens of the Flower Kingdom are all named after flowers, as per the series' tradition of Theme Naming its characters based on the kingdoms they live in.
• Thistle from Daughter of the Lilies manages to do this all on her own, by serially picking flower-themed aliases.
• Female Kayoss in L's Empire do this, apparently as tribute to their first queen, who had power over plants (among other things).
• Zig-zagged in Star Impact. Lily and Daisy play this straight, but it gets subverted with Aster. While asters are a genus of flower, hers is rather a Stellar Name.
• In Turn Signals on a Land Raider, the entire Emperor's Pointy Sticks Space Marine chapter, except for the main protagonists Kren and Frep, are named after various types of plants (mostly trees).

Western Animation

• In Avatar: The Last Airbender, women from the Beifong family seem to be named after flowers. Toph's name means "lotus" and her mother is called Poppy. It’s not averted by Toph’s own daughter, Lin, from the sequel series The Legend of Korra despite appearances. For the name Lin different Chinese characters can be used, one being the same character for Lotus. There's also a woman named Lily in one of the season 2 episodes of the original show which like Poppy is one of the probably handful of Western names in the franchise.
• Daffodil from Clifford's Puppy Days is a rabbit named after a flower.
• The protagonist of Infinity Train is a thirteen-year-old girl named "Tulip". The main antagonist of the first season is named "Amelia".
• In King of the Hill, Bill Dauterive's seductive cousins-in-law and cousin are named Rose, Lily, and Violetta. (For additional theming, each wears a color suggestive of the flower she is named for.) Also counts as Odd Name Out, since the actual cousin, Violetta, is the only one whose name isn't exactly the same as a flower.
• The four main characters of High Guardian Spice are named Rosemary, Sage, Parsley, and Thyme, which are not only all herbs but are also mentioned in the song "Scarborough Fair."
• Miraculous Ladybug: Marinette planned an overly insane scheme involving her friends to have a date with Adrien, confusing Rose after picking out everyone's secret codenames and why Rose can be refferred to by her real name. The codenames are the following:
  • Marinette: Lotus
  • Alya: Tigerlily
  • Adrien: Buttercup
  • Alix: Violet
  • Myléne: Sunflower
  • Rose: Tulip
  • Juleka: Rose
  • Rose later acquires the Pig Miraculous, whose associated kwami is called Daizzi (pronounced as "daisy").
  • Major antagonist Lila Rossi, whose name is actually an alias, is fund of using floral-based first names in her fabricated identities.
• The Powerpuff Girls: Blossom and Buttercup; the third girl, Bubbles, is the Odd Name Out.
• My Little Pony:
  • My Little Pony 'n Friends: The first six named Flutter Ponies are Rosedust, Honeysuckle, Morning Glory, Forget-Me-Not, Lily, and Peach Blossom, and all had appropriate symbols for their names.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic has a trio of flower-themed Recurring Extras that panic over such things as a zebra visiting the town and a stampede of bunnies. They are named Flower Wishes, Roseluck, and Lily Valley.
• Peppermint Rose and her friends were named after flowers, including Rose, Lily, Daisy, and Violet, and eventually become guardians of their floral namesakes.

Real Life

• Some Russian self-propelled howitzers are given plant/flower names, such as Tyulpan (Tulip), Gvozdika (Carnation), Akatsiya (Acacia), Giasint (Hyacinth), and Pion (Peony).
• Australian actress Poppy Montgomery (whose full name is Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Devereaux Donahue) has sisters named Rosie Thorn, Daisy Yellow, Lily Belle, and Marigold Sun. She also has a brother named Jethro Tull (although the original Jethro Tull—no, not that one—was an agriculturalist, so it's sort of related). In 2013, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Violet.
• During World War I and II, the Royal Navy used "Flower" class ships which could be built quickly as convoy escorts. The WWI class was originally a type of minesweeper (5 sub-classes, 120 units in all), while the WWII class was a corvette (267 units in all).
• Seems to be the Pen Name theme among Meiji novelist Ozaki Kōyō ("red leaf/Japanese maple") and a notable handful of his followers – feminine, poetic pennames that evoke flowers, leaves and imagery of nature. Under his guidance were famous writers Izumi Kyōka ("mirror flower"), Oguri Fūyō ("wind leaf"), Yanagawa Shun'yō ("spring leaf"), Tokuda Shūsei ("autumn sound") and Tayama Katai ("flower bag").
• The streets running roughly east-west in Center City ("downtown") Philadelphia are mostly named after kinds of trees and other plants: from south to north, the floral streets are Pine, Spruce, Locust, Walnut, Chestnut, Filbert^note An archaic term for hazelnut, Vine, Wood, Buttonwood, and Nectarine. Additionally, South Street (south of Pine and the southern limit of Center City) was originally Cedar Street in William Penn's city plan, and Arch and Race Streets (between Filbert and Vine) were Mulberry and Sassafras, respectively. (The streets perpendicular to these, running north-south, are largely numbered).
  • This tends to happen a lot, in most major cities in North America that don't use numbers (and even ones that do: the aforementioned Philadelphia has numbered streets running perpendicular to the floral ones), and also (even more especially) in the suburbs. As the saying goes, "Suburbia is the place where they cut down the trees and name the streets after them."

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