Floral Theme Naming

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(Redirected from Plant 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

A simple and common form of Theme Naming is to name characters after flowers or other plants. This Floral Theme Naming 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 women. Furthermore, many flowers and other plants already have strong symbolic associations.

English-language floral names include Dahlia, Daisy, Flora, Heather, Holly, Iris, Jasmine, Laurel, Lily, Marigold, Myrtle, Pansy, Petunia, Poppy, Rose (a floral name with its own trope), and Violet. (And while Fern, Ginger, Ivy, Olive, Rosemary, and Willow aren't usually thought of as floral, they are plant-related names.)

Japanese floral names include Ayame ("iris"), Hanako ("little flower"), Karen ("water lily" if written 華蓮), Nadeshiko ("pink" or other closely-related plants, with its own trope), Sakura ("cherry blossom", another name with its own trope), Shion ("aster" if written 紫苑),[1] Yuri ("lily", with its own trope), and Yotsuba ("four-leaf", as in clover).

Behind The Name has a list of names based on plants, many of which are floral-based.

If there's a female skunk in a story, chances are she'll have this, for obvious reasons.

See also Cherry Blossom Girl and, of course, Flower Motifs.

Examples of Floral Theme Naming include:

Anime and Manga

  • Most of the various ships and ship classes, mecha and alien devices in Martian Successor Nadesico are named after flowers—although this is deliberately obscured at times in the North American dub. ("Chulips" are, in fact, "tulips".)
  • 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 ferry girls in Yu Yu Hakusho: Botan (peony), Ayame (iris) and the 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.
  • Flower names also appear a little more subtly throughout Weiss Kreuz:
    • 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).
  • Most of the members of the guild Moon Tree in .hack//G.U. are named after plants.
  • 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)
  • In the Japanese and English version of the Pokémon anime, Misty's three sisters are named after flowers. In the English version, it's Daisy, Violet and Lily.
  • In Heartcatch Pretty Cure, all the Cures has flower-related names: Tsubomi ("flower bud"), Erika (after the flower erica), and Yuri ("lily"). A supporting character, Itsuki, has a name that follows the theme as well (meaning "flowering tree"), but this is because she becomes the Sixth Ranger. 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 general, this season likes its Flower Motifs.
  • The Kuja tribe of One Piece 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The Asakura family in Shaman King 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; Ren's Chinese name, Lián, means "lotus" while Ran's Chinese name, Lán, means "orchid".
  • The Kuja tribe in One Piece are named after plants with examples of Marguerite, Sweet Pea, Aphelandara, Elder Nyon, Boa Hancock, Boa Marigold, Boa Sandersonia, and so on... Not to mention the country they live in is Amazon Lily.
  • 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 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").

Comic Books

  • Bone has Thorn, her grandma Rose, and Rose's sister Briar. The names were chosen as an homage to Sleeping Beauty.

Film

  • 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.
  • 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 Damsels in Distress, the Damsels are Violet, Rose, Heather and Lily.

Literature

  • In J. R. R. Tolkien's works based in Middle-earth (e.g., The Lord of the Rings), the hobbits do have an acknowledged tradition of most often naming their daughters after flowers or gemstones. For example, among Sam's six daughters are four with flower-names: Elanor (a flower growing in Lothlórien), Rose, Daisy, and 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.
  • In Harry Potter, there's the title character's mother, Lily (symbolic of purity and death) and aunt, Petunia Evans. There's also nurse Poppy Pomfrey (poppies relieve pain), Lavender Brown and Pansy Parkinson, Moaning Myrtle (it's a shrub like a blueberry), Narcissa (egotism) Malfoy, and of course Fleur Delacour. There's also Pomona (goddess of gardens and fruits) Sprout, herbology professor, Arabella Figg, Dorcas Meadowes and Padma Patil (means Lotus). And Ron and Hermione's daughter, Rose.
  • 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.
  • Happens a lot in Redwall, with instances such as Cornflower, Rose and Columbine.
  • Artemis Fowl offers Holly Short, Julius and Turnball Root, Mulch Diggums, Grub and Trouble Kelp, and Briar Cudgeon.
  • 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.
  • 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".
  • MG and Pete, the Caldecott sisters of the Black London series by Caitlin Kittredge are Morning Glory and Petunia, respectively.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Heather Dixon's Entwined, also based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, not only names all twelve princesses after flowers and plants, but alphabetically by age as well: Azalea, Bramble, Clover, Delphinium, Evening Primrose, Flora, Goldenrod, Hollyhock, Ivy, Jessamine, Kale, and Lily.
  • Main heroine from Hunger Games series, Katniss, her sister Primerose and their cat, Buttercup.
  • In House of Suns, the Gentian Line is known as the "House of Flowers", uses a five-petalled flower as their symbol, and all of the shatterlings in the Line are named after angiosperms (some more obliquely than others).

Live-Action TV

  • 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 are all named after flowers.
  • In the Sex and the City movie, Charlotte's daughters are Rose and Lily.
  • In The Golden Girls, Rose has two sisters, Lily and Holly.
  • Cleopatra 2525 features Sarge (whose real name is Rose) and her sister Lily.
  • Carnivale 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.

Newspaper Comics

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

Theatre

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

Video Games

  • 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. (Of course, Flora was the goddess of flowers and other plants.)
  • Most of the members of the Imperial Floral Assault Division in Sakura Wars have names taken from flowers. (Although the latest[when?] generation of warriors in this setting, appearing in Sakura Taisen V, all have names with astronomical or astrological significance.)
  • 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 also have plant-based names.
    • Johto's towns and cities also have a plant motif in both English and Japanese.
    • The various Pokemon Professors are named for trees: Oak, Elm, Birch, Rowan, Juniper.
      • Gary's name is also a pun; there's a type of tree called a Garry Oak.
    • Most of the characters keep their puns in English or use altered versions, which are somewhat harder to find for English speakers. (e.g., Cand'ice, Riley, Thor(n)ton, Palmer, etc.)
  • 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.
  • Phoenix Wright 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.
    • There's even more plant names in Ace Attorney Investigations, probably to reflect that the villains are all part of a ring run from the flower-themed Allebahst. Calisto Yew, Cammy Meele (chamomile), Quercus Alba (the white oak)--whose Japanese name is closer to "red carnation"—etc.
  • Sisters Poppy and Violet from My Sims.

Web Comics

  • The Spriggs from Beyond the Canopy. Bramble, Glade, Elmsly, Stump, Redwood, Thistle... The only exception appears to be the protagonist, Glenn.
  • The bird and moon strip "Nature Baby Names" includes many floral names. Good: Violet, Rowan, Lavender. Bad: Cheeseweed, Compressed Flapwort. Great: Centaury, Mother of Thousands.

Western Animation

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).
  1. ↑ "Poem sound" if written 詩音, so don't assume everyone named Shion is an aster.
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