Nature-Inspired people/pet names

Traditional names in the UK are often flowers and trees.

Daisy, Poppy, Rose, Lily, Violet
Bryony, Ivy, Hazel, Holly and Heather
Ash, Oak, Willow, Linden

all people I know.

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I have a niece named Briar.

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Great is Diana of the Ephesians - was an utter mystery to a toddler.

Who needs a butterfly when you can have a mountain ;~) where I have walked.
South Atlantic Ocean … Diana’s Peak

And I like my name hidden here Roella goodiana

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Or like Wonder Woman, a.k.a. Diana Prince. :smiley:

(Don’t mind me. Big ol’ nerd over here.)

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My toddler daughter is called Huia, after an extinct Aotearoa New Zealand wattlebird. As a nickname we often call her Huhu, short for huhu grub - the large soft white larvae of an endemic longhorn beetle, or just Grub. :laughing:
Other bird names I’ve heard in NZ are Tui (unisex) and Komiko (for a girl), one of the Māori words for the NZ bellbird and is also Japanese girls’ name.
As far as NZ plant names I know a Nikau (endemic palm tree) for a boy, Kauri (a very tall straight native tree) for boys, and Ngaio (a native tree) for girls.

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:joy: I laughed out loud. Wish I’d had that list when I was naming my babies :rofl:

We could use Kauri and Ngaio - they both grow here. Were in my childhood garden in Cape Town.

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Oh do they? I didn’t know. Are they native? There is an Australian ngaio as well. It looks very similar and has sometimes been planted in native restoration areas by mistake. I knew there are kauri in Australia and New Caledonia, but I don’t know if they are the same species. I should look it up!

Myoporum laetum and Agathis australis are both NZ endemics, but it looks like other species in the genera share the same common names and grow in many places :) You learn something new every day!

Wasn’t Jane Goodall’s son named Grub?

I wish I had a mind for language, I adore languages, and I struggle with them all the same. My hearing loss makes it harder; I feel like I will never be able to learn proper pronunciation. I love the sounds though.

Future dog name ideas include Niquis, Felya, Draugliun, Vata, and if I continue in SAR - think I conjugated the verb right - Kestëa

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My first little black cat came pre-named Panther. She lived up to it. Ruthless mouser, otherwise a total sweetheart. Our current little black cat came pre-named Raven. The Doctor and I have taken some good-natured ribbing about being a couple of goths with a black cat named Raven, but it’s really not our fault! :laughing:

Other nature-inspired names …well, let me tell y’all about the Great 2020 Kitten Saga.

We’ve done a lot of cat rescues (a few dogs as well, but they don’t wander into the yard as often). We had been trying to win the trust of a little calico who we called Woodpile, since that was where we usually saw her. She disappeared after a couple of weeks; we were worried, because we’re in an urban neigborhood, but there wasn’t much that we could do.

Then Woodpile reappeared. And she wasn’t alone. She brought a whole family …including the dad.

The five adorable little fuzzballs got identifiers based on coat colors. Cedar had a wonderful mix of his father’s ginger tab patches on white. Birch was a birchbark-colored tabby on white. Aspen was a calico whose colored patches were in a ring on her back, like a grove or thicket. Ember was a tortoiseshell with little spots of bright orange. Spangle II was named for a kitten in a previous rescue litter; both had bright-spotted coats.

Dad (Tab) was the first to get scooped up and taken to the vet. We then laid plans to round up everybody else. They didn’t go the way we expected.

The Doctor was petting Woodpile, getting ready to pick her up, when this tiny little face poked out of the woodpile. Woodpile-the-cat looked up at us as if to say “look what I made!”

Woodpile wasn’t going anywhere just yet. She and Tab had snuck in one last hurrah. We decided to concentrate on the older kittens. That didn’t go as planned, either.

We got four of the five off to fosterage; Aspen was just skittish enough that we knew she was going to be a little harder to corral. The Doctor followed her into the greenhouse …where he was presented with the newborn Apple, Oak, and Yew. Like mother, like daughter.

We managed to get the four of them to a foster home in the next couple of days, but that still left Woodpile and her new brood: Ash, Burl, Hazel, and Rowan. Luckily, this batch of kittens also had their dad’s cuddliness and sweet nature. Once we got them accustomed to petting and handling, everybody got scooped into carriers and off to foster, and new lives as pampered indoor kitties. We almost kept Hazel, but we know that all of them are making other humans very happy.

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No - the kauri is commonorgarden, the ngaio is an invasive alien. But fond of both as my father came from New Zealand.

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I’m feeling plebeian with this offering: from the time of my birth until some six years later when he acceded to my mother’s entreaties, pleas and demands that he cease, my father referred to me as Pumpkin.

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My wife, Iris, comes from a part of California where nature names are very common. Her childhood friends included Valley, Prairie, Dawn, Cedar, Brook, etc. And our kids are Tigerlily, Kestrel, and Peregrine. Growing up as a Dan, with always at least one other Dan in every group (plus often a Danny, and a Daniel), I was committed to giving the kids uncommon names.

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Briar’s such a cute name, I love that one!

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How about;
Mica (I love that one)
Pearl
Ruby
Opal
Jasper

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For that matter, Crystal.

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Her new sister has been named Ilsa,

As the plant nerd I am, my dream is to get 2 pets of some kind (cats or bunnies or birds) and name them Peony and Petunia :blush:

there are soo many plant genera I’ve come across that I think would make pretty names! i cant remember all of them off the top of my head right now but here are some of them
Tilia
Carya
Elodea
Viola
Aster
Rubia
Zea (if you like corn i guess)
Magnolia
Wisteria
Iris
Linaria

there are also some plant genera like Melissa, Erica, etc which are already common as names. and i also know a girl called Lamia, which reminds me of Lamiaceae!

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