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It’s ambitious. It might even be insane. But we’ve decided to launch a Name of the Day feature here at AppMtn.
Kicking us off is a J-name heard more and more often. With nature-name roots and a fashionable sound, it is easy to understand why.
Our Baby Name of the Day is Juniper.
Juniper is a fresh choice, a nice alternative for parents who fear that Willow is too common. Willow ranked #529 in 2006; in just three years, she’s risen to #315. Juniper is just as buzz-worthy, but has yet to crack the Top 1000.
The similar Heather was a Top Ten name from 1972 to 1987. And Juniper is awfully close to former #1 sensation Jennifer.
But it isn’t a given that Juniper would be a girl’s name. Derived from the Latin juniperus, it refers to an evergreen shrub. St. Francis of Assisi had a faithful follower known as St. Juniper.
In the early eighteenth century, Junipero Serra was a Majorcan-born missionary to Mexico. His work eventually took him all over California, founding countless missions. Junipero took his name from the thirteenth century Franciscan.
Thornton Wilder won a 1928 Pulitzer Prize for The Bridge of San Luis Rey. His narrator was the initially fortunate, but later ill-fated, Brother Juniper. It was made into a film twice; in the 2004 edition, Gabriel Byrne played the monk.
So how did this nature name go to the girls?
First came 1968′s single “Jennifer Juniper” from singer Donovan. In 1993, Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson co-starred in the quirky rom-com Benny and Joon. Joon was short for Juniper. Factor in the vintage charm of June and the goddess Juno, and it isn’t so surprising.
Since then there’s also been:
- The Cartoon Network’s The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, the animated tale of a tweenaged monster-fighter;
- Early dad blogger Jim started writing Sweet Juniper back in 2005. Juniper is his firstborn, big sister to Gram. I love dozens of things about his blog, but above all, I love that they’re living in Detroit;
- Plus a smattering of characters from young adult fiction.
One possible downside to the appellation is that juniper berries are used to make gin – but it isn’t quite like naming your daughter Chardonnay.
And, of course, should your darling daughter find her name a bit too hippie chic, she can always be known by the throwback, calendar girl nickname June or the spunky retro Junie.
Note: This post was originally published on May 5, 2008 – the first ever Baby Name of the Day! It was significantly revised and updated for a re-post on April 25, 2011.
I really love Juniper. It’s a really cool nature name. June is a great name too!
It came up on a Yahoo!Answers question, and I was amazed at how many people actively disliked it. *Shrugs.* But something tells me that Juniper will surface more and more – after all, Willow is really quite hot these days.
We named our 2nd daughter Juniper almost one year ago. We love it and so does everyone who asks what her name is (tho my mom had a hard time with it at first…).
I must say that i was surprised to have no less than 2 people say that she is the second Juniper they’ve met. And now that i’ve done some internet searching, i find it’s out there quite a bit more than i thought it would be.
Wanting a unique name, I admit that I hope it does not “take off” and become more commonplace…
Already, tho, I can tell she will often have to say “…no, not Jennifer — Juniper.” And on a few occasions so far, i’ve even slipped and called her Jupiter.
I’ve concluded that saying her name always makes people happy. I can only hope my daughter will always do the same herself.
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I LOVE Juniper – one of the main characters in the Emberverse series by S.M. Stirling is a folk singer named Juniper (the series starts with “Dies The Fire”). She’s a spunky redhead, talented musician and a natural born leader. If I could sell my fiance on the name….
I love sweet June, He adores Juno. Neither of us really loves Juniper but I can see it’s appeal. Fresh-faced, pretty and above all, green. Juiper’s not for me but I’m sure Ii’ll meet a smattering of them as tthe years go on. Juniper’s got just enough appeal to rise fairly quickly, I would think. That’s fine. Juniper’s pretty! (and I heartily dislike Willow, so a Jupiter’s a good replacement).
I actually know someone who named their daughter Juniper just a few weeks ago. I think the reaction among their friends has been pretty mixed, but I really like it. It’s different without being made-up, and can be shortened to something more traditional. I definitely think it’s better than Willow or Heather.
I like Juniper – it just sounds happy and has the great nickname of June.
Definitely more modern and ‘exciting’ sounding than Jennifer. Probably too ‘hippy-ish’ for my husband to ever like and agree to though. Maybe as a middle name.
My husband wouldn’t go for it because the nn June is still too old lady for him, but I wish he would have! I love this name!! Plus it could have been a subtle reference to where our daughter was conceived (an Alaskan cruise around the time we docked in Juneau…I contemplated Juno but thought that she may not want to have to explain that one all her life…). I saw a Juniper nn Juni at a local preschool last year and was thrilled and jealous.
I love Jennifer. I really do. How this Cornish oddity ‘conquered the globe’ is beyond me. Ignoring the over exposure for a second, it’s no less strange than Juniper.
Anyway, on topic, but not really, is it wrong that I like that it reminds me of Juniper berry scene from The Life of Brian? “Do not tempt Him, shallow ones! Is not the miracle of the juniper bushes enough?” One reason why I could never take it seriously as a first name for my own child. It’s a middle only. On someone else’s child as a first name? Sure.
June is my middle name. It felt conceited to use that on my own child and I’d had mixed feelings about it growing up. Juniper is not a nod to me whatsoever but it is a nod to someone far more special, my grandmother who is also a June.
I feel that it should be up in NZ’s top 100 along with the already present Violet, Willow, Lily, Daisy, Hazel , Poppy and Ivy, but I can’t see it getting there. I’d like it to.
I love Juniper.. She is also a minor character in the Percy Jackson series.. which my husband and I love.. so that makes her more appealing. Sadly our last name ends in -er which makes it way too rhyme-y
A favourite vacationing spot for my family growing up was at a guest house called The Juniper Tree (named for the story from 1 Kings when Elijah rests under/is sheltered by a juniper tree after fleeing from Queen Jezebel). Because of that, I have a hard time seeing this as a girl’s name.
Interestingly, wikipedia notes the relation of the word Juniper and its usage as a name to variants of Guinevere such as the Italian Ginepro/Ginevra and, in some French dialects, geneviève.
I didn’t really like Juniper until I realised Perry could be a viable nickname, curse my adoration of quirky nicknames. But either way, Juniper has a nice vibe to her, my youngest sister was so very nearly named Clover (although we call her Clover often) and my other sister is a Heather, so Juniper could work as an homage to my sisters, especially since my family openly dislikes the use of other family member’s names.
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