Name of the Day: Iris
It’s tempting to dismiss her as just another pretty name in the garden of girls: Violet, Rose, Lily.
But today’s Name of the Day might just be the most substantive of the flower power monikers. We turn our attention to Iris.
Before she was a flower, she a god. In Greek mythology, Iris served as royal messenger and was the personification of the rainbow – the link between the otherworldly and we mere mortals. She appears in works by Homer and Euripides, and you’ll find her in artwork shown as a young woman with wings on her shoulders.
In Spanish, arco iris means rainbow. English has lost the direct linguistic connection, but the word iridescence – familiar to every child who has ever marveled at the shiny surface of a soap bubble – derives from the same root. And, of course, the iris is the colored part of our eyes.
But she’s best known as a sort of blue-violet color and a flower, though the flower comes in a rainbow of hues. And, of course, there’s Vincent Van Gogh’s pricey painting of blue-violet flowers, simply titled Irises. You can take your little girl to view it at the Getty in LA or hey, buy a print and hang it in the nursery.
While floral names tend to be simply pretty, Iris has a surprising amount of strength. Perhaps that’s because one of the best known bearers of the name is the sophisticated, celebrated writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch, born Jean Iris Murdoch. It’s tough to imagine her called Daisy.
Kate Winslet portrayed the young writer in a 2001 biopic. She also played a far more light-hearted Iris who finds transatlantic love in the 2006 romantic romp The Holiday.
The name has something of a sorrowful element, too. Jodie Foster’s breakthrough role was as jailbait prostitute Iris in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. But most modern mamas probably think of another movie-linked Iris – it’s the chart-topping ballad about heartache from 1998′s City of Angels, a Nicolas Cage/Meg Ryan romance. While recording artists the Goo Goo Dolls had been around for a decade pre-Iris, it was this single that earned them fame.
Few other names sound like Iris, so it’s an adventurous choice. And yet, it’s been in steady use in the US, today ranking #316. It’s also heard in the UK, Sweden and Belgium, so while it isn’t Mary, you can assume that your daughter’s study abroad experience will not be marred by an unportable given name.
Most importantly, it’s a far better choice than Lily. While Lily is lovely, last year more than 22,000 newborn girls were given some variation of the name: Lily, Lilly, Lillie, Lilia, Lilian, Lillian, Liliana, Lilianna, Lillianna and Lilyana all ranked in the US Top 1000. Add ‘em up, and it’s easily a Top Ten choice.
So if you’re searching for a reasonably uncommon botanical beauty that still sounds just right on an accomplished adult, Iris is certainly one to consider.
Filed under: Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Nature Babes | 9 Comments
Tags: Iris
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I love it. Kevin has vetoed it because of the eyeball connection, which is a real bummer to me. It’s so cute, and much fresher sounding than Irene. I used to like botanical names, but I am so bored with them now! Iris and Dahlia are basically the only ones I find appealing anymore. Also, I actually met a little girl named Poppy the other day, and it was so cute on her! Now, I’m having a hard time picturing Poppy on an adult, though. Oh well.
Iris is lovely, but comes with a touch of celebrity baggage: Jude Law’s daughter is Iris as well as Renee O’Connor’s.
I love her quiet simplicity and have always wondered if the colored part of the eye was named for the flower (or the goddess of the rainbow)
Iris is the most normal of the flower names that proliferate throughout my family tree: Iris, Marigold, Primrose, Peony, Eglantine, Lily (for Lilian, Pansy, Poppy & Celandine are the ones that repeat the most often. I love that I have a veritable florist’s shop to use!
It’s an interesting question. If you love Lily, but hate the idea of your daughter sharing her name with so many other girls, do you move on to another floral name, or quit the garden altogether?
Friends of friends recently named their daughter Azalea in a bid to find a botanical choice that would not be overused. I think they did it.
Of course, they could’ve just looked at your family tree, Lola. What a fabulous bunch of names! Isn’t there an Eglantine in the Canterbury Tales? I hadn’t realized there *was* a nature connection until I saw your list! You really turn up the most amazing names!
And thanks for the starbaby catch. I always think of Jude Law and Rafferty, but sure enough, there’s also son Rudy and daughter Iris.
There’s another thing you mention that strikes me as interesting: most floral names are Victorian era innovations. I don’t know if any were used pre-19th century. I assume they were always given as nicknames, but would we have met a Lily in the 1600s? Hmmm … anyone know? If not, I’m putting it on my (impossibly long) list to research.
I know Lily is another one of Elizabeth’s many nicknames. Even the Current Queen Elizabeth II was nicknamed Lilybet when she was younger! (Wikipedia has this blurb: On 29 April 1929, the young “P’incess Lilybet” appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, in an article that described her third birthday). My Grandmother Lilian was Lilian Elisabeth and called “double Lil” by her sisters. She called me Lily exclusively until her death. She refused to call me by my name. I should have been named for her, she always insisted. I wouldn’t be surprised to find Lilly might have been used in the 16th century. As a surname Lilly is the oldest of the “Lily” names. But Lilies weren’t widespread until the begininning of the 19th century (i think), so I doubt Lily would be widespread as a name until the beginning of the Victorian era. Maybe in the Orient, where Lilies prliferated first? I have no real clue.
Forgot.. Yep there’s an
EEK.. clicked submit when I was trying to flip windows. Yes, there’s a Madame Eglantine in Canterbury Tales. Not a pleasant woman but still she’s there. The most recent Eglantine in my family tree lived in the 18th century and was the mother of my Great Grandfather.
Im not a huge fan of flower names as a rule, on the whole, they are adorably cute, but seem altogether too flouncy, flimsy, girly and out-growable. However Iris has a more grown up, understated power which makes it one of the strongest floral choices. Also, ‘I’ is quite a classy letter littered with stylish, often slightly left of field monikers (think Imogen, Isobel, Isla, Ines, Iona, India and Ivy). Thinking on it, I do know of one baby Iris, she was named after her grandmother (and for anyone interested, she has siblings called Holly and Ruby)…
Ps. I’m in love with the idea of Lillybet on a child as a nickname for Elizabeth!
Katharine, I do quite like the letter for I for baby names. If I were ranking the 26, I’d have to say I’m partial to H and I … and so over the letter K, it’s krazy.
And Lilybet is darling! Lily as a nickname for Elizabeth is far more appealing than Lilianna, which strikes me as WAY too “flouncy, flimsy, girly and out-growable,” to steal your fabulous turn of phrase, Katharine.
Thanks for the tip on Lilly, Lola. It gives me an idea of where to start looking.