She’s deeply symbolic – and disarmingly pretty, too.

Thanks to Sophie for suggesting Acacia as Name of the Day.

Acacia’s roots are as a nature name.  Also known as a thorntree or a wattle, the flowering trees are found most everywhere, especially Australia.

But unlike Linden or Pine, calling your darling daughter Acacia packs a symbolic punch akin to Dove.

The name derives from the Greek ake – thorn.  Akakia became acacia in Latin.  The genus was among many first described by legendary eighteenth century botanist Carolus Linnaeus.  And while the Egyptian acacia is indeed thorny, not all are – giraffes eat the leaves of at least one African variety.

Over the years, the acacia has been used as a symbol, including:

• In Freemasonry, the acacia stands for the endurance of the soul and resurrection;
• The bark and root of the acacia is used as ritual incense in India and China – it is believed the smoke wards off evil spirits;
• Some scholars suggest that Moses’ burning bush is an Acacia tree;
• Most agree that the Ark of the Covenant was made out of acacia wood;
• Some of the flowers are referred to as mimosas, and traditionally given out on International Women’s Day;
• Acacia Fraternity is the only international fraternity with a word rather than Greek letters as their name – the fraternity has strong traditional ties to Freemasonry;
• Some sites report that the acacia was a symbol of secret love in the Victorian language of flowers.

In other uses, a 2007 fantasy novel by David Anthony Durham is titled Acacia: The War with the Mein; a Civil War-era tugboat wore the name, as did a Coast Guard ship sunk by the Germans in 1942.  A 2003 South Korean horror film was called Acacia, and an acacia tree featured prominently in the storyline.

What with all this buzz, it is perhaps surprising that Acacia never caught on.  She’s never charted in the US Top 1000.  However, you’ll find plenty of nineteenth century Acacias in US Census records – and a surprising number of them hail from Puerto Rico.  There are species of acacia native to the island, but I must be missing something!

There are at least two valid pronunciations for the given name.  Most people will refer to the tree as ah KAY shah.  As a name, ah KAY see ah or ah KAY see uh is also valid, and I can easily imagine ah kay SEE uh being favored, too.

With the nickname option Casey – or Cacy or Caci - this is a versatile choice.  She’s a very prettyalternative to the equally botanical choice Olivia.