Plant Names in the 2025 SSA Top 200 vs Outside 500
Published September 17, 2026
Olive-tree names remain prominent in the U.S. data. Olivia ranked 1st among girls in 2025 with 13,544 births, while Oliver ranked 3rd among boys with 14,939 births. Both share an olive-tree meaning, but their popularity is part of the mainstream rather than a niche botanical trend.
This guide compares plant-related names in the 2025 Social Security data: names inside the top 200, names ranked 201–500, and names beyond 500 or absent from the top 1,000. The groups help parents separate a preferred meaning from the practical question of how commonly a name is used.
What counts as a plant name in this catalog
The flower, tree, lily, and olive meaning groups provide a useful starting point. Violet ranked 13th among girls in 2025 (7,546 births), Hazel 21st (6,318), Lily 18th (6,673), Willow 44th (4,763), and Lillian 57th (3,966). Each combines a recognizable plant association with top-200 use.
Other plant-related names also rank highly: Ivy was 39th (5,117 births), Leilani 60th (3,792), Daisy 75th (3,206), Ayla 77th (3,149), and Liliana 78th (3,118). Their meanings differ, but all belong to the same practical comparison: a plant association paired with substantial current use.
The top 200 is already a garden
The top 200 includes Juniper at 100th (2,618 births), Rose at 114th (2,386), Magnolia at 124th (2,233), Ashley at 164th (1,829), Daphne at 178th (1,740), Olive at 197th (1,597), and Ashton at 197th among boys (1,801). Jasmine moved just outside this band to 206th (1,481).
A botanical meaning does not necessarily make a name uncommon. Olivia, Oliver, Violet, Hazel, Lily, and Ivy are all widely used choices in the 2025 data. Parents seeking fewer likely namesakes should compare the ranking as carefully as the meaning.
The 201–500 band is a different garden
The 201–500 range offers recognizable names with less use than the top-200 group. Dahlia ranked 215th (1,420 births), Lilly 252nd (1,218), Aspen 266th (1,179), Azalea 278th (1,109), and Poppy 292nd (1,054).
This middle band can be useful for parents who like a familiar flower or tree name but want lower current usage than Lily or Violet. It is still a nationally ranked group, not evidence that a name is rare.
Outside the top 500: the quiet plant shelf
Beyond 500, Clover ranked 517th (578 births), Lilian 560th (537), Hadassah 570th (529), Marigold 590th (498), Flora 607th (483), Rosa 653rd (441), and Lillie 676th (420). These names still appear in the 2025 top 1,000, but at substantially lower volumes.
Fleur, Hyacinth, Lilac, Tansy, Roisin, Ianthe, and Pema do not appear in the 2025 girl or boy top 1,000. In this guide, “unranked” means absent from those published lists; it does not mean the name was unused.
Olive, lily, and rose are families, not one rank
Related meanings can span very different popularity levels. Olivia and Oliver lead their lists, while Olive ranks 197th and Ollie is outside the 2025 top 1,000. Lily, Lillian, and Liliana remain in the top 100, while Lilian and Lillie rank beyond 500. Rose ranks 114th and Rosa 653rd.
Meaning hubs are useful for discovering related options, but the ranking distinguishes how often each spelling is currently used. Compare both before treating close meanings as interchangeable choices.
What changed from 2024 to 2025
Several plant names moved enough to cross a useful boundary. Juniper rose from 111th in 2024 to 100th in 2025, entering the top 100. Jasmine moved from 199th to 206th, leaving the top 200. Clover climbed from 618th to 517th but remained outside the top 500. These shifts show why a current year matters when the goal is to estimate likely name sharing.
Rank changes do not always mean large changes in the number of births. Rose held nearly steady, moving from 115th with 2,376 births in 2024 to 114th with 2,386 in 2025. Lily moved from 24th to 18th while births rose from 6,093 to 6,673. Read rank and birth count together: rank compares a name with the rest of that year’s list, while births show the underlying volume.
How to pick a plant and then a crowding band
Start with the plant meaning, then choose a popularity band. Top-200 options include Olivia, Oliver, Violet, Hazel, Lily, Ivy, Willow, Daisy, Juniper, Rose, Magnolia, Olive, and Daphne. Beyond 500 are Flora, Clover, Marigold, Rosa, Lilian, Lillie, and Hadassah; Fleur and Lilac are unranked in the 2025 top 1,000.
The names that mean flower hub collects Lily, Violet, Rose, Daisy, Jasmine, Magnolia, Dahlia, Poppy, Rosa, and Lilly. Use it to discover related names, then return to the 2025 ranking to compare current usage.
Popularity is not a quality score. It is practical context: a top-20 name is more likely to be shared than a name beyond 500, even when both have equally clear plant meanings. Family significance, pronunciation, spelling, and fit with the surname still belong in the final decision.