Flower

Flower-naming is close to a human universal.

396 names · 89 traditions

The same root, across a whole language family

These are attested shared morphemes — not coincidences of spelling. Where we are not confident a root is shared, we say nothing and simply list the names.

anthos

flower (Greek)

Greek

Anthi, Anthimia, Anthoula, Anthousa, Calantha, Calanthe, Chrysanthi, Chrysanthia

flor-

flower (Latin)

Latin, Spanish, Italian, French

Blanchefleur, Fleur, Fleurette, Fleurine, Flor, Flora, Florabelle, Florence

pushpa

flower (Sanskrit)

Sanskrit, Hindi

Pushpa, Pushpalata, Pushpamala, Pushpanjali, Pushpita

Every tradition, side by side

English 20

Ardith Azaliya Daisey Daisy Daizy Flossie Gardenia Heather Lillie Lilly Lily Marigold Maylin Pansy Petal Poppy Posie Rose Tansy Wisteria

Japanese 18

Ayaka Ayame Botan Hana Hanako Ichika Kanao Kohana Konohana Mio Misaki Momoka Reika Saki Sakura Sakuya Ume Umeko

Latin 18

Azalia Camellia Cataleya Flor Flora Florabelle Florence Florentina Florinda Freesia Lilianna Lilliana Lilyana Magnolia Viola Violet Violetta Vyolet

Persian 18

Goli Golnoosh Golsa Golsara Gulnara Jasmeen Jasmin Jasmine Jazmin Jazmine Jazmyn Ladan Narges Nazgol Shabgol Shokoufeh Yasamin Yasmin

Italian 14

Fioralba Fioranna Fiordelisa Fiorela Fiorella Fiorenza Fioretta Floriana Gelsa Gelsomina Giacinta Iolanda Melograna Ornella

Tamil 13

Ezhilmalar Malaimalar Malar Malarkodi Malarvizhi Ponmalar Poomozhi Poongodi Poongothai Poonguzhali Selvamalar Semmalar Thenmalar

French 12

Blanchefleur Capucine Fleur Fleurette Fleurine Florette Florie Florine Iolande Therese Violette Yolaine

Chinese 12

Chunhua Guiying Hua Lanying Lei Lihua Mei Xiuying Yanmei Yingtai Yueying Yumei

Arabic 11

Azhar Baylasan Nawar Qatoof Sireen Yasmina Zaara Zainab Zaineb Zara Zariyah

Indonesian 7

Bunga Cempaka Kemboja Kenanga Kesuma Puspa Sekarwangi

Hawaiian 7

Ilima Lehua Leilani Maylea Pua Pualani Puanani

Khmer 6

Bopha Champei Champey Kunthea Maly Mealea

Hebrew 6

Dalit Nitzan Rakefet Rotem Sigal Smadar

Kazakh 5

Aigul Ainagul Aksungul Gulmira Nazgul

Uyghur 5

Aygul Gulbahar Gulnur Gulzade Nurgul

Bengali 5

Bakul Jaba Kash Madhabi Mohua

Spanish 5

Begonia Crisanta Floripes Jacinta Narcisa

Vietnamese 5

Cam Hoa Ly Mai Quynh

Albanian 5

Lule Luljeta Manushaqe Mimoza Vjollca

Mongolian 4

Altantsetseg Monhtsetseg Munkhtsetseg Tsetseg

Tatar 4

Aygol Gulchachak Gulfiya Rezeda

Thai 4

Busaba Bussaba Kesorn Malee

Slavic 4

Cvetka Kvetka Kvetoslava Nevena

Hungarian 4

Hanga Ibolya Jolan Virág

Turkish 3

Bade Cicek Zehranur

Nahuatl 3

Eloxochitl Xochiquetzal Xochitl

Romanian 3

Floarea Florica Sânziana

Turkmen 3

Guljan Gunca Ogulnar

Bulgarian 3

Tsveta Tsvetana Tsvetanka

Guarani 2

Swahili 2

Welsh 2

Macedonian 2

Croatian 2

German 2

Georgian 2

Serbian 2

Finnish 2

Czech 2

Ukrainian 2

Latvian 2

Lao 2

Mapuche 2

Somali 2

Filipino 2

Ethiopian 1

Cherokee 1

Indigenous American 1

Taíno 1

Russian 1

Pashto 1

Celtic 1

Yiddish 1

Tuvan 1

Igbo 1

Berber 1

Scandinavian 1

Icelandic 1

Romansh 1

Korean 1

Nogai 1

Azerbaijani 1

Uzbek 1

Kyrgyz 1

Tongan 1

Oromo 1

Polish 1

Tigrinya 1

Basque 1

Maori 1

Yakut 1

Hmong 1

Sotho 1

Shona 1

Kalmyk 1

Kurdish 1

Sinhala 1

Hopi 1

Telugu 1

Lithuanian 1

Samoan 1

Quechua 1

Dagestani 1

African 1

American 1

Chechen 1

More ideas in the Atlas: Light · Moon · Star · Sun · Dawn · Rose · Peace · Courage · Gift · Sea · Love · Wisdom · Joy · Life · Hope · Faith · Strength · Grace · Birds · River · Mountain · Gold · Pearl · Night · Fire · Nobility · Victory · Garden · Rain · Snow · Spring · Truth · Freedom · Song · Sky