Edible Baby Names
June 6, 2008
Names irrevocably associated with food include:
Amandine- Almond flavor
Ambrose- Rice pudding (UK)
Angus- Evokes both a burger and Scottish flair
Anise- Licorice
Apple- Though this happens to be the name of one famous little girl, it may not be name enough for widespread use.
Arista- Ear of corn (courtesy Eli[zabeth])
Avalon- From King Arthur’s paradise island, possibly related to Afal, the Welsh word for apple (Also courtesy Eli[zabeth], Thank you!)
Basil- Yummy herb
Berry- Surname, occasionally used as a first name
Brandy- Liquor; I wouldn’t if I were you
Brie- I can’t help but always think of cheese when I hear this relatively common name. May I suggest it as a nickname for Gabrielle, Brianna, Cambria, or Bridget?
Caesar- I’ll wager people recall the salad just as much as they do the emporer, sadly
Candy- Since the 70s, this name rarely appears on the birth certificate. It’s more often used as a name a stripper might give to herself.
Cassia- The Greek prettier version of cinnamon
Cerise- Cherry in French
Ceylon- A kind of tea and a place name, this has a lilting sound
Chablis- Heard more frequently, to our dismay
Chardonnay- Chablis’ unfortunate sister
Charlotte- A delectable chocolate cake (Merci Gaelle)
Cherry- Too much teasing potential!
Cicely- Similar to Cecily, but this is an herb name that Sandra Bernhard chose for her daughter.
Cinnamon- Yep, like the toast
Claret- A kind of wine (Bordeaux), and a color
Clementine- One of the food names I would like to see get beyond its breakfast table association.
Clover- Heard this on a little girl the other day and was charmed.
Coco - Cute and feasible as a nickname (think Colette, Cosette, Cora, Cordelia, Corinne, Corisande, Cornelia, Cosima)
Colby- I still think Wisconsin cheese, but this is really is a surname.
Curry- Kind of a spicy possibility
Dulcie, Dulce- Dulce is climbing the charts in the Latino community, where it means caramel. Dulcie is an old British name with a bit more style.
Flora- Brits associate this with margarine. The rest of us hear “flowers” and “floor.”
Ginger- A spice that has entered (and for the most part exited) common use
Haddock- A fish
Ham- Hebrew “hot, warm.” Something tells me this one isn’t tempting you.
Jasmine- Very popular these days, I’m sure it will start a wave of fragrance names
Jemima- Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all get past the syrup connotations and remember this lovely daughter of Job whose name means “dove”? Clementine’s sister?
Julienne- Thinly sliced strips of vegetables. Julianne is so much better.
Kobe- Beef, named after the city in Japan. Pronounced “KOH-bee”
Lorraine- Quiche
Madeleine- (France) A kind of shell-shaped pastry
Margarita- We all know this is really Margaret in Spanish, right kids?
Maize- Still corn
Mirabelle- (France) Plum
Myrtille- Blueberry (France)
Olive- Olive
Pepper- A great name for a dog or cat
Poppy- Like the seed? Clementine and Jemima’s baby sister
Quince- OK, so the name is usually Quincy, but this could be a fruity nickname
Reuben- Anyone fancy corned beef?
Rosemary- Clementine, Jemima, and Poppy’s mum
Saffron- A yellow spice that recalls the studious child on “Absolutely Fabulous”
Earl of Sandwich- His name sounds like a food because he invented it.
Sorrel- Reminiscent of Laurel but with the soft S at the start
Sara Lee- Frozen foods
Tamar- Hebrew for “date palm”
Did I miss any of your favorite food groups?
Yes, I did. Edited to add Olive (thanks, Jess), Charlotte (thanks, Gaelle), and Reuben.
Please tell me that Haddock is a joke. Surely no one in their right mind would call a child this!?
No joke! Haddock is a surname, and could easily be converted to a first name by a landlocked vegetarian.
Funny on Rosemary. RThe Rosemary who’s my cousin has a Joseph & a Geoffrey! I would be brave enough myself to use Jemima, but do you think she’d appreciate it? Otherwise, Clementine continues it’s rise to the top of my list, I’ve already used Ambrose and am seriously entertaining Florence, for the nickname Flora. Did you know the Earl of Sandwich (the one who actually “made” the sandwich) was simply John?
Lovely list of edibles, Thanks!
Thanks, Lola.
I was surprised when I started to make this list how polarizing the names are– some I absolutely LOVE and some are perfectly horrible. Rosemary, Clementine, Jemima, Florence, and Ambrose are all on the ‘loves list.’ I once told an elderly “Florence” who worked at Kmart what a pretty name she had, and she was so flattered! Jemima remains my favorite for you. Do I think she’d appreciate it? Your kid probably would be creative enough to see its value. We never did make that “Let Jemima Cross the Pond” siggie.
Clementine is really appealling to me more too. I think she’d make a great sister to either of our girls (I still have Josephine on the list, too). Did you see the link at the bottom of my page for Appellation Mountain? She has an excellent post about Clementine. Tell her I sent ya!
Did not know the Earl of Sandwich was simply John. I really like the G spelling of Geoffrey.
Until tomorrow.
~E
One edible you forgot to mention is Olive. Delicious to the tongue AND the ear!
I kept feeling like I’d missed a really obvious one! For that matter, Add Olivia and Oliver to the list of edibles, because they mean “olive.” Thanks, Jess.
I think the meaning of Oliver was originally “elf army” (Alfihar, what a fantastic name!), until the Latin spelling changed the meaning. Just a bit of random knowledge there.
Well done, Sofia! Random but pertinent. Oliver does seem to originate in the Germanic Alfihar “elf army”, but Olivier, his French equivalent, literally translates to “olive tree.” It will be interesting to find out more. Did this name converge from two roots?
One of my favorites, Arista, is actually Latin for “ear of corn”. And I think Avalon has something to do with apples.
There are also quite of few famous people with the name “Shiraz” (a wine).
How about the French delicious cake that is the Charlotte?
And I have met a French Vanilla. Well a little French girl called Vanilla.
Myrtle/Myrtille?
How about Peaches? (there is one sort of famous one in the UK)
I quite like edible names!