Blooms of Affection: Unveiling the Reasons to Give Flowers

Flowers aren’t just decorative – they carry many meanings and uses. Spanning history and cultures, they’re deeply embedded in the rituals and traditions of societies worldwide due to their powerful symbolic value. This makes flowers a perfect way to convey emotions, sentiments, and appreciation.

So, why do we give flowers?

● Historical significance: Flowers have played a crucial role in human expression since ancient times. For example, in Ancient Egypt, they were integral to religious ceremonies and showing respect for the dead, while the Greeks and Romans crowned heroes with flowers to symbolise victory and honour.

● Cultural symbolism: Many countries have a national flower. For example, South Africa’s is the King Protea, which represents diversity, change and courage, while Australia’s is the Golden Wattle, symbolising unity, remembrance and reflection. Flowers can also play a key role in cultural events. Over in Portugal, people traditionally place yellow flowers called ‘Maias’ at their doors, windows, and balconies on the evening of 30 April to protect their homes from evil for the year ahead.

● Emotional and psychological impact: Studies have shown that flowers can have a positive effect on mood and mental health in both the short and long term, and can help us make intimate connections with others. Flowers can also be a way of expressing emotions without

using words. In fact, the practice of floriography uses flowers to convey coded messages, and this was particularly popular in Victorian England as it helped people to share feelings that couldn’t be spoken aloud in Victorian society.

The universal appeal of flowers is clear. And as each bloom carries a specific sentiment, there’s bound to be a bouquet that perfectly matches whatever occasion or emotion you want to reflect.

● Birthdays: A colourful bouquet is a simple but effective way to brighten a birthday celebration, showing the recipient they are loved and appreciated.

● Anniversaries: Alstroemerias symbolise enduring devotion, making them perfect as an anniversary gift celebrating years of togetherness.

● Weddings: From pure lilies to traditional roses, flowers are a wedding staple.

● Graduations: Bright freesias represent thoughtfulness and are a beautiful way to express congratulations and signify new beginnings and success

● Romantic love: Nothing says "I love you" quite like a bouquet of red roses.

● Friendship: Cheerful gerberas reflect the happiness we get from true friendship.

● Family bonds: Carnations offer a versatile palette to express everything from fascination (pink) to deep love (red), perfect for family celebrations and illustrating why we give flowers to family members.

While there aren’t quite as many floral and plant names for boys names on the rise, our top 5 predictions for 2025 are: 

1. William 

2. Jared

3. Linden

4. Basil 

5. Florian 

Our research found a bit of a royal resurgence in floral names for boys, with the name William topping the list of our botanical baby names for boys in 2025. 

Since the millennium, the name William has grown in popularity by approximately 483%! While William might not be an overtly floral baby name, the ‘sweet william’ is a pink fringed petal flower synonymous with British summer. It’s also considered a ‘flower of the gods’ and, in Victorian times, the sweet william symbolised gallantry - a word used to describe someone with courage, bravery, and noble behaviour. 

The modern resurgence of the name might not be surprising considering Kate Middleton included sweet williams in her bridal bouquet as a tribute to Prince William.

We also found that the name Basil has seen significant growth - approximately 71%. Basil is a name of Greek origin, and while it might have a rather posh (or fox-y) ring to it, alongside referring to the namesake herb, Basil also translates to ‘king’. 

Rowan is another name we expect to bloom in 2025. Rowan is a flower that was traditionally used for protection. In Celtic mythology, it is known as the ‘tree of life’ and inspires courage and wisdom.

While there are many floral baby names that will see a resurgence in 2025, we also identified 8 budding botanical baby names at risk of extinction. 

So for any parents wanting a rarer name, these could be:

1. Blossom

2. Orion

3. Iris

4. Ivy

5. Indigo 

6. Violet 

7. Briar 

8. Fluer

9. Marigold 

10. Rowan

Blossom was the floral baby name we identified to have the biggest decline since the 1900s, down by -67%. Blossoms typically symbolise new beginnings and beauty, which makes this such a special name for a new baby.

Following Blossom was the floral boys’ name Orion, with an average decline of -52%. Orion flowers symbolise good health and happiness. In Victorian England, a pot of Orion flowers was used as a sign of hospitality, meaning that welcoming a new baby boy into the world is so much more special.

Our research has also found that there are around half the number of babies named Iris now as there were in the 1900s, with an average decline of -50%.

To uncover their findings, Eflorist analysed the ONS baby names data dating back to 1904. 

Pulling out floral-themed names, they then compared the average % popularity growth from the 20th century to the 21st century to give them their final predictions for 2025.