Why Australia is obsessed with flower names

Walk into any Aussie primary school and you'll hear a botanical garden: Willow, Hazel, Ivy, Daisy, Poppy, Lily, Rose, Jasmine, Violet... Somewhere along the line, Aussie parents decided their daughters should be named after things you'd plant in a backyard. And honestly? It kind of works.

Flower names aren't new — Victorian ladies were called Daisy and Rose back when Australia was still a penal colony. But the modern wave started in the 1990s, when parents got tired of generic names like Sarah and Emma and started reaching for something with a bit more personality.

Willow is the big one. It shot up the charts after Buffy the Vampire Slayer made it look cool, and it's stayed there because it sounds gentle but strong — like a tree that bends but doesn't break. Hazel is another winner, probably because of that cute little nut thing. And Poppy? Pure joy. You can't be sad when someone's named Poppy.

The funny thing is, boys get left out of this game. Where's the little boy named Oak? Or Cedar? Or Gum tree? Oh wait, we do have Gum tree... but that's not a name. Yet.