Popular Baby Names Inspired by Your Favourite Food and Drinks

As lovers of food and drink, we decided to analyse recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) data – looking at ‘Baby names in England and Wales, 1996 to 2019’ – to discover the most popular baby names related to food and drink.

Whether you want to spoil friends, family, or colleagues (or even just to treat yourself), we have a wide variety of delicious food hampers that are suitable for every occasion. With delightful selections of sweet and savoury food – including cheese, chutney, wine, chocolate, and more – every product is lovingly chosen by our experts!

It turns out that sugar, spice and all things nice (to eat) are inspiring parents across the nation. Read on to find out more…

Baby girl names

According to recent birth data, Poppy is the most popular food-related baby girl name in England and Wales:

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Name Description 2019 Rank* 2019 Count
1 Poppy Seed 17 2,022
2 Rose Edible   flower 56 923
3 Jasmine Tea 73 752
4 Olive Fruit 109 469
5 Hazel Nut 148 343
6 Clementine Fruit 247 197
7 Madeleine Cake 297 163
8 Honey Sweet,   viscous liquid (bees) 396 109
9 Juniper Berry 562 72
=10 Bailey Irish   cream liqueur 570 71
=10 Rosemary Herb 570 71
12 Saffron Spice 703 55
13 Angelica Herb 737 52
14 Cherry Fruit 1,218 27
=15 Peaches Fruit 1,854 15
=15 Reese Candy   (Reese’s Pieces) 1,854 15
17 Brie Cheese 2,040 13
18 Margarita Cocktail 2,170 12
=19 Berry Fruit 3,151 7
=19 Lavender Edible   flower 3,151 7
=19 Lotus Biscuit 3,151 7
22 Pepper Vegetable 3,541 6
=23 Maple Syrup 4,001 5
=23 Nori Seaweed 4,001 5
=25 Anise Spice   (star anise) 5,591 3
=25 Sultana Fruit 5,591 3

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Rose, Jasmine, Olive and Hazel made up the remainder of the top 5. Berry (7), Lavender (7), Lotus (7), Pepper (6), Maple (5), Nori (5), Anise (3) and Sultana (3) also featured as more unique names further down the list.
Looking across all available years (1996 to 2019), other culinary-inspired names for girls included fruits, such as Apple, Peach, Plum and Strawberry, as well as alcoholic beverages, including Brandy, Champagne, Chardonnay, and Sherry:

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GIRLS
NameDescriptionPeak – year(s) with highest count between 1996-2019
AmbrosiaBrand (Devon Custards and Desserts)3 in 2012
AppleFruit5 in 2007 and in 2008
BrandyDistilled wine10 in 1999
CandySweets8 in 2007
ChaiTea5 in 2000
ChampagneFrench sparkling wine3 in 2009
ChardonnayGrape variety in white wine101 in 2003
CloveSpice3 in 2016
NigellaSeed5 in 2005 and in 2011
PeachFruit4 in 2018
PlumFruit4 in 2007
SherryFortified wine10 in 2006
StrawberryFruit3 in 2012

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Baby boy names

According to recent birth data, Reuben is the most popular food-related baby boy name in England and Wales:

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NameDescription2019 Rank*2019 Count
1ReubenSandwich441,424
2DexterCattletype (beef)114542
3FrankHot dogsausage158345
4BaileyIrishcream liqueur188278
5AngusCattletype (beef)303161
6KobeBeef356125
7BenedictEggsbenedict (ham and hollandaise)78740
8JamesonWhiskey87434
9BasilHerb1,43917
10GordonGin brand1,74513
=11CaesarSalad2,2669
=11SageHerb2,2669
=13BakerAtradesperson who bakes2,7287
=13BranHardouter layer of whole cereal grains2,7287
=13PippinApple2,7287
16ReeseCandy(Reese’s Pieces)3,0136
17RoeFish eggs4,7023

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Dexter, Frank, Bailey, and Angus made up the remainder of the top 5. Caesar (9), Sage (9), Baker (7), Bran (7), Pippin (7), Reese (6) and Roe (3) also featured as more unique names further down the list.
Cane, Dijon, Juniper, Kale and Romaine have also proved to be unique food-related names over recent years:

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BOYS
NameDescriptionPeak – year(s) with highest count between 1996-2019
CaneSugar7 in 1997
DijonMustard4 in 1998 and in 2000
JuniperBerry3 in 2018
KaleLeafy green in the cabbage family20 in 2013
RomaineType of head lettuce9 in 2010, in 2012 and in 2013

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Unisex baby names

There were several examples that featured as unisex names:

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NameDescription2019 Girl Count2019 Boy Count
BaileyIrishcream liqueur71278
JuniperBerry720 (3 in 2018)
ReeseCandy (Reese’sPieces)156

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Bailey more common for boy babies than girls (278 versus 71 respectively), whereas Reese was more common for girl babies than boys (15 versus 6 respectively). Juniper also featured as a unisex name – while more popular for girls, the name peaked for boy names in 2018, with 3 male babies being named after the berry in that year.

We hope this article inspires you to consider culinary influences when it comes to deciding on potential baby names – plenty of unique and unisex names feature in the lists, including those inspired by various beverages, edible flowers, herbs, spices, fruits, and more tasty treats!

Disclaimer: The information in this story is accurate as of the publication date. Virginia Hayward are not liable or responsible for the accuracy of the advice provided by third party experts, nor for the content or operation of any third-party websites, webpages, or resources which have been linked to within this article. *Rank in respective girl-only or boy-only list, not overall.

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