Azalea
Meaning
from the flower name, "dry"
The story
Azalea is the flower that thrives where the ground is dry, Greek azaleos at the root, and the bush answers hard soil with an absurd abundance of bloom, which is a fine thing to name a daughter after. The record kept it under two hundred a decade for a century, then turned: about 380 in the 1990s, 1,100 in the 2000s, 4,500 in the 2010s, and already 5,000 so far this decade, past the full 2010s with years to run. The 2010s jump came just as a chart-topping rapper took the flower for a stage name; the record shows the timing, and timing is all a record can show. It goes to girls without exception: about 11,700 to none. It joins the bouquet Poppy and Dahlia carry in our records, the flower names with a little attitude: pink on the branch, grit at the root.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Azalea peaked in the 2020s.
When you meet Azalea
Most people given the name Azalea in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Azalea deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Azalea truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Azalea fits with your family’s names and surname.
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