Juniper
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Meaning
juniper tree
The story
Juniper’s berries are little cones in disguise. The plant is a conifer, and those aromatic, berry-shaped cones give gin its distinctive flavour. Common juniper takes about two years to ripen them, a surprisingly patient beginning for such a brisk-sounding name. The English tree word became the given name; farther back sits the Latin iuniperus. The plant has also made a quieter journey than the one into a glass. Kew’s tree seed project collected juniper across Britain and stored seeds in underground vaults at Wakehurst, keeping a reserve against threats to the trees. That gives Juniper more than a pretty botanical label. There is a whole life behind it: cones slowly ripening on branches, their scent reaching a bottle, and seeds put away so future branches can grow.
How popular is Juniper around the world?
In the United States, 13,822 babies were named Juniper between 2020 and 2025.
Juniper is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, South Australia and Austria.
United States
1 in 1,600
In the United States, 13,822 babies were named Juniper between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Juniper peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 1,800
In New Zealand, 32 girls named Juniper were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 2,300
In Canada, 161 girls named Juniper were born in 2024, the 168th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 3,100
In England and Wales, 186 girls named Juniper were born in 2025, the 250th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
1 in 7,600
In Scotland, 6 girls named Juniper were registered in 2024, the 476th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 18,000
In Ireland, 3 girls named Juniper were born in 2025, the 885th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Juniper in 2017.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Austria
1 in 38,000
In Austria, 2 girls named Juniper were born in 2025, ranked 1,305th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Juniper
Most people given the name Juniper 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.
Keep exploring
The Juniper deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Juniper 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 Juniper fits with your family’s names and surname.
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