Plants in Other Languages

Floral and other plant names are again having a heyday--Lily, Violet, Jasmine, Hazel, Willow, Ivy, etc. The boys are even getting into it with Rowan, Reed, and Sage. And while there's certainly no dearth of uncommon alternatives, I still thought it'd be fun to look at translations of the 12 most common plant names (ignoring the obvious cognates, like Lilja or Yasmin, because I need to save space!)
*Asterisks indicate the name is already in use in that language, and, unless otherwise indicated, feminine.


Lily

• Azucena (ah-soo-SEH-nah)--Spanish*
• Lelie (LAY-lee)--Dutch
• Lelija (LEL-ee-yah)--Lithuanian
• Lys (LEES)--French
• Nari (nah-ree)--Korean*
• Shoshana (shoh-shah-nah)--Hebrew* [also spelled Shoshannah]
• Sousan (soo-SAHN)--Persian* [also can be transliterated as Soosan or Susan]
• Yuri (yoo-ree)--Japanese*

Violet

• Fialka (fee-AHL-kah)--Czech, Russian, Slovak
• Fjóla (FYOH-lah)--Icelandic*
• Jincai (jin-kye)--Mandarin [*a male name, but with different characters/meaning]
• Ibolya (EE-boy-yah)--Hungarian*
• Orvokki (OR-vok-kee)--Finnish*
• Sigalit (see-gah-leet)--Hebrew*
• Sumire (soo-mee-reh)--Japanese*
• Waireti (WYE-reh-tee)--Maori*
• Ziluolan (zee-loo-oh-lahn)--Mandarin

Jasmine

• Giasemí (yah-seh-MEE)--Greek
• Iasomie (yah-SOHM-yay)--Romanian
• Matsuri (maht-soo-ree)--Japanese*
• Melati (meh-LAH-tee)--Indonesian*
• Moli (moh-lee)--Mandarin ["jasmine"]
• Molihua (moh-lee-hwah)--Mandarin ["jasmine flower"]

Hazel

• Aveleira (ah-veh-LEHR-ah)--Portuguese
• Avellano (ah-veh-YAH-noh)--Spanish
• Calltainn (KAHL-ten)--Scottish
• Coll (KAHL)--Irish
• Collen (CAH-hlen)--Welsh
• Corylus (KOR-ee-lus)--Latin
• Lazda (LAHZ-dah)--Latvian
• Leska (LEH-skah)--Slovene
• Líska (LEES-kah)--Czech
• Nocciolo (noh-CHYOH-loh)--Italian [accented on the first syllable, means "core" or "kernel"]

Willow

• Arava (ah-rah-VAH)--Hebrew* [also means "prairie"]
• Helygen (hel-IG-en)--Welsh
• Itiá--(ee-tee-AH)--Greek
• Íva (EE-vah)--Russian
• Liu (lee-oo)--Chinese [*surname]
• Paju (PAH-yoo)--Estonian, Finnish*
• Saule (SOLE)--French
• Selje (SEL-yeh)--Norwegian [also the name of a Norwegian city, probably of different origin]
• Varba (VUR-bah)--Bulgarian
• Verba (VUR-bah)--Ukrainian
• Vide (VEE-deh)--Swedish* [masculine]
• Víðir (VEE-deer)--Icelandic* [masculine]
• Weida (VYE-deh)--German [also means "pasture"]
• Yanagi (yah-nah-gee)--Japanese [*surname]

Ivy

• Edera (EH-dehr-ah)--Italian
• Eidheann (AY-yen)--Scottish
• Eidhneán (EYE-nan)--Irish
• Hedera (HED-ehr-ah)--Latin
• Hera (EHR-ah)--Portuguese
• Heura (ay-OOR-ah)--Catalan
• Hiedra (YEH-drah)--Spanish
• Iederă (YEH-deh-rah)--Romanian
• Lierre (lee-EHR)--French
• Muratti (MOOR-at-tee)--Finnish

Daisy

• Bellis (BEL-lis)--Latin [also means "wars" (dat/abl) or "pretty" (pl dat/abl)]
• Hinanit (khin-ahn-EET)--Hebrew
• Madelief (mah-deh-LEEF)--Dutch*
• Margaritka (mar-gar-IT-kah)--Bulgarian
• Margaritka (mar-gar-EET-kah)--Russian, Macedonian
• Marguerite (mar-geh-REET)--French*
• Neòinean (NAW-nen)--Scottish
• Nóinín (NOH-uh-neen)--Irish

Rose

• Gül (GOOL)--Turkish* [short 'oo', similar to English foot]
• Ruža (ROO-zhah)--Croatian*, Serbian*
• Trojánda (troh-YAHN-dah)--Ukrainian
• Vered (veh-red)--Hebrew*
• Warda (WAR-dah)--Arabic*
• Yueji (yoo-eh-jee)--Mandarin

Rowan 

• Caorthann (KWEHR-an)--Irish
• Cerddinen (kehr-THEE-nen)--Welsh [hard 'th', like in the]
• Eberesche (eh-beh-RESH-eh)--German
• Jarebika (yah-REH-bee-kah)--Croatian, Serbian
• Pihlaja (PEE-hlah-yah)--Finnish [*shortened form Pihla is used as a name]
• Reynir (RAY-neer)--Icelandic* [masculine]
• Sorveira (sohr-VAY-rah)--Portuguese
• Tis (TEES)--Persian

Iris

• Ayame (ah-yah-meh)--Japanese*
• Perunika (peh-ROO-nee-kah)--Croatian, Macedonian, Serbian, Slovene

Olive

• Azeitona (ah-zay-TOH-nah)--Portuguese
• Elaía (el-EYE-ah)--Ancient Greek
• Eliá (el-YAH)--Greek
• Maslina (mahs-LEE-nah)--Bulgarian
• Maslina (MAHS-lee-nah)--Russian, Serbian
• Maslyna (mahs-LEE-nah)--Ukrainian
• Oliven (oh-LEE-ven)--Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
• Ulli (OO-lee)--Albanian
• Zaituni (zye-TOO-nee)--Swahili*
• Zayit (zah-YEET)--Hebrew
• Zaytun (zay-TOON)--Arabic
• Zeituni (zay-TOO-nee)--Swahili*
• Zeytun (zay-TOON)--Persian

Reed

• Ashi (ah-shee)--Japanese
• Cana (KAH-nah)--Portuguese
• Canya (KAHN-yah)--Catalan
• Kaisla (KYE-slah)--Finnish*
• Kalami (kah-LAH-mee)--Greek
• Kamýsh (kah-MEESH)--Russian
• Nendrė (NEN-dray)--Lithuanian
• Ney (NAY)--Persian
• Qasaba (KAH-suh-bah)--Arabic [also means "town"]
• Rákosí (RAH-koh-see)--Czech
• Roseau (roh-zoh)--French
• Siv (SEEV)--Danish, Norwegian [*used as a name, but from a different derivation]
• Yoshi (yoh-shee)--Japanese [*unisex name, but with different kanji/meaning(s)]