Gardenia
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- gar-DEE-nee-a
- Origin
- English
- US rank, 2025
- #11,928 for girls
Gardenia is a girls' name of English origin, meaning “gardenia flower”. In 2025 it ranked 11,928th for girls in the US (7 babies).
What does Gardenia mean?
English: flower name, from the surname of naturalist Alexander Garden
“gardenia flower”
The gardenia was named in the 1760s after Alexander Garden, a Scottish-born doctor and naturalist in South Carolina.
Is Gardenia a girl's or a boy's name?
Gardenia is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 7 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Gardenia in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 11,928th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 7 about 1 in 230,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 7 girls in the US were named Gardenia, making it the 11,928th most popular name for girls. Its busiest year was 1992, with 70 girls. It first appears in the records in 1917.
Half of all the girls named Gardenia in the US since 1880 were born between 1953 and 1999, the years shaded on the chart below.
Gardenia in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #11,928 |
| 2024 | 11 | #8,941 |
| 2023 | 7 | #12,192 |
| 2022 | 12 | #8,536 |
| 2021 | 9 | #10,287 |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 7 | #12,442 |
| 2018 | 8 | #11,422 |
| 2017 | 13 | #8,295 |
| 2016 | 9 | #10,855 |
| 2015 | 13 | #8,443 |
| 2014 | 6 | #14,552 |
| 2013 | 12 | #9,031 |
| 2012 | 16 | #7,452 |
| 2011 | 12 | #9,146 |
| 2010 | 18 | #6,901 |
| 2009 | 22 | #6,088 |
| 2008 | 15 | #8,105 |
| 2007 | 11 | #10,125 |
| 2006 | 14 | #8,234 |
| 2005 | 24 | #5,261 |
| 2004 | 16 | #7,072 |
| 2003 | 19 | #6,050 |
| 2002 | 19 | #5,892 |
| 2001 | 17 | #6,317 |
| 2000 | 21 | #5,307 |
| 1999 | 31 | #3,800 |
| 1998 | 21 | #4,951 |
| 1997 | 18 | #5,413 |
| 1996 | 23 | #4,448 |
| 1995 | 28 | #3,775 |
| 1994 | 41 | #2,872 |
| 1993 | 42 | #2,820 |
| 1992 | 70 | #1,960 |
| 1991 | 19 | #4,998 |
| 1990 | 22 | #4,375 |
| 1989 | 11 | #6,949 |
| 1988 | 7 | #9,239 |
| 1987 | 8 | #7,982 |
| 1986 | 9 | #7,130 |
| 1985 | 9 | #6,952 |
| 1984 | 5 | #10,417 |
| 1983 | 8 | #7,310 |
| 1982 | 9 | #6,886 |
| 1981 | 8 | #7,407 |
| 1980 | 5 | #10,390 |
| 1979 | 8 | #7,311 |
| 1978 | 9 | #6,384 |
| 1977 | 10 | #5,886 |
| 1976 | 9 | #6,046 |
| 1975 | 5 | #9,065 |
| 1974 | 10 | #5,359 |
| 1973 | 5 | #8,421 |
| 1972 | 7 | #6,556 |
| 1971 | 7 | #6,617 |
| 1970 | 5 | #7,994 |
| 1969 | 0 | – |
| 1968 | 8 | #5,146 |
| 1967 | 7 | #5,456 |
| 1966 | 11 | #3,958 |
| 1965 | 5 | #6,538 |
| 1964 | 16 | #3,243 |
| 1963 | 11 | #4,018 |
| 1962 | 9 | #4,532 |
| 1961 | 16 | #3,188 |
| 1960 | 16 | #3,094 |
| 1959 | 13 | #3,435 |
| 1958 | 10 | #3,924 |
| 1957 | 10 | #3,929 |
| 1956 | 18 | #2,724 |
| 1955 | 18 | #2,634 |
| 1954 | 22 | #2,294 |
| 1953 | 22 | #2,235 |
| 1952 | 18 | #2,501 |
| 1951 | 11 | #3,283 |
| 1950 | 12 | #3,051 |
| 1949 | 15 | #2,619 |
| 1948 | 17 | #2,415 |
| 1947 | 13 | #2,897 |
| 1946 | 15 | #2,481 |
| 1945 | 18 | #1,992 |
| 1944 | 11 | #2,761 |
| 1943 | 18 | #2,078 |
| 1942 | 12 | #2,665 |
| 1941 | 14 | #2,271 |
| 1940 | 15 | #2,108 |
| 1939 | 10 | #2,734 |
| 1938 | 17 | #1,945 |
| 1937 | 26 | #1,451 |
| 1936 | 17 | #1,873 |
| 1935 | 16 | #2,005 |
| 1934 | 13 | #2,288 |
| 1933 | 6 | #3,751 |
| 1932 | 6 | #3,899 |
| 1931 | 0 | – |
| 1930 | 7 | #3,656 |
| 1929 | 5 | #4,568 |
| 1928 | 0 | – |
| 1927 | 6 | #4,284 |
| 1926 | 0 | – |
| 1925 | 0 | – |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,000 |
| 1923 | 0 | – |
| 1922 | 0 | – |
| 1921 | 0 | – |
| 1920 | 0 | – |
| 1919 | 5 | #4,812 |
| 1918 | 0 | – |
| 1917 | 5 | #4,592 |
Names like Gardenia
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Olivia, Alicia, Gabriella, Victoria, Natalia, Vanessa, Melody, Alexandra, Shelby, Valeria, Amelia, Kimberly
More English names
Lily, Evelyn, Hudson, Ivy, Harper, Grace, Violet, Willow, Daisy, Poppy, Riley, Oakley, Mason, Cooper, Ruby, Hallie
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Gardenia: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/gardenia, updated 20 October 2026.