What Is the Meaning of the Name Daffodil?
The word daffodil has been used since 1590 to describe an early blooming spring flower of solid yellow or white and yellow color. Used as a name, Daffodil has natural, poetic and mythological associations that give it various meanings.
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Flower
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Though it is uncommon, Daffodil is given as a feminine name in English speaking countries. Like Rose or Lily, Daffodil most immediately conjures the flower of the same name.
Spring
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Daffodil is an appropriate name for girls born in early spring, since that is when daffodils thrive. Thus, the name Daffodil can mean spring, new beginnings or new life.
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Myth
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Daffodil's botanical genus is Narcissus, a name from Greek mythology. Narcissus was a handsome man who fell in love with his reflection and disappeared. In his place grew a flower. This myth provides the name Daffodil with another level of meaning.
Famous Ties
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Daffodil's poetic meaning is augmented by a famous poem. In William Wordsworth's poem "Daffodils," he writes about the joy that thinking of daffodils brings him: "For oft, when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood, / They flash upon that inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude; / And then my heart with pleasure fills, / And dances with the daffodils."
History
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Daffodil originates from the Greek word asphodelos. Because the Netherlands produce many of the world's daffodil bulbs, the Dutch "de affodil" may have merged into the modernly used "daffodil."
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References
- Photo Credit daffodil image by Witold Krasowski from Fotolia.com
