Nature baby names

Other nature words, including: hamster, heron, kingfisher, leopard, magpie, minnow, mussel, newt, otter and panther have also been culled. Blackberry tech replaced the blackberry fruit.  No more Poppy, bye bye Pansy. And while Dandelion and Ivy are out, flip-charts and spreadsheets are in.

Oxford University Press, who publishes the Junior Dictionary, said that the removal of words is simply because the dictionary is designed to “reflect language as it is used”.  They’ve obviously never spoken to any mums, who use these words every time they speak to their children!

And while we can understand that some words aren’t in everyday use, many, many are. The people behind the petition to get the missing words back – The Wild Network – think that is exactly the point. The purpose of a dictionary is to help little ones learn new words and develop their language – not just reinforce what they know. And if we take the nature words out of the dictionary, what does that mean for the way they learn about nature?

So which baby names have gone missing?  Has your baby’s name been deleted? Sign the petition to get it back! 

Name	2014 baby name rank
Poppy	6
Lily	9
Daisy	23
Rose (Rosie)	34
Holly	37
Willow	46
Ivy	54
Jasmine	59
Violet	72
Hollie	88

Feeling nervous? Here’s our list of top nature names… will they be next on the endangered nature names list?