Arbutus
Feminine · “the strawberry tree”
Arbutus is a plant name, and the plant is the one every American schoolchild used to be told about: the trailing arbutus, the first flower the Pilgrims are supposed to have found after their first winter, which is why it is also called the mayflower. It is the state flower of Massachusetts and it is now protected, because people picked almost all of it.
How old is the name Arbutus?
Arbutus first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Arbutus alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 200 people named Arbutus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arbutus most popular?
Arbutus peaked in 1927, reaching #1079 nationally. See the whole 1927 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Latin name for a Mediterranean tree with red fruit to Arbutus
The story of Arbutus
The Pilgrim story is almost certainly a later attachment — the flower's association with the ship's name is too neat, and the earliest tellings of it are Victorian. What is true is that the plant became a New England emblem in the nineteenth century, that people picked it in enormous quantities because it smells extraordinary, and that it turned out to be nearly impossible to transplant or to grow deliberately. By the time the name was being given to daughters, the flower was already becoming scarce enough for states to legislate about it. Massachusetts made it the state flower and then had to make picking it an offense.
Meaning
the strawberry tree, and its American relative
The Latin word names a Mediterranean tree with red fruit that looks like a strawberry and does not taste like one. Pliny gave it the species name unedo, which means I eat only one — a joke about the fruit that has survived two thousand years in the botanical literature. The American plant that carries the name is a different thing entirely: a low, creeping, intensely scented flower of the eastern woods, which nineteenth-century families knew as the mayflower and named daughters after.
How the name formed
- a Latin name for a Mediterranean tree with red fruit
- Pliny records the species name meaning I eat only one
- the name transferred to an American woodland flower
- New England families give it to daughters
- the plant is protected by law as it grows scarce
Related forms: Arbutus · Mayflower
Pronouncing Arbutus
ar-BYOO-tus
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. It is the botanical pronunciation and there is no competing one, which is unusual for a Latin word in American mouths.
Nicknames for Arbutus
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1906
- Most girls named
- 192750 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1079reached in 1927
- Change vs 1955
- 0.0%5 in 1961, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Arbutus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arbutus in Latin — same name
- Mayflower in English — related form
Arbutuss among us
people named Arbutus are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Arbutus sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is a genuine plant name with a documented history rather than an invented one.
- It is unrepeated — nobody now gives it, and nobody will share it.
- The flower behind it is famous, protected and extremely well loved in one part of the country.
- Three syllables of Latin is a great deal of name for a small child.
- Most people will not recognize it as a name at all and will ask what it is.
- It is firmly of the early twentieth century and has had no revival of any kind.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Arbutus to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Arbutus? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Arbutus
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Arbutuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Arbutus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arbutus in 2025?
- Arbutus is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Arbutus with classmates?
- Arbutus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arbutus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arbutus and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle