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Dahlia

Today's name: Dahlia



Pronunciation: DAHL-ya, DAHL-ee-ah

Potential nicknames: Doll/Dahl, Dolly/Dahllie, Lia, Dala

Origin: (1) Swedish and Scandinavian, meaning "valley," or "valley dweller." (2) A flower named for the 18th century botanist Anders Dahl.

Popularity: There were 447 baby girls named Dahlia in 2010 in the U.S., ranking in at #650. In 2011 it went up to #538, with 536 births.

Fun fact: (1) Dahlias come in an array of colors. (2) "The Black Dahlia" was a movie based on a real American woman named Elizabeth Short whose 1947 murder case was never solved. It is disputed whether newspaper reporters gave her this nickname, or friends of hers gave her the nickname based on the recent movie "The Blue Dahlia." The movie is probably the real reason. For those of you who don't want this negative association, consider the fact that the dahlia flower has been around for a lot longer, and Dahlia was not this woman's real name.

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