How irises are named intrigues me. Often I'm attracted first to the name of an iris.
Or, conversely, repelled by a name. For example - there is an iris called Rasputin. Rasputin was
a mysterious man who had a negative influence on Czar Nicholas of Russia and the Czar's family.
Why would anyone name an iris after him?
Has the name of an iris ever induced you to add it to your garden?

Well Rasputin was very hard to kill. They tried several times before succeeding by both shooting and drowning him. I agree that he doesn't sound like a good name for an iris, but it could connote that this is a hardy iris that is hard to kill. !!!

There one little iris that I really want but have not added it to my garden. It is named Baby Doe Tabor by Tom Magee 1999. It has been described as a fawn color but the name almost seems like it is a memorial iris. It would be sad to pass it in my garden every day if it is a memorial to a baby. I really don't like irises named for people that I don't know. The name does not describe its bloom or vigor... just a persons name. That is like calling it iris 1 to me. There are so many dwarfs called little, I think I have five or six, that I think they could be more creative. Anyway, if you have a terrific iris that is worth registering then I think it should have a name that is either whimsical, descriptive or intriguing and above all memorable.

Jan, new to Iris, but have added Iris to my wants list because of the name, have bought Daylilies for the name, so guess it carries across.

Look at a hybridizer like Larry Lauer. He uses song titles in naming. Fun stuff.

Yes, Debra, or famous lines from songs. Millions of them!

Rejecting a beautiful iris because of it's name is like rejecting people with blue eyes as friends. Neither has any control over it. I don't give much thought to the name, but I want the iris to be nice. If it's nice and has a cute name, that's fine, but otherwise I don't even consider the name when buying them. That being said, I did buy Man's Best Friend for my doggie memorial bed and Sammies Jammies (One of the dog's names was Sammie), but I did like the flowers!

Names don't mean much of anything to me either, Tom. They could sell irises by the seedling numbers as far as I'm concerned.

I enjoy the names...and in fact have a collection of "Indian Themed" iris....but even iris with "yucky" names can trip my trigger ! One thing that I "get off on", concerning names...is not the NAME of the iris, so much, as how it GOT it's name....there are some very interesting stories about some of them ! And, of course, I grow "Eleanor Roosevelt," and would dearly love to have" Franklin Roosevelt" to plant next to her ! "Romeo" demanded I find "Juliet" to be his bed mate, and " Mr. Lincoln" just had to have "Mary Todd" as a companion (even though "she ' wasn't named for THAT Mary Todd). A bed with a "theme"....song titles...cities...states...Star Wars...birds...iris named for OTHER kinds of flowers' .... '''memorial plantings"....all can add an extra dimension of enjoyment to our gardens.

With my memory I could never remember an iris number. I would have to walk about with a chart. I recognize many irises by their names and I like that. I also like to know how an iris got its name. And naming irises can be a good selling point. As I said on CUBITS I am going to buy Winkin' Blinkin' AND Nod. How could I have one without the others?

It is really difficult to get an iris name passed by the registrar. I told John that if I had a brown iris, I would call it Billie the Brownie after a childhood radio character. He come in one morning & said that it had just bloomed in the garden. His plant! oh well & I like the iris.

Nicely put Arlyn..

Lucy, did John use your name for one of his Iris?

I've bought several for their names...
'Drama Queen' (I prefer this in my garden, than having them in my life)
'Starship Enterprise' (because Mr. Henhouse is a trekkie)
'Coyote Ugly' (just strikes me as hilarious)
'Filoli' (because I used to work there)
'Stepping Out' (my Dad used to ask if I was going stepping out)
'Joan Crawford' (she did bitch so well)
'San Francisco' (city of my birth... need to get some of the other California city-named varieties)

I'd like to get 'Ginny Mitchell' because I've done some shows with a singer by that name (and it's really pretty), but I feel like I should give her 'Drama Queen' instead

I have a few "wine" names...Merlot is one.

Leslie - I liked your analogy that Rasputin was hard to kill and so might be the iris. Just noticed that
it's a Tom Johnson creation. Maybe he'll enlighten us sometime!

I think names do matter. I'm afraid to check the database for any iris possibly named Hitler!
I do like the idea of names in a series...how about philosophers? Or former vice-presidents? Nah..
I really wouldn't like a Dick Cheney in my garden.

This thread got me noticing names while I've been browsing Tom Johnson intros, and I realized he really likes pop song names. I'm not very up on pop songs, so I'm sure I didn't recognize some....but I sure did zone in on those 80s songs, LOL.
Call Me Maybe
Dancing in the Dark
Don't Stop Believing
Rumor Has It
Wild Angel
Strut
Strike a Pose (from a song)
Spirit in the Sky
Sharp Dressed Man
She Bop
Seasons in the Sun
Ray of Light
Heart of Glass
Bright Sunshiny Day
Material Girl
Love Me True
Lost in Love
Land Down Under
I'm on Fire
I Hope You Dance
I Feel Lucky
Heat is On
Glamorous Life

Lots of names having something to do with fashion:
Fall Fashion
Fashion Baby (also song lyric)
Fashion Diva
Super Model
Stylized
Stilettos
Project Runway
Leopard Print
In Style
Catwalk Queen

And several film names, and names associated with Hollywood:
Film Star
Golden Compass
Hollywood Lights
Tremors
Stage Presence
Sordid Lives
Short Film
Risky Business
Original Cast
Now Playing
Hook

And those are all just one hybridizer! One could go nuts getting OCD with this, LOL! An excellent winter Iris game of sorts though

Very interesting, Neal! I had no idea he was the hybridizer of some of these you named. If I don't own an iris then I don't usually know its statistics and even some on my wish list are his.

I have refused to consider plants with names that have unpleasant personal associations. Fortunately, those have been few.

Neal, didn't connect those titles to songs when I was looking for the ones I have that are Johnson's--thank you for the tie-in.

Jan, I don't know of an iris named for "Hitler", but I do grow "Mussolini" ! You have to remember that times change, as does our perception of what is "good' ,or "bad'......Mussolini, at first, was thought to be quite the leader...he got the trains in Italy to run on time, and put most of the country "to work", helping Italy ease out of a world-wide depression.....but then . And take the case of the JI,...the "Japanese Iris", much work was done bring them to this country, hybridizing, developing them, etc, in the time "between the wars"...Japan had been an "ally," of sorts, during the First World War, trade between our two countries was flourishing , and all was right with our world...and then, after December 7th, 1941, the few nurseries that still sold them, called them "pearl harbor" iris.

Sad that a plant of any sort gets mixed up with mans tribulations.

I have not hybridized a brown iris as yet, so very glad to have him use it. I usually wish to give some idea of its color when naming an iris, although BB 'Margaret Beaufort' was named at the request of an English friend. He was working on her biography at the time. (Mother of Henry VII).