Primrose

What Primrose means

Means “wood, tree + moor, heath”

Watson (1926) derived this from Pictish / Proto-Brythonic *prenn (“wood, tree”) + *rros (“moor, heath”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Primrose” (revision 93673194), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Primrose?

US: Rising: up from #3211 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #259 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 91 girls got the name (#2107 that year). First in the US records in 1914.

How common

• About 1 in 23,294 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 978 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 5,964 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in IL (0.11 per 1,000 girls), PA (0.11 per 1,000 girls), TX (0.05 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Primrose is #2542 in the US and #196 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Primrose were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

If you like Primrose

Girls

• Mavis#560Editor’s note Up from #1,003 in 2015 to #560 in 2025 in the US
• Ivory#378Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #378 vs #2,440 in 2025
• Rose#114Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1917, with 9,783 babies; 2,386 in 2025
• Aria#26“a musical aria”^*
• Opal#423Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #1,110 in 2015, #423 in 2025
• June#150From the word “name”^*

For a brother

• Duke#695Editor’s note Down from #601 in 2015 to #695 in 2025 in the US
• Royal#476Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #476 vs #2,014 in 2025
• August#81“month of August”^*
• Prince#447Editor’s note Down from #386 in 2015 to #447 in 2025 in the US
• Briar#686Editor’s note Used for both: 34% of US babies named Briar in 2025 were boys
• Alden#598“old + friend”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under English, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Primrose’s. Rank is US 2025.