# The name Olive for a girl **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173 "2015-10-30T13:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/61 "2015-11-02T18:55:50Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Olivelyn > Oliveleigh > Ashlive > McKolive > Makaylyve > > (I’m sorry) Oliveyah ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/62 "2015-11-02T19:30:23Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > At least no one has tacked-on ‘-lyn’ to this one, yet. Or tried any creative spellings. Olife Olove Alive Ahliph Allove Haleef Olaf ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/63 "2015-11-03T00:41:58Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I had a great-aunt Olive. I think she was born around 1898. So I would think of it as an old-fashioned name, but those come back. I think there was an Olive in my husband’s family way back, as well. I also had a great-aunt Olive, born about the same time. (in the Scranton, PA area). Are we cousins? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/64 "2015-11-03T01:25:08Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > They are? Are they only ambiguously fruit like tomatoes? Botanically, both tomatoes and olives are unambiguously fruits. They grow on flowering plants, derive from specific parts of the flower, and are used to spread seeds. In popular usage, fruit vs vegetable is generally determined by the answer to the question, “Better with chocolate or better with garlic?” However, in this brave new world of chocolate covered asparagus wrapped in bacon and garlic roasted strawberries, things are definitely getting ambiguous. > [@Kenm](#): > > They grow on[\*\* trees\*\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive). Yeah, but … there are lots of fruits that don’t grow on trees … berries, pineapples, bananas … and lots of things that grow on trees that aren’t fruits … leaves, nuts, money. At least, my mom said money grows on trees. Or maybe she said that it _didn’t_. I wasn’t really listening. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/65 "2015-11-10T22:16:43Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Botanically, both tomatoes and olives are unambiguously fruits. They grow on flowering plants, derive from specific parts of the flower, and are used to spread seeds. > > In popular usage, fruit vs vegetable is generally determined by the answer to the question, “Better with chocolate or better with garlic?” However, in this brave new world of chocolate covered asparagus wrapped in bacon and garlic roasted strawberries, things are definitely getting ambiguous. > > Yeah, but … there are lots of fruits that don’t grow on trees … berries, pineapples, bananas … and lots of things that grow on trees that aren’t fruits … leaves, nuts, money. At least, my mom said money grows on trees. Or maybe she said that it _didn’t_. I wasn’t really listening. Name any vegetables that grow on trees? Chocolate + garlic + tomatoes are among the many ingredients in _[mole poblano](http://www.foodrepublic.com/recipes/mole-poblano-recipe-2/)_. “[It is the scent of garlic that lingers on my chocolate fingers](https://youtu.be/Zr_vV1PKXTc?t=4m42s)” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/66 "2015-11-10T22:28:45Z")
I think Olive and Olivia are both very pretty names for a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/67 "2015-11-10T22:46:05Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I know of no Olives. Cool story bro. > [@](#): > > Olive is not a name Yes it is. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/68 "2015-11-10T22:58:35Z")
Olivia exploded in popularity in the past 5 years and is now a top 10 name for baby girls, and Olive is a variant. I think both names are nice, but I wouldn’t want my kid to be the 9th Olive or Olivia on their soccer team. If I have a kid I’ll pay close attention to the ubiquity of the names I consider. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/69 "2015-11-11T02:02:52Z")
FWIW Olive the protagonist of one of those back-of-the-magazine comics that used to appear in _National Lampoon_. She was clearly meant to be about college age, as I was, though I didn’t know anyone named Olive. Clearly it wasn’t thought of as a particularly passe name. It’s not a huge favorite of mine, but neither do I consider it in the least objectionable. It’s certainly better than giving your daughter a male name, like the film star who recently named her newborn baby girl James. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/70 "2015-11-11T04:14:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Or tried any creative spellings. > … > Alive > … You just know the mother of little Alive would get royally pissed off if anybody “incorrectly” pronounced her darling’s name to sound like the word that’s used to describe being not-dead. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/71 "2015-11-12T05:38:24Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > [Olive is] not a huge favorite of mine, but neither do I consider it in the least objectionable. It’s certainly better than giving your daughter a male name, like the film star who recently named her newborn baby girl James. Or as somebody already mentioned, why not Olivia? If she wants to be called Olive when she gets old enough to decide, she can do that. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/72 "2015-11-13T02:00:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Name any vegetables that grow on trees? Cassava, breadfruit , sago, plantains, leucaena, manjack, mongongo , mulga, olives, capers …… The nature of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere means that trees tend not to produce starchy fruit. That’s not true of the tropics and southern hemisphere where tree vegetables are normal. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/73 "2015-11-13T02:47:19Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Cassava, breadfruit , sago, plantains, leucaena, manjack, mongongo , mulga, olives, capers …… > > The nature of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere means that trees tend not to produce starchy fruit. That’s not true of the tropics and southern hemisphere where tree vegetables are normal. Well, the edible parts of cassava and sago aren’t starchy fruit either, and only grow “on” the trees according to certain values… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/74 "2015-11-13T02:56:06Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Olivia exploded in popularity in the past 5 years and is now a top 10 name for baby girls, and Olive is a variant. > > I think both names are nice, but I wouldn’t want my kid to be the 9th Olive or Olivia on their soccer team. If I have a kid I’ll pay close attention to the ubiquity of the names I consider. I suspect Olive is so you won’t be the 8th Olivia. When Emily was popular, the variants became popular, so you got Emmas under a similar believe that the name was similar but different. (For my daughter - born 1999 - its variations on Madeline and Margaret. I can have an entire house of Maddies, Maggies and Matties without blinking. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/75 "2015-11-13T03:08:32Z")
Isn’t there a poster named Olive? As I recall, she combined her name and birthday to form a pun. **Olives March Forth** or something like that. Is she still around? I know one bargirl who uses the name Olive professionally, but that’s not her real name. Not sure if I’ve ever known any Olives for real. I am acquainted with an Englishman here named Oliver. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/76 "2015-11-13T05:16:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Isn’t there a poster named Olive? I think she changed her username for more anonymity. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/77 "2015-11-13T05:33:29Z")
Yep. > **[olivesmarch4th is now Spice Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=695977)** > > I like a lot of you and don’t want you to lose track of me. And I don’t want to confuse a bunch of people. I changed my name to Spice Weasel because my old handle contained too much identifying information. That mattered a lot less when I was a... ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/78 "2015-11-13T15:14:22Z")
Ah yes. Thanks. Hope I didn’t out her needlessly. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/79 "2015-11-13T20:59:06Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Oliveyah Better or worse than Iyla Vue? You be the judge! [http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/09/11/ashley-scott-daughter-iyla-vue-first-photo/](http://celebritybabies.people.com/2015/09/11/ashley-scott-daughter-iyla-vue-first-photo/) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173/80 "2015-11-13T23:06:55Z")
My good friend 慧嫦, who is from mainland Guangdong and only recently became good at English, named her US-born daughter Ruby. I found that rather disconcerting, as my friend is barely even able to pronounce her daughter’s name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-olive-for-a-girl/736173.md?page=3)