Chamomile

Today's name: Chamomile (feminine, but could work for boys too if you shorten it to Miles, Mo or Cham) Also try the British spelling, Camomile.

Image via http://www.botanical.com/

Pronunciation: rarely SHAM-oh-meel, more often KAM-oh-meel or KAM-uh-my-ul

Potential nicknames: Cham, Chammie, Chamo, Moe, Momo, Mile, Miles, Milo, Millie

Origin: Chamomile in an English wordname, meaning "chamomile," also meaning "peace" and "spice." Wikipedia says the word chamomile derives, via French and English from a Greek word meaning "earth apple," which is weird and lovely at the same time. Chamomile is a plant that looks just like a daisy. It is widely known as a kind of tea that has a very calming effect, sometimes used as a sleep aid, sometimes used to calm certain organs like the stomach, and sometimes used for anxiety relief.

Popularity: If names like Sage, Clove and Saffron are getting more popular right now, why not consider Chamomile? There were no babies born in 2010 or 2011 in the U.S. named Chamomile, yet most are familiar with the word, and my guess is there hasn't ever been more than, say, 50 births in a year with this name.

.