With Lily, Ruby, Daisy, Jasmine, Amber and Poppy all in the top girls' names lists, it seems that flowers and jewels are giving inspiration for the most popular baby names at the moment. But what do you think of them? And will fruit names ever catch on? Written by freelance writer and name addict, Marie Daisy chainIt's easy to see why parents have fallen in love with Poppy and Daisy. Not only are they cute, they also conjure up images of carefree summer days. Their link to real vocabulary words is clear. Just as we think of luscious red flowers when we hear the name Rose, the names Amber and Jade usually provide images of sparkly stones. Perhaps the beauty of most flower and jewel names is that the links are clear. For a baby girl, being associated with pretty, desirable or valuable things must surely be an asset. Cooing grans don't need to consult baby name books to discover their new granddaughter has a name which means 'princess' or 'sweet'. The apple of their eye is called Jasmine, and everyone knows how sweet-smelling Jasmine is. Fruit chic or just plain fruitcake?Talking of apples, though, will fruit names ever become popular? When Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin called their firstborn Apple, the nation gasped in horror. We've heard of apple varieties being named after special people Granny Smiths were discovered by Mary Ann Smith in the 1800s but a little person being named after an apple? It just seemed like a cruel extra hurdle for the poor little creature, born into an already-weird world of celebrity. Peaches Geldof, daughter of Bob, told the Daily Telegraph exactly what she thought of her fruity name. "I've never announced my name to anyone without being asked to repeat it twice," she said. "I also get a lot of lascivious comments; 'Ooh, you're a juicy piece of fruit, aren't you, young lady?' 'I'd like to take a bite out of that peach ...' 'Look at those peaches.'" But having a name more suited to the greengrocer's than the celebrity party circuit has not left Peaches without a sense of humour. When asked what she might name a future child of hers, she answered "I'll probably end up calling it Grape!" Will Apple, then, whose parents earned the Hello! magazine award for 'coolest baby name of 2004', set a trend for fruit-themed names? Hmmm ... can you imagine enrolling Raspberry at nursery? Virtue namesOther names which have a clear link to something familiar are virtue names, popular with Puritans in 1600s America. The children of Puritans were named after desirable concepts, in the hope that they might grow up to epitomise them. Liberty, Prudence, Constance and Charity are good examples. But while a few have remained in popular consciousness - Faith, Hope and Grace, perhaps - others fell out of favour long ago. Obedience is seldom seen in the birth registers these days and Flee-Fornication has fled her own name ... What do BabyCenter mums make of all this?We asked a few BabyCenter mums to give their opinions on flower, fruit, jewel and virtue names. We thought we'd try them out with colour names, too, predicting a trend for the next few years. This is what they came up with... Flower names "I quite like these kind of names, but only for a girl I think I'll be playing safe with boys' names, like Max or Harvey!" "Daisy is quite cutesy for a baby although if she plans on growing up then it would be better to have Margaret on the birth certificate. I'd take Margot or Greta as a nickname over Daisy, though." "Lily was going to be Isobelle but she was born looking like a bit of a bruiser and looked more like a Lily!" "Lily is very pretty but a bit too weak as a name. There are also so many of them now that it just washes over me as a name." "Poppy is the feistiest flower name, but I always think of poppy fields heroin and Remembrance Day, so it's quite a loaded name. Rose just sends me to sleep. It is the ultimate no-comment 'filler' middle name at the moment." Fruit names "I can understand that [Gwyneth] was after something fresh and vital with 'Apple' but I think there must have been too many natural endorphins in her bloodstream when she made the decision to use it as a name. I think a more exotic fruit name could have worked, but apple is so everyday, but yet, so weird! Lychee, for example, would have worked better." "The only fruit name I'd use would be Framboise. That's cheating as it's French for Raspberry. Big teasing potential there, though." "I actually don't mind Apple as my understanding is that it might be linked to Scandinavian/English myths in the same way that Amber means more than a lump of brown tree goo." Jewel names "I guess I see Crystal and Jade as different to Amber and Ruby. I can't say why, really." "Amber is a nice sound. I like it but I think of it as being quite 80s. I really like it but I wouldn't use it now." "When I was 13 I wished my name was Crystal! Thank goodness I didn't know about the deed poll." Virtue names "I don't generally like these as they seem religious related to Christianity. I do like I guess what you'd call 'hippy' virtues like Hope and Liberty, though, which are free of that [connotation]. Some like Prudence, Temperance and Grace assume a girl's soft character, which doesn't appeal to me - a bit of a stereotype." "Charity and Chastity are just ridiculous. Verity is alright though. The right girl could pull this off if she wasn't too goody-two-shoes." Colour names "I guess I'd separate Scarlet and Silver from Brown, for instance, but then again I don't see those seemingly colour names as colours. I see Scarlett O'Hara, Scarlett Johanssen - and for Silver, I see a very old English reference and a Scandinavian name relating to Silva culture and forestry." "I like the sound of Blue, but I don't like the sad undertone. Bluebell could be a flower name. I like that, but she does sound like a lap dancer unfortunately. Blu or Bloo looks like a cleaning product! Mauve is quite nice. Red would be fabulous for a boy." Revamping Rose and jazzing-up JasmineIf you're done with Daisies and all Ruby-ed out, it's worth raiding the hundreds of names derived from flowers and jewels. Fleur and Flora spring to mind immediately, but Rose has plenty of interesting and pretty derivatives Rosaline, Rosa, Rosina, Rosemary... Even Jasmine can be grown into fresh varieties Yasmin, Jessamine, Jessamy. It would take a brave set of parents to name their baby daughter Esmerelda, after the word emerald, but then again older-style and unusual names hold a certain glamour these days. We have come up with a few suggestions for you Pretty-as-a-daisy names Blossom, Daisy, Daphne, Delphine, Heather, Holly, Iris, Ivy, Jasmine, Lily, Marigold, Poppy, Primrose, Rose, Violet. Fruity names Apple, Cherry, Peaches, Plum. Sparkly names Amber, Amethyst, Beryl, Coral, Crystal, Diamond, Ebony, Garnet, Jade, Jet, Jewel, Opal, Pearl, Ruby. Virtuous names Affinity, Aspire, Bliss, Chastity, Constance, Divine, Eternity, Faith, Harmony, Hero, Honor, Hope, Joy, Jubilee, Kindred, Liberty, Lucky, Majesty, Modesty, Noble, Omen, Patience, Precious, Reason, Reverie, Serenity, Treasure, Trust, Verity, Wish.