Juniper (given name)

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Juniper
Mary Vaux Walcott - Mountain Juniper (Juniperus sibirica) - 1970.355.424 - Smithsonian American Art Museum.jpg
Mountain Juniper by Mary Vaux Walcott, 1917.
GenderUnisex
Other names
Related names Guinevere, Geneva, Ginevra, Ginerpo, Junipero

The given name Juniper is either in reference to the English common name for the juniper tree or berry, or in reference to a derivation of the Welsh name Guinevere. Juniper has historically been used as both a boys' name and a girls' name.

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In 2011, Juniper entered the top 1000 list of given names in the United States for the first time and is quickly becoming a popular girls' name likely due to the popularity of a wide assortment of well-known fictional works, including the cartoon series The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, the movie Benny & Joon (where the Joon character was short for Juniper), Pamela Dean's novel Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary , and the Donovan song, "Jennifer Juniper".

The juniper tree's name is derived from the Latin word juniperus. In Latin, juniperus is combination of the word junio, which means young, and parere, to produce, hence youth producing, or evergreen. [1] Ginepro (Italian for Juniper), Ginevra (Italian variant form of Juniper), and Ginny are other names that also refer to the juniper tree.

Juniper is used to flavour the alcoholic spirit gin. The traditional drink jenever and its French name genièvre are names for juniper. The French name was shortened to geneva, sounding the same as the place name, and further abbreviated to 'gin'.

Another name which was originally unrelated is the British name Guinevere (Guenièvre in French), a variant Old French spelling[ citation needed ] of Gwenhwyfar, which in Welsh is a combination of the word gwen (mod. gwyn) which means "white" or "fair" and hwyfar which means a "spirit" or "fairy". This is also the origin of Jennifer, another name that sounds similar to Juniper. Because the Latin Juniperus family of names are the same or very similar-sounding to the Welsh Guinevere family of names, it is very difficult to determine, for names that begin with gin-, jen-, or jun-, which family they ultimately originated with.

Common nicknames of Juniper

Symbolism of the name Juniper

Ginevra de' Benci
Leonardo da Vinci - Ginevra de' Benci - Google Art Project.jpg
Artist Leonardo da Vinci
Yearcirca 1476
Typeoil on wood
Dimensions38.8 cm× 36.7 cm(15.3 in× 14.4 in)
LocationNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Notable people

Fictional characters

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gin</span> Distilled alcoholic drink flavoured with juniper

Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries and other botanical ingredients.

<i>Cedrus</i> Genus of plants (coniferous trees)

Cedrus, with the common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They are native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitudes of 1,500–3,200 m in the Himalayas and 1,000–2,200 m in the Mediterranean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniper</span> Genus of plants

Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa, throughout parts of western, central and southern Asia, east to eastern Tibet in the Old World, and in the mountains of Central America. The highest-known juniper forest occurs at an altitude of 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree lines on earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friar</span> Member of a Christian order

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the older monastic orders' allegiance to a single monastery formalized by their vow of stability. A friar may be in holy orders or be a brother. The most significant orders of friars are the Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, and Carmelites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Houlle</span> Commune in Hauts-de-France, France

Houlle is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

<i>Juniperus communis</i> Species of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Juniperus communis, the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Juniperus virginiana</i> Species of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Juniperus virginiana, also known as eastern redcedar, red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains. Further west it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum and to the southwest by Juniperus ashei. It is not to be confused with Thuja occidentalis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenever</span> French, Dutch and Belgian juniper-flavoured liquor

Jenever, also known as Hollands, genever, genièvre, peket, or sometimes as Dutch gin, is the juniper-flavoured traditional liquor in the Netherlands, Belgium and adjoining areas in northern France and northwestern Germany. As an EU and UK Protected Designation of Origin the use of the term jenever and its soundalikes can only be used if the product is made according to the specifications in Belgium, the Netherlands, two northern French departments and two German federal states. Gin was developed in Britain after introduction of jenever to the island.

The juniper (Juniperus) is a type of shrub and tree in the cypress family.

<i>Juniperus horizontalis</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus horizontalis, the creeping juniper or creeping cedar, is a low-growing shrubby juniper native to northern North America, throughout most of Canada from Yukon east to Newfoundland, and in some of the northern United States.

In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, pálenka is any kind of distilled beverage but especially fruit brandy. The term is often used generically for all kinds of liquors, including vodka, gin and borovička. The word derives from the Slavic verb *paliti 'to burn; to distill'.

<i>Juniperus procera</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus procera is a coniferous tree native to mountainous areas in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is a characteristic tree of the Afromontane flora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juniper berry</span> Spice, herbal drug

A juniper berry is the female seed cone produced by the various species of junipers. It is not a true berry but a cone with unusually fleshy and merged scales called a galbulus, which gives it a berry-like appearance. The cones from a handful of species, especially Juniperus communis, are used as a spice, particularly in European cuisine, and also give gin its distinctive flavour. Juniper berries are among the only spices derived from conifers, along with spruce buds.

<i>Juniperus deppeana</i> Species of conifer

Juniperus deppeana is a small to medium-sized tree reaching 10–15 metres in height. It is native to central and northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.

<i>Juniperus phoenicea</i> Species of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Juniperus phoenicea, the Phoenicean juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region.

Brinjevec is a strong alcoholic drink, produced in the Karst and Brkini regions in Slovenia. It is re-distilled from ground and fermented juniper berries only and it differs from similar drinks that have different alcohol bases with added juniper flavor. It has a clear transparent color and it is meant for folk medicinal use and not for regular drinking. It contains between 40% and 50% alcohol and has a very distinctive tart taste

The Botanist is a dry gin made by the Bruichladdich Distillery in Islay, Scotland. It is one of two gins made on the island and is known for its hand-foraged botanicals. Each year, between March and October, the botanicals used in the gin are collected from all over Islay by professional foragers. The name of the gin was inspired by two local botanists who helped develop the recipe for the gin alongside former Master Distiller, Jim McEwan.

Peket, also pékèt or pèket is an eau de vie aromatised with juniper berries, similar to Dutch gin. The drink originates from Belgium and its name is derived from the Walloon word for juniper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginevra (given name)</span> Name list

Ginevra is a feminine given name. It was occasionally used in medieval and Renaissance Italy in reference to Queen Guinevere, King Arthur’s queen in the popular Arthurian legends. It is the Italian version of the name Guinevere, which is a Norman French version of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, meaning "white" and "smooth" or "white phantom." It is also associated with the juniper tree in Italy, where the name for the tree is ginepro. Geneva, Switzerland is called Ginevra in Italian. It is a currently popular name for girls in Italy, where it has been among the top 100 names given to newborn girls since 1999 and among the top 10 most popular names for baby girls since 2016. It is in occasional use in other countries, including the United States, where it was given to 12 newborn girls born in 2020, to 14 girls born in 2021, and to 16 girls in 2022, and Switzerland, where it was given to 17 girls born in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crafter's</span> Nordic alcoholic beverage brand

Crafter's is a Nordic gin brand that includes classic London Dry Gin and Aromatic Flower Gin produced by Estonian distillery Liviko. Both gins are handcrafted in Estonia, copper-pot distilled and made in small batches. In 2018 Liviko exported Crafter's gin to 25 countries. The juniper berries used in the making of Crafter's gin are reused in the Re-crafted Crafter's handcrafted beverages, as the berries retain a valuable part of their flavour even after distillation. Liviko was nominated to World Beverage Innovation Award in 2019 for its zero-waste product innovation that lead to a new category of drinks.

References

  1. University of Vermont: Derivation of Scientific Names The names Genefer, Jenefer and Jinifer (all old English variants for juniper), Richard Oliver Heslop, Northumberland Words Archived 24 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine , 1892–94: see Ginifer & Jinifer.Ernest Weekley, Words and Names, Page 24.
  2. New Oxford American Dictionary , 2e, ISBN   0-19-517077-6
  3. Meliora: Quarterly Review of Social Science, 1868, Page 47
  4. "Classical references to junipers: Myths of Astarte".
  5. The Brother Juniper Collection Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine at St. Bonaventure University
  6. Brother Juniper Pocket Books

See also