Naming your goat can be one of the most sensitive parts of the whole process of owning a goat.
You’ve got to find something that suits them, something snappy that you can call out and that they can learn, and something that reflects their personality!
Without a doubt, one of the best wellsprings of knowledge for finding goat and pet names, in general, is botany.
There are around 370,000 species of flowering plants in the world, and some of their names evoke the simplest and purest beauty to be found in the world.
Today, we’re going to give you as many ideas as we can for flower names for your goat.
Let’s get started.
Rose
Starting off simple, you can’t go wrong with rose.
Though you might be worried about the cliché, who really cares?
The reason Rose is such a popular name for animals and indeed our own children is that it is both a beautiful word and one of the most instantly recognizable and well-known flowers in the world.
This flower has a cultural significance all over the world and is a symbol of intimacy and affection.
This would be a great name for any goat, though it is more commonly used with does.
And roses aren’t only red, remember—they come in all sorts of colors!
Rose is a great name for a goat.
Petunia
Petunia is a somewhat wide classification, encompassing around 20 different species of a flowering plant.
They all originate in South America.
The flowers themselves are beautiful and come in a wide variety of colors—most commonly purple and shades of pink.
They also come in red and white.
As a name, you can’t beat Petunia—it’s a common favorite among many farmyard animals and goats in particular.
It again reflects something about the beauty of your goat and is really good for goats with gentle and friendly temperaments.
Carnation
Native to Eurasia, this is one of the most popular flowers to grow across Europe.
The carnation is characterized by small, overlapping, rose-like petals, in shades of red, purple, and pink.
The name itself is somewhat more evocative than others.
Carnation has more fiery associations, if only because of its closeness to other words that are, in fact, unrelated.
Carnations are still extremely beautiful and aesthetically pleasing flowers, so don’t let the name fool you.
You can definitely still use this name for a kind and gentle goat!
But it may also go well for someone a bit more boisterous.
Gladiolus
When dealing with goats, we’re likely to spend a lot of time repeating their name.
Goats will usually do what you want, but they’re also quite individual, too.
Sometimes, they want to follow their own needs.
That means you need to shout their name—and it also means you might want a shorter and longer version of its name to use when it’s in trouble!
Gladiolus is again a wide genus, sometimes called sword lily, growing across Asia, the Mediterranean, and parts of Africa.
But the great thing about it is how the name lends itself to shortened versions, like ‘Gladdy’, or just ‘Glad’.
Then, when you really want to drive home a point—it’s Gladiolus!
Poppy
The poppy is another instantly recognizable flower, though again the term does actually encompass a wide range of different flowers.
The most well-known are the small, red petals with a black center.
The name itself is again favored as a name for our own children because it is so beautiful and snappy.
This is another good one for a goat.
Like Gladiolus, you can also shorten it to Pop—making it a great unisex name!
Lily
Again, among the most well-known and iconic flowers of all species, Lily is also a great name for just about anything you can want to name—whether it’s a goat, a child, a frog, or a cat.
The flower itself is very distinctive in appearance—long, tall, and with petals that bloom in a long, tube-like fashion, they are very popular because of this strange form.
Having been invoked in literature throughout the world for millennia, they grow throughout the northern hemisphere.
This makes a great name for your goat.
Shoshana
Being common throughout the world, lilies have many different names in many different places.
This name Shoshana, which you may well have heard before, has Hebrew origins, and also signifies lily.
This is another good name for a goat, that’s easily shortened!
Daisy
It’s hard to imagine how long this name has been used on farms and homesteads across the western world, as it is still one of the most popular names for pets and farm animals of all kinds.
It goes great for a goat.
The word is often used to describe a wide variety of flowers, but the most common is the yellow flower with white petals—this is the archetypal ‘daisy’.
It grows mostly in Europe and is called the common daisy or lawn daisy.
Again, don’t be worried about cliché—sometimes, a goat is just a Daisy, and that’s that!
Madelief
Following on from Daisy, you won’t be surprised to learn that many languages have their own name for the beautiful flower.
The Dutch call it madelief.
This also makes a great name for your goat, and one with a bit of a story to tell, too.
If you want something more exotic that still signifies something you recognize, this could be a great one for you.
Chrysanthemum
While you might have to shorten this one also, there’s no denying that it’s a beautiful word for an even more beautiful flower.
It’s really popular to give goats long names like this, to drive home a point when you call them by their full name—even if just for a bit of a laugh!
They are often called mums for short and are native to Eastern Asia and parts of north-eastern Europe.
They have their center of diversity in China because they are also a wide family encompassing a number of different species.
Their flowers are almost infinite and fractal in appearance, and this is a great name for your goat.
Crisanta
In Spain, the chrysanthemum is called the crisanta.
This is a quite similar name to chrysanthemum, but certainly different enough that most people won’t have heard it before!
Crisanta would be a perfect name for a male or a female goat.
Acacia
Though more of a flowering shrub than a flower in and of itself, acacias are nonetheless beautiful and iconic plants.
The name itself is a very popular one for animals of many kinds, and it goes great with goats—not least because the word means ‘thorny’ in Greek!
Goats can certainly be a bit thorny.
They grow in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world and are most commonly found in Australia and Africa.
They are some of the most iconic images of the African savannah.
Look no further for a name for your goats.
Buttercup
The genus Ranunculus is a very large one comprising around 600 species of flowering plants.
Like with daisies, though, there are one or two species that are recognized as ‘common’ buttercups.
The shiny yellow buttercup is probably the one you are thinking of—a small lawn flower, with five yellow petals and a yellow center.
Maybe you used to hold it under your chin to see if you liked butter!
They are widespread in Northern Europe, though they’ve also been introduced elsewhere.
You can’t go wrong with a name like Buttercup.
Flora
Though not itself a specific flower, Flora is nonetheless a great name to give your goat.
Flora refers to the entirety of plant life in a particular region and is also the name of the Roman goddess associated with springtime and flowers.
It’s also another name commonly given to our own children!
This makes another great one for your goats.
Hyacinth
Hyacinth is another genus, though a much smaller one comprising fewer species.
They are spring-blooming but perennial, and though they are now popularly cultivated as garden flowers throughout the world, are actually only native to a small range in the Mediterranean.
They can be found in the South of Turkey to regions of Palestine.
The name itself comes from the Greek poet Homer, who names flowers that grew from the blood of a youth named Hyacinth after his accidental death.
Another one you might want to shorten for convenience, but a great name nonetheless.
Giacinta
Here we have what actually isn’t a new flower, but the Italian name for the hyacinth.
This in itself is also a really beautiful name for your goat and goes to show that our own names for flowers aren’t the only ones you should consider for names for your goats!
Tulip
The tulip, another of the most well-known and iconic plants in the world, has been cultivated for an extremely long time across the northern hemisphere.
Throughout history, tulips have been a symbol of wealth and bounty, and are still some of the most popular garden flowers to cultivate.
They are especially associated with the fields of the Netherlands.
They are typically red, pink, white or yellow in color, with alternately colored spots at the base of the tepals.
Everyone will know what you’re going for if you decide on Tulip as your goat’s name!
Foxglove
The popular name for the genus Digitalis, Foxglove represents about 20 species of herbaceous plants native to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
This certainly makes a different and less common flower name than what people are used to.
There are plenty of ways to shorten it, too—Fox, for example, or even Glove for a stranger one!
These long, flowing flowers are incredibly distinctive in appearance, often coming in lilac and violet shades.
Orchid
Orchids are some of the most diverse plants in the world.
People devote their entire lives to the cultivation of these flowers, in all of their myriad varieties of forms.
The entire orchid family comprises around 28,000 different species.
This is really a staggering amount.
What we commonly think of as an orchid is scientifically known as a phalaenopsis.
This represents roughly 60 of those 28,000 species, native to Southern Asia and parts of Australia.
They range from small, white flowers to tall, majestic purple and everything in between.
Orchid is another great name for your goat, whether it’s a buck or a doe.
You might call it ‘kid’ for short!
Anemone
While, for many of us, the first thing that comes to mind when we think of an anemone might be a sea anemone—which is actually an animal, and not a plant—there is actually a very common and popular flower that grows on the land of the same name.
They are somewhat like poppies in appearance, with a few large petals surrounding a dark center.
It is a wide genus, the species of which are commonly called windflowers.
They grow all over the world in temperate and subtropical areas.
This is definitely another unique and different name for your goat.
Hydrangea
Some of the most popular bush flowers in the world, hydrangea is a genus representing more than 75 species.
They are found in their greatest diversity in China, Korea, and Japan.
Their flowers are almost bulbous in appearance, with many small petals making a large, round flower shape in the leaves.
They come in many colors, from blue to white and pink.
The name is a very popular one for pets and even sometimes for human children.
This is a great name for your goat.
Heather
Heather is a genus alone, containing only a single species of flowering plant.
They are found throughout the northern hemisphere and are found widely in most parts of Europe.
They are hardy, tough plants, with thick, bristly leaves and petals.
They are small and busy, with tall, purple flowers.
It’s also a common name for girls in English.
This is a perfect name for goats, especially any hardier, tougher goats out there weathering cold temperatures.
Hibiscus
Hibiscus flowers are part of the mallow family, Malvaceae.
This genus comprises hundreds of species that grow in warm regions, particularly tropical and subtropical regions in almost all parts of the world.
They are extremely recognizable and popular, coming in a variety of colors with different shades in their centers.
Hibiscus works really well for male and female goats.
Iolanthe
This word originates from Greek and is heavily associated with various episodes in Greek mythology.
The name itself, however, means violet flower.
This is again a really different name but signifies the same simple beauty as any other flower name.
An interesting and different goat name.
Lilac
A more common, indeed classic flower, is the lilac.
There are, at present, 12 species recognized as belonging to the genus of syringa, of which the common lilac flower is a part.
These flowering woody plants are actually part of the olive family, growing in woodland and scrub areas from the south of Europe to the far east of Asia.
There’s no goat that wouldn’t suit this name.
Marigold
Though the first thing that comes to mind for you might be washing up gloves, don’t forget that the gloves get their name from the flower!
Again, this is a wide genus encompassing a plethora of different flowers, and even this is among several other classified groups commonly called marigolds.
These plants are native to the Americas, though they don’t grow much further north than the southern United States.
Like hydrangea, they feature large, bulbous flowers that come in many shades, though most commonly yellow or orange.
A really good name for a no-nonsense domestic doe.
Lotus
In many ways the signal quintessential symbol of many cultures of the far east, the lotus flower denotes and symbolizes so much for so many millions of people worldwide.
It is a symbol of peace and tranquillity and has huge significance for Buddhist culture.
And, no doubt, it makes a great name for any goat.
You could have it for your calmer goats, or as a joke on your more boisterous goats.
Lavender
We use lavender so much that we’re probably more acquainted with it in our homes than in the fields where it typically grows.
One thing is for sure about lavender: you can know it by its smell if nothing else!
This genus includes 47 presently known species and is found almost everywhere in the world, from Europe to east Africa, southwest Asia, India, and even parts of the Americas.
Perhaps a nice name for your best-smelling goat!
Pansy
This flower is actually a hybrid, bred from several species in the genus Viola.
This includes a number of European and Asian wildflowers, most notably the commonly called heartsease.
They feature a few, large petals that range in color from yellow to lilac and purple, typically with a dark blotch covering a good deal of their inner circumference.
This is a really pretty name for your bravest goat.
Posy
It’s easy to confuse this one with pansy, especially because a posy itself is not actually a flower—but rather a certain kind of arrangement of flowers given as a gift.
So, a posy can include a great many different flowers—in fact, virtually any flower you want!
But the name itself is still really pretty.
Give it to your goat that is a gift to you!
Primrose
Primrose is a single species of flower plant, found in parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
There are several plants with this name, and this one is commonly called the common primrose as distinct from evening primroses.
They are perennial growing and feature a tall rosette of leaves, flowering in the spring with a lovely white flower.
This has been a popular name for pets and people for a long time, and the flower has particular cultural significance in the UK and many European nations.
Everyone will know what you’re going for if this is your goat’s name!
Patchouli
Back in the mint family with lavender, we have patchouli—the aromatic flowering plant which are used to make essential oils.
This oil is then used to make all sorts of fragrances, from perfumes, to cosmetics and incense.
The flowers are very similar in appearance to lavender, with tall, purple flowers on green bushes.
In terms of naming your goat this, it’s certainly a bit different!
Saffron
Firstly, saffron is actually used to describe the derived spice—not the flower it comes from.
That said, the flower itself is simply called the saffron crocus.
Crocus is a genus of flowering plants which includes the saffron flower.
Saffron flowers are small, typically violet in color, with long, red strands protruding from the center.
Given that saffron remains one of the most expensive spices in the world, this is a great name for your prima donna goats!
Magnolia
Here we have another pretty large genus, including up to 340 species of flowering plant.
They are, again, some of the most popular garden flowers in the world, and the genus itself is extremely old.
They were even around before bees had evolved—it’s thought they were pollinated by beetles originally.
So, there’s a lot of history there.
The flowers themselves are hugely varied in morphology, though usually featuring large petals.
A classic flower name for any pet.
Daffodil
The daffodil is another of the most common and easy-to-find flowers in Europe and has been well known since ancient times when they were used as medicine and for other purposes.
Generally speaking, the genus comprises around 50 species, split into ten subsections.
This has varied depending on how they’ve been classified.
The most well-known are the white and yellow varieties.
They feature tall, thick stems ending in wide spreading, spring-blooming flowers.
A recognizable flower name like this is always a good choice for your goat.
Narcissa
Though not the name of an actual flower, this is another one from Greek mythology, and the word in Greek for ‘Daffodil’.
The story of Narcissus is of the son of the river god Cephissus, and Narcissus was a very beautiful figure.
He eventually fell in love with his own reflection.
This is where we get the term ‘narcissist’.
But it doesn’t have to have negative connotations for your goat!
Soma
There are a few different things that take the name soma, in particular it has been the long-debated ancient sacrament of the Vedic traditions in the distant past.
We don’t know exactly what this sacrament was, although it was clearly some kind of plant.
But there is a surviving language which uses the name soma for the dogwood tree—Hungarian.
This is another one that’s really different and, I think, a really interesting name.
The dogwood tree flowers beautifully.
They are small and range in colors from white to pink.
Wisteria
You’ve probably heard of this one, too, as it is another very popular one to grow in gardens as it is a vine that can climb walls and fences.
When properly maintained, it can make a beautiful accent to any wall or garden.
They are native to a fairly wide range and comprises around ten different species that are found in Asia and the Americas.
Many names for flowers are simply some of the most phonetically pleasing words in the language, and wisteria, I think, is one of the best examples.
This makes it a perfect name for your goat.
Begonia
Following on from that, begonia is another name that just flows right off the tongue.
This genus comprises a huge plethora of species—more than 2,000, by most counts.
They are perennial and are found in tropical and subtropical climates.
They are favored as indoor plants and have lovely little flowers ranging in many colors.
It’s a fantastic name for any goat.
Zenobia
There was a famous queen of the third century in Syria, whose name and deeds have been passed down to us here today—and her name was Zenobia.
Unsurprisingly, that name has found its way into the rest of our vocabulary, and there is a smaller genus of North American flowering shrubs called Zenobia.
They are also called honeycup.
So, the great thing about this name is that it connects both to the small, pretty, white, and pink flowers of these bushes, and to a fearsome empress of a bygone age.
Yolanda
Rather like pansies in appearance, the Yolanda flower are part of the same genus.
They feature a few, broad petals, typically white with a yellow and black center.
This is another one that is also a common person’s name in many nations, particularly in Europe.
It’s also a really pretty name for your goat.
Yasmin/jasmine
Jasmine is a genus consisting of close to 200 different species, a variety of shrubs and vibes in the olive family.
They are mostly found in tropical regions of the Old World but are also found in some more temperate climates.
They have long been favored for their fragrance, used again in incense, perfumes and other aromatics.
The flowers themselves are also prized as ornaments.
They feature beautiful white flowers, typically, often white yellow centres.
The petals are sometimes solid and sometimes flimsier.
Again, if it’s good enough for our own children as a name, it’s good enough for your goat!
Snapdragon
Going by a few different common names, like dragon flower and dog flower, the snapdragon is said to resemble the face of a dragon—opening and closing its mouth when squeezed.
They grow in rockier regions in Europe, the Americas, and North Africa.
They’re hard to miss, featuring astonishingly bright and tall flowers in all colors.
This is another unique and different name for a goat.
Ivy
Though you might not realize it, ivy plants do actually flower and bloom.
The common name ivy refers to a genus of up to 15 species of climbing and creeping woody plants.
They are found in many parts of Europe, Africa and even as far east as Japan.
The flowers aren’t what you might immediately recognize as flowers—many tiny bulbs on stalks protruding from the stems of the plant.
But they are flowers, nonetheless.
Again, ivy is a really common name for pets and people, so it’s a great one for your goat.
Jade
Coming with many common names including money plant, jade is a single species of succulent commonly favored as an ornamental houseplant.
It is evergreen and has thick branches and leaves and is actually a succulent.
Though they can take many years to produce flowers, they do indeed have flowers.
Jade is a really pretty name for a goat.
Bluebell
Classified scientifically as Hyacinthoides, the bluebells are a genus of flowers plants that contains about 11 species.
There are also some hybrids.
They are mostly found in Europe natively, although are now cultivated all over the world.
They feature rich blue and lilac flowers, many on a tall stem.
They are a symbol of spring throughout many European countries, signalling the warmer months.
Any goat would love this name.
Sunflower
We’ve certainly left some of the classics to last—who could forget sunflower?
Though it’s one of the few on the list that has the word flower in the name, that doesn’t make it any less of a good name for your goat.
Sunflowers need no introduction—they are the tall, magnificent yellow and black flowers that grow on thick stalks and are cultivated for their seeds and oil.
Some of the most popular flowers in the world, they are found everywhere.
There’s no better name for your cheeriest goat that is like a ray of sunshine.
Belladonna
Sometimes, there is beauty in even the deadliest things.
The common name of belladonna is deadly nightshade, including other plants like tomatoes and eggplant.
But the flowering herbaceous plant does flower beautifully, with star-like, purple blooms with yellow centers.
Belladonna, of course, is a lovely-sounding Italian name and is another good one for any diva goats you might have.
Celandine
Featuring distinctive, broad yellow flowers, celandine is also known as pilewort.
It is a low-growing and perennial flowering plant, in the same family as the buttercup.
It is found in Europe and parts of western Asia.
The plant typically features many flowers on a large bed of leaves.
Again, this is great as another more or unusual name for your goat.
Canna
Finallly, we have the genus canna, comprising around 10 species of flowering plant.
They are also known as canna lily, though they are not true lilies.
They sport tall, typically red or orange flowers.
They are a tropical plant but have been cultivated throughout the world as ornamental flowers.
Given the closeness to ‘capra’, this one makes a lot of sense for your goats.
It’s short and snappy and perfect for any sex.