Willow: named for the tree that bends in the wind and never breaks

Where the name Willow comes from

Willow comes straight from the tree. The word goes back to Old English welig, and the trees themselves – the genus Salix – have grown along British rivers and streams for as long as anyone has been naming things. For centuries it was simply a word for a tree, a basket material and the wood of a cricket bat (English cricket bats are still made from a particular white willow). Only in the twentieth century did parents start using it as a girl's name.

The tree has collected plenty of meaning along the way. Willow bark was used for pain and fever long before chemists drew salicylic acid from it, the forerunner of aspirin. The weeping willow became a symbol of grief in Victorian art, while the pussy willow, with its furry silver catkins, has always been a cheerful sign that winter is ending. Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows gave the trees a permanent place in British childhood, and the blue-and-white Willow pattern china still sits in countless kitchen dressers.

As a first name, Willow took off from the late 1990s onwards – helped along by the gentle witch in Buffy the Vampire Slayer – and nature names in general have been climbing ever since. Today Willow sits comfortably among the popular girls' names in England and Wales, familiar enough that no one asks you to spell it, yet still fresh enough that she probably won't share it with three classmates.

A lovely moment for a Willow book is early spring, when the riverside willows are the first trees to turn a pale, hazy green and the catkins come out. Some families make a little ritual of it: a walk to the nearest willow, a photo under the branches each year, and a story to read when they get home.

In folklore the willow has a double reputation. It is said to grow where water is near, so in old country lore a willow meant a spring or stream was close by, and travellers trusted it. Willow wood was woven into cradles and baskets, and wands of willow were thought to carry a bit of quiet magic. All of that gives a Willow story plenty to play with: a girl who always finds her way back to water, who can weave a plan out of very little, and who sways rather than snaps when things go wrong.

What people call Willow

• Willow — The full name is already soft and short, so most families simply use it as it is – at home, at school and on the cover of a book.
• Wills — A playful, slightly sporty version that siblings and friends tend to land on, especially once she starts school.
• Will — A brisk, tomboyish short form that some girls choose for themselves; it suits a heroine who climbs garden walls.
• Lolo or Lo — Built from the second syllable; a favourite with toddlers who can't quite manage the W yet, and it often sticks.
• Willa — An affectionate twist used by grandparents and close family, a little old-fashioned and very sweet.
• Willow Tree — A teasing family nickname, usually saved for when she has grown another inch or is swaying around the kitchen.
• Willow-wisp — A whimsical pet name some parents borrow from will-o'-the-wisp, perfect for a little girl who flits from room to room and is gone before you turn around.