Baby name
FADING
🇩🇪 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 Vanilla
/vah · NIL · ah/
Meaning
“Spice pod; little sheath”
From the Spanish vainilla, diminutive of vaina meaning 'pod'; the spice name transferred to given-name use as part of the nature-and-food naming wave.
Nicknames
vani
Vibe
warm
How it ages.
Trendy and fragile; food names can feel charming or gimmicky depending on the decade.
The cultural moment.
Rare as a given name; occasional use in English-speaking countries from the 2000s onward.