Azalea is the name of the flowering shrub, which comes from the Greek azaleos, "dry", because the plant thrives in dry soil, so the name means "azalea flower" or "dry". The pink and white blooms are a symbol of the American South, and rapper Iggy Azalea put the word in front of young parents in the 2010s. Azalea entered the US top 1000 in 2012 and has risen from number 580 in 2015 to number 278 among girls' names in 2025, its highest rank so far.