The Flower Five and their names
The Flower Five are iconic manuls. They are the children of the late and beloved Shar and Lev. Their names, though written in Katakana, come from Russian terms in honor of Lev's heritage.
Did you know, that much like Lev when he came to Saitama, people were able to vote for the 5 kittens? Contemporary blogs and posts shows this. I looked around plenty for official Saitama Children's Zoo posts about this. The only thing I found was that they announced there will be a vote for the kitten's names and a ceremony for that.
However, this one wonderful blogger (まみさん from the blog site 4travel(dot)jp) created a post on July 17, 2017 sharing their travels and their thoughts. I do highly recommend their blog as they have wonderful contemporary posts and thoughts.
Below is the picture about the voting,
The groups and names and reasoning(I will use my laptop's Live Text feature, so the names may come out wrong):
1:
名前
グルーシャ、イーリス、オリーヴァ、プリームラ、ロータ
理由 ロシア語で花の名前にちなむ
それぞれ、梨、アヤメ、オリーブ、桜草、蓮
2.
名前
バナーン、リモーン、グルーシャ、ディーニヤ、マリーナ
理由 ロシア語で果物の名前にちなむ
それぞれ、バナナ、レモン、梨、メロン、ラズベリ
3.
名前
ヴィクトール、ユーリ、イリヤ、アナスタシア、ルドルフ
理由
ロシア語の人
(If the translation doesn't come through, I will write out the proposed names in english in the comments)
Their current names suit the Flower Five really well, but we might have got a different group name for them.
If their current names didn't win the vote, which name seems to match them?
I myself can see Lotos being named Lemon or Primula as Marina or Grusha as Victor.
I do say though that the names that won were well chosen, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
The ceremony for their name was held on July 30, 2017 as per Saitama Children's Zoo official facebook page, dated July 26, 2017
the blog post I sourced this from:https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11262442
the surrounding text of the photo using Live Text feature:
header:
マヌルネコの赤ちゃん名前投票
body:
2017年4月20日にマヌルネコの赤ちゃんがうまれました。
お父さんはレフ（2014/5/15生）、お母さんはシャル（2014/4/18生）です。
赤ちゃんは5頭です。
素敵な名前の組み合わせを選んでください。
Sub header:
募集期間：7月2日（日）～7月17日（月）
Body:
マヌルネコの赤ちゃんを見ながら下に書いた3組の名前から、これはと思う組み合わせを一つだけ選んで、左の番号を書いて投票して下さい。
Bottom text:
一番多く投票された名前がつきます。名付け親の中から抽選で、名付け親認定式にご招待し、認定証と記念品を贈ります。
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Pallas's Cat Kitten Naming Vote
Pallas's cat kittens were born on April 20, 2017.
The father is Lev (born 2014/5/15), and the mother is Shal (born 2014/4/18).
There are five kittens.
Please choose your favorite combination of names.
Voting period: Sunday, July 2–Monday, July 17
While looking at the Pallas's cat kittens, choose just one combination that you think suits them from the three sets of names listed below, and vote by writing the number on the left.
1:
Names
Grusha, Iris, Oliva, Primula, Lota
Reason: Named after flowers in Russian
They mean pear, iris, olive, primrose, and lotus, respectively.
2.
Names
Banan, Limon, Grusha, Dinia, Malina
Reason: Named after fruits in Russian
They mean banana, lemon, pear, melon, and raspberry, respectively.
3.
Names
Viktor, Yuri, Ilya, Anastasia, Rudolf
Reason
Russian names for people
The names receiving the most votes will be chosen. A drawing will be held among those who suggested the names, and the winners will be invited to the naming ceremony and presented with a certificate and commemorative gift.
2mato, English:
Naming Vote for Pallas’s Cat Kittens
Pallas’s cat kittens were born on April 20, 2017.
Their father is Lev (born May 15, 2014) and their mother is Shal (born April 18, 2014).
There are five kittens in total.
Please choose your favorite set of names.
Voting period: Sunday, July 2 – Monday, July 17
After observing the Pallas’s cat kittens, please select one of the three sets of names listed below and cast your vote by indicating the corresponding number.
1:
Names
Grusha, Iris, Oliva, Primula, Lota
Reason: Based on Russian names for flowers.
(Meaning: Pear, Iris, Olive, Primrose, and Lotus, respectively.)
2:
Names
Banan, Limon, Grusha, Diniya, Malina
Reason: Based on Russian names for fruits.
(Meaning: Banana, Lemon, Pear, Melon, and Raspberry, respectively.)
3:
Names
Viktor, Yuri, Ilya, Anastasia, Rudolf
Reason:
Russian personal names.
The set of names that receives the most votes will be chosen. From among those who voted for the winning set, some will be selected by lottery to be invited to a "Naming Ceremony," where they will receive a certificate of recognition and a commemorative gift.
2mato, Russian:
Vote to choose names for the Pallas's cat kittens
The Pallas's cat kittens were born on April 20, 2017.
Their father is Lev (born May 15, 2014), and their mother is Shal (born April 18, 2014).
There are five kittens in the litter.
Please choose the name option you like best.
Voting period: from Sunday, July 2, through Monday, July 17.
After getting acquainted with the Pallas's cat kittens, choose one of the three options below and vote for it by indicating the corresponding number.
1:
Names
Grusha, Iris, Oliva, Primula, Lota
Rationale: flower names (in Russian).
(Meanings: pear, iris, olive, primrose, and lotus, respectively.)
2:
Names
Banan, Limon, Grusha, Dinya, Malina
Rationale: fruit and berry names (in Russian).
(Meanings: banana, lemon, pear, melon, and raspberry, respectively.)
3:
Names
Viktor, Yuri, Ilya, Anastasia, Rudolf
Rationale:
Russian personal names.
The option receiving the most votes will win. Among those who voted for the winning option, participants will be selected by lottery and invited to the “Naming Ceremony.” They will receive a commemorative certificate and a souvenir.
And Grusha would be a banana 😂
Thaaank you very much, very interesting!
Анна,
Banan Lvovich!
Анна, Or Viktor Lvovich! 😮😎
Анна, And Oliva with Grusha. Or with Ilya.
I'm absolutely dying at the thought of Grusha being a banana. 😂💀
Also as someone whose best references for Russian names are Yuri on Ice and Heated Rivalry... I though Ilya was a boy's name? 😆😅😆😅
mnamosyna (rachael), Generally, yes, Ilya is a male name; there is no female equivalent of this name in Russian.