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Bridgerton: The Sad Meaning Behind Hyacinth’s Name
In the Netflix romance series, the youngest Bridgerton, Hyacinth, has a unique name that references a tragedy that changed their family forever.

Bridgerton: The Sad Meaning Behind Hyacinth’s Name

Bridgerton features a large family with a lot of siblings, all with names in alphabetical order, but there’s a sad reason for the youngest Bridgerton’s name. The Netflix romance series set in Regency-era London is based on the Bridgerton books by Julia Quinn. Each season of Bridgerton is based on one of the books, and like each book, it follows one of the eight Bridgerton siblings as they find their true love. Season 2 follows the eldest sibling, Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), and his star-crossed romance with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), the older sister of the girl he intends to court. Season 2 also introduces Edmund Bridgerton (Rupert Evans), revealing his cause of death and depicting how that devasted his young family.

In a flashback in Bridgerton season 2, Edmund Bridgerton passes away when Anthony is just 16-years-old, which leaves young Anthony to take on the title of Viscount and all of the responsibilities that comes with it. His wife, Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell), was pregnant at the time of his death with their youngest child, a daughter whom she named Hyacinth (Florence Hunt). The sudden death of the Bridgerton family’s patriarch was unexpected and painful, especially for Violet, who not only lost her husband but immediately had her world turned upside down. Along with the unbearable grief that weighed on her was the reality that she still had eight children who needed her, including the brand new baby that her husband would never get to meet.

Notably, Edmund Bridgerton died from an allergic reaction to a bee sting after picking flowers for Violet. The flowers that he bent down to pick were hyacinths, which bloom in the spring in clusters of purple, white, and pink. In the flashback scene in Bridgerton season 2, episode 3, Edmund sees the hyacinths in bloom and mentions that Violet will love them just before gathering a few of the blossoms outside of their country home. Hyacinths are perennial flowers that symbolize love and commitment. In Greek mythology, Apollo creates hyacinths out of grief to memorialize his lover. These brightly colored flowers were the last gift that Edmund intended to give to Violet. Hyacinth’s name is a tribute to her deceased father and to the undying love that her parents shared with one another.

The Bridgertons also gave their children names that are in alphabetical order- Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth. It’s likely that Violet chose the name Hyacinth because it fit the next letter of the alphabet, H, but it also represented the last gesture of love that Edmund showed right before he died. Violet was overcome with grief after Edmund’s death and missed him terribly, even finding it difficult to be a mother to her children immediately after his passing. Her grief explains why Hyacinth’s name is so unique. Violet’s mind and heart were still with Edmund, so she gave their newborn daughter a name that reminded her of him instead of a more traditional name like the rest of her siblings were given.

This small Bridgerton detail shows just how much Edmund Bridgerton’s bee sting death affected his family. Hyacinth Bridgerton’s name stands for her parents’ love, but it also carries with it the sadness of the memory of Edmund’s death. Hyacinths were the last flower that Edmund picked before he was taken from them. Her name is Violet’s way of affirming her commitment to her late husband, and that just as Edmund intended, he gave Violet her favorite flower. It’s a sad name, but a fitting one, because of hyacinths’ connection to the Greek myth about Apollo creating the flower to symbolize his own undying love. Through Hyacinth’s name, Violet was able to keep a piece of her husband with her long after his death.