Olive’s Notebook: Personalized Journal for Olive
Olive's Notebook puts her name front and center, written in flowing script across a soft watercolor apple blossom design.
- 160 lined pages
- 6" x 9" paperback
- Watercolor apple blossom cover with "Olive's Notebook" on the front
- Printed and shipped by Amazon
Olive: meaning and origin
Olive comes from the English and French word for the tree, ultimately from the Latin oliva, says Behind the Name. Wikipedia notes that the name is linked with peace through the symbol of the olive branch, and that olive wreaths were traditionally worn by champions as a sign of victory. Olive came into fashion in the 1800s along with other tree and flower names.
Nicknames and variants
Behind the Name gives Ollie as the English diminutive, with Oliva as the Italian and Spanish form. Wikipedia points out that Olive was once more popular than its close relative Olivia.
Famous people named Olive
Olive Oyl came before Popeye. Wikipedia says cartoonist E. C. Segar created her in 1919 for his comic strip Thimble Theatre, where she debuted on December 19 of that year. She was a main character for a decade, as the on-and-off sweetheart of Harold Hamgravy, before the sailor Popeye showed up in 1929. He became so popular that the strip was renamed after him.
Is Olive a popular name?
Olive was a Victorian favorite. US Social Security data has it at 88th in both the 1880s and the 1890s, and 133rd in the 1910s, when more than 12,300 American girls were named Olive. Wikipedia says it has been back in the US top 200 since 2020.
Olive trivia
Two films gave Olive a modern boost, says Wikipedia: Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Easy A (2010), both with a heroine named Olive. In Easy A, the name is said to be an anagram of “I love”. Writer Laura Wattenberg has called the name “aggressively contrarian”, which may be part of its charm.
Gift ideas that suit an Olive
- For a cook. A recipe journal for a name from the Mediterranean kitchen.
- For a champion. A training log for a girl who has earned her olive wreath.
- For Valentine’s Day. A notebook for a name that spells “I love”.
- For a comics fan. A sketchbook for a fan of classic strips.
How Olive can use it
Any Olive, of any age. The 6" x 9" size is roomy enough for proper writing and small enough for a handbag or school bag. With 160 plain lined pages there’s no fixed layout, so it can be a diary, a gratitude journal, a study notebook, a recipe book or a home for to-do lists. Notebooks tend to multiply in drawers, but one with her name on the front is instantly hers.
The little things that make it hers
There’s something about seeing your own name in print. It makes a notebook feel like it belongs to you, which is a good reason to fill it. It also means Olive can pick hers out of a pile in a second, at school, at work or on the kitchen counter.
Frequently asked questions
How big is Olive’s Notebook? About the size of a trade paperback book: 6 x 9 inches (15.2 x 22.9 cm), 160 lined pages.
Where do I buy it? It’s sold on Amazon in the US, Australia and the UK. Amazon prints and ships each copy and handles delivery and returns.
Do you have other names? Yes, the same apple blossom design comes in hundreds of girls’ names. Start at all name notebooks or our personalized name notebooks guide.
Get Olive's Notebook on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Olive's Notebook is published by Black Stag Publishing.