Top 10 Women With Fruit Names

We've brought you the Top 10 Men With Meat Names and the Top 10 Men With Salad Names. But what about women? And what about fruit? Well, now is the moment for both, as pomiculture and nomenclature come together for the debut female-themed edition of our “People with Food Names” series. Of course, there were some that didn't make the cut, including wild-child Peaches Geldof; musical siblings Eagle-Eye and Neneh Cherry; The O.C.'s Kelly Rowan; Popeye's main flame Olive Oyl; and daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, Apple. The USDA recommends we consume 2-4 servings of fruit a day, and while reading doesn't count, it can sometimes be almost as satisfying as eating. Read on for our Top 10 Women With Fruit Names, and as always, don't forget to leave a few tasty suggestions of your own.

10. Clementine Paddleford

A food writer for the New York Herald Tribune, Kansas-born Clementine Paddleford was also a pilot, flying a plane over the US to report on regional food. She nicknamed the submarine sandwich a “hero” in the 1930s, remarking that anyone eating the food would have to be one in order to finish it. Though the aptly-named food journalist died in 1967, she paved the way for food writers today.

9. Cherry Vanilla

Born Kathleen Dorritie, this singer, songwriter, and writer appeared in Andy Warhol's Pork and was once David Bowie's publicist. She's also the author of a new publication from Chicago Review Press: Lick Me: How I Became Cherry Vanilla.

8. Peggy A. Quince

Peggy Quince is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, and was the second African-American and third woman to serve as Chief Justice. Quince is also the first African-American woman to head a branch of government in Florida. She's also married to an attorney, and has two daughters. The quince tree, however, is self-fertile.

Peggy Quince

7. Roma Downey

Roma Downey starred in Touched by an Angel, and is married to reality TV producer Mark Burnett. The Roma tomato is a plum tomato, also known as the Italian tomato. But despite her name, Roma Downey is Irish. And the tomato is actually a fruit.

Credit: Photo courtesy Pepperdine University

6. Plum Sykes

A socialite and chick-lit author, the English-born Victoria Sykes was nicknamed “plum” after the Victoria variety. (Victoria Plum is also a children's book character from the '80s.) As a plum, Victoria has yellow flesh with a red or mottled skin.

Credit: Photo courtesy CarmenWiki

5. Peaches

Peaches is an electroclash, synthpunk, and glam rock musician with five albums, including Impeach My Bush (2006). Born Merril Beth Nisker, she renamed herself after a lyric in the Nina Simone song “Four Women.” Peaches was born in Canada and lives in Berlin. The peach tree flourishes in regions such as China, Iran, France, and the Mediterranean.

Peaches

4. Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake is an animated icon from the 1980s, owned by American Greetings. She has a cat named Custard, and is friends with Blueberry Muffin, Raspberry Torte, Plum Pudding, Orange Blossom and Lemon Meringue.

3. Banana Yoshimoto

Japanese author Mahoko Yoshimoto took the pen name “Banana” after the banana flower, and has written a dozen novels and short-story collections. Banana Yoshimoto wrote her breakthrough novella Kitchen (1988) while working as a waitress at a golf club.

Credit: Photo courtesy Islander Books

2. Fiona Apple

Singer/songwriter Fiona Apple comes from a family of performers; her father is an actor and her mother and sister are singers. Born in New York City in 1977, Apple won a single for her song “Criminal” when she was 19. Early on, she wisely shortened her name from Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart to the more simple (and appetizing) Fiona Apple.

1. Liz Lemon, character on 30 Rock

Tina Fey created NBC's hit comedy series 30 Rock, and stars in the role of Liz Lemon, her acerbic and amusing TV-alter ego. A quirky anti-heroine, Liz Lemon has quickly become one of the most funny and endearing characters on network TV. In 2008, the show was nominated for a record 17 Emmy nominations. Now, 30 Rock's main character is honored with the #1 spot in our Top 10 Women With Fruit Names. Here's to a bittersweet victory.

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