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I want to like it as a hippy herbal name. But I don't. My impression is that it's kind of schlocky. It's like Saffron or Clover or Velvet - it doesn't sound that much like a name, so it stands out. Yet lavender isn't evocative of anything sublime, just the picturesque French countryside and soothing scented spa products. So it's sort of marketing-image-ish, to me. If lavender brought to mind something more complex than quasi-rustic pleasure and relaxation, it would be a better name. The "lav" sound is also a little brassy ... it's so unusual, that the word association with "lavish" and "lavatory" is stronger than it should be. And, it doesn't help that I once met a young woman who had adopted the name Lavender for herself. "Lavender" was a self-styled libertine, and made much of being that. So my image is not exactly stripperish, but self-consciously sensuous.

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- mirfak