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Place Names

Nameberry
By Nameberry
Updated Wed Nov 29 2023
Place names for babies is an ever-expanding category, as some place names — Savannah, Dakota, London — become popular and parents look to adopt undiscovered locales as names for their babies.

Here are some of the more unusual new choices of place names. The top names below rank among the current US Top 1000 Baby Names and are ordered by popularity. Unique names rank below the Top 1000 and are listed alphabetically.
  1. Caspian

    • Origin:

      Place name

    • Meaning:

      "white"

    • Description:

      One of the most romantic of appellations, Caspian is a geographical name referring to the large salty sea between Asia and Europe. It's also the name of the hero of C.S. Lewis's beloved Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian.
  2. Finnick

    • Origin:

      Literary invention

    • Description:

      Finnick has risen to prominence as a first name via The Hunger Games, in which Finnick Odair was a winner of the games. A wearable literary creation, Finnick was given to 136 boys in the US in a recent year.
  3. Hudson

    • Origin:

      English place-name and surname

    • Meaning:

      "Hugh's son"

    • Description:

      Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion gloss of New York City.
  4. Percy

    • Origin:

      French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge

    • Description:

      Percy is an adorable old name that is finally shedding its pampered Little Lord Fauntleroy image in this new era of boys with soft yet traditionally male names like Jasper and Elijah. Originating as an aristocratic Norman name, Percy became fairly widespread in England--and to some extent in the US--as an offshoot of the fame of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
  5. Milan

    • Origin:

      Italian place name, Slavic, Sanskrit

    • Meaning:

      "middle of the plain; gracious, dear; union"

    • Description:

      Effortlessly stylish with an international feel, Milan re-entered the US charts back in 2013 after a 55 year hiatus. It has been powering up the charts ever since, following in the footsteps of sweet sound-alike Mila, and spotlighted by singer Shakira, who chose it for her son.
  6. Wells

    • Origin:

      Surname from place name

    • Meaning:

      "spring"

    • Description:

      Wells is a newly-famous baby name thanks to pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who uses it as the short form of the buttoned-up Wellington, name of her youngest child.
  7. Hayden

    • Origin:

      English place name

    • Meaning:

      "hay valley"

    • Description:

      Hayden – a formerly obscure name that's risen to huge popularity – has dipped in this year's ratings. Though Hayden is among the most distinctive of the bunch, it gets lost in the crowd of Jaidens, Bradens, Aidans, and endless variations. Associated with Hayden Christensen, of Star Wars fame.
  8. Lavinia

    • Origin:

      Latin, from ancient place name Lavinium

    • Description:

      Lavinia is a charmingly prim and proper Victorian-sounding name which actually dates back to classical mythology, where it was the name of the wife of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who was considered the mother of the Roman people.
  9. Holland

    • Origin:

      Dutch place name

    • Meaning:

      "wooded land"

    • Description:

      Holland is one of the coolest geographical names, unadorned and elegant, evocative of fine Rembrandt portraits and fields of pink and yellow tulips. It first entered the US Top 1000 for girls in 2014, but fell out of the Top 1000 for boys a century earlier.
  10. Capri

    • Origin:

      Italian from Greek or Latin

    • Meaning:

      "wild boar; goats"

    • Description:

      Chosen by the late Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa for their youngest daughter, Capri is the name of an Italian island, lending it a light, bright and sunny feel. Derived from either the Greek kapros meaning "wild boar" or from the Latin capri meaning "goats", it has a contemporary feel to it, especially with that -i ending.
  11. Chester

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "fortress, walled town,"

    • Description:

      Chester is a comfortable, little-used teddy-bear of a name that suddenly sounds both quirky and cuddly.
  12. Astoria

    • Origin:

      Place name

    • Description:

      Long more associated with the New York Waldorf- hotel and the neighborhood in Queens than as a baby name, Astoria is finally beginning to emerge from their shadow and find favor with parents looking to move beyond Brooklyn. The name Astoria is drawn from the surname of titan of industry John Jacob Astor, theorized to mean "hawk."
  13. Zaire

    • Origin:

      Place name, Congo

    • Meaning:

      "the river that swallows all rivers"

    • Description:

      Zaire was a Central African state from 1971 to 1997 that has recently risen up the charts as a boys name. Deriving from a Congo term meaning "the river that swallows all rivers", it makes a bold and wearable choice for a son.
  14. Bethany

    • Origin:

      Biblical place name and Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "house of figs"

    • Description:

      Bethany is a lyrical name that still strikes many parents as a fresher, more substantial substitute for the overused Brittany/Brittney or the more antiquated Beth.
  15. Hayden

    • Origin:

      English place name

    • Meaning:

      "hay hill; hay valley"

    • Description:

      A newly successful name for girls, which, like Brayden and Caden, used to be strictly for the boys. Young Heroes and now Nashville star Hayden Panettiere planted it in the girls' camp.
  16. Catalina

    • Origin:

      Spanish variation of Catherine

    • Meaning:

      "pure"

    • Description:

      This name of a touristed island in sight of Los Angeles makes an attractive and newly stylish variation on the classic Catherine or overused Caitlin.
  17. Rome

    • Origin:

      Place name, Latin, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "to hurry or flow; strength"

    • Description:

      Given that Rome is arguably the most important city in European history, it has been used as a first name remarkably little. However, with Roman in the Top 100 and one-syllable choices in vogue, it was only a matter of time before parents started looking toward the city's name as a potential baby name.
  18. Brighton

    • Origin:

      English, place name meaning "bright town"

    • Meaning:

      "bright town"

    • Description:

      Brighton has long been known as a holiday resort town on the south coast of England. A cheery unisex name, it was used for his daughter by Jon Favreau, but was a boy on the TV show The Nanny.
  19. Canaan

    • Origin:

      Biblical place name, Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "The Promised Land; humble, low"

    • Description:

      Pronounced KAY-nan, this Old Testament place name has a strong modern feel that blends in with on-trend choices like Carter, Colton, and Kayson, but also with Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Tobias. Associated in the Bible with "The Promised Land", it is also the name of one of Noah's grandsons.
  20. Kenai

    • Origin:

      Native American place name

    • Meaning:

      "flat lands"

    • Description:

      The name of the protagonist of Disney’s Brother Bear also has a geographical connection: the Kenai Peninsula and Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.

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