Guest blogger Susan Chesney writes about the evocative place and nature names of the California desert.

One of my favorite places is the California desert, because in that silent place there are many secrets.  Most people drive through the desert as fast as they can with their windows up, radios blaring, and air conditioners on. They don’t know about the gray-green sagebrush that grows in little clumps away from the highway, and that hidden among the clumps might be a bleached antler, lying in the sand. What if they knew that outside the town of Bishop, there are several hot ditches, natural and soothing hot springs, waiting to be soaked in, free of charge? Or what about this secret: that the desert is unpolluted– there is very little trash and the skies are a deep blue. I love the mirage effect out in the desert. There is a blend of haze and heat that shimmers and is mystical. In the movie “Lawrence of  Arabia”, when asked why he loves the desert, Lawrence replies, “Because it’s clean.”

Among the precious secrets of the California desert is the treasure trove of names that dot the landscape along with the cactus, lizards, and Joshua trees. There are little towns, rivers, lakes, hills, plants, animals and even colors in the desert that can provide inspiration for babies’ names. Some of these names are comfy or even popular like Owen and Joshua. Others are vintage, offbeat and quirky such as Aberdeen and Rosamond. So let’s wander out under the cottonwood trees that grow next to the crick (creek), set up some lawn chairs, and talk about California desert names.

Some place names from the California Desert:

ALABAMA – the Alabamas, hills that are older than the High Sierras

ABERDEEN – Aberdeen trailer park

BERNARDINO – San Bernardino County, goes all the way to the Nevada border

BISHOP – biggest town in the Owens valley

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Here is another excerpt from our latest book, Beyond Ava & Aiden: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby

In Colonial times, as many as twenty percent of the slaves in the Carolinas bore African names, most notably day names, which relate to the day of the week on which the person was born. The West African day names, often translated to English cognates such as Judy for Juba or Joe for Cudjoe, are:

SUNDAY – QUASHEBA (female); QUASHEE (male)
MONDAY — JUBA; CUDJOE
TUESDAY –BENEBA; CUBBENAH
WEDNESDAY — CUBA; QUACO
THURSDAY – ABBA; QUAO
FRIDAY — PHEBE/PHIBBI; CUFF/CUFFEE
SATURDAY — MIMBA; QUAME/KWAME

Names were also chosen that signified months of the year, seasons and holidays. Some of these that have survived on the roles include: MONDAY, FRIDAY, CHRISTMAS, EASTER, MARCH and JULY.

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Today being Canada Day–which is roughly equivalent to the US Independence Day–it seems like a good opportunity to browse through the bilingual Canadian name bank and see what we can find–actually,  more unusual–even exotic– names than you might expect. For instance, in the French colonies known as Acadia, there are such boys’ names as:

ALPHE

CALIXTE

ELZEAR

EMELIEN

LEONIDE

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Maybe it’s because we’ve been planning our summer vacation, but the idea of exotic place names sounds very appealing right now.  Options can be found all over the map: Nameberry has a big all-inclusive list of exotic place names.  A selection we’d like to visit, figuratively and literally.

AFRICA – Most obviously, the name of the continent, but there was also a Celtic queen named Affrica.

BIMINI – Caribbean Island name is cute and casual.  Pronunciation: bim-in-ee.

BRAZIL – Also spelled Brasil, this Celtic saint’s name also references the South American country.

CUBA – Cuba Gooding Jr. put this one on the map (sorry, couldn’t resist).  Another option: Havana.

JAVA – Java Kumala was chosen as the name for their newborn daughter by Josh Holloway of TV’s Lost and his Indonesian wife.

KYOTO – Kyoto means “capital city,” though the Japanese city is known more for its beauty than for being a center of government or industry.

MOROCCO – Rhythmic name of the north African country could work for boys or girls.

PACIFICA – This peaceful name relates to the Pacific Ocean.

PALMA – Palma de Majorca is a Spanish island city as well as a botanical name.

PERSIA – Though the country is now called Iran, Persia has more chops as a person name.  Writer Louise Erdrich has a daughter named Persia (and one named Pallas).

QUITO – The name of Ecuador’s capital works better for boys than for girls: unusual for place names.

RIO – Devil-may-care name drawn from Brazil’s best-known city, better for boys but can work for girls too.

ROMANY – Actor Romany Malco popularized this name relating to Gypsy lands and culture.  A fresher spin on Roman or Romy.

SAHARA – Hot, dry, exotic: a good place to go if you want to move beyond Sarah.

SAMOA – An unexpected choice from the South Seas.

SICILY – Everyone will confuse it with Cecily (and Cicely), but all you have to say is, “No, as in Italy.”

Names from television and movie Westerns sometimes got a lot more adventurous than Josh and Jesse. In fact, Westerns are responsible for reviving scores of antiquated classics that might otherwise have disappeared completely, along with introducing unconventional animal and word names as firsts. Some Western character names from the classic shows and movies of the 50s and 60s that sound fresh and new, if a bit quirky, today:

ABELIA
ABIHU
ALBEN
AMELITA
AMOS
ARTOLA
ASH
AXEL
BARKER
BARN
BEAR
BO
BODIE
BOONE
CICERO
CLAY
CLEM
LAMBERT
LINUS
MOSS
NEWLY
PERCY
QUINT
RUFUS
THAD
WADE
ZEBULON

The newest Western names draw heavily on the place itself, or on Western-themed words. Some choices that have been used in the post-Bonanza world:

Boys

AUSTIN
DALLAS
DENVER
HOUSTON
MAVERICK
RIO
ROPER
RYDER
WEST

Girls

ARIZONA
CHEYENNE
NEVADA
SCOUT
SHILOH
SIERRA

Either

CANYON
DAKOTA
LARAMIE
PHOENIX
RENO