Place Names for Boys!

  1. Redding
    • Redmond
      • Origin:

        Irish variation of Raymond
      • Meaning:

        "wise protector"
      • Description:

        We love this partly for purely personal reasons, since it is one of our surnames. We used it as the middle name of a son –and it can make a good first choice too. Redmond – also found as Reamann or Raemonn – is the Irish form of the Germanic name that occurs in modern English as Raymond.
    • Rochester
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "stone camp or fortress"
      • Description:

        Rochester was Jack Benny's famous valet and sidekick, played by early African-American comic Eddie Anderson.
    • Rome
      • Origin:

        Place name
      • Description:

        Given that Rome is arguably the most important city in European history, it has been used as a first name remarkably little. However, Roman is now in the Top 100, so it was only a matter of time before parents started looking toward the city's actual name.
    • Salem
      • Origin:

        Biblical place-name or Arabic
      • Meaning:

        "safe"
      • Description:

        Salem is a Biblical place name in Canaan, believed to be the same as Jerusalem, as well as the Massachusetts town famous for its late 17th century witch trials. Salem is also a popular first name in its own right throughout the Arabic world.
    • Saxony
      • Texas
        • Origin:

          Place-name
        • Description:

          After Dallas, Austin, and Houston, the new cowboy on the block. Old-school Western nickname: Tex.
      • Toulouse
        • Origin:

          French place-name and surname
        • Description:

          Creative choice, evoking the high-kicking can-can girls and other colorful figures in the works of Toulouse-Lautrec.
      • Trinidad
        • Origin:

          Spanish
        • Meaning:

          "trinity"
        • Description:

          Trinidad, an island off Venezuela in the southern Caribbean, is Spanish for ‘trinity’ and is a common unisex name in Latin America. Notable namesakes include performers Trini Lopez (male) and Trini Alvarado (female), both born Trinidad.
      • Tucson
        • Origin:

          American place-name
        • Description:

          A southwestern city name that could make a distinctive alternative to Dallas.
      • Vermont
        • Origin:

          French
        • Meaning:

          "green mountain"
        • Description:

          Place-name waiting to be discovered.
      • Washington
        • Origin:

          English
        • Meaning:

          "home of the Wassa people"
        • Description:

          Lincoln, Tyler, Taylor, Jackson, Jefferson, Harrison, McKinley, Grant, Kennedy, Carter -- yes. Washington -- probably not.
      • York
        • Origin:

          English
        • Meaning:

          "from the yew estate"
        • Description:

          Brisk, preppy York is an underused classic with the potential to really shine in the 21st century. It's most familiar as a place name — York is a city in England — and surname. New York City and State were named after the Duke of York.