Place Names
Across 15 pages
of 15
Belen
Spanish place name and form of Bethlehem, Hebrew, Turkish
"house of bread; mountainside"
A fast rising choice in the US, Belen is a name with two possible origins. On one hand, it could be a variation — or an anglicization — of Belén, the Spanish form of Bethlehem. This would make it a…
Aspyn
Variation of Aspen, tree name and place name
Divorces Aspen from its nature and ski resort associations. Aspyn first broke into the Top 1000 in 2020.
Ainhoa
Basque place name
The name of the French town where a vision of the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared, this name is in the Spanish Top 100 and was, until recently, virtually unheard of elsewhere. Now however it is…
Canarsie
Place name
Has much too strong of a Brooklyn accent.
Manila
Place name
The name of the capital city of the Philippines is just conceivable as a baby name, giving off the faint scent of vanilla.
Astoria
Place name
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…
Chester
Latin
"fortress, walled town,"
Chester is a comfortable, little-used teddy-bear of a name that suddenly sounds both quirky and cuddly. Chester was a Top 100 name in the US from the 1880s to 1929, gradually fading till it finally…
Aquitaine
French place name
If you're looking for a really untouristed place name, Aquitaine could be it. Aquitaine is a region of France that includes both Bordeaux and Biarritz and is famous for such food and drink as its…
Java
Anglicization of Indonesian Jawa; place name
A name with something for everyone: for romantics, it's a beautiful Indonesian island; for teckies, it's a computer programming language.
Aragon
Spanish place name
Equally strong, dramatic and romantic, this name of an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and a modern Spanish community as well, would give a boy an instant pedigree.
Marbella
Spanish place name
"beautiful sea"
The name of the resort city on Spain's Costa del Sol is pronounced mar-BAY-a, setting it apart from the bella-name competition -- though many English speakers won't realize that. And it probably…
Oslo
Norwegian place name, Old Norse
"meadow at the foot of a hill"
Oslo, the capital city of Norway, makes for an intriguing new place name, especially with its bookended O's, as in Otto and leads to cool nickname Ozzie. One Berry has already used it and we predict…
Arverne
Place name
The name of a Queens, New York neighborhood sounds like a lost-in-limbo girls' name such as LAVERNE.
Jakarta
Place name
Jakarta, the name of the capital and largest city of Indonesia, is located on the island of Java. Both Jakarta and Java could make interesting and unusual choices for a girl.
Cathay
Anglicized version of Italian Catai; place name
A perfect example of what a difference a single letter can make. Add an 'a' to the ho-hum Cathy and you have the old name for China, often used by such poets as Edna St. Vincent Millay and Ezra Pound.
Nairi
Armenian place name
This was the old name for ancient Armenia, land of canyons.
Peru
Place name
An unexplored choice, evocative of the snowcapped Andes, with a pleasant, catchy sound.
Delphi
Greek place name
"of Delphi; womb"
An interesting unisex possibility, with an air of mystery connected to the Delphic Oracle, the most important oracle in ancient Greece; it was also a major site for the worship of the god Apollo.…
Umbria
Italian place name, from the Umbri, one of the chief tribes settling the Italian nation
Umbria is a lovely, virtually unused Italian name for girls , reflecting the beautiful rolling hills of the area's countryside. And since it's right next door to Tuscany, in which Siena resides,…
Hemingway
English place name
No matter how much you love the novels of Papa H., don't saddle your son with this unwieldy appellation.