Place Names
Across 15 pages
of 15
Hemingway
English place name
No matter how much you love the novels of Papa H., don't saddle your son with this unwieldy appellation.
Garin
Armenian place name
This name of an old Armenian city, might sound a little too masculine for use here. Variations include the more feminine Garine and Karine.
Jamaica
Native American place name
"rich in springs"
Among the least gimmicky, most appealing and colorful of all the names found in the atlas, Jamaica almost sings out the rhythms of the West Indies. Part of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean,…
Lavinia
Latin, from ancient place name Lavinium
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…
Ireland
Place name
Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the…
Moriah
Biblical place name; Hebrew
"the Lord is my teacher"
Where Abraham took his son Isaac to sacrifice him. Taylor Hanson chose this as the middle name for his son Viggo, his fourth child, but most will see it as a girls’ name . Make life simpler and spell…
Nara
Japanese place name or Celtic
"happy"
Soft, simple, and far more unusual than Tara or Farrah. As a Japanese place name, it's been used occasionally as a surname and is beginning to be used as a first. Nara is also the name of a Hindu…
Olivet
Place name
Mount Olivet is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in…
Torille
Italian place name
Torille is the name of an Italian town, and is also found as a surname/
Trilby
Place name, surname, and literary name
Trilby was used first for a character by French novelist Charles Nodier (1822) and made more famous by writer George du Maurier in an 1894 work. A Trilby hat, which Du Maurier's character wore, is a…
Valletta
Maltese place name
Valletta is the capital city of Malta. It takes on an air of attractiveness via model Amber Valletta and could make an appealing alternative to the somewhat dated Valerie.
Dacian
Ancient place name
Dacia was an ancient region comprised of what is modern Romania and Moldova and smaller parts of other Eastern European countries. Its inhabitants were called the Dacians, and the Dacian Kingdom…
Percy
French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge
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…
Wales
Place name
Place names for boys are few and far between; this one would make a singular choice. Prince William of Wales uses this as a surname when required, as in his military life; Jimmy Wales is the…
Russia
Russian place name
Consider ODESSA instead.
Kiska
Aleutian place name
Kiska is a Alaskan volcano island that has the sort of brisk sound to it that makes it fit in with both old names like Saskia and modern names like Pax.
Ellera
Italian place name
This delicate Umbrian place name would make a unique path to Ellie.
Wellington
English surname from place name
"people living in the hamlet in the cleared area near the temple"
Wellington is a tony-sounding English surname turned baby name by pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who calls her son Wells for short. It's also the middle name of one of the Sweet Home sextuplets, Blu…
Benton
English surname and place name
"bent grass enclosure"
Benton is an old English surname of a type usually given to local landowners. It is also recorded in early records as Beneton and Bentune. Benton newly returned to the Social Security list in 2011…
Lupita
Spanish, “little wolf”
This lively pet name has recently been associated with Mexican-born Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o, acclaimed for her role in the 2013 film Twelve Years a Slave . The mother name Guadalupe, literally…