Updated November 2023
Across 17 pages
of 17
Italian place-name
Straightforward but very unusual choice, deriving from a place-name in Italy. Renon is a city in South Tyrol. Its German name is Ritten, possibly associated with either the German word for a knight…
Israeli place name and Hebrew
"fruit or glory"
A Hebrew name also used for girls, with many variations to choose from. Hadara is another version. The name is associated with the holiday of Sukkot.
Diminutive of Vernon, English
"place of alders"
Old man name turned old lady name turned baby name? It happens all the time.
Scottish place name
"the little bay"
A pretty town in Scotland, named for its perfect horseshoe-shaped bay.
Italian place name
A city in Italy, or simply a feminized spelling of Barry.
Scottish place name, German, French
"path; small shrill flute"
Also spelled Fyfe, this zippy sounding name would make a great middle name choice for music lovers or those with Scottish roots. The name has a double meaning: it is both a Scottish place name,…
English surname
"from the place by the pool"
Also spelt Loomis, this locational English surname comes from Lomax (Lumhalghs), near Bury in Lancashire. Beyoncé's maternal grandfather, Lumis Albert Beyincé, is a notable bearer of the name.
English place name
"endless glade"
Welsh literary place name
Caer Dathyl, whose name is of obscure origin, is a fortress mentioned in the medieval Mabinogi tales, and re-used by Lloyd Alexander in his Welsh-inspired Chronicles of Prydain .
Greek
"Ancient Greek place name"
Lindus or Lindos was one of the most important towns in ancient Rhodes. Lindus also was the native place of Cleobulus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
Scottish
"place name"
This Scottish surname and Scottish and Australian place name has a pleasant airy and breezy sound to it. Camden mayor Lara Symkowiak chose the name for her daughter born in 2016.
German and Catalan
"blue"
Welsh place name, possibly "little cell"
"little cell"
An attractive alternative spelling to Kellan, but the authentic Welsh "ll" sound may be hard to come by outside Wales.
"windy place"
Guthrie, folk singer Woody's last name, makes a perfectly fine first choice for a girl. Names such as Guthrie that have no gendered history can make true nonbinary names.
African place name
This name of the capital of an ancient Egyptian dynasty makes Lois X-rated.
Swahili place name from Persian
"black coast"
Zanzibar is an island region off the coast of Tanzania. It's never been recorded as a baby name, but for those with a connection to Zanzibar, it's an intriguing and unique option chock full of zesty…
"William's town"
An unlikely place name today, but one that was found among enslaved people in the 1800s.
English surname and place name
"alder farmstead"
A preppy-yet-rugged choice that proves there are plenty of last names as first names that are rare and distinctive, but not wacky or made up.
Cornish and Welsh place name and surname
"top of the heath"
Penrose – an ancient locational surname derived from several villages in Cornwall, Wales, and the Welsh border country of England – might work as a first name, although the "Rose" syllable might lead…
Variant spelling of Fife, borne by English musician Fyfe Dangerfield and Scottish journalist and reporter Fyfe Robertson.