Updated November 2023
Across 17 pages
of 17
Basque place name
Also spelled Leyre and taken from the name of a monastery fortress, the popular and lilting choice in Spain will pose pronunciation problems elsewhere. Among the Top 100 girls' names in Spain, Leire…
Armenian place name
This was the old name for ancient Armenia, land of canyons.
Italian place name
This name of one of the most romantic cities in the world could easily find its way onto an American baby boy's birth certificate. You could also think of it as a fun, atlas-inspired twist on Denis.
Spanish place name from Quechua
"speaker"
The capital of Peru makes a rare but attractive girl name.
French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge
Percy is a traditional boys' name that could be cute and unexpected for a girl – perhaps as a short form for Persephone or Persis. Adventurous and literary Percy could follow in the footsteps of…
Finnish place name; Japanese
"loaded with rice"
A unisex cultural crossover that has seen a little use from the 1990s onwards. In Japanese mythology, Inari is an androgynous deity associated with rice, tea and foxes. In Finland, it is the name of…
Hebrew
"house of bread"
The Spanish name Belén is a well-established girl name, but parents have been slower to use the English equivalent. It is beginning to come into wider use, along with other New Testament place names…
English
"residence near a marshy place"
Streamline it to Marsh, Mason, or Carson.
Persian place name
Now deeply associated with the gemstone Lapis Lazuli, Lazuli is derived from one of the places where the stone was first mined. The word Lazuli is the root for words like azure. Lapis Lazuli is a…
Diminutive of Vernon, English
"place of alders"
Until recently, Vernon and its short form Vern seemed like grandpa names not ready for revival, but now we can see it happening. Never the popular, Vern works particularly well as a middle name.
English place name
A distinguished-sounding place name with a cool, positive "win" sound. The original Winchester was the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex.
Finnish place name
Saima derives from Saimaa, the name of Finland's largest lake. It was also the name of a 19th-century Finnish nationalist newspaper.
Scottish
"windy place"
Guthrie, one of the most attractive Scottish names that's also a surname, has a particularly romantic, windswept aura, with a touch of the buckaroo thrown in. Guthrie's folkie quality is tied to the…
Native American place name
Chenoa is the Native American name for the Kentucky River. This name has come into prominence as the stage name of Argentine singer María Laura Corradini Falomir. In the US it is given to a handful…
English place name and surname
"peat bog, mouse clearing"
Mosley has seen a handful of uses — mostly among baby girls — since 2012, the year after Peyton Manning gave it to his daughter. It's much more familiar as a surname, such as that of novelist Walter…
Spanish place name
Triana is a Top 50 girls' name in Spain largely unknown and unused in the US: Only 10 baby girls in the US were given the name in 2017. Also a surname, Triana is the name of a distinctive…
English habitational surname, place name
"noble's town"
With Arley, Arlo, Remington, and Kensington on the rise, Arlington might also start to appeal. The surname style name could make a patriotic choice for those in the US, evoking Arlington National…
Scottish place name
"ridged island"
Arran Island (not to be confused with the Aran Islands in Ireland) is a large island in Scotland's Firth (or bay) of Clyde. An attractive name, long popular in Scotland, but may be confused with the…
"Day's town"
Daytona Beach is a city in Florida named after founder Matthias Day in 1870. It is well-known as the home of NASCAR's Daytona International Speedway, the racetrack which hosts the Daytona 500. As a…
Spelling variation of Brixton, British place name
Brixton is a once-tough now-gentrifying-and-cool area of London that has also become one of the hottest boys' names in the US, entering the Top 1000 names list in 2015. Spelling variation Brixten was…