Untouristy Place Names You Should Visit

By Esmeralda Rocha

Place names have always been a source of inspiration for baby names, though the practice really gained momentum in the 1980s with destinations like Savannah, Sydney and Siena setting a trend.

The trend has become a torrent with vast numbers of locations from all over the world being chosen for America‘s babies. We now bring you all the globetrotting examples – from hip neighbourhoods to whole continents – all beyond the Top 1000 names in the US in 2017. We’ve broken them up into regions to help us follow the patterns.

Note that some place names could be from more than one country (e.g. Jersey or Rome). In these cases we have popped then under the label we think most people living in America are likely to associate them with (the former with the US state, the latter with the city in Italy). Likewise, some names are attached to both places and people (e.g. Rhodes, Everest, Lincoln and Darwin). We’ve included these names whenever we thought the place was as or more famous than the person… So Rhodes and Everest are included here, but Lincoln and Darwin are not, and will instead feature in a future edition covering namesakes.

United States

Denver, given to 218 girls

Salem, given to 203 girls and 163 boys

Harlem, given to 175 boys and 101 girls

Bronx, given to 148 boys and 15 girls

Jersey, given to 140 girls and 25 boys (could also be for the UK island)

Berkeley, given to 119 girls and 14 boys

Montana, given to 115 girls and 68 boys

Arizona, given to 111 girls

Indiana, given to 104 girls and 70 boys

Charleston, given to 99 girls and 58 boys

Hampton, given to 88 boys and 15 girls (could also be for UK Hamptons)

Raleigh, given to 87 boys

Lexington, given to 73 girls and 40 boys

Delta, given to 66 girls and 6 boys (could be for any delta region, including the Nile)

Oakland, given to 64 boys and 6 girls

Maui, given to 41 boys and 10 girls

Macon, given to 36 boys and 8 girls

Nevada, given to 32 girls and 11 boys

Tennessee, given to 32 girls and 28 boys

Kodiak, given to 30 boys

Cleveland, given to 28 boys

Astoria, given to 26 girls

Albany, given to 25 girls

Reno, given to 25 boys

Arlington, given to 17 boys

Vegas, given to 17 boys

Alabama, given to 16 girls

California, given to 16 girls

Texas, given to 16 boys

Juneau, given to 15 girls

Sonoma, given to 10 girls

Seattle, given to 9 girls

Atlanta, given to 8 girls

Portland, given to 8 boys

Utah, given to 8 boys

Tulsa, given to 7 girls

Louisiana, given to 6 girls

Tacoma, given to 6 boys

York, given to 6 boys

The Americas beyond the US

America, given to 193 girls

Rio, given to 127 boys and 50 girls

Havana, given to 68 girls

Guadalupe, given to 48 boys

Acadia, given to 40 girls

Brazil, given to 28 girls and 6 boa

Trinidad, given to 24 boys

Montreal, given to 12 boys

Haiti, given to 8 girls

Alberta, given to 7 girls

Belize, given to 6 girls

Ontario, given to 6 boys

Yukon, given to 6 boys

Africa and the Middle East

Jericho, given to 193 boys and 9 girls

Sanaa, given to 189 girls

Petra, given to 165 girls

Sahara, given to 123 girls

Sinai, given to 62 girls and 10 boys

Nazareth, given to 58 girls and 43 boys

Nile, given to 58 boys and 14 girls

Nubia, given to 56 girls

Mecca, given to 47 boys and 36 girls

Mali, given to 44 girls

Zaire, given to 33 girls

Nairobi, given to 23 girls

Carmel, given to 20 girls

Galilee, given to 20 girls

Zamzam, given to 20 girls

Bethlehem, given to 19 girls

Morocco, given to 19 boys

Persia, given to 18 girls

Africa, given to 14 girls

Jerusalem, given to 14 girls

Haifa, given to 13 girls

Iran, given to 13 boys

Judea, given to 12 girls and 8 boys

Syria, given to 9 girls

Abyssinia, given to 6 girls

Arabia, given to 6 girls

Hebron, given to 6 boys

Basra, given to 5 girls

Nigeria, given to 5 girls

Asia

Asia, given to 250 girls

Everest, given to 130 boys and 64 girls

Kashmir, given to 51 boys and 18 girls

Bali, given to 11 girls

China, given to 11 girls

Taiwan, given to 8 boys

Asmara, given to 6 girls

Europe Including the UK

Montserrat, given to 245 girls

Kensington, given to 241 girls and 8 boys

Cambria, given to 231 girls

Ireland, given to 196 girls (with an additional 9 girls called Irish)

Geneva, given to 170 girls

Capri, given to 162 girls

Brighton, given to 140 girls and 90 boys

Kent, given to 139 boys

Rome, given to 130 boys and 24 girls

Italy, given to 120 girls

Odessa, given to 97 girls

Lourdes, given to 91 girls

Rhodes given to 73 boys

Italia, given to 69 girls

Devon, given to 68 girls

Berlin, given to 59 girls and 9 boys

Iona, given to 48 girls

Venice, given to 44 girls

Dresden, given to 41 boys and  12 girls

Lyon, given to 41 boys

Sicily, given to 41 girls

Britain, given to 37 girls and 22 boys (with another 14 girls called British)

Verona, given to 35 girls

Scotland, given to 31 girls and 7 boys

Germany, given to 29 girls

Aberdeen, given to 25 girls

Windsor, given to 25 girls and 9 boys

Avon, given to 17 boys

Cyprus, given to 16 boys

Zurich, given to 16 boys

Oslo, given to 14 boys

Dijon, given to 13 boys

Dublin, given to 11 boys and 7 girls

Sweden, given to 11 girls

Cambridge, given to 9 girls and 8 boys

Athens, given to 8 boys

England, given to 8 girls and 7 boys

Oxford, given to 8 boys

Evora, given to 7 girls

Caledonia, given to 6 girls

Essex, given to 6 boys

Calais, given to 5 girls

Lisbon, given to 5 girls

Russia, given to 5 girls

Savoy, given to 5 boys

Oceania

Zealand, given to 33 boys

Tasman, given to 5 boys

Fantastical

Avalon, given to 131 girls

Avonlea, given to 95 girls

Gotham, given to 37 boys

Arcadia, given to 26 girls

Hades, given to 12 boys

Atlantis, given to 8 girls