Nature, Place and Word Names
New York Neighborhood Names
Across 4 pages
of 4
Harlem
Place-name
"home on a forested dune"
With Brooklyn, Trenton, and Camden on the rise, Harlem is one to watch out for. It has lingered down the lower end of the US Top 1000 since 2018 but has been trending upwards. It's already been…
Arden
English
"valley of the eagle; high"
Arden, the name of the magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It , is a stylish A name with a strong, straightforward image. Another reason to love Arden: its similarity to "ardent." Arden is…
Elm
English, German, Norse, Danish tree name
"red, brown"
Strong, straight, and leafy, one of the new tree names used mostly as middles.
Fordham
English surname and place-name
"meadow by a stream"
English surname most notably used by Ashley Hebert for her son in 2014.
Fulton
English
"fields of the village"
One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton.
Garvey
Irish
"rough peace"
Occasionally used in the African-American community to honor Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey, known as "Emperor of the Kingdom of Africa," though his first name is more frequently chosen. Another…
Gramercy
Place name
A pretty private park in Manhattan, doesn't quite make it as a baby name.
Hamilton
English and Scottish
"treeless hill"
Unless it runs in your family, or Alexander Hamilton is your particular hero, you might consider something less imposing -- and without the teasable nickname Ham. Scottish curler Hamilton McMillan Jr…
Harbor
Word name
We've seen Haven take off as a nouveau girls' name; Harbor could follow in its wake.
Howard
German, English
"high guardian; brave heart"
Howard, once hugely popular in the Top 50 from the 1870s to early 1950s, hitting Number 24 in 1920 -- has been stuck in Dad-Grandad limbo for decades, but is showing some signs of stirring back to…
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,…
Jerome
Greek
"sacred name"
Jerome has a bespectacled, serious, studious image, just like its namesake saint, who was a brilliant scholar. St. Jerome is the patron saint of students, librarians, and archaeologists. Musical…
Kensington
Place name
A posh area of London, as well as being a section of Brooklyn, Kensington would make an overly formal, butlerish boy's name. There are several preferable paths to the nickname Ken, including KENYON,…
Kew
Cornish
"chick"
Kew is an offbeat name of a saint from Cornwall with boyish appeal.
Lenox
Variation of Lennox, Scottish
"elm grove"
Lennox is one of the hottest unisex names of recent years, and this spelling retains the appealing surname vibe and cool -x ending. This form does distance the name slightly from the literary and…
Linden
English tree name
"tree of the genus Tilla"
Though this name of a sturdy tree that can live for centuries was quite popular for boys in the first half of the twentieth century, at this point in time we can see Linden as a fresh-sounding…
Livingston
English and Scottish surname
"dear friend's place"
When Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves chose the old English surname and place name Livingston for their third child, they elevated it from half of a Stanley & Livingston joke to a modern…
Manhattan
Munsee Lenape, Native American
"place for gathering the [wood to make] bows"
Manhattan is the smallest yet one of the most populous New York City boroughs. The area was historically inhabited by Munsee Lenape and Wappinger tribes of Native Americans, and the name Manhattan is…
Marine
Latin
"from the sea"
Marine was trending for a long time in France, but the far right politician Marine (born Marion) LePen has dampened the mood.
Meier
German surname
"landlord, farmer"