Nature, Place and Word Names
New York Neighborhood Names
Across 4 pages
of 4
Melrose
Scottish surname
"bare promontory"
Traditionally a Scottish habitational surname, but today could be viewed as a mashup of Melanie or Melissa and Rose. The '90s soap opera Melrose Place gives it a melodramatic vibe, but the…
Morris
English variation of Maurice
"dark-skinned"
Morris is as quiet and comfortable as a Morris chair, and has the same vintage feel. Once a Top 100 name in the early 1900s, Morris fell completely off the roster in 1995, probably due to lingering…
Morrisania
Place name
New Yorkers will recognize this as a Bronx place name, others will see it as a gussied-up female version of Morris.
Murray
Scottish
"settlement by the sea"
Murray, you may be surprised to discover, is a Scottish surname name --that of an ancient noble clan--with a sea-swept meaning, and just could be in the next wave of reevaluated grandpa names.…
Nolita
Latin
"unwilling"
A saucy Latin name that also defines a trendy New York area north of Little Italy.
Queen
Word name
"queen"
Queen has seen a revival in recent times, reaching its record high in 2018 with 280 births — it has remained steady since then. Previously, Queen saw a peak in the 1920s, but its origins go back even…
Randall
English
"shield-wolf"
Medieval name without much of a future.
Rego
Portuguese
"ditch, channel"
A surname that could become a first, an alternate to the already-taken REGIS.
Richmond
German
"powerful protector"
Richmond is a place-name — it's the capital of Virginia, US, and a town in London, UK — that makes a fresh way to honor an ancestral Richard.
Riker
German
"rich; powerful"
Riker gets relatively little use as a variation of Ryker, likely because of the connection to Riker's Island, the New York City prison. It was named after NYC magistrate Richard Riker, whose ancestor…
Soho
place name
Both Soho and Noho--no-no.
Tremont
French
"over the hill"
A harsh definition to inflict on a baby boy.
Tribeca
American place-name
Tribeca was the term created for New York City's TRIangle BElow CAnal Street. Stangely enough--that aside--it almost does sound like a plausible girls' name , nicknamed Becca.
Tudor
Welsh and Romanian variation of Theodore, Teodor, or Theodoric
"gift from God; ruler of the people"
Known as a British royal family line as well as a style of architecture, this name feels both solemn and formidable, but with an intriguing "dark-academia" feel to it too. Currently in the Top 1000…
Ansonia
Feminization of Anson, English
"son of Agnes"
Sounds too much like the name of a hotel.
Woodrow
English
"row of houses by a wood"
Aside from President Wilson (born Thomas), most Woodrows, including Herman, Guthrie, and Harrelson, have chosen to be known as Woody, which says it all.
Arlington
English habitational surname, place name
"the noble's town"
Similar in sound to Arlo, Remington, and Arthur, this surname style and place name could make a patriotic choice in the US, with its connections to Arlington National Cemetery. Given to 7 girls and…
Arverne
Place name
The name of a Queens, New York neighborhood sounds like a lost-in-limbo girls' name such as LAVERNE.
Astor
Provencal; Icelandic
"hawk; thunder god"
Similar to the floral name Aster, this spelling derives separately from Old Provençal astur "hawk") and from the Icelandic name elements as ("god") and þor ("thunder"). As a surname, it has several…
Astoria
Place name
Long more associated with the New York Waldorf- hotel and the neighborhood in Queens than as a baby name, Astoria is finally beginning to emerge from their shadow and find favor with parents looking…