Nature, Place and Word Names · Unisex Baby Names
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 37 pages
of 37
Hebrew
"abundance, fruitfulness"
Ephratah appears in the bible as both the name of a woman--she was the second wife of Caleb and grandmother of one of the spies sent by Moses to Canaan to gather information about the Promised…
Place name; modern literary name
An ethereal name with elements of Irene and Miriam, Irian is a woman/dragon character in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea novels, and a historic name for the island of New Guinea, now with colonial…
Italian place name, Catalan
"wild olive tree"
Most frequently seen as a surname of those with Italian or Spanish heritage. The Italian variation is a habitational surname denoting ancestors from the town of Revello, while the Catalan (sometimes…
Place name
This country name has come into steady use for girls in recent decades, and it's occasionally given to boys too. With interest in other -land names like Leland and Roland, we can see this patriotic…
Dakota
"sleepy ones"
American place and tribe name, derived via French from the Dakota word ayúxba "sleepy ones". It does have a cool sound, reminiscent of Ira or Owain, but has only ever made the US charts for girls,…
American place and tribe name, derived via French from the Dakota word ayúxba "sleepy ones".
Place-name
Named after the mythological Io, the Greek island of Ios is located in the Aegean Sea.
English
"stone camp or fortress"
Rochester was Jack Benny's famous valet and sidekick, played by early African-American comic Eddie Anderson.
From the name of the river which flows through Pakistan, India, and Tibet.
"Romani"
Romany is a melodious name referring to the Roma or Romani community and their culture, which makes it a potentially controversial choice for a baby not of that heritage. Romany Malco is an actor who…
Spanish
"Indian"
This name of a California desert town, used by Deborah Falconer and Robert Downey, Jr. for their son, makes a much livelier and more individual – not to mention more masculine – improvisation on the…
Nigerian place name
The rural Imo State in southeast Nigeria is named after the Imo River, which runs through it. An obscure but intriguing possibility as a first name.
Russian place name
Consider ODESSA instead.
Biblical place-name
Idalah is a town in Zebulon that makes a distinctive first name for a modern girl. Where the boys get most of the ancient yet unusual Biblical names, Idalah is one for the girls' side.
Iberia, the name of the Spanish-Portuguese peninsula, makes an attractive, unusual first name.
Evocative of the beautiful South Pacific islands, Samoa has very occasionally been used as a given name in American Samoa, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil. Also used as a surname, Samoa could…
Place-name that suggests the highest heights and carries a hippyish aura.
"Santa Isybella"
An island off the coast of Florida makes an intriguing name choice. Sanibel was originally named Santa Isybella, after Queen Isabella of Castille, and was later shortened to San Ybel and eventually…
Finnish place-name
Though lots of obscure place-names are now on the map, it's hard to imagine this one inspiring anyone.
