American Place Names

Beautiful downtown Burbank -- about as glamorous a place-name as Akron...or Detroit.

The Maricopa people are a Native American tribe who have lived on the banks of the Gila River for centuries. The tribe calls themselves Piipaash or Piipaa (meaning "people") — the term Maricopa is borrowed from Spanish.

More unusual than Dakota or Austin, Colorado conjures images of majestic mountains and windswept wilderness. Some will prefer the more preppy Aspen, but Colorado feels like the true explorer.

Missouri, the name of a tribe, a state and a river, derives from the Illinois word mihsoori meaning "dugout canoe". It became a somewhat popular American girls' name in the mid-19th century.

The name of the capital city of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, which is thought to come from a Kansa word meaning "good place to grow potatoes".

Maryland appeared on the charts as a male name before a female one, but these days it's all girl.

An actual Hawaiian first name would convey the aura of the islands more originally and effectively.

An unlikely place name today, but one that was found among enslaved people in the 1800s.

Athens the city takes its name from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and courage. If you prefer place names to mythological names and like gender neutral names better than those that are gender distinct, Athens may be a good alternative to Athena.

American place and tribe name, derived via French from the Dakota word ayúxba "sleepy ones".

One of the unisex western names that rode in with Dakota and Montana.

This name of the North Dakota city has been used for at least one female (we know, because she wrote to us) but it doesn't meet the Social Security's five-baby threshold to ever make it onto the official records for either sex. But it certainly can work as a first name as well as or even better than many place-names. After all, it rhymes with Margo!