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American Place Names

  1. Boise

    • Description:

      Boise as a masculine name takes inspiration from the city of Boise, Idaho, which itself derives from the French word "boisé" meaning "wooded." This place name has occasionally been adopted as a personal name, particularly in the United States where geographic names often inspire parents. As a first name, Boise carries a strong connection to the American West and evokes natural imagery of forests and mountain landscapes. The name has a short, clear pronunciation (BOY-see) and a distinctive sound that sets it apart from more common names. Extremely rare as a given name, Boise might appeal to parents with a connection to the Idaho capital city or those seeking an uncommon name with an outdoorsy, place-based association and simple spelling.

  2. Atlanta

    • Origin:

      Place name

    • Meaning:

      "Atlantic Ocean"

    • Description:

      The capital of Georgia is far from the ocean, but got its name from the Western and Atlantic Railroad which ran through the city. Best known as a hub of industry and transport, and for its roles in the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement, it has never been popular as a baby name despite sounding like one. Its peak popularity was in 1995, the year before Atlanta hosted the Olympic Games.

  3. Albany

    • Origin:

      Scottish place name

    • Description:

      Not yet on the place-name map, this name has Shakespearean ties via the Duke Of Albany character in King Lear.
  4. Aberdeen

    • Origin:

      Scottish place-name

    • Description:

      Amiable, undiscovered geographic option.
  5. Maui

    • Origin:

      Hawaiian, Polynesian mythology

    • Description:

      The name of the second-biggest (and third-most populous) island in Hawaii was one of the fastest-rising boys' names of 2017. A major factor was surely Dwayne Johnson's character in Moana, the Polynesian demigod named Maui, a mythological trickster who slowed the sun to create the days. (It fell back to normal levels in the following years.)
  6. Sedona

    • Origin:

      Place-name

    • Meaning:

      "quince plant; like Sidon"

    • Description:

      Sedona is an Arizona city name renowned for its beauty and tranquillity and easily could translate into an agreeable baby name, along the lines of Siena, Sierra, Astoria, and Sidony.
  7. Mojave

    • Origin:

      Native American tribal and place-name

    • Description:

      Resonant place-name of the beautiful Southern California desert.
  8. Dayton

    • Origin:

      English, variation of Deighton

    • Meaning:

      "place with a dike"

    • Description:

      If Dayton, like Trenton and Camden, is finding favor with parents, it's more because of its popular two-syllable surname feel and -on ending than the industrial city in Ohio.
  9. Alameda

    • Origin:

      Spanish

    • Meaning:

      "cottonwood grove"

    • Description:

      Common California place-name that could work for a girl.
  10. Vermont

    • Origin:

      French

    • Meaning:

      "green mountain"

    • Description:

      Place-name waiting to be discovered.
  11. Shenandoah

    • Origin:

      Native American place-name

    • Description:

      While some sources assign the place-name the romantic meaning "beautiful daughter of the stars," the Virginia region itself says the name is of uncertain Native American origin with many possible but no definitive meaning. No matter: Shenandoah is a lovely name that's rare but usable.
  12. Cleveland

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "hilly land, from the cliff"

    • Description:

      A presidential and place-name that's not a stand-out in either category.
  13. Alabama

    • Origin:

      Place-name; Choctaw

    • Meaning:

      "vegetation gatherers"

    • Description:

      Alabama is a hot southern place-name, picking up from Georgia and Savannah. This is not a geographical name come lately, though--there have been girls named Alabama dating back well over a century.
  14. Tulsa

    • Origin:

      Creek

    • Meaning:

      "old town"

    • Description:

      Unlike many other western city names, Tulsa has not proved attractive to parents. The name derives from Tallasi, meaning "old town" in the Creek language.
  15. Chicago

    • Origin:

      American place name, Algonquin

    • Meaning:

      "wild garlic"

    • Description:

      Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have done it again for their third child: Chosen a name that feels iconic yet strangely inevitable. They named North and Saint's younger sister Chicago, after Kanye's hometown. The name Chicago derives from a Native American word for "wild garlic," which once grew plentifully in the Illinois city, the third most populous in the US.
  16. Venice

    • Origin:

      Italian place-name

    • Description:

      This name of one of the most romantic cities in the world could easily find its way onto an American baby girl's birth certificate.
  17. Florida

    • Origin:

      Place name and Spanish from Latin

    • Meaning:

      "flowery"

    • Description:

      Lacks the cachet of some newer place-names.
  18. Laramie

    • Origin:

      Wyoming place-name, French

    • Meaning:

      "canopy of leafy boughs"

    • Description:

      Swaggering western place-name with a lot of cowboy bravado and panache.
  19. Berkeley

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "where birches grow"

    • Description:

      Despite the strong association with the University of California, Berkeley, the more common version of this name omits the second E, Berkley.
  20. Arizona

    • Origin:

      Place-name from Papago Indian

    • Meaning:

      "little springs"

    • Description:

      We usually think of place-names as a modern invention, but in fact Arizona ranked on the US Top 1000 from its inception in 1880 until 1911, when it vanished below the surface. It peaked at Number 510 in 1882, before Arizona became a state. One notorious vintage bearer: criminal "Ma" Barker, born Arizona Clark.