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City Names for Babies

Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Sat Dec 16 2023
City Names for Babies

City names are a special breed among place names used for babies: hip, sophisticated, street smart. Of course, city-bred kids can be named anything at all, but we collected these downtown-related names to provide inspiration for urban parents in search of names with a city theme.

Along with Madison and Brooklyn, other city names in the Top 1000 include Savannah, Vienna, Denver, Paris, Santiago, London, Kingston, and Trenton. One-of-a-kind city names connected to international locales include Genoa, Kyoto, Quebec, and Tangier.

Many city names — Orlando, Charlotte, Adelaide — started out as person names, so it all gets a bit meta. But the connection is what makes the names of towns and neighborhoods work so well for babies.

Here, city names that have become baby names, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

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Unique Names

Gender Neutral Names

  1. Charlotte

    • Origin:

      French, feminine diminutive of Charles

    • Meaning:

      "free man"

    • Description:

      Charlotte, the name of the young Princess of Cambridge, is the latest classic name to join Sophia, Emma, Olivia, and Isabella at the top of the popularity list. It is now among the most popular girl names in many English-speaking and European countries.
  2. Palma

    • Origin:

      Latin place-name, Spanish, Italian, Croatian

    • Meaning:

      "palm"

    • Description:

      Palma is an appealing Latin name that's both geographical -- it's the romantic city on the Spanish island of Majorca -- and botanical, relating to the palm frond. Sometimes given to girls born on Palm Sunday, it appeared in the US Top 1000 in the early 20th century. Its elaborated form is Palmina.
  3. Adelaide

    • Origin:

      Variant of Adelheidis, German

    • Meaning:

      "noble, nobility"

    • Description:

      Adelaide is now heading straight uphill on the coattails of such newly popular sisters as Ava, Ada, and Audrey, and in the company of Adeline and Amelia. It was chosen by actress Katherine Heigl for the name of her second daughter.
  4. Florence

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "flourishing, prosperous"

    • Description:

      Florence is back, returning to the US Top 1000 girl names in 2017 after a nearly 40 year absence. Other English-speaking countries have been quicker to welcome Florence back into fashion.
  5. Austin

    • Origin:

      English, shortened form of Augustine, Latin

    • Meaning:

      "great, magnificent"

    • Description:

      Austin is one of the most attractive city names for babies, with an appealing southwestern feel and place-name panache.
  6. Jackson

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "son of Jack"

    • Description:

      Jackson is one of those names that's much more popular than you think, coming in near the top of our annual Playground Analysis, which ranks names by grouping all their spellings together. Last year, nearly 17,000 baby boys were named Jackson -- along Jaxon, Jaxson, Jaxxon, Jaxen, Jaxyn, Jaxsen, and Jaxsyn -- which counted together makes it the Number 3 boys' name.
  7. Sofia

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "wisdom"

    • Description:

      Sofia is a variation of the Greek name Sophia, which was derived directly from sophia, the Greek word for wisdom. It was the name of a Roman saint—the mother of Faith, Hope, and Charity—and queens of Russia and Spain.
  8. Camden

    • Origin:

      American and British place-name, Scottish

    • Meaning:

      "winding valley"

    • Description:

      Camden is a surprise hit, probably as a result of some star baby cred: it has been chosen by no less than four celebrity parents since 2012. Gentle but not flimsy, Camden could be an updated spin on Cameron, Callum, or Caden.
  9. Odessa

    • Origin:

      Ukrainian place-name

    • Description:

      Odessa, a Ukrainian port city, was given its name by Catherine the Great, who was inspired by Homer's Odyssey. It would make an original and intriguing choice.
  10. Savannah

    • Origin:

      Spanish

    • Meaning:

      "flat tropical grassland"

    • Description:

      A place name with a deep Southern accent, the once-obscure Savannah shot to fame, with others of its genre, on the heels of the best seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was set in the mossy Georgia city of Savannah. Originally a substitute for the overused Samantha, Savannah is now popular itself, long among the top girls' names starting with S.
  11. Santiago

    • Origin:

      Place-name or Latin

    • Meaning:

      "Saint James"

    • Description:

      Santiago is a spirited Spanish name with great crossover potential. It's a place-name (a city in Chile), a surname, and the name of the patron saint of Spain.
  12. Vienna

    • Origin:

      Place-name: the capital of Austria

    • Meaning:

      "forest stream; white foundation"

    • Description:

      Vienna is one of the more popular of the European place-names, with a particularly pleasant sound, evoking elegant images of the Blue Danube, of castles and cafes, sweets and sausages and Strauss waltzes—and Sigmund Freud. It could be a possible substitute for the popular Sienna, although Vienna has been climbing the charts herself. Vienna was one of the fastest rising girl names in 2023.
  13. Rome

    • Origin:

      Place name, Latin, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "to hurry or flow; strength"

    • Description:

      Given that Rome is arguably the most important city in European history, it has been used as a first name remarkably little. However, with Roman in the Top 100 and one-syllable choices in vogue, it was only a matter of time before parents started looking toward the city's name as a potential baby name.
  14. Sydney

    • Origin:

      French

    • Meaning:

      "Saint Denis"

    • Description:

      Sydney was a hot girls' name in the 1990s, but she's arguably still cool. One of the original old man names adopted for baby girls, Sydney's popularity may be down but she's not out.
  15. Rio

    • Origin:

      Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese

    • Meaning:

      "river or place of the cherry blossoms"

    • Description:

      Rio is a reductive ranchero place-name with an attractive Tex-Mex lilt. No Doubt's Tom Dumont has a son named Rio Atticus.
  16. Aspen

    • Origin:

      Nature and place-name

    • Meaning:

      "a poplar tree that quakes in the breeze"

    • Description:

      Aspen is part of two groups of stylish and unique baby names: nature names and place-names. The name of a graceful tree in the poplar family with heart-shaped leaves so delicate they quiver in the gentlest breeze, Aspen is also the name of a trendy Colorado ski resort. Aspen started as a unisex name possibility but now is much more frequently worn by girls.
  17. Grey

    • Origin:

      Color name

    • Description:

      The girls have Violet and Scarlet and Ruby and Rose, but for the boys there's a much more limited palette of color names. Grey/Gray is one exception, which could make for a soft and evocative—if slightly somber—choice, especially in the middle. Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney named their son Leo Grey.
  18. Samara

    • Origin:

      Hebrew, Arabic

    • Meaning:

      "under God's rule, companion in night conversation"

    • Description:

      Alluring and lovely — and much more distinctive now than Samantha or Tamara. Samara is a city in western Russia, a winged seed like the whirlygigs that fall from maple trees, as well as a bona fide first name that could make a more unusual update on Samantha or Mara. It can also be a variant spelling of the Arabic name Samira or Sameera.
  19. Montgomery

    • Origin:

      Norman

    • Meaning:

      "man power"

    • Description:

      This image of this distinguished Anglo-Scottish surname, drawn from the French place name of the ancient castle of Saint Foi de Montgomery, is rapidly shifting from fusty and formal to cool. And dashing short form Monty (or Monte) nudges it to cute.
  20. Phoenix

    • Origin:

      Arizona place name and Greek

    • Meaning:

      "dark red"

    • Description:

      Phoenix is a New Age name symbolizing rebirth and immortality. It's also a place name, a color name, a mythological name, AND an animal name, combining several of today's hottest trends in one appealing package.