​
​
Advanced Search

Unique Place Names for Babies

Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Tue Jan 30 2024
Unique Place Names for Babies

Unique place names are a hot category right now, following up on more popular place names for babies such as Savannah, Brooklyn, and Austin, all making the Top 100. But if you look a bit further down the map, you’ll find plenty of unique place names being used as baby names.

Certain unique place names — including Chicago, Essex, and Morocco — have been familiarized by their use on celebrity babies but haven’t caught on with the general public. You may be interested in a unique place name that bears resemblance to a currently fashionable name, such as Bolivia, Cyprus, Juneau, and Zennor.

Or you could choose a place name for your baby that is virtually unused, including Amalfi, Genoa, Kauai, and Ravello. These unique place names were given to 25 or fewer babies last year, meaning your child is practically guaranteed to be the only Quebec or Louisiana in his or her Kindergarten class.

Consult our complete collection of rare and uncommon place names for babies below, ranked according to their current popularity on Nameberry.

RELATED:

Unique Names

Place Names

Unique Name Generator

  1. Deia

    • Origin:

      Place name; Latin

    • Meaning:

      "joy; goddess"

    • Description:

      Sam Branson (son of businessman Sir Richard Branson) and his wife put this pretty place name on the baby name map when they called their daughter Eva-Deia in 2015. Their inspiration was the beautiful bohemian village of Deià in Mallorca, where the Branson family has a luxury residence.
  2. Fraser

    • Origin:

      Scottish from French

    • Meaning:

      "strawberry"

    • Description:

      Though TV's "Frasier" made the name famous, and Frazier is a well-used variation, Fraser is the original, used mostly in Scotland.
  3. Kenai

    • Origin:

      Native American place name

    • Meaning:

      "flat lands"

    • Description:

      The name of the protagonist of Disney’s Brother Bear also has a geographical connection: the Kenai Peninsula and Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.
  4. Delphi

    • Origin:

      Greek place name

    • Meaning:

      "of Delphi; womb"

    • Description:

      An interesting unisex possibility, with an air of mystery connected to the Delphic Oracle, the most important oracle in ancient Greece; it was also a major site for the worship of the god Apollo.
  5. Illyria

    • Origin:

      Greek place-name and feminine variation of Illyrius

    • Description:

      Illyria can trace all its varied associations to the name of an ancient place in the western part of the Balkan peninsula, also called Illyricum. Its inhabitants, conquered by the Romans in 168 BC, were called the Illyrians. Its mythological ancestor was Illyrius, a demigod and son of King Cadmus and the goddess Harmonia.
  6. Milos

    • Origin:

      Slavic

    • Meaning:

      "gracious, dear, beloved"

    • Description:

      Milos, typically spelled Miloš, derives from various names including the Slavic element, milŭ , such as Miloslav, Bogomil, or Milrad. Popular in the Czech Republic, the name is also used in Serbia, Croatia, and Slovakia
  7. Elvet

    • Origin:

      Old English, place name

    • Meaning:

      "swan stream, swan river, swan island"

    • Description:

      This Old English name feels as if it could have stepped out of a fantasy novel, but it may be just similar enough to Everett and Elliot that it could work in the real world. Derived from the elements elfitu meaning "swan" and either ēa meaning "stream, river" or ēg meaning "island", it is a nature related option name, given to an area in the city of Durham in England.
  8. Salish

    • Origin:

      Place name, English form of Séliš, Salishan

    • Meaning:

      "Salish people"

    • Description:

      The Salishan are ingenious people from the Pacific North West, made up of four major groups who speak one of 23 Salishan languages. The name "Salish" is an anglicization of Séliš, the local name of the Salish Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. They are known for their weaving and work with red cedar wood.
  9. Pomona

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "apple"

    • Description:

      This name of the Roman goddess of fruit trees is also associated with a suburban town in Southern California.
  10. Kodiak

    • Origin:

      Alutiiq, Native American

    • Meaning:

      "island"

    • Description:

      It's a bear, it's an island, it's (almost) a camera. It's starting to catch some parents' eyes as a wild, adventurous name. The largest proportion of boys named Kodiak is in Washington State.
  11. Verona

    • Origin:

      Italian place-name

    • Description:

      Verona is a scenic place-name with the added attraction of a Shakespearean connection, as in Two Gentlemen of....
  12. Louisiana

    • Origin:

      French place-name

    • Description:

      Louisiana is a geographic spin on the Louise theme. Pretty, if a bit of a syllable overload. Short form Lou or Lulu lightens it.
  13. Scotia

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "Scotland"

    • Description:

      Place names can be a nod to your cultural heritage or a commemoration of a favorite destination. Scotia comes from the Latin name for Scotland, which may be a perfect fit for a family of Scottish heritage if Scotland feels too on-the-nose. Caledonia is another possibility, used by the Romans for the land north of Hadrian's Wall in England, which marked the upper boundary of the Roman Empire. And Nova Scotia (meaning "new Scotland") is also the name of a Canadian province.
  14. Gaya

    • Origin:

      Hindu, Hebrew, Greek

    • Description:

      A multi-cultural name that feels on trend with sister names Maya and Kaya, if you overlook that first syllable. Gaya is both a city in India and an island in Malaysia.
  15. Ireland

    • Origin:

      Place name

    • Description:

      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 heritage choice becoming more gender-balanced.
  16. Zennor

    • Origin:

      Cornish place and saint's name

    • Description:

      This Cornish place name is possibly named after a female saint, Senara. However, it can work just as well on a boy and would make a very interesting choice for those of Cornish descent or who love Cornwall.
  17. Cyprus

    • Origin:

      Latin from Greek

    • Meaning:

      "cypress tree; copper"

    • Description:

      This Mediterranean island name would be a plausible choice for parents with a Greek or Turkish heritage.
  18. Andorra

    • Origin:

      European place-name

    • Description:

      Andorra is the pretty name of a pocket-sized princedom in the Pyrenees, noted for its skiing.
  19. Seville

    • Origin:

      Spanish from Phoenician

    • Meaning:

      "plain, valley"

    • Description:

      A rare and evocative place name for a girl. Seville is the capital of Andalusia, an autonomous community in Spain. The Spanish name, Sevilla, derived from the Phoenician word sefela, meaning "plain" or "valley."
  20. Zuma

    • Origin:

      American place-name and Arabic

    • Meaning:

      "peace"

    • Description:

      Zuma was entered in the American name lexicon when musicians Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale chose it for their son. Californians will recognize Zuma as the name of a beautiful beach in Malibu, and it's also the surname of a South African president. With the lovely meaning of peace and its place-name associations, Zuma is one of those American names that literally sprang from the earth.