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Unique Place Names for Babies

Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Wed May 21 2025
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, Salish, Gwenonwy, or Kitts.

Or you could choose a place name for your baby that is virtually unused, including Amalfi, Madrid, Ravello, and Ottowa. 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 Clovelly in their Kindergarten class.

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

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  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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."
  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. 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.
  8. 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....
  9. Dominica

    • Origin:

      Italian, feminine variation of Dominic

    • Meaning:

      "belonging to the Lord"

    • Description:

      Fashionably Continental and much fresher than Dominique, though it's been used since the Middle Ages. Dominica can be spelled any number of ways, from Dominika to Domenica, but we prefer this version.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Amol

    • Origin:

      Indian, Sanskrit, Marathi, Arabic

    • Meaning:

      "priceless, invaluable; unfading, everlasting; hope"

    • Description:

      Amol is a succinct and versatile name used by Indian parents, which can mean "priceless and invaluable" from its Sanskrit origins and "everlasting" in the Marathi language. Some sources additionally connect it the the Arabic name Amal, meaning "hope".
  13. Cuba

    • Origin:

      Place-name

    • Meaning:

      "abundant fertile land; great place"

    • Description:

      Soul singer Cuba Gooding and his actor son of the same name put this unexpected geographical name on the map for boys, but it has a longer history of use than you might expect. Deriving from the island in the Caribbean Sea, it had a brief spell of popularity in the US at the end of the 1890s when Spain lost possession of the island during the Spanish-American War. Used predominantly (though rarely) on girls throughout the last century, it has occasionally be given to a handful of boys too.
  14. Texas

    • Origin:

      Place-name

    • Description:

      After Dallas, Austin, and Houston, the new cowboy on the block. Old-school Western nickname: Tex.
  15. Lucerne

    • Origin:

      Swiss place-name or Latin

    • Meaning:

      "lamp"

    • Description:

      Projects the calm and pristine image of the picturesque Swiss lake and mountain town.
  16. Inca

    • Origin:

      German, Finnish, Serbian, Spanish, Azerbaijani

    • Meaning:

      "ancestor; emperor; slender, thin, soft"

    • Description:

      More familiar as the name of an ancient empire from South America, when used as a given name, Inca can have a variety of different origins. While it is more likely to be spelled as Inka (or İncə) as a first name, Inca has seen usage around the world.
  17. 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.
  18. Brisbane

    • Origin:

      Scottish surname and Australian place name

    • Meaning:

      "break bone"

    • Description:

      Influencer couple Rachel and Jordan Flom put Brisbane on the baby name map when they used it for one of their triplet sons, born in 2024. Australian place names — from Adelaide to Sydney to Victoria — have long been favorites among parents, but Brisbane has a more modern, gender-neutral appeal.
  19. Persia

    • Origin:

      Country name

    • Meaning:

      "land of the Parsa"

    • Description:

      The name Persia derives from Avestan Parsa, the name of the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated into southern Iran in about 1000 BCE. Persis or Persea, the feminine form of Perseus, feel more namelike.
  20. 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.