Unique Place Names for Babies
Updated Wed May 21 2025
Share
Copy link
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.
RELATED:
- Deia
Origin:
Place name; LatinMeaning:
"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.
- Fraser
Origin:
Scottish from FrenchMeaning:
"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.
- Delphi
Origin:
Greek place nameMeaning:
"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.
- Salish
Origin:
Place name, English form of Séliš, SalishanMeaning:
"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.
- Zuma
Origin:
American place-name and ArabicMeaning:
"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.
- Verona
Origin:
Italian place-nameDescription:
Verona is a scenic place-name with the added attraction of a Shakespearean connection, as in Two Gentlemen of....
- Illyria
Origin:
Greek place-name and feminine variation of IllyriusDescription:
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.
- Milos
Origin:
SlavicMeaning:
"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
- Mojave
Origin:
Native American tribal and place-nameDescription:
Resonant place-name of the beautiful Southern California desert.
- Shenandoah
Origin:
Native American place-nameDescription:
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.
- Temple
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"dweller near the temple"Description:
The old word name Temple has gained some recent notice as a girls' name via admired autistic writer and inventor Dr. Temple Grandin (born Mary Temple), subject of an acclaimed biopic, in which she was played by Claire Danes.
- Sosa
Origin:
Spanish, PortugueseMeaning:
"salty water; rocky, pebbly"Description:
Sweet, spirited, and unexpected as a given name, reality TV star Lala Kent brought Sosa into the spotlight when she chose it for her daughter in 2024. A Spanish name deriving from the Portuguese surname Sousa, Sosa is a unique choice that still fits in with the likes of Luna, Rosa, Nova, and Luz.
- Inca
Origin:
German, Finnish, Serbian, Spanish, AzerbaijaniMeaning:
"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.
- Fife
Origin:
Scottish place name, German, FrenchMeaning:
"path; small shrill flute"Description:
Also spelled Fyfe, this zippy sounding name would make a great middle name choice for music lovers or those with Scottish roots. The name has a double meaning: it is both a Scottish place name, likely derived from fiamh meaning "path", and also the name of an instrument, which takes its name from the German Pfeife and the French fifre meaning "pipe".
- Alabama
Origin:
Place-name; ChoctawMeaning:
"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.
- Morocco
Origin:
African place-nameDescription:
Morocco is an attractive and rhythmic name, evocative of such fabled cities as Casablanca, Tangier and Marrakesh, in a country whose unique landscape and rich culture attracted such twentieth century writers as Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles and William Burroughs.
- Bali
Origin:
Place-name and SanskritMeaning:
"strength"Description:
Evokes picture-postcard image of colorful Indonesia. Bali Barret is a Paris fashion insider who oversees women's style for Hermes. Bali rhymes with tally or galley.
- Olivet
Origin:
Place nameDescription:
Mount Olivet is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in the Gospels, took place on the Mount of Olives, and in the Acts of the Apostles it is described as the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven. This name makes a fresh alternative to Olivia and is worthy of consideration.
- Chicago
Origin:
American place name, AlgonquinMeaning:
"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.
- Sonoma
Origin:
Place-nameDescription:
Sonoma, the name of a beautiful northern California wine-growing region, might inspire some parents. Other California place names beyond Sonoma: Marin, Berkeley, Sierra.