US City Names

Jackson

English

"son of Jack"

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,…

Lincoln

English

"town by the pool"

Lincoln cracked the Top 50 for boys' names for the first time in 2016, more than 150 years after the death of its most famous bearer. This is especially remarkable because, as crazy as it seems now,…

Everett

English variation of the German Eberhard

"brave as a wild boar"

Everett is a preppy but outdoorsy name, with wintery New England vibes. In the last decade, it’s had a leap in popularity, perhaps because of its similarity to trendy girls’ names like Ava and…

Austin

English, shortened form of Augustine, Latin

"great, magnificent"

Austin is one of the most attractive city names for babies , with an appealing southwestern feel and place-name panache. Austin has been an Anglo-Saxon surname and a first name since medieval times.…

Antonio

Spanish and Italian variation of Anthony

"from Antium"

Antonio is a Shakespearean favorite -- the Bard used it in no less than five of his plays, and has long been a ubiquitous classic in Spanish-speaking countries, where the nickname Tonio is also…

Knox

Scottish

"round hill"

Knox is an old Scottish surname that Brad Pitt (whose great-great-grandfather was named Hal Knox Hillhouse) and Angelina Jolie took out of the back cupboard, dusted off, and elevated to coolness--to…

Dallas

Place name, surname and Irish

"meadow dwelling, valley house, skilled"

A laid-back cowboy name which feels both cool and gentle, Dallas has ranked in the US Top 500 since records began in 1880. Never super popular but surprisingly never out of style, Dallas is given to…

Louis

French, German

"renowned warrior"

Kate and William shocked the world when they announced that they'd named their third child Louis, or Prince Louis Arthur Charles, to be more precise. But we've been predicting a comeback for this…

Phoenix

Arizona place-name and Greek

"dark red"

Effortlessly cool with a hint of the mystical, Phoenix rolls a lot of trends into one: it's a place-name and a bird name, it ends in the stylish letter x, it's got in-built nicknames, and it's unisex…

Sterling

English

"of the highest quality"

A name with some sterling qualities, most associated with the British currency and silver markets, though it could easily be seen as a virtue-adjacent choice, like Merit, Chosen, or Hero. It has been…

Boston

Place-name

Unseen in the USA since 1901, Boston rocketed back into the Top 1000 in 2004 and, like other place-names such as Brooklyn, London and Paris, is now a reliable presence on the list.

Montgomery

Norman

"man power"

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…