Location Baby Names

Sahara

Arabic

"deserts"

A beautiful and evocative place-name that deserves wider use, Sahara brings to mind deserts and heat. Derived from Arabic, it is the name of the world's largest hot desert, located across the North…

Bolivia

Spanish place name

"land of Bolivar; land of the windmill valley"

If you're tired of Olivia, you could be the first on your block to introduce this unique sound-related place name with Latin flair. The country of Bolivia was named after the revolutionary Simón…

Egypt

Place name, English from Egyptian

"the house of the soul of Ptah"

Place names like Memphis, Harlem, Cairo, Vienna, Milan, and Astoria are right on trend at the moment, and Egypt could fit in, thanks to its similarity in sound to the likes of Edith and Eden. Alicia…

Geneva

Swiss place-name or French

"juniper tree"

Unlike its somewhat formal Swiss city namesake, this is a lively and appealing place-name that also has a real history as a female name. Geneva was a relatively popular American name at one time: it…

Havana

Taíno place-name

Politics aside, the Cuban capital is one of the most rhythmic of place-names. The question is: can politics be put aside?

India

Place name, from the River Indus

Euphonious and long stylish in England, India was one of the fastest-rising names on the 2013 list, after jumping 240 spots back into the Top 1000. Gorgeous as it may be, the usage of India as a name…

Asia

Place name

This still attractive place name was one of the first to gain popularity, though it now probably owes some of its favor to the similar Aisha. Asia ranked as high as Number 195 on the US baby names…

Kenya

Place name, Kikuyu

"mountain of white"

Kenya, a name borrowed from the East African nation and theoretically unisex, is now used mostly for girls. While it's had its ups and downs since entering the US Top 1000 in 1968, it currently ranks…

Lourdes

Spanish, Portuguese, from French, meaning unknown

This name of the French town where a young peasant girl had a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1858 vaulted into the spotlight when Madonna chose it for her daughter, but few other families except for…

Nevada

Spanish place-name

"covered in snow"

Named for its snowcapped mountains, Nevada is a state name which, unlike Carolina, Montana, and Dakota, has been relatively undiscovered. Warning: today's unvisited place-name could become tomorrow's…

Persia

Country name

"land of the Parsa"

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…

Rio

Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese

"river or place of the cherry blossoms"

Rio is one of Japan's most popular girls' names, constantly sitting in that country's Top 10. Of course, Rio may also stem from the Portuguese and Spanish word for river, and the Brazilian city Rio…

Sicily

Place-name

Sicily is a lilting Italian place-name that sounds like the elegant British Cicely -- which you might consider a plus or a minus.

Valencia

Spanish

"brave, strong"

This lovely orange-scented Spanish place-name would make an inventive namesake for an Aunt Valerie. Last on the popularity list in 1994, Valencia reached a high of Number 633 in 1969-70. The…

Verona

Italian place-name

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