City Names - Oceania

A list of names that are also the names of city, town, and/or village names in Oceania.
  1. Adelaide
    • Origin:

      Variant of Adelheidis, German
    • Meaning:

      "noble, nobility"
    • Description:

      Adelaide is now heading straight uphill on the coattails of such newly popular sisters as Ava, Ada, and Audrey, and in the company of Adeline and Amelia. It was chosen by actress Katherine Heigl for the name of her second daughter.
  2. Buna
    • Daru
      • Darwin
        • Origin:

          English
        • Meaning:

          "dear friend"
        • Description:

          Enough parents have found naturalist Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, a worthy hero to keep Darwin relatively consistently in the Top 1000 (it dropped off in 2021 but is back in 2022)—though some might just like its trendy two-syllable sound. It has a lovely meaning too—"dear friend."
      • Hamilton
        • Origin:

          English and Scottish
        • Meaning:

          "treeless hill"
        • Description:

          Unless it runs in your family, or Alexander Hamilton is your particular hero, you might consider something less imposing -- and without the teasable nickname Ham.
      • Jakarta
        • Origin:

          Place name
        • Description:

          Jakarta, the name of the capital and largest city of Indonesia, is located on the island of Java. Both Jakarta and Java could make interesting and unusual choices for a girl.
      • Levin
        • Origin:

          German
        • Meaning:

          "dear friend"
        • Description:

          Levin, known in the U.S. mostly as a surname, is a Top 100 boys' name in Germany. There have been saints with variations of this name, whose meaning relates to love.
      • Melbourne
        • Origin:

          English, place name
        • Meaning:

          "mill stream"
        • Description:

          Best associated with the Australian city, Melbourne is occasionally used as a given name. The city itself was named after the British Prime Minister, William Lamb, the 2nd Viscount Melbourne - Melbourne also being a market town in Derbyshire.
      • Mendi
        • Napier
          • Origin:

            Scottish occupational name
          • Meaning:

            "producer or seller of table linens"
          • Description:

            The surname of the influential early Scottish inventor of logarithms could make an inspiring middle name choice for a mathematically inclined family.
        • Nelson
          • Origin:

            English
          • Meaning:

            "son of Neil"
          • Description:

            Nelson is a rather stiff and dated surname name that is sometimes used to honor distinguished South African activist Nelson Mandela, as Celine Dion did for one of her twin boys. Other notable associations are with the British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, novelist Nelson Algren and movie operetta star Nelson Eddy. It was also the given name of "Rabbit" Angstrom, protagonist of John Updike's series of novels.
        • Perth
          • Origin:

            Scottish
          • Meaning:

            "thornbush thicket"
          • Description:

            There's a Perth in Scotland and a bigger one in Australia; this name could make a statement similar to Heath.
        • Sydney
          • Origin:

            French
          • Meaning:

            "Saint Denis"
          • Description:

            Sydney was a hot girls' name in the 1990s, but she's arguably still cool. One of the original old man names adopted for baby girls, Sydney's popularity may be down but she's not out.
        • Tari
          • Description:

            Nouveau name that's cute but slight, ala older sisters Tori and Teri.
        • Wanaka
          • Origin:

            Maori placename
          • Meaning:

            "place of knowledge"
          • Description:

            This beautiful lakeside town in southern New Zealand would make an unusual but wearable choice for a daughter. It benefits from having a great meaning, too.
        • Wellington
          • Origin:

            English surname from place name
          • Meaning:

            "people living in the hamlet in the cleared area near the temple"
          • Description:

            Wellington is a tony-sounding English surname turned baby name by pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who calls her son Wells for short. It's also the middle name of one of the Sweet Home sextuplets, Blu Wellington.
        • Yona
          • Origin:

            Cherokee or variation of Jonah, Hebrew
          • Meaning:

            "bear; dove"
          • Description:

            A name with a double animal connection via two distinct origins, one Native American and the other Hebrew and Biblical. Yona is rare in the US but not unknown: It was given to a dozen baby girls in 2021.