City Names - England and Wales

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,…

Kingston

English

"king's town"

Chosen for their first son by musical couple Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, this Jamaican place and elegant British surname also boasts the more regal yet user-friendly short form, King. Kingston…

Preston

English

"priest's estate"

Britney Spears put this old-fashioned surname name back on the map when she chose it as her son Sean's middle name, which the family uses as his first. One of the most popular names of its genre,…

Bradford

English

"wide river crossing"

Brad in a Brooks Brothers suit.

Brecon

Brecon is a masculine name with Welsh geographic origins, taken from the market town and mountain range (Brecon Beacons) in southern Wales. The name evokes the rugged, natural beauty of the Welsh…

Carlisle

English

"from the walled city"

This stuffy English surname and hotel name took on Twilight cool when attached to vampire Carlisle Cullen. Inspired by the character, it's more popular in this spelling than as Carlyle and more…

Chester

Latin

"fortress, walled town,"

Chester is a comfortable, little-used teddy-bear of a name that suddenly sounds both quirky and cuddly. Chester was a Top 100 name in the US from the 1880s to 1929, gradually fading till it finally…

Derby

English

"park with deer"

It's a hat, it's a race, and it's even been known to be a name. In Britain, it would be pronounced darby.

Durham

English

"hill peninsula"

Gentle and southern-inflected, redolent of the North Carolina landscape.

Lancaster

English place-name

British place-name unlikely to evoke much passion in any baby namer.

Leicester

English place name

"military camp by the river Ligore"

Taken from the name of an English city, Leicester has an aristocratic look about it, though its shorter and simpler than it looks at first glance. Said just as the same as Lester, the more stripped…

Newport

English place-name

"new port"

For sailors or jazz lovers. Or smokers of menthol cigarettes.

Oxford

English place-name

"from the oxen crossing"

High-collared and straightlaced, with the deadly "Ox" nickname.

Reading

English

"son of the red-haired"

Inventive way to honor a redheaded ancestor, though most people would mispronounce it reeding, making it sound to some kids like a school assignment: Redding is a preferable spelling.

Sheffield

English

"from the crooked field"

One place-name that doesn't make the cut as a person name, associated with several commercial enterprises. We've seen it used by Chicago Cubs fans — Sheffield is the name of a major street bordering…

York

English

"from the yew estate"

Brisk, preppy York is an underused classic with the potential to really shine in the 21st century. It's most familiar as a place name — York is a city in England — and surname. New York City and…