Alternatives to Brooklyn

Brooke variation – or is the other way around? – that makes it more a nature name, less an eighties-style androgynous name.

Brooke has long projected an aura of sleek sophistication, and can also be seen as a stylish water name.

This extra-N variation is hot on the tails of mega popular Brooklyn and takes it a bit further from the New York borough.

A fresh and gender-neutral take on Gen Z favorite Brooke, Brooks is a stylish and sleek choice. Currently in the US Top 100 for boys, Brooks is also given to 70 girls each year. A small number at the moment, but, with Harper, Avery, Emerson and Marlowe trending upwards, that number could increase in coming years.

Bryn is an up-and-coming gentle, yet substantial, Welsh name that would also be effective in the middle spot. In Wales it's a traditional boys' name, but it's far more popular for girls now in the US.

Brynn outshines the original Welsh Bryn in the popularity stakes. This simple, brisk name might be seen as a combination of Bree and Lynn, an androgynous-sounding choice that especially in this spelling is not truly unisex: Brynn, for boys, is not even in the Top 1000.

Charleston is one of those baby names that may become more popular thanks to its nickname Charlie, now used about equally for boys and girls. If you want to call your daughter Charlie but believe she needs a more formal name, you might try Charleston instead of Charlotte. And Charleston is a lovely city in South Carolina.

Chelsea is still being used, but it was much more popular a few decades ago--it peaked at Number 15 in 1992. Chelsea first entered the American consciousness in a major way via the character Jane Fonda played in On Golden Pond in 1981 and later of course was frequently in the headlines when Chelsea Clinton (whose name was inspired by the lyric of a the Joni-Mitchell-Judy Collins song "Chelsea Morning") became First Daughter.

Boys' favorite retains more of its poetic, windswept quality when used for a girl, as Robin Wright and Sean Penn did. Alyssa Milano gave her daughter Elizabella Dylan as a middle name.

Ellington's popularity may be inspired by jazz great Duke, but the name is used slightly more often for girls today, perhaps because of its trendy El- beginning. Like a host of other El- names, from the familiar Ella to Eleanor to the more niche Elodie and Elula, Ellington carries the popular Ellie nickname.

Fallon is one of several boyish surname names introduced in the over-the-top 1980s nighttime soap Dynasty: they sounded cutting-edge at the time, but no longer.

When Frankie meets Brooklyn, what happens? You get Franklin, a Presidential name used almost exclusively for boys up until now. But parents who want an out-of-the-box long form for popular nickname Frankie might consider this.

This name is a combination of the traditional Grace and popular suffix -lyn. Both Gracelyn and spelling variation Gracelynn work as alternatives to the highly popular Brooklyn.

With Brooklyn, Trenton, and Camden on the rise, Harlem can't be far behind -- it's already been picked by one celebrity, and it certainly has a strong historical and cultural identity.

Modern, feminine form of the rustic, boyish name Harlan. With the popularity of Harley and Harlow in recent years, it is no surprise that Harlyn on the rise too. The name Harlyn was given to 134 baby girls in 2022.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

Jocelyn has gotten new life and popularity as a result of the current passion for lyn endings. Though it was a male name in medieval times, now Jocelyn couldn't sound more softly feminine.