Place Names

According to legend -- and, crucially, the Wonder Woman comics and movies -- Themyscira is the home of the Amazons, a mythical race of powerful female warriors. As depicted in the DC comics, Themyscira is a lush utopian island in the middle of a vast ocean. It was also the name of a real town in the Ancient Greek world, on the southern coast of the Black Sea in modern-day Turkey.

Brixton is a once-tough now-gentrifying-and-cool area of London that has also become one of the hottest boys' names in the US, entering the Top 1000 names list in 2015. Spelling variation Brixten was used for less than 10 percent of the babies given the name,. Names with an x in the middle tend to sound cool and modern even when their roots are anything but. Another reason Brixton and Brixten are hot is its similarity to the increasingly popular Braxton.

The name America is given to around 100 baby girls each year, mostly within the Hispanic and Latin American communities. The national charts do not record diacritical marks like accents, but at least some of those baby girls spell their names with one. Model América González is among them.

Lisa Loeb used this intriguing name as the middle for her son Emet.

The sidekick in a John Wayne western.

A Catalan county name used for both girls and boys in its homeland.

Has much too strong of a Brooklyn accent.

Brittany is firmly a mom name today, but Britain could easily be her daughter. The Britton spelling variation is more common for both genders.

Bardou is a holiday destination in France, known for its pictureque village nestled in mountains. It is also a region of Guinea. As a name, it is more commonly known from its English derivation, meaning axe-wielding wolf.

Both Soho and Noho--no-no.

A Pilgrimage site in Italy that also serves as a unisex given name.

Valletta is the capital city of Malta. It takes on an air of attractiveness via model Amber Valletta and could make an appealing alternative to the somewhat dated Valerie.

The historic name for the south-west corner of Wales, deriving from the British tribe of the Demetae.

The city name Dublin ultimately derived from Irish elements dubh, meaning "dark," and lind, "pool." The dark pool in question was a tidal pool behind Dublin Castle.

A jaunty nautical-sounding name.

The name of a port town in Maine, named after the birthplace of one of its founders Alexander Shapleigh, of Kittery Court, Devon, England.

An unexplored choice, evocative of the snowcapped Andes, with a pleasant, catchy sound.

Iceland is a futuristic place name that works as well for babies as Ireland. We predict it's going to be one of the top baby names of 2050, along with other girl names that end in land, such as Scotland, Graceland, and Zealand.

This Canadian city name would make a unique but very wearable choice for a son or daughter. Cal is a good nickname — skip Gary.

In the same unisex placename/surname style as Oakley and Hadlee, this name makes total sense but has never been on the American charts. Rushlee Buchanan is a New Zealand Olympic cyclist.