Place Names

Oriini Kaipara is a Māori journalist who made headlines by becoming the first person with a face tattoo (Moko Kauae) to host the prime-time news in New Zealand. Her name may derive from the New Zealand place name Orini.

A perfect example of what a difference a single letter can make. Add an 'a' to the ho-hum Cathy and you have the old name for China, often used by such poets as Edna St. Vincent Millay and Ezra Pound.

The name of a Queens, New York neighborhood sounds like a lost-in-limbo girls' name such as LAVERNE.

The name of the 20th-century-created capital of Brazil has a good measure of spicy Latin rhythm and could make a possible female choice, while BRAZIL might work for a boy.

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

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.

Name taken from a hermitage dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Aitzpea was the name of Basque actress and director Aitzpea Goenaga.