Place Names

Actor French Stewart introduced this one to the lexicon. French is part word name, part place name, and part surname-name, reminiscent of celebrity baby names that reference a nationality rather than simply a place, such as Moroccan.

Venkata is one of the seven peaks of the Tirumala Hills in India. As a result of the temple on this hill, Venkata is connected to the god Vishnu. Venkata is also the name of the protagonist in the 2009 film Venkata in Senkata as well as Nobel prize winner Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.

A city in Italy, or simply a feminized spelling of Barry.

The rural Imo State in southeast Nigeria is named after the Imo River, which runs through it. An obscure but intriguing possibility as a first name.

Kiska is a Alaskan volcano island that has the sort of brisk sound to it that makes it fit in with both old names like Saskia and modern names like Pax.

The capital of Peru makes a rare but attractive girl name.

This Scottish surname and Scottish and Australian place name has a pleasant airy and breezy sound to it. Camden mayor Lara Symkowiak chose the name for her daughter born in 2016.

This name of a California desert town, used by Deborah Falconer and Robert Downey, Jr. for their son, makes a much livelier and more individual – not to mention more masculine – improvisation on the themes of India and Indiana.

One of several fascinating names used in Charlaine Harris's Midnight, Texas books and the NBC adaptation thereof, Fiji is a pleasingly quirky place name that's been little used for babies. Though it has been used quite a lot for fancy bottled water, we don't think it quite qualifies as a water name.

When Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their daughter Chicago — after West's hometown — we expected it to rise for baby girls. But American parents have taken to Chicago as a boy name. It's been given to more boys than girls every year since 2018.

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

Familiar-but-new and ultra-rare (for girls anyway), Zealand has a lot going for it with its spunky Z initial and globe-trotting vibes. Sparingly used for boys since the 2000s and even more occasionally used for girls since 2010, YouTube family The Labrants brought this name into the spotlight when they called their son Zealand in 2019.

From Caeredin, the Welsh name for the Scottish capital, Edinburgh... although many people would see it simply as an alternative spelling of Aiden.

One five-letter name, a quick suffix away from David, with two very different connotations. It's the name of a posh ski resort in Switzerland that hosts the illustrious World Economic Forum -- attended by tycoons, celebrities and heads of state -- each year. And of a trustworthy, salt-of-the-earth character in Game of Thrones, Davos Seaworth.

Lovely, international, tea-scented possibility undiscovered by baby names.

Also a dog breed

In the Bible, Calvary is the hill outside of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. This religious significance, along with a pleasant sound, have led some parents to begin using it as a name for their daughters.

A pretty town in Scotland, named for its perfect horseshoe-shaped bay.

Jericho, a Biblical city, has popped in and out of the Top 1000 since 2013, never making it above the 900s. That means it's unlikely that Jericha, a feminization, will break into the mainstream anytime soon — perfect for parents on the hunt for a unique name with religious significance.

Though this Biblical place name is found among early American settlers, usually as a male name, today it sounds completely feminine. As a place name, its gender is mutable in any case. An unusual and intriguing Biblical option, albeit one with an unhappy meaning.