Place Names

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.

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

From the name of the river which flows through Pakistan, India, and Tibet.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

A distinguished-sounding place name with a cool, positive "win" sound. The original Winchester was the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

More accessible than some of the more distant names in the atlas, Canton fits into the category of the no-nonsense, new-sounding boys' names many parents are looking at.

The capital of Peru makes a rare but attractive girl 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.

Also a dog breed

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

Mosley has seen a handful of uses — mostly among baby girls — since 2012, the year after Peyton Manning gave it to his daughter. It's much more familiar as a surname, such as that of novelist Walter Mosley.