Names That Mean Place

A streamlined spelling of the classical British Thackeray — no wonder this is the more common variation in the US. Thackery makes a preppier, more unusual alternative to Zachary.

If Dayton, like Trenton and Camden, is finding favor with parents, it's more because of its popular two-syllable surname feel and -on ending than the industrial city in Ohio.

No matter how much you love the novels of Papa H., don't saddle your son with this unwieldy appellation.

Great middle name choice for music lovers or those with Scottish roots, also spelled Fyfe.

The son of Lancelot and Elaine in Arthurian legend, Galahad is the purest and most chivalrous of the Knights of the Round Table, and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail. The derivation of his name is unclear. It may come from Welsh Gwalchafed (hawk of summer) or "gwalch" + "cad" (hawk of battle), or it may be an anglicization of the place name Gilead in Palestine. Certainly a bold and brave choice for a baby boy!

A unisex cultural crossover that has seen a little use from the 1990s onwards. In Japanese mythology, Inari is an androgynous deity associated with rice, tea and foxes. In Finland, it is the name of a region, lake and village which is a center of Sami culture.

Calloway is more popular among boys, while Callaway takes the title for girls. Perhaps it's the built-in floral nickname Calla.

A name with something for everyone: for romantics, it's a beautiful Indonesian island; for teckies, it's a computer programming language.

The name of the resort city on Spain's Costa del Sol is pronounced mar-BAY-a, setting it apart from the bella-name competition -- though many English speakers won't realize that.

Well, parents are naming their children Eden and Heaven...so why not?

A mash-up of popular name trends, French is all at once a place name, word name, and surname name. It's evocative of a favorite celebrity baby name fad of using nationalities as names as opposed to places, as in Mariah Carey's Moroccan.

A unisex cultural crossover that has seen a little use from the 1990s onwards. In Japanese mythology, Inari is an androgynous deity associated with rice, tea and foxes. In Finland, it is the name of a region, lake and village which is a center of Sami culture.

Mosley, former best known as the surname of author Walter, has been put in play as a first name for girls by football great Peyton Manning, who used the name for his twin daughter, sister of Marshall. Alternate spellings are Moseley and Mosely and the first syllable rhymes with Rose.

The name of an extremely civilized, wealthy city in the north of Italy merits more notice as a first name, a la Verona and Milan. It was used as one in the Canadian sci-fi series Killjoys.

Name of the French town where a vision of the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared, this name, virtually unknown elsewhere, is in the Spanish Top 100.

Londyn is now a more popular name than the original London for girls. Some parents feel that varying the spelling nudges the name away from over-identification with the British capitol. Substituting a y for another vowel is also seen by some as more feminine. For boys, London is five times as popular as Londyn -- though both variations are far more popular for girls.

Equally strong, dramatic and romantic, this name of an old kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and a modern Spanish community as well, would give a boy an instant pedigree.

Trivia is considered the first epithet of Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting, fertility, and the moon. The name is derived from the Latin word trivium, meaning "triple way," which refers to the goddess's protection of crossroads. Today, of course, Trivia would likely be interpreted as an English word name referencing obscure facts.

Nazareth, an important place in the New Testament as the hometown of Jesus, is on the rise as a name for both girls and boys. It's one of a handful of Biblical place names, along with Galilee and Jericho, stylish among contemporary Christians.

Wellington is a tony-sounding English surname turned baby name by pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who calls her son Wells for short. It's also the middle name of one of the Sweet Home sextuplets, Blu Wellington.