Quirky Favorite Baby Names in 10 Top Cities
New York baby namers love sleek, streamlined names like Brynn and Penn, while Dallas favorites like Opal and Wiley bring a touch of Southern charm.
Scottish namers are drawn to rugged boy names with a local flavor, such as Innes and Sholto. And in Auckland, New Zealand, you'll find Māori boy names like Kiwa and Iraia among the top hits.
In an up-to-date study of the most searched baby names across the Anglosphere so far in 2024, Nameberry analyzed views of our name pages from visitors in ten cities in seven countries on three continents: Auckland, Chicago, Dallas, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney and Toronto.
Top City Baby Names 2024
In order to pinpoint the quirky favorites in each city — the names particularly beloved there compared to elsewhere — we focused in this study on the English-speaking world, allowing us to track differences in tastes and trends in places drawing (as far as possible) from a similar linguistic and cultural name bank.
City-dwellers around the world, we found, share cosmopolitan name tastes and favor fashion-forward baby names that generally rank higher in large urban centers than they do nationally. Trending choices like Maeve and Margot, Arlo and Ezra are attracting a lot of attention in all of the cities on our list.
But Nameberry visitors from each city also have quirky favorite names as divergent as Bondi Beach and a Brooklyn brownstone!
Many of these unique name favorites reflect their city’s style and culture, such as cozy Gaelic Eabha and Senan in Dublin, hipster-chic Tiggy and Wilfred in London, and attention-grabbing Althea and Ever in Los Angeles.
But many of the cities’ name preferences are not so predictable. Why are Aucklanders so intrigued by the German name Sigismund? Why do so many visitors from Edinburgh search old-school nickname Dory? Why is Kiah Toronto's top quirky favorite for boys? If you have any insights, let us know!
Let’s take a closer look at the tastes and trends in each city.
Auckland
Parents in New Zealand's most populous city favor sharp sounds like K and C, as in names like Mika, Coco, Albrecht, Kiwa, Carlo, and Rocco.
Māori boy names Kiwa "ocean guardian" and Iraia "the God wrestler" showcase the importance of Māori language and culture in New Zealand, along with crosscultural choices such as Mika and Amaia.
Chicago
The Windy City's quirky favorite names include many girl choices from pop culture. There's Wednesday, inspired by the Netflix series, Jireh, after a viral gospel song, and Meadow, influenced by Hilary Duff's daughter Townes Meadow. Also on the girls' side is Palmer, connected to a historic Chicago family.
The boy names favored in Chicago are hearty choices that feel at home in the Midwest — think Hank, Barrett, Brady. All have a contemporary sensibility and are very in tune with national name trends right now.
Dallas
There's a definite Southern twang to Dallas' quirky favorite names! Dallas namers love strong unisex names that lean feminine, like Emery, Hadley and Aubreigh. For boys, dynamic Southern names like Stetson and Walker are particularly popular here, alongside A-plus biblical boy names Aziel, Adriel, and Azrael.
Dublin
Irish baby namers love to celebrate their language and culture through the names they choose. All of Dublin's quirky favorite boy and girl names come from the Gaelic language.
Edinburgh
Distinctly Scottish names abound in Edinburgh's most searched list! Mirren and Harris may be most familiar as surnames outside of Caledonia, but in Scotland, they're very traditional first name choices.
Other quirky favorites in Edinburgh include place and nature names with ties to the local landscape, such as Vaila, Innes and Arran.
London
Telegraph favorites like Wilfred and Jemima, are, unsurprisingly, particularly popular in London! Londoners gravitate towards stylish vintage names that are poised on the brink of a comeback: think Macsen, Oona, and Chester.
Upscale nickname names like Lando, Tiggy, and Posie are also beloved by our English visitors, who often skip the formal name and put the nickname straight on the birth certificate. Novie is another nickname-ish choice recently used by British influencer Zoe Sugg.
Los Angeles
LA's favorite baby names are not a shy and retiring bunch! Names with big, bold sounds and famous namesakes reign supreme here: think Itzel, Yaretzi, and Ever.
California's high Spanish-speaking population also makes itself felt in the list of names particularly popular here. Choices like Mina, Natalia, Liliana, Gael, and Eliseo are fashionable cross-cultural choices.
New York
New Yorkers favor strong, modern names like Teagan, Brynn, and Chase, as well as names with a more romantic literary feel, such as Alexandria and Dorian. Elsbeth joins the list thanks to the CBS police procedural set in NYC.
There are also Hebrew choices, such as Lia and Lev, that are particularly popular in the Big Apple, reflecting the city's large Jewish population.
Sydney
Sun-drenched Sydney dwellers love names with a bright, beachy feel: think Goldie, Pearl, Zali and Clancy. Distinctly Aussie choices Narelle and Banjo are among Sydney's quirky favorites, along with Azalea, inspired by Australian rapper Iggy Azalea.
Aussie name tastes tend to be closer to those in the UK and New Zealand than in the US, so you'll also find plenty of cute nicknames and stylish vintage revivals on Sydney's list.
Toronto
Toronto's quirky favorites make for a list as diverse and eclectic as the city itself! The names particularly favored by Torontonians include established modern classics like Ryan and Jackson, international chart toppers like Cara and Nael, and cool vintage choices like Sybil and Agatha.