Place Names for Babies

Evocative of the lush islands, Hawaii is a place name that will transport you — at least in spirit.

Musical choice that might work great in the middle. Alternative in all its forms, Fife and sister name Fifer are Scottish names for girls that can make a new twist on Piper.

Cimarron is a Great Plains city and river name used by Edna Ferber as the title of a popular novel. The Cimarron people of Panama were previously enslaved Africans who had escaped from their Spanish masters and lived together in defiance of colonial rule. In the 1570s, they allied with Francis Drake of England to defeat the Spanish conquest.

Amiable, undiscovered geographic option.

Severe surname choice.

The name of a beautiful village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, Veryan actually derives from a series of misunderstandings: Sen Veryan ("Saint Veryan") is a Cornish corruption of Severian, which is itself a corrupted form of the saint’s name Symphorian, to whom the village church at Veryan is dedicated.

It's a place in the Bible but also relates to the name Zebulon.

Used as a first name for a handful of girls every year, Joplin could be seen as a distant cousin of other -lin names, like Caitlin, Brooklyn and Braelynn. We think it works even better as a musical middle name possibility for fans of Janis... or Scott. Both great connections — albeit very different from one another.

Umbria is a lovely, virtually unused Italian name for girls, reflecting the beautiful rolling hills of the area's countryside. And since it's right next door to Tuscany, in which Siena resides, maybe Umbria could be a follow-up to the popular Siena-Sienna.

This name of a busy British port city -- as well as of several places in America -- has a brisk and bustling air. It will now--and for years to come--be identified as a (female) Sarah Palin name.

One of the newer geographical site names, it has the advantage of sounding like a real girl's name because of its jen beginning and feminine a ending.

Edgy German capital with definite possibilities as a baby name.

Also a city near Tel Aviv, Hadar is a name found primarily in Israel. There is also a citrus fruit associated with the holiday of Sukkat the Torah calls the "hadar fruit".

The evocative name of one of our most beautiful national parks -- yes, but also the bombastic cartoon character, Yosemite Sam.

This beautiful New Mexican pueblo locale has long attracted artists and skiers, and now may attract some baby namers as well.

Morocco is an attractive and rhythmic name, evocative of such fabled cities as Casablanca, Tangier and Marrakesh, in a country whose unique landscape and rich culture attracted such twentieth century writers as Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles and William Burroughs.

Athens is one of the newer place names, used for both baby boys and girls. The Greek city got its name from Athena, goddess of wisdom and courage.

Inventive way to honor a redheaded ancestor, though most people would mispronounce it reeding, making it sound to some kids like a school assignment: Redding is a preferable spelling.

Most frequently seen as a surname of those with Italian or Spanish heritage. The Italian variation is a habitational surname denoting ancestors from the town of Revello, while the Catalan (sometimes spelled Revelló) derives from revell, meaning "wild olive tree."