Place Names for Babies

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

A little-used but equally cool alternative to Huxley and Loxley.

More a concept than a place -- or a name.

It's a hat, it's a race, and it's even been known to be a name. In Britain, it would be pronounced darby.

A Puritanical virtue name and also a place name, belonging to the state capital of Rhode Island and several other towns and cities in the US.

Evokes picture-postcard image of colorful Indonesia. Bali Barret is a Paris fashion insider who oversees women's style for Hermes. Bali rhymes with tally or galley.

Soul singer Cuba Gooding and his actor son of the same name put this unexpected geographical name on the map for boys, but it has a longer history of use than you might expect. Deriving from the island in the Caribbean Sea, it had a brief spell of popularity in the US at the end of the 1890s when Spain lost possession of the island during the Spanish-American War. Used predominantly (though rarely) on girls throughout the last century, it has occasionally be given to a handful of boys too.

Zuma is a name that can appeal to almost anyone — just pick your association! There's former South African president Jacob Zuma, the Malibu beach, video game, and more. Children will associate it with the male Paw Patrol character — which may explain why Zuma is becoming more popular among dogs.

With its ties to tranquil Walden Pond, and harmonious meaning, this could be a modern virtue name. It may also make people think of Concorde, the supersonic airliner plane, retired back in 2003.

The name Persia derives from Avestan Parsa, the name of the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated into southern Iran in about 1000 BCE. Persis or Persea, the feminine form of Perseus, feel more namelike.

Milan is one of the hottest place names in recent years for both girls and boys — why not the Italian name for the beautiful city, Milano. Also a delicious brand of cookies.

Named for its snowcapped mountains, Nevada is a state name which, unlike Carolina, Montana, and Dakota, has been relatively undiscovered. Warning: today's unvisited place-name could become tomorrow's trampled tourist attraction.

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

Kyoto is a Japanese city name not yet on the map for babies, but why not?

The name of the capital city of ancient Syria, an important centre in early Christianity. Its founder Seleucus I Nictor named it after his father, Antiochus. Antiochus was the name of several early rulers and saints, including the patron saint of Sardinia.

With Brooklyn, Trenton, and Camden on the rise, Harlem can't be far behind. It's already been picked by one celebrity, and it certainly has a strong historical and cultural identity -- not to mention its similarity to other popular choices like Harley and Harper.

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.

This is the Italian way to say Venice -- Ven-ETZ-ee-a -- but you might also opt for the softer Venetia or Venice itself.

Andorra is the pretty name of a pocket-sized princedom in the Pyrenees, noted for its skiing.

Gentle and southern-inflected, redolent of the North Carolina landscape.