Place Names for Babies
- Luxor
Origin:
Place name, Egyptian from ArabicMeaning:
"the palaces, castles"Description:
The Egyptian city of Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, at one time the capital of Ancient Egypt. The name derives from the Arabic term al-ʾuqṣur, meaning "the palaces" or "castles."
- Atlantis
Origin:
Place nameDescription:
Mythical wonderland makes strong, evocative first name for either gender.
- Cayman
Origin:
Place-nameDescription:
This name's connection to the Caribbean Cayman Islands gives it a nice resortish feel, while still feeling like an in-tune-with-style boy's name.
- Panama
Origin:
Place-nameDescription:
Sharing her name with a country, a city, an isthmus, a gulf, a canal, and a hat might be a bit much for a child to handle.
- Bristol
Origin:
British place-nameMeaning:
"site of the bridge"Description:
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 Sarah Palin name, chosen for her eldest daughter, who is now a TV personality herself.
- Alamo
Origin:
Place-name, SpanishMeaning:
"poplar tree"Description:
The unique O-ending makes this name memorable, especially for someone with ties to Texas.
- Trinidad
Origin:
SpanishMeaning:
"trinity"Description:
Trinidad, an island off Venezuela in the southern Caribbean, is Spanish for ‘trinity’ and is a common unisex name in Latin America. Notable namesakes include performers Trini Lopez (male) and Trini Alvarado (female), both born Trinidad.
- Zealand
Origin:
English place name from DutchMeaning:
"sea land"Description:
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.
- Barra
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"fair-headed"Description:
Barra is a Gaelic-speaking island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, that’s been inhabited since the Neolithic era. A male nickname for Finbarr in Ireland, as well as a stand-alone name, Barra was used by George R.R. Martin as a girl’s name. It means ‘fair-haired’.
- Luxor
Origin:
Place name, EgyptianMeaning:
"palaces, castles"Description:
Luxor is just waiting to be discovered as a baby name. It has a lot going for it — an easy and fashionable nickname (hello, Lux!), unisex appeal, and a place name connection. Luxor is the modern-day name for the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. It was derived from the Arabic term al-ʾuqṣur, referring to palaces or castles.
- Berlin
Origin:
GermanMeaning:
"borderline"Description:
Edgy German capital with definite possibilities as a baby name.
- Congo
Origin:
Place-nameMeaning:
"gather"Description:
Not long ago, the name of this central African republic was firmly in place-name territory and not seen as baby appropriate. But those boundaries are moving so quickly that all kinds of place-names that were once not considered as baby names, from Alaska to Morocco to Chicago to, yes, Congo are on the list. The place-name Congo is taken from the people and language of the Kingdom of Kongo. In that language, the word kongo means "gather".
- Palermo
Origin:
Place-nameDescription:
Son of Sicily.
- Belize
Origin:
Place-nameMeaning:
"muddy waters"Description:
This Central American place-name would make a unique alternative to Bella or Belle. The name Belize comes from the Mayan word Balix, meaning "muddy waters" — a reference to the Belize River.
- Vicenza
Origin:
Italian place-nameDescription:
This name of an architecturally glorious Italian city makes a romantic and evocative possibility.
- Kendal
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"valley of the river Kent"Description:
Variant of Kendall
- Chicago
Origin:
American place name, AlgonquinMeaning:
"wild garlic"Description:
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.
- Britain
Origin:
Place nameDescription:
Britain is an attractive place that is used nearly equally for boys and girls. But spelling it Britton makes it considerably more popular for both genders.
- Orleans
Origin:
English, French, place nameMeaning:
"gold"Description:
An interesting and as yet undiscovered place name, Orleans feels similar to the likes of Harlem, Memphis, and Oslo. The English form of the French Orléans, it ultimately derives from the Latin Aurelianum, meaning "gold".
- Quintana
Origin:
SpanishMeaning:
"the fifth girl"Description:
Mexican place-name famously used by Joan Didion for her daughter, Quintana Roo.