Place Names for Babies

South America provides a continent of interesting, undiscovered names -- Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, and the tango-rhythmed Argentina.

Evocative Spanish city name that would make a one-of-a-kind given name.

More unusual than Dakota or Austin, Colorado conjures images of majestic mountains and windswept wilderness. Some will prefer the more preppy Aspen, but Colorado feels like the true explorer.

Norwegian city name heard much more often as a last name than a first.

Arfon is a centuries-old name the area of north-west Wales closest to Anglesey (in Welsh, Môn), so its name literally means "facing Anglesey". Its main town is Caernarfon, "fortress in Arfon". It is sometimes used as a local pride name by parents with a connection to the area.

Associated with the poet and novelist Galway Kinnell, this name of an Irish city, county, and bay would make an evocative choice. For further literary cred, writers Liam O'Flaherty and Frank Harris both hail from Galway.

This Basque name, which derives the name of a small town, is less well known than its diminutive version Arantxa. The name comes from the Basque word aratza meaning thornbush.

Influencer couple Rachel and Jordan Flom put Brisbane on the baby name map when they used it for one of their triplet sons, born in 2024. Australian place names — from Adelaide to Sydney to Victoria — have long been favorites among parents, but Brisbane has a more modern, gender-neutral appeal.

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

A city in Benjamin's territory that makes a perfect first name.

Larsa was the name of a city-state in Sumer, an ancient Mesopotamian civilization. It is occasionally used as a baby name in Arabic-speaking cultures, as well as in Sweden, where Larsa is a feminization of Lars.

This country name has come into steady use for girls in recent decades, and it's occasionally given to boys too. With interest in other -land names like Leland and Roland, we can see this patriotic heritage choice becoming more gender-balanced.

The name of cities in Mexico and Colorado, Durango is a pleasant, fresh option from the atlas.

Moab is a Biblical name and an ancient place name. In the Old Testament, Moab was the son of Lot. The Kingdom of Moab, in modern-day Jordan, was Biblically significant for often being in conflict with Israel.

Arley is a fast-rising surname-name for girls, and Arlington isn't far behind.

Would make a difficult choice even for those with ties to the Virginia city or British county.

Despite its similarity to Game of Thrones' Tywin Lannister, Tywyn is a genuine Welsh town name meaning "sand dune" or "sea shore".

Two-syllable place-names are stylish, and this one is attached to a British city noted for its white chalk cliffs, but there are a couple of minuses: associated with the fish, Dover sole, and also rhymes with the doggy Rover.

Brixton, the name of a neighborhood in London, is one of the fastest-rising place-names for baby boys, up more than 100 points on the most recent US popularity list. Besides its association with the place, Brixton combines several major trends in boys' namesL It's got two syllables, ends with the letter n, and has an x in the middle

The name of a city in New Hampshire which takes its name from the Nashua River, named by the Indigenous Algonquian tribe the Nashuway or Nashua. A striking alternative to Joshua.