Place Names for Babies

Wild, lovely place in western Ireland makes wild, lovely name.

One of the most picturesque and enchanting areas of France could become a distinctive baby name.

The name America is given to around 100 baby girls each year, mostly within the Hispanic and Latin American communities. The national charts do not record diacritical marks like accents, but at least some of those baby girls spell their names with one. Model América González is among them.

Attractive but somewhat unwieldy place-name name.

Lisa Loeb used this intriguing name as the middle for her son Emet.

The sidekick in a John Wayne western.

A rare geographical option which has never been given to more than 50 baby girls per year in the US, but is familiar to everyone. The actual meaning of the state's name, which comes from that of a local tribe, is unknown, but it has often been said to mean "people of the west wind".

A Catalan county name used for both girls and boys in its homeland.

A city and river in Scotland; this is upbeat and cheery, but doesn't seem that appropriate as a name.

Has much too strong of a Brooklyn accent.

There are more charming places -- and place-names -- for your child.

Brittany is firmly a mom name today, but Britain could easily be her daughter. The Britton spelling variation is more common for both genders.

Bardou is a holiday destination in France, known for its pictureque village nestled in mountains. It is also a region of Guinea. As a name, it is more commonly known from its English derivation, meaning axe-wielding wolf.

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

If this name makes you think of Victorian novels, it's because Fairfax was part of Mr Rochester's name in Jane Eyre, and the surname of a minor character in Jane Austen's Emma. It has a distinctly aristocratic feel, despite its straightforward meaning. Fairfax is also a city in Virginia.

Montego Bay is a beach resort in Jamaica.

Ibiza — a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea — stems from the Arabic word Yabisah, meaning "land".

The real city is now known as Mumbai, but the original name is far more evocative.

Both Soho and Noho--no-no.

Mesa is the term for a flat-topped mountain, derived from the Spanish word for "table".