Place Names for Babies

This Canadian city name would make a unique but very wearable choice for a son or daughter. Cal is a good nickname — skip Gary.

Moorish region and city in Spain that makes a melodic and unusual first name.

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

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

Montego Bay is a beach resort in Jamaica.

The name of a port town in Maine, named after the birthplace of one of its founders Alexander Shapleigh, of Kittery Court, Devon, England.

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

Both Soho and Noho--no-no.

Pronounced my-ORK-a, the name of this lovely Balearic Island, located in the Mediterranean, is one of the prettiest and most feminine of place names. The Spanish spelling is MALLORCA.

Ischia is an Italian island thought to be a derivative of the term "insula major", meaning "island par excellence."

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".

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

Variant of Kendall

Maryland appeared on the charts as a male name before a female one, but these days it's all girl.

Attractive but somewhat unwieldy place-name 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.

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

A city in Italy, or simply an alternative spelling of Barry.

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