American Place Names

The name of the capital city of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County, which is thought to come from a Kansa word meaning "good place to grow potatoes".

American place and tribe name, derived via French from the Dakota word ayúxba "sleepy ones".

An actual Hawaiian first name would convey the aura of the islands more originally and effectively.

Evocative of the lush islands, Hawaii is a place name that will transport you — at least in spirit.

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

An unlikely place name today, but one that was found among enslaved people in the 1800s.

Tribeca was the term created for New York City's TRIangle BElow CAnal Street. Stangely enough--that aside--it almost does sound like a plausible girls' name, nicknamed Becca.

Missouri, the name of a tribe, a state and a river, derives from the Illinois word mihsoori meaning "dugout canoe". It became a somewhat popular American girls' name in the mid-19th century.

This name of the North Dakota city has been used for at least one female (we know, because she wrote to us) but it doesn't meet the Social Security's five-baby threshold to ever make it onto the official records for either sex. But it certainly can work as a first name as well as or even better than many place-names. After all, it rhymes with Margo!

Fargo as a baby name? Though we haven't heard of any babies named for this frigid North Dakota city, it's certainly on the map of possibilities.

One of the unisex western names that rode in with Dakota and Montana.