Unique Place Names for Babies

Alabama is a hot southern place-name, picking up from Georgia and Savannah. This is not a geographical name come lately, though--there have been girls named Alabama dating back well over a century.

Japanese city name not yet on the map for babies, but why not?

Gives Carlo a place-name/surname spin.

Most Africas today would be named for the continent, but the name actually existed in Scotland in medieval times, where there was a Celtic queen named Affrica. Africa has also been a Spanish name for girls since 1421. The church of the Virgin "Nuestra Senora de Africa" is in Ceuta, the Spanish city she is Patron of, in North Africa.

An archipelago near the center of the Mediterranean, the name derives from the Greek word for honey. Malta has been heard as a girl’s name in the past and was used as a character name by both Dickens and Murakami.

Highly unusual name of a small, tranquil island in the Caribbean; chosen for her daughter by singer Nelly Furtado.

Projects the calm and pristine image of the picturesque Swiss lake and mountain town.

If you want to honor your grandfather Hal but can't work up much enthusiasm for his full name Harold, consider the more stylish (if a bit pretentious) capital of Nova Scotia.

A rare and evocative place name for a girl. Seville is the capital of Andalusia, an autonomous community in Spain. The Spanish name, Sevilla, derived from the Phoenician word sefela, meaning "plain" or "valley."

Place names can be a nod to your cultural heritage or a commemoration of a favorite destination. Scotia comes from the Latin name for Scotland, which may be a perfect fit for a family of Scottish heritage if Scotland feels too on-the-nose. Caledonia is another possibility, used by the Romans for the land north of Hadrian's Wall in England, which marked the upper boundary of the Roman Empire. And Nova Scotia (meaning "new Scotland") is also the name of a Canadian province.

Lomond is one of those names that exists mainly in one place in the world, Scotland, thanks to its famous Loch Lomond (with its bonnie bonnie banks).

The name Persia derives from Avestan Parsa, the name of the Indo-European nomadic people who migrated into southern Iran in about 1000 BCE. Persis or Persea, the feminine form of Perseus, feel more namelike.

Zanzibar is an island region off the coast of Tanzania. It's never been recorded as a baby name, but for those with a connection to Zanzibar, it's an intriguing and unique option chock full of zesty Zs.

A rarely-used place name (probably because of the last three letters), Essex was the ancient kingdom of the East Saxons and is now a county in England. The singer David Essex used it as his stage surname, and reality TV couple JP and Ashley Rosenbaum used it for their daughter's name, though few have followed suit.

Louisiana is a geographic spin on the Louise theme. Pretty, if a bit of a syllable overload. Short form Lou or Lulu lightens it.

Soul singer Cuba Gooding and his actor son of the same name put this unexpected geographical name on the map for boys, but it has a longer history of use than you might expect. Deriving from the island in the Caribbean Sea, it had a brief spell of popularity in the US at the end of the 1890s when Spain lost possession of the island during the Spanish-American War. Used predominantly (though rarely) on girls throughout the last century, it has occasionally be given to a handful of boys too.

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.

We've seen babies with Texas city names like Austin, Houston and Dallas--, why not the unexplored Laredo, which has a lot of cowboy charisma? Laredo might make for a more modern and creative namesake for an Uncle Lawrence/Larry--as could the related Laramie.

A capital place-name possibility.

Evokes picture-postcard image of colorful Indonesia. Bali Barret is a Paris fashion insider who oversees women's style for Hermes. Bali rhymes with tally or galley.