Unique Place Names for Babies

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.

Rhythmic name with both religious and geographical ties, commonly heard in Latin countries.

A pleasant and adaptable place name for a part of Tel Aviv.

City name less mellifluous than Paris, London, or even Trenton. It was the name of the character portrayed by Leonardo di Caprio in "Gangs of New York."

After Dallas, Austin, and Houston, the new cowboy on the block. Old-school Western nickname: Tex.

Derived from Kitt as a diminutive of Christopher, Kitts is known as the larger of the two islands making up the nation St. Kitts and Nevis.

An obscure Cornish saint's name that can also be considered a place name — Madron is a Cornish village named for the saint.

Sonoma, the name of a beautiful northern California wine-growing region, might inspire some parents. Other California place names beyond Sonoma: Marin, Berkeley, Sierra.

This name of an attractive and arty California town could make an unusual but friendly choice.

Miami -- or Florida, for that matter -- hasn't achieved the place-name stardom of southern sisters like Savannah and Georgia. Quincy Jones used it as his daughter KENYA's middle name.

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

There's a Perth in Scotland and a bigger one in Australia; this name could make a statement similar to Heath.

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.

With place names extending their range, this is an unmapped possibility, though a bit stiff. Baltimore, Maryland was named after Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Baron Baltimore. Baltimore is ultimately derived from the Irish Baile an Tí Mhóir, meaning "town of the big house."

Sharing her name with a country, a city, an isthmus, a gulf, a canal, and a hat might be a bit much for a child to handle.

With its trendy -o ending and connotations of luxury, we think the name of one of the smallest and wealthiest countries in the world has rich baby name potential.

An interesting Canadian province and city name that has some literary history as the name of a character in Dickens's Bleak House; could make a distinctive choice for parents with northern roots.

Malibu, the name of a California beach city, evokes sunshine, surfing, and glamour. With its fashionable "oo" sound — as seen in names like Luna and Ruby — Malibu is an unexplored place name worth considering.

This romantic name of a city in Yemen was chosen for her son by supermodel Liya Kebede.

Evocative of the beautiful South Pacific islands; we've also heard Samoan used as a name.