Place names

Amiable, undiscovered geographic option.

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.

We usually think of place-names as a modern invention, but in fact Arizona ranked on the US Top 1000 from its inception in 1880 until 1911, when it vanished below the surface. It peaked at Number 510 in 1882, before Arizona became a state. One notorious vintage bearer: criminal "Ma" Barker, born Arizona Clark.

This still attractive place name was one of the first to gain popularity, though it now probably owes some of its favor to the similar Aisha. Asia ranked as high as Number 195 on the US baby names popularity list in 1997.

Edgy German capital with definite possibilities as a baby name.

Unseen in the USA since 1901, Boston rocketed back into the Top 1000 in 2004 and, like other place-names such as Brooklyn, London and Paris, is now a reliable presence on the list.

On trend for boys but with plenty of unisex appeal too, the place name Cairo was put on the map for girls when model Beverly Peele chose it for her daughter. Given to around 50 girls each year, it hasn't caught on just yet but with its similar sounds to Kaia and Skyler, it might do in the future.

Undiscovered name of picturesque northern French port.

Canada is an undiscovered but attractive place-name possibility, up till now a masculine territory.

Corsica, the picturesque Mediterrean island birthplace of Napoleon, makes an easy switch from atlas to baby name book, with its delicate, feminine ending. Just don't consider neighboring island Sardinia.

Some parents are turning to rivers and other bodies of water in the search for undiscovered place-names, and this has the feel of a Viennese waltz.

With Galway and Ireland in play as names (not to mention Shannon and Kerry), there's no reason this one can't work, too.

The site of Napoleon's exile became the great-great-aunt in the purple hat.

Most parents would prefer London for their daughters.

Florence is back, returning to the US Top 1000 girl names in 2017 after a nearly 40 year absence. Other English-speaking countries have been quicker to welcome Florence back into fashion.

Lacks the cachet of some newer place-names.

Unlike its somewhat formal Swiss city namesake, this is a lively and appealing place-name that also has a real history as a female name.

Prettier: the growing-in-popularity Paisley, a suburb of Glasgow, or even Scotland itself, used as a middle name by Kourtney Kardashian.

Holland is one of the coolest geographical names, unadorned and elegant, evocative of fine Rembrandt portraits and fields of pink and yellow tulips. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2014.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.