DESTINATION NAMES

A Native American tribe name which is found in the names of two US states, Dakota was one of the first trendy nineties place names, but is now flagging a little in popularity. The cultural question around using a Native American tribe name as a baby name may be partly to blame.

A laid-back cowboy name which feels both cool and gentle, Dallas has ranked in the US Top 500 since records began in 1880. Never super popular but surprisingly never out of style, Dallas is given to nearly 1400 boys in the US every year.

Yet another creative character name from Toni Morrison, Denver was a daughter of Sethe's in the novel Beloved. Today Denver is most familiar as the name of the largest city in Colorado, used almost equally for girls and boys.

Eden is an attractive, serene name with obvious intimations of Paradise, one of several place names drawn from the Bible by the Puritans in the seventeenth century.

We had Egypt listed as a girls-only place-name until singer Alicia Keys and rap producer husband Swizz Beatz used it for their son...and why not? Egypt certainly works as well for a boy as for a girl.

This geographic name has lots of Gallic elan. France Nuyen is a French-Vietnamese actress who starred in the Broadway hit The World of Suzie Wong.

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.

Georgia is so rich, lush and luscious, it's almost irresistible. Georgia's now a rising star among the feminizations of George, helped by associations with the southern state (named for British King George II) and painter Georgia O'Keeffe, with the Ray Charles song "Georgia On My Mind" or maybe "Sweet Georgia Brown" playing in the background.

With Brooklyn, Trenton, and Camden on the rise, Harlem can't be far behind -- it's already been picked by one celebrity, and it certainly has a stronger historical and cultural identity.

Politics aside, the Cuban capital is one of the most rhythmic of place-names. The question is: can politics be put aside?

Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion gloss of New York City.

Euphonious and long stylish in England, India was one of the fastest-rising names on the 2013 list, after jumping 240 spots back into the Top 1000.

Indiana is one of those place-names (think Camden and Trenton) that sounds cooler than the place that inspired it. Its fashionable -ana ending certainly sounds eminently name-like, and Indie/Indy/Indi is one of the hottest nickname names for girls right now.

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.

Though it was used by the Puritans in the sixteenth century, the founding of the modern Jewish state in 1948 transformed Israel from a traditional favorite into an icon of Judaism.

Why has it taken so long for us to discover Italy? The name, that is.

Among the least gimmicky, most appealing and colorful of all the names found in the atlas, Jamaica almost sings out the rhythms of the West Indies.

The New Jersey cities of Camden and Trenton are in, but the name of the state has not caught on to anywhere near the same extent. The origin of the name of the British island of Jersey is not certain, but it may derive from the Norse name Geirr.

Jordan became one of the top unisex baby names in the heyday of basketball's Michael Jordan, and is still among the most popular unisex names starting with J. The name was originally given to those baptized in holy water brought back by Crusaders from the River Jordan, the only river in Palestine, and the one in which Christ was baptized by John the Baptist.

Kenya, a name borrowed from the East African nation and theoretically unisex, is now used mostly for girls. While it's had its ups and downs since entering the US Top 1000 in 1968, it currently ranks lower than spelling variant Kenia.