Place Names for Babies

An undiscovered place-name with an appealing o-sound ending.

A phonetically attractive place-name that can be used for babies but rarely is.

Name taken from a hermitage dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Aitzpea was the name of Basque actress and director Aitzpea Goenaga.

A globetrotting placename — Diani Beach is a popular tourist destination on the Indian Ocean in Kenya. It's similar enough to Dion and Diana to feel namelike, although it is actually very rare in the US.

A pleasing place-name that hasn't yet appeared in the baby name atlas.

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

A pretty private park in Manhattan, doesn't quite make it as a baby name.

A new crop of gender-neutral English place names have suddenly become trendy — those ending in -ton. Multi-syllabic but not dramatic, these names are rising quickly for girls and boys. Think Charleston, Lexington, and Kensington. Livingston isn't as hot as some of the others, but its time will soon come. For a girl, Livingston boasts the nickname Liv.

Mythical wonderland makes strong, evocative first name for either gender.

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".

The Alhambra, which means "red city," is in Granada, Spain. British writer Ali Smith used it for a character in her novel The Accidental.

Pilgrimage site in Italy.

Martinique is a Caribbean island that’s part of the Lesser Antilles, and is a region of France. This could be a fresh way to honor a Martin or Martha.

Beautiful downtown Burbank -- about as glamorous a place-name as Akron...or Detroit.

The historic name for the south-west corner of Wales, deriving from the British tribe of the Demetae.

The Arabic word for Palestine made the US charts for the first time in 2021. It makes a unique first or middle name choice to honor Palestinian heritage.

Among the Top Ten Basque baby girls' names, this is actually the place name of an island and is related to other such names as Isla. An unusual O-ending girls' name.

A perfect example of what a difference a single letter can make. Add an 'a' to the ho-hum Cathy and you have the old name for China, often used by such poets as Edna St. Vincent Millay and Ezra Pound.