Place-name baby names

Every name links to its full page: meaning, origin, and its real popularity curve since 1890.

Adriana Italian · from Hadria; a graceful modern favorite

Adrien French · from Hadria, a place in Italy

Adrián Spanish · from Hadria, dark one

Agus Indonesian · common classic name tied to Agustus, the independence month

Aila Scottish · variant of Isla, from the Scottish river name

Ailsa Scottish · from Ailsa Craig, the granite island in the Firth of Clyde

Aitana Spanish · from a mountain range in Alicante (Basque-rooted place-name); hugely trendy nationwide, cemented by pop star Aitana Ocaña

Aitana Spanish · Spanish place name (Sierra de Aitana mountain, Alicante); popularly said to mean 'glory', though disputed

Alexandria Greek · feminine form of Alexander, also the Egyptian city

Alton English · old town

Amaia Spanish · Basque name meaning 'the end'; also a town in Navarre

America English · the country name, from Amerigo Vespucci

Ansley English · English place name, 'Ann's meadow' or 'hermit's clearing'

Arden English · from an English/French place name (Forest of Arden), possibly meaning 'high'

Ashanti African · named for the Ashanti people of Ghana; embraced as a proud African heritage name, also familiar via singer Ashanti

Aspen English · from the aspen tree / place name

Austin Latin · great, magnificent

Ayrton English · farm on the River Aire (English surname and place name); famously borne by F1 legend Ayrton Senna

Belen Spanish · Spanish name meaning 'Bethlehem', referencing the birthplace of Jesus

Benton English · moor grass settlement

Berkley English · place name/surname meaning 'birch tree meadow'

Bethany Hebrew · house of figs (biblical village near Jerusalem); famously borne by surfer Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hebrew · biblical place name, traditionally 'house of figs'

Bethlehem Amharic · city of Christ's birth (Betelhem)

Beverly English · from an English place name meaning 'beaver stream' or 'beaver meadow'

Bexley English · clearing of box trees (English place name)

Blaire Scottish · variant of Blair, meaning plain or field

Boston English · place name, from 'St. Botolph's town'

Bradford English · broad river crossing (place name)

Brent English · from the place name meaning steep hill

Bristol English · English place name meaning site of the bridge

Brittany French · from the region of Brittany in France

Brixton English · London place name, from Old English 'Brihtsige's stone'

Brodie Scottish · Scottish surname/place name, traditionally linked to Gaelic for 'muddy place'

Brooklyn English · place name

Brooklynn Dutch · modern elaboration of Brooklyn, from "Breukelen" (broken land)

Cairo Arabic · capital of Egypt; from Arabic al-Qahirah, 'the victorious'

Cali English · modern short form, possibly of Calista or the place name

Camden English · place name/surname; meaning uncertain, possibly "winding valley"

Camdyn English · phonetic variant of Camden, English place name 'enclosed valley'

Campbell Scottish · Scottish clan surname, from Gaelic 'cam' (crooked) and 'beul' (mouth)

Canaan Hebrew · biblical promised land; meaning uncertain

Capri Italian · place name, the Italian island of Capri

Carlton English · farmers' settlement

Carmen Spanish · garden, orchard (from Mount Carmel); a graceful classic carried across generations

Caspian Persian · from the Caspian Sea, named for an ancient people near the Caucasus; popularized by C.S. Lewis

Chelsea English · Old English place name meaning 'chalk landing place'

Chester English · fortified town (from Latin castra)

Cheyenne Native-American · from the name of the Cheyenne people, from Sioux 'Sahiyena'

Clifton English · settlement by the cliff

Clinton English · settlement on a hill

Clyde Scottish · river name

Colby Scandinavian · English surname from Old Norse, 'Koli's farm/settlement'

Covadonga Spanish · the cave shrine in Asturias, birthplace of the Reconquista; a striking, rare Spanish historic place-name

Crosby English · English surname from Old Norse 'cross settlement'

Dakota Sioux · friend, ally

Dallas Scottish · place name/surname; meaning uncertain, possibly "meadow of the waterfall"

Dania Latin · Latin name for Denmark; also used as a feminine form of Daniel

Dax French · place name, the French town of Dax

Dayton English · English place name/surname, roughly meaning 'Day's town' or 'bright town'

Dayu Indonesian · honorific for a daughter of Balinese Brahmin caste, used as a given name

Delia Greek · traditionally from the island of Delos (epithet of Artemis)

Denim French · from the fabric, ultimately 'de Nimes' (of Nimes)

Denver English · place name, "green valley"

Desmond Irish · "from South Munster"

Devon English · from Devon, an English county, root possibly Celtic

Dixie English · traditionally associated with the American South

Easton English · place name, "east settlement"

Eden Amharic · paradise (shared with the English Eden)

Egypt Greek · place name, the country, from Greek Aigyptos

Eldon English · meaning uncertain, English place name (possibly elder-tree hill)

Elton English · from an English place name, 'Ella's town'; famously borne by Elton John

Elton English · old town (place name)

Erin Irish · peace; from Ireland

Everest Welsh · from Mount Everest, named for surveyor Sir George Everest

Fasil Amharic · refers to Emperor Fasilides, builder of the Gondar castles

Florence Latin · flourishing

Ford English · place name/surname meaning 'river crossing'

Galilea Hebrew · Spanish form of Galilee, the biblical region in Israel

Garazi Spanish · traditionally linked to the Cize region (Basque form of Grace); a regional discovery gaining nationwide use

Geneva French · from the city of Geneva; also a form of Genevieve

Georgia Greek · farmer

Guadalupe Spanish · from the valley of the wolf; Our Lady of Guadalupe makes this one of the most revered names across generations of Mexican-American Catholic families

Guadalupe Spanish · Spanish place name, traditionally 'river of wolves' (Arabic 'wadi' + Latin 'lupus'); associated with the Virgin of Guadalupe

Harlem Dutch · NYC neighborhood, named after Haarlem, Netherlands

Hayley English · place name meaning 'hay meadow'

Henley English · place name and surname meaning high meadow

Holland Dutch · place name for the Netherlands, traditionally 'wood-land' or 'hollow land'

Houston Scottish · surname/place name meaning 'Hugh's town'

Hudson English · son of Hudde

Idil Turkish · utopia, an ideal state; also a river name (İdil)

India English · from the country name India, itself from the Indus River

Iona Scottish · place name, Scottish island of the Hebrides

Iria Spanish · from Iria Flavia, an ancient Galician town; a poetic regional place-name gaining nationwide use

Irving Scottish · from the River Irvine, green water

Isla Scottish · island

Iyla Scottish · variant of Isla, a Scottish river/place name

Jericho Hebrew · biblical city; meaning uncertain, possibly moon city

Jordan Hebrew · to flow down

Jordyn Hebrew · modern feminine spelling of Jordan, "to flow down"

Kairo Arabic · variant spelling of Cairo, from Arabic al-Qahirah, 'the victorious'

Kamden English · variant spelling of Camden, English for 'enclosed valley'

Kamdyn English · modern phonetic variant of Camden, 'winding valley'

Keaton English · English place name, possibly 'hawk enclosure' or 'shed town'

Kelsey English · traditionally 'island of ships', from an Old English place name

Kelvin Scottish · from the River Kelvin in Scotland, of uncertain Celtic origin

Kenia Spanish · Spanish form of the country name Kenya

Kent English · meaning uncertain, from the English county (possibly 'border land')

Kenya African · named for the East African nation; a proud heritage place-name embraced since the 1970s

Kenyatta African American · honoring Kenyan founding president Jomo Kenyatta; a name of the Black-pride era

Kerry Irish · descendants of Ciar, the dark one

Ketut Indonesian · Balinese birth-order name for the fourth-born child

Kimber English · short form of Kimberly, English place name 'royal fortress meadow'

Kingsley English · place name/surname meaning 'king's meadow'

Kingston English · place name, "king's settlement"

Lacey French · English surname from Lassy, a Norman place name

Lachlan Scottish · from the land of lochs (Norway)

Landen English · phonetic variant of Landon, 'long hill'

Landon English · place name, "long hill"

Landyn English · modern respelling of Landon, long hill

Which of these fits YOUR family? →