Place Names

Names taken from somewhere on a map. The place usually got its own name from a person, a landscape feature or a language nobody there speaks any more, so the meaning is two removes away.

Rankings for

106 names, most popular first in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Bentley Bentley means the bent-grass clearing, and its rise is one of the sharpest we record — American births went 666 in 2009 to 4,009 in 2010, a six-fold jump in a single year.
Boy English #215 in US
Dallas Dallas is the only rising name in this group — it peaked in 2015 and is still climbing, at 238th in the United States.
Unisex Scottish #238 in US
Brandon Brandon is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broom-covered hill, often confused with the Irish Brendan.
Boy English #261 in US
Dakota Dakota means friend or ally in the Dakota language, and it is one of very few widely used names taken from an Indigenous North American language.
Unisex Native American #295 in US
Preston Preston means the priest's settlement — land held by the church rather than by a lord, which is why so many English places carry the name.
Boy English #299 in US
Clayton Clayton means the settlement on clay, from an English place name that describes the ground it stood on.
Boy English #300 in US
Kimberly Kimberly is a girl's name that reached America by way of a South African diamond town, which was itself named after a British colonial secretary.
Girl English #302 in US
Harlow Harlow is a unisex name from an Essex place name meaning "army hill," most likely a mound where a Saxon assembly met rather than a battlefield.
Unisex English #309 in US
Sabrina Sabrina is the Latin name of the River Severn, and the legend behind it is a drowning — a princess thrown into the river became its spirit.
Girl Latin #321 in US
Kendall Kendall means the valley of the River Kent, and Scotland ranks it 309th — above the United States at 329th, which is unusual for a name whose modern use is almost entirely American.
Unisex English #329 in US
Cairo Cairo is a boy's name taken from the Egyptian capital, whose Arabic name al-Qahirah means "the vanquisher".
Boy Arabic #341 in US
Wade Wade means a river crossing, and there is a second Wade entirely — a Germanic sea giant from Old English legend whose story Chaucer refers to as though everyone knew it, and which is now lost.
Boy English #344 in US
Sydney Sydney is a name from a French place name — Saint-Denis, contracted by English speakers — and the Australian city was named after a man who bore it.
Girl English #348 in US
Desmond Desmond means south Munster, and it is a territory rather than a person — Deas-Mhumhain named the earldom the Fitzgeralds held, and the name reaches modern use through the land.
Boy Irish #376 in US
Londyn Londyn is a girl's name, a respelling of the city of London.
Girl English #388 in US
Bradley Bradley is a boy's name from an English place name meaning broad meadow.
Boy English #403 in US
Carolina Carolina means free man, and two American states carry it — both Carolinas are named for Charles I in Latin, so a Germanic word for a peasant ended up on the map through a king.
Girl Latin #405 in US
London London is a girls' name in America and barely used in England — 81 percent of recorded births are female, it ranks 431st in the United States, and 3,355th in the country containing the city it names.
Unisex American #431 in US
Payton Payton means Pæga's farm, from an English place name — and it is 71 percent female on record, having crossed over from an entirely masculine surname within a generation.
Unisex English #440 in US
Dalton Dalton means the settlement in the valley, and Northern Ireland ranks it 305th — above the United States at 448th, which is unexpected for a name whose modern use is almost entirely American.
Boy English #448 in US
Rome Rome is a boy's name taken from the city, whose own name has no agreed derivation.
Boy Latin #452 in US
Alexandria Alexandria is the city before it is the name — Alexander founded it in 331 BC, and the feminine given name was formed from the place rather than directly from Alexandra, which took a different route.
Girl Greek #474 in US
Caspian Caspian is a boy's name taken from the Caspian Sea, which is named for the Caspii, an ancient people of the region.
Boy English, Latin #492 in US
Leland Leland means fallow land — ground deliberately left unplowed for a season.
Boy English #494 in US
Zaire Zaire is a name used mostly for boys, from the former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in use from 1971 to 1997.
Unisex Kongo, Portuguese #503 in US
Kyle Kyle is a boy's name of Scottish Gaelic origin meaning "narrow strait," taken from a district of Ayrshire.
Boy Scottish #508 in US
Denver Denver is a unisex name of English origin meaning "the Danes' crossing".
Unisex English #520 in US
Virginia Virginia is a girl's name from a Roman family name, and the American state was named before the name became common in America — both honoring Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
Girl Latin #525 in US
Skye Skye is a girl's name taken from the Hebridean island, whose own name is disputed between a Gaelic root meaning "winged" and a Norse one meaning "cloud."
Girl Scottish #531 in US
Holland Holland is a unisex name taken from the historic region of the Netherlands, from Old Dutch holt lant, "wood land."
Unisex Dutch, English #549 in US
Cali Cali is a girl's name with several possible sources.
Girl Greek, American #575 in US
Rhodes Rhodes is a boy's name from the Greek island, whose name is often linked to rhodon, "rose."
Boy Greek, English #575 in US
Paris Paris has two unrelated sources — the Trojan prince and the French city — and France barely uses it, ranking the name 7,188th while the United States has it at 592nd and 80 percent female.
Unisex Greek #592 in US
Memphis Memphis is a unisex name from the ancient Egyptian capital, the Greek form of Men-nefer, "enduring and beautiful."
Unisex Egyptian, Greek #639 in US
Shelby Shelby is a girl's name from an English place name of Norse formation meaning a willow farm.
Girl English #649 in US
Trevor Trevor is a Welsh place name meaning big settlement, and the first element is the tre that begins a great many Cornish and Welsh place names — Tregaron, Trelawney, Treharris and several hundred others besides.
Boy Welsh #679 in US
Lee Lee is a name from the Old English word for a woodland clearing, and it is one of the most productive elements in English place names — the ending of Ashley, Bradley, Shirley and Beverly.
Unisex English #725 in US
Clyde Clyde took nothing from Bonnie and Clyde.
Boy Scottish #742 in US
Bethany Bethany is a village outside Jerusalem, and its meaning is contested — house of figs and house of the poor are both proposed.
Girl Hebrew #751 in US
Keith Keith is a boy's name from a Scottish place name, probably from a Brittonic word for a wood.
Boy Scottish #800 in US
Kelsey Kelsey is a girl's name from an English place name, and its two proposed meanings — ship's victory and Cenel's island — have nothing in common.
Girl English #815 in US
Tara Tara is a girl's name from the hill in County Meath where the High Kings were inaugurated, and its meaning is a place of assembly.
Girl Irish #844 in US
Chelsea Chelsea is a girl's name from a London district whose name means chalk landing place — a wharf where chalk was unloaded from boats on the Thames.
Girl English #852 in US
Haley Haley means hay meadow, from an English place name.
Girl English #861 in US
Cheyenne Cheyenne is not the Cheyenne people's own name for themselves — it is a Sioux word meaning red speakers, applied from outside.
Girl Native American #921 in US
Brittany Brittany is a girl's name taken from the French region, which is named for British settlers who crossed the Channel in late antiquity.
Girl English #928 in US
Byron Byron means at the cattle sheds — a working place name that became shorthand for romantic poetry, which is a longer journey than most names make.
Boy English #983 in US
Beverly Beverly is a name from an English town meaning beaver stream, and it began as a boys' name before crossing decisively to girls.
Girl English #1,020 in US

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