Always thinking of that much-loved summer break to a far flung destination? Well why not pay homage to your favourite travel spot by naming your baby after it?
Paris Hilton recently revealed she’s named her child Phoenix (like the US city in Arizona) which has got us thinking about other city monikers which make for cute and unique baby names.
Perhaps the most famous place inspired baby name was picked by the Beckhams back in 1999 when Brooklyn was born.
But it’s actually our American peers that are more inclined to pick area-inspired names (think Brooklyn, Dakota, Hudson), than parents here in the UK.
Of course that might be because their names are a little more pleasing to the ear than ours – we can’t see anyone being called Huddersfield or Birmingham any time soon.
But according to Nameberry there has been some interest in recent years in picking place names.
According to them, the hottest place names right now — those that are rising up the US and UK charts — are Italian.
It seems we’re all dreaming of those sunshine and pasta filled city breaks, with Florence, Roma, Valencia, and Sienna (also Siena) trending for girls. Notably, Princess Beatrice named her half-Italian daughter Sienna in 2021.
Rome and Milan are also rising choices for boys.
Alba — the Scottish Gaelic term for Scotland — is another rising choice for girls. For boys, Phoenix, Zion, Denver, Cairo, and Caspian (as in the Sea) are on the up.
In fact, Paris herself has a nephew named Caspian.
When it comes to predictions for 2023, Nameberry reckons that Petra, Delphi, Geneva, Alaska will be the monikers for a new crop of baby girls, along with boy names Oslo, Zealand, and Cyprus.
And celebrities have been quick to jump on the baby naming trend.
Rapper Gucci Mane welcomed a daughter named Iceland, while YouTuber and singer Trisha Paytas went for a wamer sounding Malibu. And country music singer Like Combs picked the name Tex – as in Texas – for his son.
Names ending in land are also predicted to become more popular. Names like Ireland and Holland are already mainstream in the US, but choices such as Island, Scotland, Oakland, England, and Portland are popping up too.
When place names become widely popular as baby names — think Austin or Georgia — they are received as names first, places second, but Nameberry does say that parents teetering on using a city name should consider if they have a personal connection.
They also say you can use a place name if you lack a personal connection, but do your research ahead of time. You might even want to visit the city or country in question, just to make sure that the connotations of the destination in question work for you and your new bundle of joy.
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