Baby Names and Place Names

Last night, after a heady evening of NBC Olympics, my husband mused that Helsinki would make an interesting name for a girl. While Helsinki doesn't have the sounds I associate with the next trendy winning name--it has consonant clusters instead of smooth, open vowels--it does have one trend on its side: it's the name of a famous city. Recognizing this trend, the SSA has made a little guessing game and put together a nice list of popular names that are also cities in the U.S. I put together my own list of names in the top 1000 for 2007 that are also famous places. I'm primarily trying to identify people names that were place names first. It's not a short list!

Asia
Austin
Boston
Brittany
Brooklyn
Chad
Cheyenne
Dakota
Dallas
Dayton
Eden
Heaven
India
Ireland
Israel
Jordan
Kenya
Kingston
London
Madison
Memphis
Montana
Montserrat
Orlando
Paris
Phoenix
Santiago
Savannah
Shiloh
Sydney
Trenton
Troy
Zaire
Zion

As you look through this list, you might disagree with me here and there; I was surprised at how much controversy I felt in compiling it. Take, for example, the name Brittany. Brittany is, of course, a region in northern France, and that's the origin and meaning of the name as well. But Brittany has been so popular as a girls' name over the years, and spawned so many variants, that I suspect most new parents think of Brittany as primarily a name, and only secondarily (if at all), as a place. If Florence were on the top 1000 list, I would definitely put it in the same category with Brittany. Other fairly established names, such as Austin, Chad, Jordan and Troy, probably also fit there. It's a matter of opinion.

Then there were other names, such as Orlando and Shiloh, which have become popular recently, but are probably following a different trend, specifically, the trends of Orlando Bloom and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. So I don't blame you for quibbling with me a little.

Just to make one last point, there are plenty of names that were people first, places second, notably Georgia, Carolina, and Virginia. Eugene, Oregon, where I went to graduate school, is named after a man named Eugene. I left those names off of my list, so again, if you compare my list to the one made by the SSA, you'll notice some differences. And again, you may disagree with my judgment.

I hope to put together a list of place names that have as-yet untapped potential to be bestowed on human beings. I'll consider any suggestions! Stay tuned for that post in the near future.