Would You Name Your Child After a Place?

My son is named Murray, after the city in Utah where my grandfather was born. It also is a Scottish surname that means “from the city by the sea,” which made sense as he was both born on the coast and honored our Scottish/British heritage.

I wholeheartedly agree about General Waverly. I might have to go watch the movie now. :) It is also in The Princess Bride!

My husband and I loved to travel prior to having kids (we will love it once again once they get older, ha) and wanted the magical places we visited represented in their middle names, hoping we would take them back with us someday.

My first son’s middle name is Islington, after the neighborhood my husband lived in during grad school in London. I went to visit while we were dating long distance and got “stuck” there for a month. It was pure bliss/a time I often think back on when he’s forgotten to take out the trash for three months in a row.

Our second son’s middle name is Otto, named after our trip to Tokyo. Hear me out. One night in the empty basement hotel bar of a very remote onsen town in Kyoto, my husband and I drunkenly sang Donna Lewis and Beastie Boys songs all night to no one but Otto, the bartender. He knew very little (if any) English, but watched us preform the whole night through (his job, clearly), laughing and smiling, slowly swaying back and forth, clapping his hands in the most joyful and supportive way – like a proud grandma who does not know the song your singing. Not sure what age (if any age) I’ll reveal to my son he’s named after a Japanese bartender. Though I’ll most definitely be taking him to Tokyo someday, that magical place.

Our American son was born in England. We named him Lincoln after both the American president and Lincolnshire, England. Almost everyone in England who met him said, “Oh, like Lincolnshire?” x

I just had a moment thinking “oh how strange to be named after a place.” Only to remember, I’M NAMED AFTER A PLACE! Ha!

My middle name is Cahir (pronounced “care”), which is the town in Ireland where my Great-Grandfather was born, and where we still have family. Also, my parents honeymooned there ;)

(I’m sure the honeymoon isn’t an insignificant reason, as I was born nine months later)

I’ve been there twice and it is a lovely town, and I’m happy to be named after a place that has such meaning for my family.

Also my first name means Ireland, so it all works.

I am named after a place :)
A beautiful mountain in the north cascades of Washington state, where I grew up.
I absolutely love my name and the fact that I can go there anytime I want.

I’v always thought Sydney (or Sidney) is a beautiful name for a girl!

My friend named his son Cooper because they were living in Cupertino at the time.
Also, I have a friend named Noi because she was born in Illinois :)

Our daughter’s name is Memphis May. I have never been to Memphis (I’m Australian) and I don’t have a thing for Elvis. While I was pregnant I was reading Singer Songwriter Paul Kelly’s autobiography “How to Make Gravy” and he wrote about naming his daughter Memphis, after the Egyptian goddess, and Bono has a daughter called Memphis. Anyway it stuck with me after that, and hence she is Memphis. It also seems to go with her older brother’s name “Sonny”.

My husband and I met in Chicago and have lived together in various homes within a few blocks of Sheffield Ave. Some of our best memories are walking up Sheffield on a summer evening or to a Cubs game, especially the night the Cubs won the World Series. I’ve always loved the name Sheffield for a little boy, but I think it’s a little nerdy sounding. I haven’t figured out a good nickname yet, but let me know if anyone has ideas!

i’have a 12 years old Asia .. her dad and I would have loved living there, but we were unable to move for a number of reasons. Now Asia will always be with us.

My hubby and I named our first baby (our beloved fur baby) Harrison because we met as undergrads living next door to each other on Harrison Street! Then, when we had our first human offspring, we gave him the middle name Wise because we spent the bulk of our dating years falling in love and “living in sin” on Wise Avenue. Our second son did not end up with a place name, however, and I’ve always slightly regretted not continuing the trend. We do feel we still give him a stellar middle name… Atlas. He was 24.5″ (yes, you read that right) at birth so he was just a big dude. We named him after the Greek titan because he looked strong enough to hold up the heavens.

I’m Turkish and living in Turkey. However, both me and my husband are of Circassian (Adyghe) descent . When we were to have our first baby, my husband said he wanted to give her/him a Circassian name. I was worried about this though, because Circassian language dialects, depending on which one you’re referring to, have only 2-4 vowels and some 50 or 60 consonants!! (And unlike him I always wanted a Turkish name.) So back then, I asked him if he could at least think of something that people could pronounce, which I think really limited his choices :) We also considered the name “Elbruz”, which is a mountain in Caucasus so it would make sense considering our family roots. But it just didn’t sound right. After long lasting debates (32 days after his birth, to be exact) and discovering that everyone in the family had an idea on the subject :) we ended up naming our son after an animal instead, Arslan (Turkish for “Lion”, it can also be written as Aslan.) It quite suited his golden locks and I don’t know how and why that happened but when my son was scared of other kids, he used hide behind me and roar :)

Our second son’s middle name is Tibet. It’s used as a male name in Turkey. It’s an old one, not trendy, not too common but not rare, and although it’s controversial it’s believed to have Turkic origins (Tüpüt, Töbet, Töpat, Tepe all meaning high hill or hills).

Love names based on places. We have a daughter named “Fox Lara” – Lara after Laramie, Wyoming, a place my husband and I love.

Yes! We named our son Camden. We got engaged on Islesboro Island off the coast of Camden, Maine, and it was the town where we spent the majority of our engagement weekend! I am a big fan of naming children after states and towns and national parks. (And I love the name Roman!)

My daughter’s name is Rose. We were in a rose garden in Washington on a walk and thought that would be a beautiful name if we had a daughter someday. Later that evening I found out I was pregnant, and that’s been her name ever since!

my son’s name
is sky and his little sister’s sunday. both names came in a dream.

My brother and sister-in-law have named their kids after states: Arizona and Indiana. They call them Zona and Indy. They’re pregnant with their third, but they’ve run out of state names that they like. My husband gave them a onesie printed with their last name and 03 and a note attached: “We don’t know what you’ll name your new little one, but here’s a New Jersey.” :D

A couple in my church named their eldest son Park, after Park City, Utah, where he was conceived. Their daughter was also named after the European city she was conceived. My husband and I have privately made fun of Park mercilessly, but somehow state names are not mockable.

My son’s middle name is Richmond, after the city where his dad and I met.

On a round the world backpacking trip, I became pregnant with my first daughter in Sydney. Since that was a family name we both loved? Done! And she’s grown now, and loves the story of her name. (Two subsequent daughters were much harder to name!)