Cool Travel Baby Names
Names for Babies Related to Travel, Cities, States and Countries
Apr 14, 2007
While some travel-related baby names have quickly become tired due to overuse or bad celebrity connotations (think Paris), there are many great names that can allow you to bless your child with the parents' love for travel or a particular destination you love.
Tips for Picking a Travel Baby Name
Look for a name that you would like even if you had no travel association with it. You don't want to pick a name just because you spent your honeymoon there, even if you don't like the sound of it. Also, consider any associations or the popularity of a name.
Also look beyond obvious names like Austin and Madison, or obvious references like countries, states and cities, to come up with your own ideas. What was the name of the street where you stayed during your honeymoon? Or the river you walking along hand-in-hand?
City Baby Names
City baby names are a popular way to select a travel-related baby name. Here are some popular as well as unique and less-used city names used as baby names:
- Madison
- Austin
- London
- Paris
- Alexandria
- Elizabeth
- Aurora
- Boston
- Manhattan
- Charlotte
- Sienna
- Orlando
- Phoenix
- Savannah
- Quebec
- Chicago
- Daytona
State Baby Names
The bonus of using a state name is that it can cover a broader range of destinations you love.
- Virginia
- Montana
- Tabasco (a state in Mexico)
- Caroline or Carolina
- Nevada
- California
- Vermont
- Texas
- Wyoming
- Colorado
- Arizona
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
Country and Region Baby Names
You can show your love for an entire country or region with some popular and rare baby names, such as:
- Pyrenees
- France
- Spain
- Azur
- America
- Canada
- Basque
- Aquitaine
- Languedoc
- Alsace
- Catalan
- Azores
- Provence
- Ontario
- Baja
- Amazon
- Appalachian
Other Ideas for Travel Names
Pull out a map and see what inspires you. Maybe there's a part of the world both of you have always longed to visit, and this could be a great name. Consider attractions. If your proposal was on the Eiffel Tower, perhaps Eiffel would make a great name. If your first date was along the Colorado River, perhaps you should go with Colorado.
You can even look to favorite books and movies for ideas based on where they were set. For that matter, you can look to old legends, myths and other fictional stories for invented places. You can also look to history and regions of either the U.S. or world that once existed, but have new names today.
Before You Use a Travel Baby Name
There are some key factors you should consider before you choose a travel name.
- Say the name outloud a few times and over a few weeks and see if you get used to it. If Alaska sounds weird to you even after using it for a while, it probably isn't a good choice. Also say it with your last name to see if it sounds good together.
- Be sure both parents love the name and agree on it. You might decide together that you love to travel and want a travel-related name, but allow each parent to have full veto power if they hate a name choice.
- Decide if you want or don't want a popular name. Even if Madison is one of your favorite places on earth, it was the third most popular name as of 2005. You might not want your child to be in a class with 3 other Madisons. On the other hand, you might also not want your child to have to spell the name and demonstrate the pronunciation.
- Avoid taking a common city, state or other destination and trying to force it to be unique with a weird spelling. It won't be any more unique, but will just be harder to spell, probably get mispronounced constantly and will look odd. If you like the name, stick with the common spelling.
- Be sure it doesn't rhyme or relate to something very bad. If there is a tease name related to it, kids will surely think it up if you can. While most names can be twisted into something by other kids, you don't want one that makes it was too easy.
- Consider whether you will ever travel with your baby, or will travel to the particular place with your child at some point. If you name your baby London, one day the question will come up regarding when you will visit.
- Consider picking a place to conceive the baby that would make a great babyname. Procreation vacations are increasingly popular, and this could add even more significant meaning to the baby name.
