A new trend in baby naming looms to take over a generation of babies. It is naming babies after cities, rivers, countries and continents.

Have you just come back from a vacation in Greece, learning your pregnant? Why don't you name your girl Nyssa after the Greek town?

Many parents have embraced this trend for several reasons. First, it reminds the parents a special place they were. It could be their place of birth such as London, England or Sophia, Bulgaria or a unique place they visited in. it is common to name babies according to the new and old wonders of the world. Some names are Itza after the Mexican ruins site Chichen Itza. A popular name is Taj, after the famous Taj Mahal. Petra is a poplar name in Arab originated communities in the west.  Other parents named their children inspired by the old Seven Wonders of the World. Girl names are Olympia, Alexandria and  boy names are Artemis and Rhodes.

Another facet is names according to natural places. River names can make great boy names: Hudson, Rio (from Rio Grande) and Jordan. Lakes can be inspiration for girl names: Victoria, Constance after the river that flows through Germany, Austria and Switzerland or Carra after the Irish river.

It is not a new  fad to name children after cities or countries. Ancient English towns have inspired parents to name their kids after them: York, Paisley, Paxton, Ratcliffe, Remington and Hobart.
Girl named after cities are: Nuria, named after the Spanish/Catalan city, Virginia, Kanchi, after the Indian city or Rehan after the sacred Arab city. Paris, London and Washington and Athena are popular names derived from capitals.

A new trend is to name your baby after a continent: Asia is an extremely popular name for a girl. So is Europe, which is pronounced Europa (Europian dilects). Even the name Australia has become popular in England and the United States. The golden globe winner for the comic series "Betty" is named America, which is a popular name in the Latin countries.
Another reason for this trend is that these names are universal. Everybody knows where Jamaica is (Jamaica Kincaid is a famous writer named after the Island) or Israel are. The child becomes part of a global trend and is not confined to names n his own society.
Names inspired by places light a spark of imagination, nostalgia and special taste every time the name is said. A girl named Umbria, will be an "ambassador" of Italy every where she goes and a boy named Everest is surely going to make some people float to the mountain in their minds.

What other names of places can you suggest? What places inspire you?  

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