I just learned there is a violinist called Geneva Lewis. This spurred the idle thought that there are other place names have been used as first names. Sienna, Florence, Paris spring to mind. Do you know others? Are they mostly female names?
“Paris” (as in the guy) is not actually a place name; Wikipedia says it is of Luwian origin and means “foremost, primary man”.
Now, we have people like Montana Taylor; his name was Arthur, but he was from Montana, so… (cf. Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander of Macedon…)
I thought Geneva was a pretty old name. I worked with a Geneva in the 90s.
Apparently as a name it peaked in the 1920s. The name is tied to the either the Juniper Tree or Gaulish for estuary. So may not really be tied to the city.
There are several Dakotas around.
Madison was made popular by Splash as a girls name and was based on a NYC Street.
Olympia comes from Mount Olympus, though I imagine some modern-day Olympias may have been named after the capital of Washington State.
Silly of me, I hadn’t thought of he original use of Paris, was thinking of Paris Hilton.
OTTOMH IVE come across women named Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Virginia, Augusta, Madison, Kennedy, Florence.
The first one to come to mind that wasn’t already mentioned is Austin (I have a cousin with that name). Also, Isreal.
At least some of those are places named after people, though, not people named after places.
That’s also a place named after a person.
The OP didn’t say you can’t list people named after places that were named after people.
Not unrelated, America.
Cleveland Amory
and Holland Taylor
Trivia time: besides Israel, what are the only two countries named after Jews?
Solomon Islands and El Salvador.
I’ve seen a few women called London.One example:
The list is long.
Adelaide, Chelsea , Brooklyn, Ireland, Bronx, Phoenix, Jordan, Sydney, Darwin.
Come to think of it, Erin and Shannon, used as names, both come from the places.
I know a Santiago. And he’s from Chile.
Another Vienna is the actor named Vienna Leacock.
I knew someone named Arizona. Most people called him Zone. I know someone named after the famous building where she was allegedly conceived.
Originally not a place name. Adelaide, Australia was named after Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV of the UK (born Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, Duchess in Saxony).
In German, the name is Adelheid, from which we get Heidi.
Another example of a feminine personal name that is perhaps better known as a toponym is Alberta. Today, this is one of Canada’s provinces, and it was named after Princess Louise, wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, once Governor General of Canada. They were a popular viceregal couple and the name Louise was originally proposed. However, the Princess requested that the name Alberta be used. Her full given names were Louise Caroline Alberta, the last one after her father Albert the Prince Consort (Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), and she wanted to honor her father. Lake Louise and Mount Alberta were also named after her.
The given name Graham traces back to the surname Graham which traces back to Grantham, England.