It turns out that there are many Americans who choose to name their children after tourist destinations. This is according to a new study conducted by the travel and tourism company Bounce.
As of 2023, the most popular “touristy” names for babies in the United States are Hudson and Sydney.
The researchers examined the data on baby names from the past two decades to uncover the travel destinations that inspired parents to choose these names.
This choice has a variety of reasons, including the desire to commemorate a beloved vacation destination, a shared honeymoon destination, or even the place where the child was conceived.
The most popular names: Hudson and Sydney
Travel site Travel Pulse reports that the name Hudson, derived from the famous river in New York, has been a popular choice for many parents since the beginning of the 21st century. Since the year 2000, 77,000 baby boys have been named after the river.
Syndey, in second place, draws inspiration from the famous harbor in Australia, which hosted the Olympics in 2000. Since then, 107,000 girls have been named Sydney.
Additional names include Preston, a name of English origin in a town located in Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the US, there are two cities with this name in Connecticut and Idaho. The name Camden is also considered popular, thanks to the lively London neighborhood.
New York and Ancient Egypt continue to ignite inspiration
The only name in the top ten list for both boys and girls is Dakota. Surprisingly, in sixth place for boys’ names inspired by tourist destinations, we find Israel. Since 2000, approximately 35,000 American boys have been named Israel. The list of boys is completed by names such as Devon, Dallas, Pheonix and Orlando.
For girls, after Sydney, the names Brooklyn (104,566 babies) and Alexandria (42,010) appear. This proves that both the famous neighborhood in New York City and ancient Egypt continue to inspire many American parents. The list also includes London, Dakota, Paris, Carolina, Guadeloupe (France), Journey and Adelaide (named after the Australian city).
This research examined all names related to the world of tourism and travel, based on the American residents’ registry. This included names of countries, capital cities, rivers, mountains, general travel-related terms (such as Journey) and other travel destinations around the world.
