What is the newest trend looming over a generation of babies? It is naming babies after cities, rivers, countries and even continents.

If you have just come back from a trip to Greece and learned that you are pregnant, why not name your baby girl Nyssa after the Greek town? Girl names such as Brooklyn (a district of New York city), Madison (a famous street in Manhattan), Sydney (the capital of Australia), and among boy names Austin (the capital of Texas) and Jordan (a country in the Middle East) are among the most popular baby names of the last year.

Many parents have enthusiastically embraced this trend for several reasons. The name may remind the parents a special place they visited. It could be their place of birth such as Sophia, Bulgaria or London, England, or a unique location they visited. Another trend is to name babies according to the new and old Wonders of the World, such as Itza after the Mexican ruins site Chichen Itza, or Taj, after the famous Taj Mahal. Other parents named their children Olympia, Alexandria and boys Artemis and Rhodes, after the old Wonders of the World.

It is now a new fad to name children after historical cities and countries. Ancient English towns have inspired parents to name their kids after them: York, Ratcliffe, Remington, Paisley, Paxton, and Hobart. Girls 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 Athena and Washington are popular names derived from capitals.

Names according to nature places and elements are chosen by thousands of parents. River names can make great boy names: Hudson, Rio (from Rio Grande) and Jordan. Lakes can be an inspiration for girl names: Victoria, Constance after the river that flows through Germany, Austria and Switzerland or Carra after the Irish river.

One of the newest trends is to name your baby after one of the continents: Asia is an extremely popular name for a girl. So is Europe, which is pronounced Europa (Europian dilects). In England and the United States, even the name Australia has become widely used.. The winner of the Golden Globe Award for the comic series "Betty" is named America, which is a popular name in the Latin countries.

A large reason for this trend is that these names are universal. Everyone 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 in his own society. It is a great solution to a unique name that is familiar enough not to be considered as odd or hard to pronounce.

Names inspired by places light a spark of nostalgia, imagination and special taste every time the name is said. A child with the baby girl name Umbria, will be an "ambassador" of Italy every place she goes and the baby boy name Everest is surely going to remind some people of the mountain's breathtaking heights, each time the name is mentioned.