New York Neighborhood Names

Occasionally used in the African-American community to honor Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey, known as "Emperor of the Kingdom of Africa," though his first name is more frequently chosen. Another possible namesake is baseball player Steve Garvey. Garvey sounds more modern than Harvey.

Norwegian city name heard much more often as a last name than a first.

This is a big name, both in heritage and sound. On the right child, this could be inspired, but others may shrink from all the connotations. While your preferred nickname for this option might be Col (or Kit if you're connecting it to Christopher Columbus), you may end up with the slightly more cumbersome "Bus" as the short-form.

Both Soho and Noho--no-no.

A pretty private park in Manhattan, doesn't quite make it as a baby name.

Kew is an offbeat name of a saint from Cornwall with boyish appeal.

A harsh definition to inflict on a baby boy.

A posh area of London, as well as being a section of Brooklyn, Kensington would make an overly formal, butlerish boy's name. There are several preferable paths to the nickname Ken, including KENYON, KENDALL and KENNEDY.

Corona was once an improbable choice due to the beer brand. After the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, its firmly cemented its status as a nonviable baby name.

Sounds too much like the name of a hotel.

Tribeca was the term created for New York City's TRIangle BElow CAnal Street. Stangely enough--that aside--it almost does sound like a plausible girls' name, nicknamed Becca.

Manhattan is the smallest yet one of the most populous New York City boroughs. The area was historically inhabited by Munsee Lenape and Wappinger tribes of Native Americans, and the name Manhattan is derived from the Munsee Lenape language. Hickory trees that were used to make bows grew on the southern part of Manhattan, which inspired the term manaháhtaan, from the Munsee Lenape words for "gather" and "bow."

The name of a Queens, New York neighborhood sounds like a lost-in-limbo girls' name such as LAVERNE.

Has much too strong of a Brooklyn accent.

New Yorkers will recognize this as a Bronx place name, others will see it as a gussied-up female version of Morris.