West Coast Baby Names With a California-Cool, Laid-Back Vibe

If you’re from the West Coast of the U.S. — or even just spent some time there and fell in love with it — you know there’s no place quite like it. From the California deserts to Washington state’s literal rainforest (?!) the Pacific Coast can feel like it holds little pieces of the whole world. And if you’re about to welcome a tiny new West Coaster (or just one with coastal-cool roots), we’ve got just the name ideas for you.

“There is a long-term cool, California surfer vibe that’s relaxed and sun-kissed and beautiful and has a quintessential American appeal,” Nameberry’s name guru Pamela Redmond Satran tells SheKnows of the trend towards West Coast-inspired baby names for 2020 and beyond. “California names might typically be thought of as offbeat — all the crazy celebrity baby names! Plus, there are hippie nature names such as Ocean and Yosemite that people might think of as California names. But real-life California names often have a distinctly Latinx vibe because of the large Spanish-speaking population — so names that bridge Latinx and Anglo cultures, such as Teo and Lucia, are popular.”

If you’re a Cali parent in particular, “the hipper the place, the hipper the name,” Satran tells SheKnows. “Robert Downey Jr. named his son Indio after a desert town near Coachella. Venice is a cool part of L.A. that would translate well to a baby name, as would Silver and/or Lake; [Silverlake is] a hip east-side neighborhood.” Or you could name your Cali kid Canyon after Laurel Canyon, or Griffith after Griffith park, Satran says.

And if you’re a Northerner? “From the Bay Area, selections might be Oakland, Berkeley, Orinda, Tilden (for the park), Marin, Hayes (for the SF neighborhood Hayes Valley), or Bay,” says Satran.

The names below come from coastal cities, beaches and points of interest along the West Coast. In a few cases, though, we’ve improvised a bit to make the names more appealing to parents (although, if you want to name your baby Huntington, don’t let us stop you!).