Ever get the feeling that other parents are chucking their baby names books in favor of the atlas?

You’re not wrong. It’s tough to take an official count – are any of those little girl Madisons, for example, named after the town in Wisconsin? – but places both exotic and familiar are popping up on the charts these days.

So today, we’ll turn the spotlight on two all-American choices: Alabama and Indiana.Both names have much to recommend them. They’re familiar but not overused, and shorten to the appealing and simple nicknames Indy and Aly, or perhaps, Ana and Bama.

And before you dismiss them as new innovations, baby name guru Laura Wattenberg is quick to point out that back in the Victorian era, the following states’ names were all used for little girls: Tennesse, Florida, Arizona, Missouri and, yes, Indiana. To read more about names from the 1890s, check out the full post on her blog.

Alabama has plenty of starbaby flair. Actor Drea de Matteo and country star Shooter Jennings called their daughter Alabama Gypsyrose; former Miss USA Shanna Moakler and rocker Travis Barker are parents to Alabama Luella.

And before the starbabies made their debuts, Quention Tarantino’s 1993 film True Romance featured a character of the same name. (Patricia Arquette played that particular Alabama, starring opposite Christian Slater as unlikely tough-guy Clarence.)

It’s a state, of course, but the state bears the name of a Native American tribe. In turn, the state has given its name to country music group Alabama. And, of course, the megahit Sweet Home Alabama was recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The result is a name that is sweet and feminine, though perhaps a bit Southern-fried. It could come across as spirited and unusual – a fresher version of Georgia. Yet this choice seems less than sophisticated. It’s not quite calling your child Chardonnay, but it isn’t Elizabeth, either.

While Alabama is quite clearly reserved for girls, Indiana seems to be one of the few truly gender neutral names.

It’s also, of course, the 19th state and the nickname of college professor and adrenaline-junkie archeologist Henry Jones. With the fourth installment in the successful franchise set to hit theaters in May 2008, this name might be poised for a surge.

Indiana is a starbaby choice, too – Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix called their firstborn son Indiana August.  (Summer’s brother, the late River Phoenix, played the young Indiana Jones in the 1989 blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.)

Somehow, Indiana feels like a more substantial choice than Alabama. Perhaps its because of Dr. Jones’ enduring appeal, but there’s also something vaguely international about this Hoosier state appellation.

If we’re looking at a globe, there’s an Indiana in Sao Paulo, Brazil – derived not from the English word for Indian, but from an extinct language once widely spoken in the region.

But the most surprising revelation about Indiana is that it has some serious literary cred. George Sand (born Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin!) wrote a novel in 1831 titled – you guessed it – Indiana.

In the story, Indiana was the heroine and she hailed not from the U.S. of A., but from Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean. Indiana’s love life is something of a train wreck, but the early use of this moniker for a literary heroine doubtless lends it a bit of cachet.

So if you’re scanning the atlas and want to go farther than Georgia, consider these two place names with more than their share of style:  Indiana and Alabama.