McKinley River?

I adore the name McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u]! McKinley as a first, [name_u]River[/name_u] as a middle. I know i’ve put this in girl names, as I would use it for a girl, but I think this could also be a boys name, it’s very unisex.
Only problem is that there is a river in [name_u]Alaska[/name_u] called McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u]. I’m not from [name_u]Alaska[/name_u] so it wouldn’t be as big of an issue, but the name does sound very geographical. If someone were to ask my baby’s name, and I replied ‘McKinley River’, I feel like people would find it strange, as it sounds like i’ve literally named my baby after a river.
Any thoughts?

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McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u] is a lovely name and as someone in the UK, I’ve never heard of the river. I’d say maybe test it out on the people around you to see if they’d notice. That said, you would typically call her McKinley not McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u]

McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u] is a really great name! I actually love the unisex quality about it and I don’t think the Alaskan [name_u]River[/name_u] should deter you from using it at all.

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I like McKinley and I like [name_u]River[/name_u], but I don’t like them together.

It sounds very much so like the name of a river, which I guess makes sense since it is one. Maybe I’m thinking of the one you mentioned in [name_u]Alaska[/name_u]. I don’t know if people would assume you named your baby after a river, but the association would probably come up at least a few times.

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It does sound a tiny bit geographical… How about [name_u]River[/name_u] McKinley? :slight_smile:
On the other hand, middle names don’t get spoken aloud too often in everyday life, so probably okay as is too?

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Agree that the name sounds descriptive or geographical but doubt anyone would think he was named after a river.

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It’s not my favorite

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It does sound very geographical. As one on the opposite side of the states from [name_u]Alaska[/name_u] I had no idea that it was an actual [name_u]River[/name_u] more just thought it sounded like one.

Some suggested tweaks:
[name_f]Kinsley[/name_f] [name_u]River[/name_u]
[name_u]Mckenna[/name_u] [name_u]River[/name_u]
Riva/ [name_f]Riverlynn[/name_f]

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I was born and raised in central [name_u]Alaska[/name_u], and I had no idea there was a McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u] in our huge state. :woman_shrugging: Most people would think of the mountain first, so I’d say you’re safe.

Also, when it comes to Alaskan rivers, the big/well known ones are Chatnika, [name_f]Delta[/name_f], Chena, Tanana, Nenana, Koyukuk, [name_u]Copper[/name_u], [name_m]Kenai[/name_m], Susitna, Kuskokwim, and Alatna rivers, so as long you avoid those, you should be fine.

Honestly, [name_u]Alaska[/name_u] has so many rivers and lakes and other bodies of water, you could probably find one with almost any name. Almost no one, unless they’re from right by that specific river, will even know there’s a river in AK called that. And, most likely, those that do live by McKinley [name_u]River[/name_u], if anyone (since most of [name_u]Alaska[/name_u] is suuuuuuper remote, there’s a good chance no one lives by it), would probably belong to an Alaskan native group. Since McKinley isn’t an Alaskan native word, they would likely already have their own name for the river and refer to it as that instead.

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