Thoughts on various Gileads in fiction

I’m not a literature major or even really an avid reader or writer but I had noticed in a few of my favorite books (the dark tower, the inheritance cycle, handmaidens tale, etc.) the name of the biblical region of Gilead comes up as the name for cities in these settings. I wanted to know what your thoughts on the use of this name for these regions. Is there some kind of literary trope, or is it just a name that people like to use? From my limited understanding these cities of Gilead in fiction are often very historical and play parts in the plot, if not directly in some cases.