Aalst (Settlement) DutchPossibly from Germanic *
alhs meaning
"temple, shelter". This is the name of various towns in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Aarle (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of various towns in the Netherlands.
Achthoven (Settlement) DutchMeans
"eight farmsteads" in Dutch. This is the name of various towns in the Netherlands.
Adrichem (Settlement) DutchMeans
"Adrik's home". This was the name of an estate and castle (demolished in 1812) that was formerly in North Holland, the Netherlands.
Afghanistan (Country) Pashto, Arabic, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, MalayFrom Pashto
افغانستان (Afghanistan), from the Persian ethnic name
افغان (Afghan) meaning "Afghan, Pashtun" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.
Afrika (Region) German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, BulgarianForm of
Africa in several languages.
Algiers (Settlement) English, DutchFrom Arabic
الجزائر (al-Jaza'ir) meaning
"the islands". This is the name of the capital city of
Algeria, so named because of the islands in its bay.
Altena (Settlement) DutchPossibly means
"close, near" in Dutch. This is the name of a town in the Netherlands.
Amerika (Region & Country) German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Luxembourgish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Albanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Tatar, Bashkir, Chechen, Indonesian, Malay, JapaneseForm of
America, used to refer to the continents and sometimes to the United States of America.
Amersfoort (Settlement) DutchMeans
"ford of the Amer (Eem) River" in Dutch. This is the name of a city in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Amstel (River) DutchMeans
"water place" in Dutch. This is the name of a river in the Netherlands, which lent its name to
Amsterdam.
Amsterdam (Settlement) Dutch, English, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, French, Italian, Spanish, PolishMeans
"dam on the Amstel" in Dutch. This is the name of the capital city of the Netherlands, first mentioned with this name in the 13th century.
Andel (Settlement) DutchPossibly means
"upper forest" in Old Dutch. This is the name of a town in North Brabant in the Netherlands.
Angola (Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Indonesian, MalayPortuguese form of
Ngola, the royal title of the kings of Ndongo, an African kingdom that was conquered by the Portuguese in the 17th-century. It was a Portuguese colony until 1975, when it became an independent country.
Antwerpen (Settlement) Dutch, German, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, BosnianDutch form of
Antwerp, as well as the form in several other languages.
Apeldoorn (Settlement) DutchMeans
"apple tree" in Dutch. This is the name of a city in the Netherlands.
Arendonk (Settlement) DutchDerived from Dutch
arend "eagle" and
donk "hill". This is the name of a city in northern Belgium.
Asch (Settlement) DutchFrom Old Dutch
ask meaning
"ash tree". This is the name of a town in the Netherlands.
Assendorp (Settlement) DutchFrom Dutch
es meaning "ash tree" (plural
essen) and
dorp meaning "village". This is the name of a city in the Netherlands.
Aubigny (Settlement) FrenchFrom the Gallo-Roman given name
Albinus. This is the name of several French communes.
Babylon (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical GreekGreek form of Akkadian
𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Babili), which appears to mean
"gateway of God", from Akkadian
𒆍 (babu) meaning "gate" and
𒀭 (ilu) meaning "God", though it may in fact derive from a non-Semitic language. This was the name of a major city in ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was located in present-day Iraq.
Bangladesh (Country) Bengali, Indian, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Mongolian, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Indonesian, MalayFrom Bengali
বাংলাদেশ (Bangladesh) meaning
"country of the Bengali people", from the name of the Bengali people
বাংলা (Bangla) combined with
দেশ (desh) "country, state". The ethnic name is derived from that of the ancient kingdom of
Vanga. This is the name of a country in south Asia.
Beers (Settlement) DutchPossibly from Dutch
baar meaning
"bar". This is the name of a town in the Netherlands (plus a smaller one in Frisia).
Belize (Country & River) English, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayFrom Spanish
Belice, earlier
Balis, from the name of the Belize River, which may itself be from Mayan
beliz meaning
"muddy water". This is the name of a country on the Atlantic coast of Central America.
Benin (Settlement, Body of Water & Country) English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Indonesian, MalayFrom Portuguese
Benim, derived from Itsekiri
Ubinu, the name of the capital city of the historical Benin Kingdom (present-day Benin City in Nigeria). Allegedly it was initially named
Ile-Ibinu meaning
"land of anger" because of disputes between different factions. The Bight of Benin (a large bay) was named after the Benin Kingdom, and the modern country of Benin, west of Nigeria, was named after the bay in 1975 (formerly named
Dahomey).
Bethlehem (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, BiblicalMeans
"house of bread" in Hebrew, from the roots
בַּיִת (bayit) meaning "house" and
לֶחֶם (lechem) meaning "bread". This is the name of a city in Palestine. It appears in the both the Old Testament and the New Testament, notably as the town where
Jesus is born.
Bohon (Settlement) FrenchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in Manche, France.
Botswana (Country) Southern African, Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, RomanianMeans
"place of the Tswana people" in the Tswana language, from the locative prefix
bo- combined with the name of Tswana people, itself of uncertain origin, possibly from
tswa "to go out" or
tshwana "to resemble". This is the name of a country in southern Africa. During the British colonial period the region was called
Bechuanaland, which was more accurately rendered as
Botswana when the country achieved independence in 1966.
Bretagne (Region & Island) French, German, DutchFrench form of
Britannia (see
Britain). In French this typically refers to the region known as Brittany in France, while Great Britain is called
Grande-Bretagne.
Brunei (Country) Malay, Indonesian, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian, Turkish, Indian, Filipino, Hindi, TagalogPossibly from Sanskrit
वरुण, the Hindu god
Varuna or figuratively meaning
"water, ocean". However, according to tradition,
Brunei was from the Malay phrase
baru nah meaning "there!" or "that's it!", which was supposedly declared by Brunei's first sultan Muhammad Shah when he discovered it in the 14th century.
... [more] Buren (Settlement) DutchFrom Old Dutch
bur "house, dwelling". This is a small town on the island of Ameland in the north of the Netherlands, as well as a small city in Gelderland.
Canaan (Region) English, French, BiblicalFrom Hebrew
כְּנַעַן (Kena'an), possibly from a root meaning
"low, humble". This was the name of an ancient region, the home of the biblical Canaanites, in what is now Palestine and Israel.
Canada (Country) English, French, Italian, Dutch, Danish, NorwegianDerived from the Iroquoian word
kanata meaning
"village". This word was used by Native Americans to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to Stadacona. Cartier used the word to refer to the region.
Chili (Country) French, Dutch, Southern African, Afrikaans, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik, Mongolian, Indonesian, ThaiForm of
Chile in several languages.
Cologne (Settlement) French, EnglishFrench form of Latin
Colonia, shortened from
Colonia Agrippina meaning "colony of Agrippina", named after the wife of Emperor Claudius. This is the name of a city in western Germany.
Colombie (Country & Political Subdivision) FrenchFrench form of
Colombia and sometimes of
Columbia (for example
Colombie-Britannique for
British Columbia).
Congo (River & Country) English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, DanishFrom
Kongo, of uncertain origin, the name of a kingdom in central Africa that existed from the 14th to 19th century. The Congo River (also called the
Zaire River) was named after the kingdom. Belgian and French colonies were established in the 19th century, named after the river, which eventually led to two African countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo.
Courtenay (Settlement) FrenchFrom the Gallo-Roman given name
Curtenus, derived from Latin
curtus "short". This is the name of a few French communes.
Cuinchy (Settlement) FrenchFrom older
Quintiacum, derived from the personal name
Quintus plus the local suffix
-acum. This is the name of a village in France.
Cyprus (Island & Country) English, DutchFrom Greek
Κύπρος (Kypros), which may get its name from the cypress tree (Greek
κυπάρισσος). This is the name of an island country in the eastern Mediterranean. Although considered one nation by most other countries, the northern part of the island is occupied by Turkish forces and claims independence.
Europa (Region) Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, Kazakh, Ancient RomanForm of
Europe in several languages.
France (Country) French, EnglishFrom Latin
Francia meaning
"land of the Franks". The Franks were the Germanic tribe who settled in the region in the 3rd century. They derived their tribal name from the name of a type of spear that they used.
Gabon (Country) English, French, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayDerived from Portuguese
gabão meaning
"cloak, overcoat", referring to the shape of the Gabon Estuary. This is the name of a country on the western coast of central Africa.
Georgia 2 (Political Subdivision) English, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, DutchFrom the given name
George, named in honour of the British king George II. This was the name of an American colony, later a state.
Ghana (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Arabic, Indonesian, MalayFrom the name of the Ghana Empire, which was located in the southwestern Sahara and existed up to the 13th century.
Ghana, meaning
"warrior" in Mande, was actually the title of the rulers, while the empire itself was more properly known as
Awkar. In 1957 this was adopted as the name of the newly independent country of Ghana, formerly the British colony Gold Coast, despite the fact that the country lies outside the empire's territory.
Grainville (Settlement) FrenchMeans
"Guarin's town" in Old French. This is the name of various towns in Normandy.
Guatemala (Country) Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, TurkishFrom Nahuatl
Cuauhtemallan meaning
"place of the woodpile". This is the name of a country in Central America.
Haanrade (Settlement) DutchFrom Dutch
haan "rooster" and
raad "advice". This is the name of a small village in the south of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
Hofwegen (Settlement) DutchFrom Dutch
hof meaning "yard, court" and
weg meaning "way, path, road". This is the name of a town in the Netherlands.
Holland 1 (Political Subdivision & Country) Dutch, English, German, Danish, IcelandicFrom Old Dutch
holt "forest" and
lant "land". This is the name of two provinces (North and South Holland) in the Netherlands. It is sometimes informally used to refer to the entire country of the
Netherlands.
Hollande (Political Subdivision & Country) FrenchFrench form of
Holland 1, referring to the provinces and sometimes the entire country.
Holstein (Political Subdivision & Region) German, English, DutchFrom the name of a Saxon tribe, derived from Old Saxon
holt meaning "wood" and the suffix
-setio meaning "inhabitant". This is the name of a historical region in Germany, near the Danish border. It forms part of the name of the modern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
India (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Filipino, Tagalog, Ancient Roman, Ancient GreekDerived from the name of the
Indus River. In many languages of India, the name
Bharat is used to refer to the country. However, some southern Indian languages use spellings based on English
India.
Irak (Country) German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Thai, Lao, Mongolian, IndonesianForm of
Iraq in several languages.
Iran (Country) Persian, Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Hebrew, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Burmese, Filipino, Thai, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, MongolianDerived from Middle Persian
Eran, related to Old Iranian
Arya meaning
"Iranian, Aryan". This is the name of a country in western Asia, formerly called
Persia in the West.
Jakarta (Settlement) Indonesian, Malay, Javanese, Acehnese, Balinese, Minangkabau, Sundanese, English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Arabic, Indian, HindiFrom Sanskrit
जयकर्ता (Jayakarta) meaning
"victory accomplished", from
जय (jaya) meaning "victory, conquest" and
कृत (krta) meaning "done, accomplished". This is the name of the capital city of Indonesia. It was known as
Batavia during the colonial (Dutch) era.
Japan (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Indian, Hindi, BurmeseFrom Portuguese
Japão, which was derived from a Malay form of
Riben, the Chinese reading of
Nippon.
Jemen (Country) German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Dutch, Southern African, Afrikaans, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, MacedonianForm of
Yemen in several languages.
Kanne (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in the province of Limburg in Belgium.
Kenya (Country & Mountain) English, Eastern African, Kikuyu, Swahili, French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Greek, TurkishThe country is named for Mount Kenya, which in the Kikuyu language is called
Kĩrĩnyaga meaning
"the one having stripes".
Kongo (Region, River & Country) Central African, Kongo, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Turkish, GeorgianForm of
Congo in many languages.
Korea (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Greek, Georgian, Armenian, Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, TagalogFrom medieval Latin
Corea, itself derived from
Goryeo, the name of a kingdom that ruled most of the Korean Peninsula from the 10th to 14th centuries. This is the name of two countries, North and South Korea.
Hanguk and
Joseon are the Korean names for the countries.
Kurdistan (Region) Kurdish, Arabic, English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, RussianFrom Kurdish
کوردستان (Kurdistan), from the Persian ethnic name
کرد (Kord) meaning "Kurd" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of the region in the midst of Iran, Iraq and Turkey that is primarily inhabited by the Kurdish people.
Laos (Country) French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Greek, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Hebrew, Indian, Hindi, Nepali, Malay, Filipino, Indonesian, TagalogThe name of a country in southeastern Asia, derived from the Lao people, the majority ethnic group. Their name may be derived from an Austroasiatic root meaning "human". The name
Laos was originally applied to the region by France, who established it as a colony in 1893. It achieved independence in 1953.
Lassy (Settlement) FrenchDerived from
Lascius, a Gallo-Roman name of unknown meaning. This is the name of a commune in Calvados, France.
Liberia (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Spanish, PolishDerived from Latin
liber meaning
"free". This was the name of a colony established in western Africa by free African Americans in the 1820s. It declared its independence in 1847, and was one of only two independent countries in Africa in the early 20th century (along with
Ethiopia).
Livet (Settlement) FrenchPossibly of Gaulish origin. This is the name of several communes in France (especially Normandy).
Lorraine (Political Subdivision) French, EnglishUltimately from Latin
Lothari regnum meaning
"kingdom of Lothar". Lothar was a Frankish king, the great-grandson of Charlemagne, whose realm was in the part of France now called
Lorraine, or in German
Lothringen.
Luxembourg (Country, Settlement & Political Subdivision) English, French, Norwegian, Danish, Hungarian, Croatian, EstonianFrom Old High German
Lucilinburhuc, derived from
luzil "small" and
burg "castle". This was the name of a castle built by Count Siegfried in the 10th century. The city of Luxembourg and the surrounding territory became a duchy in the 14th century, and it is now a small landlocked country between
Germany,
France and
Belgium. This is also the name of a province of southern Belgium.
... [more] Lyon (Settlement) French, English, GermanFrom Latin
Lugdunum, derived from the name of the Celtic god
Lugus combined with Gaulish
dunon meaning "hill fort, citadel". This is the name of a city in central France.
Madrid (Settlement & Political Subdivision) Spanish, Asturian, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, French, Italian, English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Mongolian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Indian, Hindi, Indonesian, Filipino, Malay, TagalogFrom Old Spanish
Magerit, itself from Arabic
مجريط (Majrit), of uncertain meaning. It may be derived from Arabic
مجرى (majra) meaning
"watercourse, channel" or from Latin
matrix meaning
"source, origin (of a river)". This is the name of the capital city of Spain as well as an autonomous community surrounding it.
Malawi (Country) Southern African, Chewa, Eastern African, English, Swahili, French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Turkmen, ArabicPossibly from Chewa
malawi meaning
"flame, fire". This is the name of a landlocked country in southern Africa. It was renamed from Nyasaland when the country gained independence from Britain in 1964. Hastings Banda, the country's first president and the man who chose the name, claimed to have seen it on an old map in the form
Maravi, referring to a lake.
Malleville (Settlement) FrenchMeans
"bad town" in Norman French. This is the name of communes in Normandy, France.
Marokko (Country) German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, MongolianForm of
Morocco in several languages.
Marrakech (Settlement) French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, CroatianFrench, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Croatian form of Arabic
مرّاكش (see
Marrakesh).
Massy (Settlement) FrenchDerived from
Maccius, a Gallo-Roman name of unknown meaning. This is the name of several communes in France.
Maylis (Settlement) FrenchMeaning uncertain, though said to derive from Occitan
mair "mother" and French
lys "lily". This is the name of a commune in southern France.
Mexico (Country & Settlement) English, French, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, DutchFrom Spanish
México, itself derived from Nahuatl
Mehxico. There are many theories regarding the ultimate origin, including Nahuatl
metztli meaning "moon" combined with
xictli meaning "navel". This is the name of a country in North America, as well as its capital city (the country is named after the city). In French and Swedish
Mexico is the name of the capital city, while the country is called
Mexique in French and
Mexiko in Swedish.
Mexique (Country) FrenchFrench form of
Mexico (referring only to the country, not the capital city).
Milan (Settlement) English, FrenchFrom Latin
Mediolanum, perhaps derived from Celtic elements meaning
"middle of the plain". This is the name of a major city in Italy.
Montgomery (Settlement) FrenchMeans
"Gumarich's mountain" in Norman French. This is the name of communes in Calvados, France.
Mozambique (Island & Country) English, French, Spanish, Dutch, DanishFrom the name of an island off the southeastern coast of Africa, named
Moçambique by the Portuguese after the 15th-century local sultan
موسى بن بيك (Musa bin Bik). This island became the region's Portuguese colonial capital in the 16th century, and the name was eventually applied to a large area of mainland Africa. Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1974.
Myanmar (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Czech, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Turkish, Indian, HindiFrom Burmese
မြန်မာ (Myanma), the name of the main Burmese ethnic group (also called the Bamar), which is of unknown origin. This is the name of a country in southeastern Asia. It was formerly called
Burma, derived from a variant of this term.
Nairobi (Settlement) English, Eastern African, Swahili, Kikuyu, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Turkish, Japanese, KoreanFrom Maasai
enkare nyrobi meaning
"cold water", referencing a nearby river. This is the name of the capital city of
Kenya. It was founded in 1899 by the British colonial authorities.
Nepal (Country) Nepali, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Indonesian, Malay, SanskritFrom Sanskrit
नेपाल (Nepal), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south Asia.
Neuville (Settlement) FrenchMeans
"new town" in French. This is the name of various towns in France.
Niftrik (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands.
Niger (River & Country) English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Croatian, Serbian, Late RomanMeaning unknown, possibly of Berber origin, though influenced by Latin
niger "black". This is the name of a river in western Africa (and a country that is named after it).
Nigeria (Country) English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, GeorgianFrom the name of the
Niger River, applied in the 19th century to the British colonial territory in western Africa. It continued to be used after the territory became an independent country in 1960.
Nil (River) Arabic, French, German, Luxembourgish, Catalan, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Turkish, AzerbaijaniForm of
Nile in various languages. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article:
النيل (al-Nil).
Oirschot (Settlement) DutchPossibly from Dutch
oeros meaning "aurochs" and
schoot meaning "projection (of land)". This is the name of a town in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands.
Oman (Country) English, French, Italian, Catalan, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Mongolian, Indian, Hindi, Bengali, Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Filipino, Korean, TagalogFrom Arabic
عمان ('Uman), probably from the name of an ancient town called
Omana by the Roman author Pliny the Elder in the 1st century. It can probably be identified with the modern city of Suhar, and is from an Arabic root meaning
"to settle, to remain, to dwell". This is the name of a country on the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
Orléans (Settlement) FrenchFrench form of
Aurelianum, the name of a city in central France. The city in Louisiana,
La Nouvelle-Orléans or
New Orleans, was named after Philippe II, the Duke of Orléans.
Padua (Settlement) English, German, Spanish, DutchFrom Italian
Padova, Latin
Patavium, of unknown meaning. This is the name of a city in northern Italy.
Pakistan (Country) Urdu, Punjabi, English, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, SerbianFrom Persian
پاک (pak) meaning "pure" and the suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". The name was coined in 1933 by the Pakistani nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali who justified it as an acronym of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Sindh, plus the final three letters of Baluchistan.
Panama (Country & Settlement) English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Persian, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, Bengali, Burmese, Thai, Lao, Khmer, Indonesian, Filipino, Malay, Tagalog, Japanese, KoreanFrom Spanish
Panamá, of uncertain meaning. It may be derived from the name of a tree commonly found in the area (species Sterculia apetala). Alternatively it could be related to Guaraní
panambi meaning
"butterfly" or Kuna
bannaba meaning
"distant, far away". This is the name of a country in Central America. It is also the name of its capital, usually called
Panama City in English.
Paraguay (Country, River & Settlement) Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian, Czech, Indigenous American, GuaraniThe name of a landlocked country in South America. It is derived from a river of the same name, of uncertain meaning. It possibly means
"water from the sea" in Guaraní, from
para "sea",
gua "from" and
y "water". In Guaraní
Paraguái is the name of the country and the river, with
Paraguay the name of the capital city Asunción.
Paris (Settlement) French, English, Portuguese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Romanian, Turkish, Persian, Western African, HausaFrom the ancient Celtic tribe known as the Parisii. This is the capital city of France.
Pays-Bas (Country) FrenchFrom French
pays "country, land" and
bas "low". This is the French name for the
Netherlands (for which it is also a translation).
Peking (Settlement) German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, English (Archaic)Form of
Beijing in various languages, as well as an older English form.
Peru (Country) English, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Indian, HindiFrom Spanish
Perú, older
Birú, which was possibly derived from the name of a chieftain (who nevertheless resided in modern-day Panama).
Pey (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in Limburg in the Netherlands.
Philippines (Country) English, FrenchFrom Spanish
Filipinas, which was derived from the given name
Felipe, bestowed in 1543 in honour of the crown prince Philip (later king Philip II) of Spain by the explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, who originally used it only to refer to the islands of Leyte and Samar. It now refers to the entire archipelago and nation of the Philippines in southeastern Asia. In English it is usually referred to using the definite article,
the.
Poix (Settlement) FrenchPossibly from Old French
peis meaning
"fish". This is the name of a town in Picardy, France.
Portugal (Country) Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Indonesian, MalayFrom
Portugale, which was derived from
Portus Cale, the old name of the city of Porto. The name of the city was later applied to the entire country.
Prague (Settlement) English, FrenchFrom Czech
Praha, possibly from the Slavic root
práh meaning
"ford". This is the name of the capital city of the Czech Republic.
Provence (Region) French, English, GermanFrom Latin
provincia meaning
"province", a Roman territorial division. This is the name a region in southern France, originally acquiring its name because it was the first Roman province beyond the Alps.
Rennes (Settlement) French, EnglishFrom Latin
(Condate) Riedonum, derived from the name of the Gaulish tribe of the Redones. This is the name of a town in Brittany, France.
Rome (Settlement) English, French, DutchMeaning uncertain, from Latin
Roma. This is the name of the capital city of Italy, formerly the capital of the Roman Kingdom, Republic and Empire. According to legend the city was named for
Romulus.
Romilly (Settlement) FrenchFrom the Latin name
Romilius, a derivative of
Romulus. This is the name of several communes in northern France.
Rossum (Settlement) DutchFrom the older
Rotheheim, derived from Dutch
rothe "cleared area in a forest" and
heim "home". This is the name of a town in Gelderland in the Netherlands.
Ruanda (Country) German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, English, FrenchForm of
Brunei in several languages, as well as a variant spelling in other languages.
Rwanda (Country) Eastern African, Rwandan, English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, SwahiliOf Kinyarwanda origin, of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a small landlocked country in central Africa.
Saint Clair (Settlement) FrenchName commemorating Saint
Clair. This is the name of several communes in France.
Saint Denis (Settlement) FrenchName commemorating Saint
Denis. This is the name of several communes in France.
Saint Maur (Settlement) FrenchName commemorating Saint
Maurus. This is the name of several communes in France.
Saint Pierre (Settlement & Island) FrenchName commemorating Saint
Peter. This is the name of several communes in France as well as a French island near Newfoundland.
Samarra (Settlement) Arabic, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, GermanThis is the name of a city in Iraq, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century. It was possibly built at the site of the ancient Assyrian city of
Surmarrati, which is of uncertain meaning.
Schoorl (Settlement) DutchFrom older
Scoronlo, meaning
"forest by the shore" in Dutch. This is the name of a town in the province of Noord-Holland in the Netherlands.
Senegal (River & Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Turkish, Armenian, Persian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Mongolian, Indian, Hindi, Bengali, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Malay, TagalogFrom Portuguese, possibly from the name of the Berber Zenaga people of northern Senegal. This is the name of a river in western Africa, and a country named after it. It gained independence from France in 1960.