Suginami(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 杉 (sugi) meaning "cedar" and 並 (nami) meaning "row, line, avenue", so named for the row of cedar trees planted by an Edo period lord to mark the bounds of his property... [more]
Sukabumi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian, Sundanese Derived from Indonesian suka meaning "like, love" (ultimately from Sanskrit सुख (sukha) meaning "pleasant, happy") and bumi meaning "earth, soil" (from Sanskrit भूमि (bhumi))... [more]
Sukhothai(Political Subdivision, Country & Settlement)Thai Most likely means "rise of happiness" from Thai สุข (suk) meaning "joy, happiness" and อุทัย (uthai) meaning "sunrise, dawn, emergence, rise". This is the name of a province of Thailand... [more]
Sukhumi(Settlement)English From Georgian სოხუმი (sokhumi) of uncertain origin. It may be from Georgian ციხე (tsikhe) meaning "fortress" combined with the suffix ომი (omi) denoting a geographical location or from Svan ცხუმ (tskhum) meaning "hornbeam"... [more]
Sulawesi(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian Probably means "iron island" in an uncertain South Sulawesi language, from sula (cognate with Indonesian pulau) meaning "island" and mesi (compare Indonesian besi) meaning "iron"... [more]
Sulu(Political Subdivision, Region & Body of Water)Filipino, Tagalog, English From Suluk, the Malay name for the Tausug people, in turn derived from Tausug Tau Sūg meaning "people of the current", from tau meaning "man, person" and sūg meaning "(sea) current, flow of water"... [more]
Sumatra(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian, Acehnese, Minangkabau, Malay, English From Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra) meaning "sea, ocean". This is the name of an island in Indonesia as well as three Indonesian provinces.
Sumbawa(Island & Political Subdivision)Indonesian From a Portuguese corruption of the name Sambawa, which is most likely derived from Sanskrit शम्भु (shambhu) meaning "beneficent, benevolent" (also a name for the Hindu god Shiva)... [more]
Sümeg(Settlement)Hungarian Hungarian place name of unknown origin.
Sumer(Region)History From Akkadian Šumeru, a word of unknown meaning. Sumer was an early civilization in southern Mesopotamia inhabited by the Sumerians, emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC.
Sumida(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 墨 (sumi) meaning "ink" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo.
Sunderland(Settlement)English A port city in North-East England. Derives from Old English sundor, 'separate' (c.f German sondern, 'but, instead') and land, 'land'.
Sunnyvale(Settlement)English From the English words sunny and vale meaning "valley". This is the name of a city in California.
Suō(Political Subdivision)Japanese Shifted from earlier Suhau(Sufau) or Suha(Sufa) (first written as 周芳), belonging to an old province which corresponds to the eastern part of modern Yamaguchi Prefecture.... [more]
Superior(Settlement & Body of Water)English Name of the largest of the North American Great Lake Chain as well as a city in Wisconsin bordering it. In the case of the lake, it is an Anglicization of French superieur meaning "upper" (referring to its position north of Lake Huron)... [more]
Surabaya(Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From Javanese ꦯꦸꦫꦧꦪ (shurabaya), itself derived from ꦯꦸꦫ (shura) meaning "white shark" and ꦧꦪ (baya) meaning "crocodile". The name refers to 12th-century Javanese monarch Jayabaya, who supposedly saw a vision of a fight between a white shark and crocodile (which may have been a prediction of the Mongol invasion of Java in the late 13th century)... [more]
Surakarta(Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From Sanskrit शूर (shura) meaning "brave, heroic" and कृत (krta) meaning "done, made, accomplished". This is the name of a city in Indonesia.
Surat(Settlement)Gujarati, English A city in India, derived from Arabic سورة (surah) meaning "surah", the name for the chapters of the Qur'an.... [more]
Surin(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai สุร (sura) meaning "brave, courageous" or "god, deity" and อินทร์ (in) referring to the Hindu god Indra... [more]
Suriname(Country)English The name of the Country in South America. Suriname is a small country on the northeastern coast of South America. It's defined by vast swaths of tropical rainforest, Dutch colonial architecture and a melting-pot culture... [more]
Surtsey(Island)Icelandic Means "Surtr's island" in Icelandic. Surtsey is an uninhabited island south of Iceland that formed in a volcanic eruption (which lasted several years) in the mid-1960s.
Suzhou(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 苏 (sū) referring to Mount Gusu and 州 (zhōu) meaning "province, prefecture". This is the name of a city in China.
Svalbard(Political Subdivision)Norwegian, English, Swedish Originally from Old Norse Svalbarð, composed of svalr "cold" and barð "edge, ridge". Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean located right between continental Norway and the North Pole.
Svay Rieng(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Possibly from Khmer ស្វាយ (svay) meaning "mango" and រៀង (rieng) meaning "arrange, line up" or "sequential, consecutive, in order". This is the name of a province of, as well as a town in, Cambodia.
Svazi(Country)Bosnian, Croatian, Slovene Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Esvatini in the aforementioned three languages.
Svazilandas(Country)Lithuanian Lithuanian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Esvatinis in Lithuania.
Svazilenda(Country)Latvian Latvian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Svatini in Latvia.
Svealand(Region)Swedish Means "land of the Swedes" (see Svea). The Swedes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting present-day Sweden. ... [more]
Swabia(Political Subdivision)German (Anglicized) Administrative region in Germany. Named after the ancient tribe, the 'Suebi', which itself possibly means "one's own people".
Swaziland(Country)English The name of the Country in Southern Africa. Swaziland, a small, landlocked monarchy in southern Africa, is known for its wilderness reserves and festivals showcasing traditional Swazi culture. Marking its northeastern border with Mozambique and stretching down to South Africa, the Lebombo Mountains are a backdrop for Mlawula Nature Reserve’s many hiking trails... [more]
Swindon(Settlement)English Previously it was called Suindune which could have been derived from the Old English words "swine" and "dun" meaning "pig hill" or possibly Sweyn's hill which was probably the owner’s name
Sylhet(Settlement)Bengali A metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. The city is located on the right bank of the Surma River in northeastern Bengal. Sylhet is one of Bangladesh's most important spiritual and cultural centres... [more]
Sylvain(Region)French (Quebec) Sylvain came from a older therapist who does not work with children anymore in the 1700s
Taal(Body of Water, Mountain & Settlement)Filipino, Tagalog The name of a lake, volcano and municipality in the Philippines, meaning "true, genuine, native" in Tagalog.
Tabriz(Settlement)Persian The name of a city in Iran, meaning uncertain. It may be derived from Proto-Iranian tr̥Hwáns meaning "overcoming, victorious", tap-rīz meaning "causing heat to flow" (so named for the thermal springs in the area) or Classical Armenian ta-vrezh meaning "this revenge".
Taguig(Settlement & River)Filipino The City of Taguig was founded on April 25, 1587. It is one of the 16 cities making up the NCR of the Philippines. It has an area of 53.67 km2 and has 804,915 people living in Taguig as of the 2015 census.... [more]
Taichung(Settlement)English From Chinese 台中 (Táizhōng) literally meaning "Taiwan center", from 台 (tái) referring to Taiwan and 中 (zhōng) meaning "middle"... [more]
Taipei(Settlement)English, Japanese From Chinese 臺北 (Táiběi) derived from 臺 (tái) referring to Taiwan and 北 (běi) meaning "north". This is the name of the capital city of Taiwan.