Abakan(Settlement & River)Russian Possibly from Khakas аба (aba) meaning "bear" or "father" and хан (khan) meaning "blood". This is the name of a city and river in Russia.
Abkhazia(Country)English From Russian Абхазия (Abkhaziya) from Georgian აფხაზეთი (Apxazeti), which is derived from აფხაზი (Apxazi), the Georgian name for the Abkhaz people... [more]
Abuja(Settlement)Western African, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, English From Abu-Ja, a nickname of 19th-century monarch Abubakar Jatau (sometimes referred to as "Abu"), who founded what is now the city of Abuja in 1828. By some accounts, he was described as having fair skin, which possibly earned him the nickname Ja meaning "red" in Hausa... [more]
Aceh(Political Subdivision)Indonesian From Acehnese Acèh of uncertain meaning. A popular belief is that it is derived from the backronym Arab, Cina, Eropa, Hindia meaning "Arab, China, Europe, Indies", referring to the major regions that have historically influenced Aceh... [more]
Açores(Political Subdivision & Region)Portuguese, Catalan, French Portuguese form of Azores, which has been adopted into Catalan and French.
Adan(Settlement & Body of Water)Arabic Arabic form of Aden.
Aden(Settlement & Body of Water)English From Arabic عدن ('Adan) derived from Akkadian edinu meaning "plain, lowland", itself from Sumerian eden meaning "plain, open country". This is the name of a city in Yemen as well as a gulf between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea (the Gulf of Aden).
Adyga Khaku(Country & Region)Circassian From Circassian адыгэ (adyga), the name of the Adyghe people, combined with хэку (khaku) meaning "homeland, land". This is the Circassian name for Circassia.
Adygea(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Адыгея (Adygeya), which is from Adyghe адыгэ (adyge), the endonym of the Circassian (Adyghe) people. The ethnic name is of uncertain meaning, though it may mean "mountain between seas" or "mountain by the sea"... [more]
Adygeycho(Political Subdivision)Chechen From адыгей (adygey), the Chechen name for the Circassian (Adyghe) people, combined with the suffix -чоь (-cho) meaning "place of". This is the Chechen name for Adygea.
Agadir(Settlement)Arabic (Maghrebi), Berber, English, French Means "fortified fortress, wall" in Central Atlas Tamazight, ultimately from Phoenician gdr meaning "wall, compound". This is the name of a city in Morocco.
Akita(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 秋 (aki) meaning "autumn" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Alaska(Political Subdivision)English Derived from Russian Аляска (Alyaska), which in turn is derived from Aleut alaxsxaq meaning "object to which the action of the sea is directed". Alaska is the largest of the 50 American states, located northwest of the United States mainland and bordering Canada.
Almaty(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian Meaning uncertain, possibly from Kazakh алма (alma) meaning "apple". This is the name of the largest city in Kazakhstan.
Alor Setar(Settlement)Malay, English From Malay alor meaning "river, stream" and setar meaning "gandaria" (a type of fruit). This is the name of the capital city of the Malaysian state of Kedah.
Al-Quds(Settlement)Arabic Variant of Quds with the definite article ال (al-).
Altai(Political Subdivision & Mountain)Altai, Russian, Mongolian, Kazakh, English From the Turkic roots altun meaning "gold" and tag meaning "mountain". This is the name of a mountain range in Central and East Asia as well as two territories of Russia.
Altay(Political Subdivision & Mountain)Altai, Russian, Mongolian, Kazakh, English Altai, Russian, Mongolian and Kazakh alternate transcription of Altai as well as an English variant.
Anfa(Settlement)Berber Means "hill" or "top" in Tamazight. This is the Berber name for Casablanca, which was used as the city's official name before the 1755 Lisbon earthquake destroyed the area... [more]
Anqing(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 安 (ān) meaning "peace, quiet" and 庆 (qìng) meaning "congratulate, celebrate"... [more]
Antananarivo(Settlement)Malagasy, French, English Means "city of thousand" in Malagasy, from the prefix an- combined with tanana meaning "city, town" and arivo meaning "one thousand". The name was chosen by Merina King Andriamasinavalona (1675-1710), who renamed the city in honour of the thousand soldiers who captured the site under the rule of King Andrianjaka... [more]
Aomori(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 青 (ao) meaning "green, blue" and 森 (mori) meaning "forest". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Apkhazeti(Country)Georgian From აფხაზი (apxazi), the Georgian exonym for the Abkhaz people, and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for Abkhazia.
Apsny(Country)Abkhaz From Abkhaz аԥсуаа (apsuaa), the native name of the Abkhaz people. The ethnic name itself is of uncertain meaning; one theory suggests that it means "land of the soul" or "land of mortals"... [more]
Aquitaine(Region)French French form of Aquitania. This is the name of a historical region of France located roughly between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Garonne... [more]
Aqwa(Settlement)Abkhaz Meaning unknown, possibly derived from the Mingrelian toponymic marker ყვა (-qwa). This is the Abkhaz name for Sukhumi.
Aqyar(Settlement)Crimean Tatar, Tatar From Crimean Tatar aq meaning "white" and yar meaning "cliff" or shore, coast". This is the Crimean Tatar and Tatar name for Sevastopol.
Arendelle(Region & Settlement)Popular Culture Likely based on Arendal, the name of a town and municipality in Southern Norway. Arendalle is a fictional kingdom in Disney's animated movie 'Frozen' (2013).
Arzhalamancho(Country)Chechen From Chechen ӏаьржаламанхой (arzhalamankhoy) meaning "Montenegrin" and the suffix -чоь (-cho) meaning "place of". The name is derived from Chechen ӏаьржа (arzha) meaning "black" and лам (lam) meaning "mountain" (from a calque of the country's Montenegrin and Serbo-Croatian name, Crna Gora)... [more]
Ashgabat(Settlement)English From Turkmen Aşgabat, from Persian عشقآباد (eshq abad) meaning "city of love", derived from عشق (eshq) meaning "love, passion" and آباد (abad)# meaning "city"... [more]
Astana(Settlement)Kazakh, English, Russian Means "capital city" in Kazakh, ultimately from Persian آستانه (astaneh). This was the name of the capital city of Kazakhstan until 2019, when it was renamed Nur-Sultan.