Johor(Political Subdivision)Malay, English Derived from Arabic جوهر (jawhar) meaning "jewel, precious stone", ultimately of Persian origin. This is the name of a state in southern Malaysia.
Judea(Region)Biblical, English From a Greek and Roman adaptation of the name Judah, ultimately from Hebrew Yehudah. This was/is the name of a mountainous southern part of the region of Palestine.
Kabul(Settlement)English From Pashto کابل (Kabel) which may have been derived from Kambuja or Kamboja, the name of an ancient Indo-Iranian tribe and kingdom. The name is of uncertain meaning, possibly from Sanskrit काम (kama) meaning "love, desire" and भुज् (bhuj) meaning "use, possess, rule"... [more]
Kaffa(Other)Arabic The place-name "Kaffa" has a rich history and significance. It was the name of an early modern state located in what is now Ethiopia, with its first capital at Bonga¹²... [more]
Kakin(Country, Region & Mountain)Popular Culture, Japanese An empire in Hunter X Hunter, named after the Kachin state of Myanmar, but inspired by northern parts of the country as a whole.
Kalak(Settlement)Ossetian Derived from Georgian ქალაქი (kalaki) meaning "town, city". This is another Ossetian name for Tbilisi.
Kandy(Settlement)English From Tamil கண்டி (Kanti) of uncertain meaning, possibly derived from Sinhala කන්ද උඩරට (kanda urarata) meaning "upland" or කන්ද උඩ පාස් රට (kanda ura pas rata) meaning "mountain pass country"... [more]
Kanga(Settlement & Other)Kongo, Popular Culture, Literature Even though it is also the name of a hill range in westernmost Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kanga is best known internationally as the name of a certain Kangaroo from Winnie the Pooh books and the basis for the name Kaänga.
Karti(Settlement)Mingrelian From the Kartvelian root kart- referring to a Georgian person (compare the Georgian endonym ქართველი (kartveli)). This is the Mingrelian name for Tbilisi.
Kayah(Political Subdivision)English From the name of the Kayah (Karenni) people, derived from Burmese ကယား (kaya). This is the name of a state of Myanmar.
Kayin(Political Subdivision)Burmese, English From the Burmese name for the Karen people, ကရင် (Kayin), which is of uncertain origin and meaning. This is the name of a state of Myanmar.
Kazan(Settlement)Tatar, Russian Probably derived from Turkic qazan meaning "kettle, cauldron". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Tatarstan.
Kedah(Political Subdivision)Malay, English Derived from Arabic قتح (qataha), itself from Tamil கடாரம் (kadaram) possibly meaning "boiler, stockpot, cauldron". This is the name of a Malaysian state.
Keith(Settlement)Scottish A small town in Moray, North-East Scotland. It's name is derived from a Pictish word kit, which meant 'forest' (Welsh coed, 'wood').
Khemi(Country)Coptic (Bohairic) The Bohairic Coptic name for Egypt, derived from Egyptian kmt referring to both Egypt and the Nile Valley. The name ultimately comes from the word km meaning "black" combined with the feminine singular and graphical suffix -t, most likely referring to the fertile black soil of the Nile Delta.
Khovd(Settlement & River)Mongolian Of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a city and a river in Mongolia.
Kırım(Country, Political Subdivision & Region)Turkish Turkish form of Crimea.
Kiryu(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "phoenix tree grow" in Japanese.A city in Kanto,Japan
Kiska(Island)English The name of a volcanic island of southwestern Alaska; the largest and westernmost of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
Kōchi(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "high knowledge" in Japanese.
Kōchi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 高 (kō) meaning "tall, high" and 知 (chi) meaning "wisdom". This is the name of a prefecture of and city in Japan.
Kolob(Other)Mormon According to Mormon astronomy, Kolob is a large star near the center of the galaxy, on which the angels reside. In a book written by Joseph Smith about the Egyptian Language, more details are given on the measurement of its time, being 1,000 years for each rotational period... [more]
Koper(Settlement)Slovene From the Latin name for the former island called Insula Caprae meaning "Goat Island", or the probable initial settlement Capros... [more]
Krima(Country, Political Subdivision & Region)Latvian Latvian form of Crimea.
Kriti(Political Subdivision & Island)Greek, Malay Modern Greek transcription of Krete (see Crete) as well as the Malay form. This is the name of the largest and most populous island of Greece.
Kudus(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From the name of 16th-century Javanese Islamic saint Sunan Kudus, whose name was derived from Quds, the Arabic name for Jerusalem... [more]
Kyōto(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese Alternate transcription of Kyoto.
Kyoto(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 京都 (kyōto) meaning "capital city", itself borrowed from Middle Chinese. This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Lagos(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Western African, Hausa, Igbo, English From Portuguese lagos meaning "lakes". This is the name of a city in Nigeria as well as a state of the same name.
Lahti(Settlement)Finnish Taken directly from Finnish lahti "bay". Lahti is the name of several places in Finland, including the 8th largest city.
Lánao(Political Subdivision & Body of Water)Spanish Spanish form of Lanao.
Lanao(Political Subdivision & Body of Water)Filipino, Tagalog, English From Maranao ranaw meaning "lake, body of water". This is the name of a lake and two provinces in the southern Philippines.
Lanna(Country)Northern Thai, Thai Means "a million paddy fields" from Northern Thai ᩃ᩶ᩣ᩠ᨶ (lan) or Thai ล้าน (lan) meaning "million" and Northern Thai ᨶᩣ (na) or Thai นา (na) meaning "paddy field, rice paddy"... [more]
Laois(Political Subdivision)Irish County in Ireland. Named after the Gaelic territory of Uí Laoighis, meaning "people of Lugaid Laígne".
Leeds(Settlement)Celtic Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It derives it's name from a Brythonic term Ladenses, meaning 'people of the fast-flowing river' (Welsh llawd). The word likely originally denoted a forest which covered the area of modern day Leeds.... [more]
Leith(Settlement & River)Scottish, Medieval Scottish The name of a river (Water of Leith) and the settlement at it's mouth, near Edinburgh, Scotland. The name is likely of Cumbric origin and is likely cognate with the Welsh word laith, meaning 'damp, moist'.
Leyte(Island)Filipino It is the name of an island in central Philippines. It was originally called ‘Isla de Felipinas’, coined by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos and named after Don Felipe II of Spain. It eventually evolved into “Philippines’.
Lhasa(Settlement)Tibetan, English Probably from Tibetan ལྷ་ས (lha sa) meaning "land of gods", derived from ལྷ (lha) meaning "deity, god" and ས (sa) meaning "land, earth". Alternatively, it may have been an alteration of Old Tibetan ར་ས (ra sa) meaning "land of goats" or "fortified land" from ར (ra) meaning "goat" or "enclosure" and ས (sa) meaning "land, earth"... [more]
Lihou(Island)Norman, Breton Island in the Channel Islands in England. From the Breton words 'lydd' or 'ligg', meaning "in or near water", and the Norman suffix -'hou', meaning "island". The island and reef in Australia named after this island.
Logan(Other)Scottish Logan is a Scottish place name, meaning "little hollow" in Scottish Gaelic.
Loire(River)French From Latin Liger, a transcription of the native Gaulish name of the river, derived from the Gaulish word liga, meaning "silt, sediment", itself deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *legʰ-, meaning "to lie".... [more]
Luleå(Settlement)Swedish Derived from the name of the Lule River (see Lule Älv). A combination of Lule Sami lulij "the people living in the east" (referring to forest Sami people) and the place name element -eå denoting the city's location near the river.
Luton(Settlement)English (British) A settlement in the United Kingdom , situated on the River Lea. Luton was founded in the 6th century by the Anglo-Saxons.... [more]
Luzon(Island)Filipino, Tagalog, Ilocano, Pampangan, English Of uncertain meaning, probably from Tagalog lusong meaning "mortar (for pounding rice)". This is the name of the largest island in the Philippines.
Magwe(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Burmese Burmese form of Magway.
Magwe(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English From Burmese မကွေး (Magwe) derived from a corruption of မြစ် (myit) meaning "river" and ကွေ့ (gwe) meaning "turn, curve, bend", referring to the city's location along a bend of the Irrawaddy River... [more]
Maine(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, possibly from French Maine, a region in France (named for the river that runs through it, which has a name of Gaulish origin).
Marne(River)French From Latin Dea Mātrōna, meaning literally “divine mother goddess”, the name of a mother goddess associated with the river who was worshipped by the Gauls.... [more]
Mecca(Settlement)English, Italian, Romanian From Arabic مكة (Makka) which is from بكة (bakka), an ancient name for the region. The name is of uncertain origin and meaning; it may be from Arabic بكى (baka) meaning "to cry, to mourn" or Ge'ez ምኵራብ (məkʷrab) meaning "temple, sanctuary"... [more]
Medan(Settlement)Indonesian Possibly from Tamil மைதானம் (maidhanam) meaning "ground, field". This is the name of the capital city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra.
Meije(Mountain)French From Occitan meija meaning "middle, centre, half," taken from its original name l'Agulha de la Meija meaning "the needle of the Meije."... [more]
Mexic(Country & Settlement)Occitan, Romanian Occitan and Romanian form of Mexico. The Occitan name refers to both the country and city, whereas the Romanian name is used only for the country.
Miami(Settlement)English Name of a city in Florida. The name was first mentioned by Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a captive of Indians in southern Florida for 17 years, when he referred to what is now Lake Okeechobee as the "Lake of Mayaimi, which is called Mayaimi because it is very large"... [more]
Minsk(Settlement)Belarusian, English, Russian From Old East Slavic Мѣньскъ (Menisku), which was derived from a river named Men. This is the name of the capital city of Belarus.
Mirna(River, Settlement & Political Subdivision)Slovene Dissimilation from Slavic nyrati meaning "to rise from the earth." It is the name of a river, village, and municipality in Slovenia.
Myeik(Settlement)Burmese Derived from Shan မႃႉ (ma) meaning "horse" and an uncertain word possibly meaning "pillar" or "tail". This is the name of a city in Myanmar.
Mykle(Body of Water)Norwegian Mykle is a lake in the municipality of Kongsberg in Viken county, Norway.
Mỹ Tho(Settlement & River)Vietnamese Most likely means "land of white girls", derived from Khmer ស្រុក (srok) meaning "land, inhabited area" (this element was dropped at some point), មេ (me) meaning "girl" and ស (sa) meaning "white"... [more]
Nairn(Settlement)Scottish A town in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The town is so called due to its location on the river Nairn, the name of which is probably of pre-Celtic origin.
Najaf(Settlement)Arabic, English Means "elevated place not reached by water, hill, dike" in Arabic. This is the name of a city in Iraq, considered one of the holiest cities of Shia Islam. It is reportedly the burial place of Ali ibn Abi Talib... [more]