Submitted Place Names Starting with H

HABANA (Settlement) Spanish
From the Spanish name of the capital city of Cuba, known in English as Havana, the origin and meaning of which is obscure. Most likely it is based on Habaguanex, the name of a local Taíno (Arawak) chief.

HACKNEY (Settlement) English
A district of London. It possibly derives from Old English Haka’s ey, meaning 'Haka's Island'.

HAITI (Country) English
The name of the Country in the Caribbean. Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its east. Though it’s still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, many of Haiti's landmarks dating to the early 19th century remain intact... [more]

HAKONE (Settlement) Japanese
This is the name of a resort town in Japan's Kanagawa prefecture which, apart from its hot spring resorts, houses the Hakone Shrine (箱根神社, はこねじんじゃ) which dedicates to the Hakone Gongen (箱根権現, はこねごんげん).... [more]

HALIFAX (Settlement) English

HÄLSINGLAND (Region) Swedish
Hälsingland is a province in central Sweden meaning "land of the Hälsings". Hälsing is believed to be a combination of Swedish hals "throat, neck" and inge "dweller". The hals-part is probably not referring to the anatomical part, but rather to a narrow strait of water.

HAMPSHIRE (Other) English
Name of numerous places in England, foremost a large county in South England, from the name Hampton + Old English scir "division", "district".

HAMPTON (Other) English
Name of numerous places in England, from Anglo-Saxon ham "homestead " or hamm "water meadow" + tun "enclosure" "settlement".

HAWAII (Island) English (American)
Name of a state in the United States, of uncertain origin. Theories from Proto-Polynesian hawaiki which possibly means place of the gods" or from Proto-Polynesian sawaiki "homeland", or possibly named for Hawaiʻiloa, legendary discoverer of the Hawaiian islands.

HEDMARK (Political Subdivision) Norwegian
From the Old Norse Heiðmǫrk. That's from heiðnir the name of an old Germanic tribe (related to heið meaning moorland) and mǫrk meaning "woodland, borderland, or march/mark."... [more]

HELMSLEY (Settlement) English
A small market town in Northern England. It's name derives from the Old English Helm, a personal name and leah, which means 'clearing, field'.

HELSINGBORG (Settlement) Swedish
Helsingborg is a city in Scania, Sweden. The name is a combination of hals "neck, narrow strait" and borg "castle, fortification". There has been a permanent settlement around Helsingborg since 1085, making it one of Sweden's oldest cities.

HELSINGFORS (Settlement) Swedish
Swedish form of Helsinki, meaning "the Helsinge rapids".

HELSINGØR (Settlement) Danish, Norwegian
Danish city founded in the 1420s. The name is derived from the word hals meaning "neck, narrow strait". William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' is set in Elsinore (Kronborg), a castle in Helsingør.

HELSINKI (Settlement) Finnish
The first settlers of the modern Helsinki area came from Hälsingland, Sweden. A parish called Helsinge parish was founded in the 14th century and was later developed into a town called Helsinge fors "the Helsinge rapids"... [more]

HENGESDON (Settlement) Medieval English
Earlier name for Hingston Down in Moretonhampstead, Devon, recorded in 1333. It meant "Hengest's hill" or "stallion's hill" from the Old English byname Hengest (or from Old English hengest "stallion") and Old English dun "hill".

HERSHEY (Settlement) English
A small community in Pennsylvania.

HERTFORD (Settlement) English
Comes from a ford where a Hart (a male deer) drank at a ford.

HESHMON (Settlement) Biblical Hebrew
City south of Judah, recorded in Joshua 15:27. Literal meaning, "fatness." Contextual meaning, "abundant blessing."

HESTITONA (Settlement) Anglo-Saxon (Latinized)
Latinized form of Old English Hengestestun meaning "town of Hengest", derived from the genitive of the Old English personal name Hengest and tun "enclosure, yard, town". The village of Hinxton in Cambridgeshire is listed in the Domesday Book (1086) as Hestitona.

HIALEAH (Settlement) American
The name of a city in the American state of Florida, commonly said to mean "pretty prairie" from Muskogee haiyakpo "prairie" and hili "pretty". Alternatively it may mean "high prairie" or "upland prairie" in Seminole.

HIERMANIJA (Country) Belarusian
Belarusian form of Germany.

HIMALAYA (Mountain) Various
The name of the Mountain between Nepal and China.

HIMUKA (Political Subdivision) Japanese (Archaic)
Earlier form of Hyūga, made up of 日 (hi) meaning "sun" and 向か (muka), the irrealis form of verb 向く (muku) meaning "to turn toward; to face (a direction); to point to."

HINXTON (Settlement) English
The name of a village in Cambridgeshire, ultimately derived from a contraction of Old English Hengestestun which possibly meant "town of Hengest", itself from the genitive of the Old English byname Hengest (or from Old English hengest "stallion") and Old English tun "enclosure, yard, town".

HJÄLMAREN (Body of Water) Swedish
Derived from Old Swedish *iælmber "noise, rumble".

HOLLYWOOD (Settlement) English
This is the name of several places throughout the United States as well as a few places in England. The most notable place is the district in Los Angeles, California, known for being the home of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose name allegedly means "hauling wood".

HONDURAS (Country) Spanish
Means "depths" in Spanish.

HONOLULU (Settlement) Hawaiian, English
Means "sheltered harbor", from Hawaiian hono "bay, harbor" and lulu "shelter". This is the state capital of Hawaii.

HORDALAND (Political Subdivision) Norwegian
From the Old Norse hǫrðar, meaning (and old Germanic tribe) and lǫnd meaning "lands."... [more]

HOY (Island) Scottish
The name is from the Isle of Hoy in Scotland.

HULL (Settlement & River) American, English

HVAR (Island) Croatian
Hvar is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast.... [more]

HY-BRASIL (Island) Irish Mythology (?), Folklore
Possibly from derived from Irish Uí Breasail meaning "clan of Breasal". This was the name of a mythical island off the western coast of Ireland that appeared on maps from 1325.

HYŪGA (Political Subdivision & Settlement) Japanese
Shifted from earlier Himuka, belonging to an old province which corresponds to modern Miyazaki Prefecture and a modern city in that prefecture, formed on April 1, 1951.