Submitted Name
Type Political Subdivision
Usage Spanish, English, Asturian, Estonian, Galician, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Romanian, Tagalog
Pronounced Pron. ka-lee-FOR-nya(Spanish) kal-i-FAWR-nyə(English) kal-i-FAWR-nee-ə(English) ka-lee-FAWR-nya(Italian) [key·IPA]
[Meaning & History
From the name of a fictional utopian island featured in the 16th-century novel Las sergas de Esplandián by Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The name comes from the island's queen, Calafia (or Califia), whose name is derived from Arabic خَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa) meaning "caliph". This is the name of an American state as well as two states of Mexico (Baja California and Baja California Sur).