Browse Place Names

Abilene (Region) Biblical, Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek
Probably from Hebrew אָבֵל ('avel) meaning "meadow, grassy place". This is the name of a place briefly mentioned in the New Testament.

Abney (Settlement) English
From the Old English given name Abba combined with eg "island". This is the name of a town in Derbyshire.

Adrichem (Settlement) Dutch
Means "Adrik's home". This was the name of an estate and castle (demolished in 1812) that was formerly in North Holland, the Netherlands.

Afghanestan (Country) Persian
Persian form of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan (Country) Pashto, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Malay
From Pashto افغانستان (Afghanistan), from the Persian ethnic name افغان (Afghan) meaning "Afghan, Pashtun" combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.

Alankomaat (Country) Finnish
From Finnish alanko "lowland" and maat "lands". This is the Finnish name for the Netherlands (for which it is also a translation).

Albania (Region & Country) Late Roman, English, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Indonesian, Malay
Medieval Latin name for the region that was once occupied by the Illyrian tribe called Albanoi. This is the name of a country in the Balkans.

Alemannia (Region) Ancient Roman
Latin name for the lands where the Alemanni lived. The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes who lived around the upper Rhine River in the time of the Roman Empire.

Algiers (Settlement) English, Dutch
From Arabic الجزائر (al-Jaza'ir) meaning "the islands". This is the name of the capital city of Algeria, so named because of the islands in its bay.

Anglae Terra (Country) Late Roman
Late Latin form of England (a translation, meaning "land of the Angles").

Annesley (Settlement) English
From Old English anne "alone, solitary" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Nottinghamshire.

Ansley (Settlement) English
From Old English ansetl "hermitage" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Warwickshire.

Arabestan (Region & Country) Persian
From Persian عرب ('arab) meaning "Arab" combined with the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the Persian name for both the Arabian Peninsula and the country of Saudi Arabia (alongside the fuller form عربستان سعودی ('Arabestan e-Sa'udi)).

Armanestan (Country) Persian
Persian form of Armenia using the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of".

Armenstan (Country) Kazakh
Kazakh form of Armanestan. This is an alternate Kazakh name for Armenia.

Ashley (Settlement) English
From Old English æsc "ash tree" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of various towns in England.

Audley (Settlement) English
Means "Ealdgyð's clearing" in Old English. This is the name of a village in Staffordshire, England.

Austria (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Medieval Latin
Latin form of Old High German Ostarrihhi meaning "eastern kingdom", from ost "east" and rihhi "kingdom, realm".

Avonlea (Settlement) Literature
Created by Lucy Maud Montgomery as the setting for her novel Anne of Green Gables (1908). She may have based the name on the Arthurian island of Avalon, though it also resembles the river name Avon and leah "woodland, clearing".

Ayton (Settlement) English
Derived from Old English ea "river" or ieg "island" combined with tun "enclosure, yard, town". This is the name of towns in Berwickshire and North Yorkshire.

Bangladesh (Country) Bengali, Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Mongolian, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Indonesian, Malay
From Bengali বাংলাদেশ (Bangladesh) meaning "country of the Bengali people", from the name of the Bengali people বাংলা (Bangla) combined with দেশ (desh) "country, state". The ethnic name is derived from that of the ancient kingdom of Vanga. This is the name of a country in south Asia.

Bardsley (Settlement) English
From the Old English name Beornræd and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a village near Manchester.

Bavaria (Political Subdivision) English, Late Roman
From Late Latin Baiovarii, the name of a Germanic tribe, named after an earlier Gaulish tribe the Boii. This is the name of a state in Germany (called Bayern in German).

Beesley (Settlement) English
From Old English beos "bent grass" and leah "woodland, clearing". This was the name of a hamlet or farm in Lancashire, England.

Belgica (Region & Political Subdivision) Ancient Roman
Derived from the Belgae, a Celtic-Germanic confederation of tribes that inhabited northern Gaul (modern Belgium). Their name is probably derived from a Celtic root meaning "to swell with anger".

Benin (Settlement, Body of Water & Country) English, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, Indonesian, Malay
From Portuguese Benim, derived from Itsekiri Ubinu, the name of the capital city of the historical Benin Kingdom (present-day Benin City in Nigeria). Allegedly it was initially named Ile-Ibinu meaning "land of anger" because of disputes between different factions. The Bight of Benin (a large bay) was named after the Benin Kingdom, and the modern country of Benin, west of Nigeria, was named after the bay in 1975 (formerly named Dahomey).

Bentley (Settlement) English
From Old English beonet "bent grass" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of several English towns.

Berkeley (Settlement) English
From Old English beorc "birch" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a city in Gloucestershire, England.

Bethel (Settlement) Biblical
Means "house of God" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is a town north of Jerusalem, where Jacob saw his vision of the stairway.

Bethlehem (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, Biblical
Means "house of bread" in Hebrew, from the roots בַּיִת (bayit) meaning "house" and לֶחֶם (lechem) meaning "bread". This is the name of a city in Palestine. It appears in the both the Old Testament and the New Testament, notably as the town where Jesus is born.

Blakesley (Settlement) English
From the Old English byname Blæcwulf "black wolf" combined with leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a city in Northamptonshire.

Bloxham (Settlement) English
From the Old English byname Blocca and ham meaning "home, homestead". This is the name of a town in Oxfordshire.

Bohemia (Region) English, Spanish, Late Roman
From Latin Boiohaemum, from the name of the Gaulish tribe the Boii combined with Old German heim "home". This is the name of a historical region within the Czech Republic. The region is called Čechy in Czech, while the country is called Česko.

Botswana (Country) Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian
Means "place of the Tswana people" in the Tswana language, from the locative prefix bo- combined with the name of Tswana people, itself of uncertain origin, possibly from tswa "to go out" or tshwana "to resemble". This is the name of a country in Southern Africa. During the British colonial period the region was called Bechuanaland, which was more accurately rendered as Botswana when the country achieved independence in 1966.

Bradley (Settlement) English
From Old English brad "broad" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of several towns in England.

Brierley (Settlement) English
From Old English brer "briar" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of various towns in England.

Britain (Island) English
From Britannia, the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, the land of the Britons. It derives from the name of the Britons, recorded in Greek in the 4th century BC as Πρεττανική (Prettanike), and reconstructed as Proto-Brythonic *Pritanī, possibly meaning "tattooed people".

Brooklyn (Settlement) English
Name of a borough of New York City, originally derived from the Dutch town of Breukelen meaning either "broken land" (from Dutch breuk) or "marsh land" (from Dutch broek).

Buckley (Settlement) English
From Old English bucc "buck, male deer" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a few minor towns in England.

Bulgaria (Country) Late Roman, English, Spanish, Italian, Indonesian, Malay
From the name of the Turkic tribe of the Bulgars, possibly from a Turkic root meaning "mixed". This is the name of a country in southeastern Europe.

Burnham (Settlement) English
From Old English burna "stream, spring" and ham "home". This is the name of several towns in England.

Bustillo (Settlement) Spanish
From a diminutive of Late Latin bustum meaning "ox pasture". This is the name of towns in Spain.

Busto (Settlement) Spanish, Italian
From Late Latin bustum meaning "ox pasture". This is the name of several towns in Spain and Italy.

Catalonia (Region & Political Subdivision) English
From Catalan Catalunya, of uncertain meaning, possibly from Latin castellum "castle" or Gauthia Launia "land of the Goths". This is the name of a region in eastern Spain.

Čechy (Region) Czech, Slovak
From the name of the Slavic tribe of the Czechs, probably derived from the Slavic root čelo meaning "family, tribe". This is the Czech name of Bohemia, while the Czech Republic is called Česko.

Česko (Country) Czech, Slovak
From the name of the Slavic tribe of the Czechs (see Čechy). This is the Czech name for the Czech Republic.

Cheshire (Region & Political Subdivision) English
Shortened form of Chestershire, a combination of Chester and shire.

Cremona (Settlement & Political Subdivision) Italian
Probably from the name of the Celtic tribe the Cenomani, or possibly from a pre-Latin word meaning "stone". This is the name of a city and province in northern Italy.

Csehország (Country) Hungarian
Hungarian form of Čechy, used to refer both to the region of Bohemia and the larger Czech Republic.

Cuinchy (Settlement) French
From older Quintiacum, derived from the personal name Quintus plus the local suffix -acum. This is the name of a village in France.

Cymru (Country) Welsh
From the Celtic roots *kom "with, together" and *mrogis "territory, region". This is the Welsh name for Wales.

Daehan (Country) Korean
From Sino-Korean 大 (dae) meaning "big, great" and 韓 (han) meaning "Korea". This is the official Korean name for South Korea.

Däitschland (Country) Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish form of Deutschland.

Debenham (Settlement) English
From the Old English river name Deben combined with ham meaning "home, homestead". This is the name of a town in Suffolk, on the River Deben.

Deutschland (Country) German
Derived from German deutsch meaning "German" (ultimately from Germanic *þeudō "people") and Land. This is the German endonym for Germany.

Devon (Political Subdivision) English
From the name of the Dumnonii, a Celtic tribe. This is the name of a county in England.

Dudley (Settlement) English
Means "Dudda's clearing" in Old English. This is the name of a city in the West Midlands, England.

Duitsland (Country) Dutch
Dutch form of Deutschland.

Eden (Region) Hebrew, Biblical
Possibly from Hebrew עֵדֶן ('eden) meaning "pleasure, delight", or perhaps derived from Sumerian 𒂔 (edin) meaning "plain". According to the Old Testament the Garden of Eden was the place where the first people, Adam and Eve, lived before they were expelled.

Éire (Country & Island) Irish
Possibly means "abundant land" in Old Irish. This is the Irish name of the country and island of Ireland. According to legend the island was named for the goddess Ériu, though in fact it was she who was named for the island.

England (Country) English, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian
From Old English Englaland meaning "land of the Angles", the Angles being one of the Germanic tribes that settled in the area in the post-Roman period. This is the name of a country (part of the United Kingdom) on the southern portion of the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom is sometimes (inaccurately) referred to as England.

Ermənistan (Country) Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani form of Armanestan, referring to Armenia.

Ermenistan (Country) Turkish
Turkish form of Armanestan, referring to Armenia.

Estados Unidos (Country) Spanish, Portuguese
Spanish and Portuguese calque of United States, written with the definite article (los and os respectively).

Estland (Country) German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish form of Estonia.

États-Unis (Country) French
French calque of United States, written with the definite article les.

Farnham (Settlement) English
From Old English fearn "fern" and ham "home" or ham "water meadow, enclosure". This is the name of several towns in England, notably in Surrey.

Finland (Country) English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Malay
From Old Norse Finnr, which referred to the Finn and Sami peoples, combined with land. This is the name of a country in Northern Europe, called Suomi in Finnish.

France (Country) French, English
From Latin Francia meaning "land of the Franks". The Franks were the Germanic tribe who settled in the region in the 3rd century. They derived their tribal name from the name of a type of spear that they used.

Franconia (Region) Late Roman, English, Italian, Spanish
Latin name derived from Frank, the name of a Germanic tribe. This is the name of a region in southern Germany.

Frankreich (Country) German
Derived from German Franken, the name of the Germanic tribe of Franks, and Reich meaning "empire, realm". This is the German name for France.

Frankrig (Country) Danish
Danish cognate of Frankreich. This is the Danish name for France.

Frankrijk (Country) Dutch
Dutch cognate of Frankreich. This is the Dutch name for France.

Frankrike (Country) Swedish, Norwegian
Swedish and Norwegian cognate of Frankreich. This is the Swedish name for France.

Friesland (Region) Dutch
Dutch form of Frisia (using the suffix land).

Frieslande (Region) German
German form of Frisia (using the suffix land).

Fryslân (Region) Frisian
West Frisian form of Frisia (using lân "land").

Gorjestan (Country) Persian
From Persian گرج (Gorj) meaning "Georgia (country)" combined with the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the modern Persian name for the country of Georgia.

Gotham (Settlement) English, Popular Culture
From Old English gat "goat" and ham "home". This is the name of a town in Nottinghamshire, famous for folk tales about its inhabitants pretending to be imbeciles in order to avoid a visit from the king. Based on this tale, writer Washington Irving applied the name to New York City in his satirical periodical Salmagundi (1807). Subsequently, Gotham or Gotham City was used as the setting of the Batman comics, starting 1940.

Grantham (Settlement) English
From Old English grand meaning "gravel" and ham meaning "home, estate, settlement". This is the name of a town in Lincolnshire.

Greece (Country) English
English form of Latin Graecia, the name used by the Romans for the land of the Greeks, derived from Greek Γραικός (Graikos), which is of uncertain origin. It is possibly derived from the city of Graia in Boeotia.

Griechenland (Country) German
From German Grieche "Greek" and Land. This is the German name for Greece.

Griekenland (Country) Dutch
From Dutch Griek "Greek" and land. This is the Dutch name for Greece.

Hailey (Settlement) English
From Old English heg "hay" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Oxfordshire, England.

Hanguk (Region) Korean
From Sino-Korean 韓 (han) meaning "Korea" and 國 (guk) meaning "country, land". This is the term used in South Korea to refer to South Korea or the entire Korean Peninsula.

Harley (Settlement) English
From Old English hara "hare" or hær "rock, heap of stones" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of towns in England.

Hayastan (Country) Armenian
From the Armenian word հայ (hay) meaning "Armenian" combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the Armenian name for Armenia.

Hendustan (Country) Persian
Extended form of هند (Hend), the Persian form of India, using the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of".

Holland 1 (Political Subdivision & Country) Dutch, English, German, Danish, Icelandic
From Old Dutch holt "forest" and lant "land". This is the name of two provinces (North and South Holland) in the Netherlands. It is sometimes informally used to refer to the entire country of the Netherlands.

Holland 2 (Settlement) English
From Old English hoh "point of land, heel" and land "land". This is the name of several towns in England.

Huxley (Settlement) English
From Old English hux "insult, scorn" (possibly) and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Cheshire, England.

Ibarra (Settlement) Basque, Spanish
Derived from Basque ibar meaning "meadow". This is the name of a few Basque towns.

Indiana (Political Subdivision) English
Means "land of the Indians". This is the name of an American state.

Indonesia (Country) Indonesian, Malay, Buginese, Minangkabau, English, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish, Korean
From Greek Ἰνδός (Indos), referring to the Indus, combined with νῆσος (nesos) meaning "island". This name has been used since the 18th century by colonial powers to refer to the Indonesian archipelago and since 1945 to refer to the independent nation.

Ireland (Country & Island) English
Derived from Irish Gaelic Éire and English land. This is the name of an island to the west of Great Britain. The country of Ireland occupies the majority of the island.

Italy (Country) English
Anglicized form of Italia, originally applied by the Greeks to the south of the Italian Peninsula. It may have been borrowed from Oscan Víteliú possibly meaning "land of bulls". According to Roman mythology, the region was named for Italus, though in fact it was he who was named for the region.

Kazakhstan (Country) English, Russian, Ukrainian, French
From Kazakh Қазақстан (Qazaqstan), from the ethnic name қазақ (qazaq), which is probably of Turkic origin, combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.

Kimberley (Settlement) English
Means either "Cyneburga's field", "Cynebald's field" or "Cynemær's field". This is the name of towns in Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Norfolk. In the case of the city in South Africa, it was named after John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826-1902). His title was taken from the name of the town in Norfolk.

Kingsley (Settlement) English
From Old English cyning "king" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of several towns in England.

Kordestan (Region) Persian
Persian form of Kurdistan.

Kurdistan (Region) Kurdish, Arabic, English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian
From Kurdish کوردستان (Kurdistan), from the Persian ethnic name کرد (Kord) meaning "Kurd" combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of the region in the midst of Iran, Iraq and Turkey that is primarily inhabited by the Kurdish people.

Kyrgyzstan (Country) Kyrgyz, English
From Kyrgyz Кыргызстан (Kyrgyzstan), a combination of the name of the Kyrgyz people and the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". The ethnic name may be derived from the Turkic word kyrk meaning "forty". This is the name of a country in central Asia.

Landau (Settlement) German
From Old High German lant meaning "land" and auwa meaning "damp valley". This is the name of a town in the Palatinate region of Germany.

Langley (Settlement) English
From Old English lang "long" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of numerous towns in the United Kingdom and North America.

Lindsey (Region) English
Means "Lincoln island" in Old English. This is the name of a region and historical kingdom in Lincolnshire.

Lorraine (Political Subdivision) French, English
Ultimately from Latin Lothari regnum meaning "kingdom of Lothar". Lothar was a Frankish king, the great-grandson of Charlemagne, whose realm was in the part of France now called Lorraine, or in German Lothringen.

Magyarország (Country) Hungarian
Hungarian name for the country of Hungary, derived from magyar meaning "Hungarian" and ország meaning "country". Magyar itself is derived from a combination of two Uralic roots both meaning "man".

Majarestan (Country) Persian
From Persian مجار (majar) meaning "Hungarian" combined with the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the Persian name for Hungary.

Marrakesh (Settlement) English, Dutch
From Arabic مرّاكش (Marrakush), possibly from Berber Murt n Akush meaning "land of God". This is the name of a city in Morocco.

Meiguo (Country) Chinese
From Chinese 美 (měi), referring to America, and 国 (guó) meaning "country". This is the Chinese name for the United States of America.

Meirionnydd (Political Subdivision) Welsh
Probably from the Roman name Marianus. This is the name of a Welsh county (Anglicized as Merioneth).

Meizhou (Region) Chinese
From Chinese 美 (měi), referring to America, and 洲 (zhōu) meaning "continent, island". This is the Chinese name for the continents of North and South America.

Milan (Settlement) English, French
From Latin Mediolanum, perhaps derived from Celtic elements meaning "middle of the plain". This is the name of a major city in Italy.

Mordor (Region) Literature
Means "black land" in Sindarin, from mor "black" and dor "land". In The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Mordor is the desolate realm ruled by the evil lord Sauron.

Namib (Region) Khoekhoe, English
Means "desert, vast place" in Khoekhoe. This is the name of a desert in southwestern Africa, mainly in the country of Namibia.

Namibia (Country) English, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Albanian, Georgian, Armenian, Swahili, Indonesian, Malay, Japanese, Korean
From the name of the Namib Desert, meaning "desert, vast place" in Khoekhoe. This is a country in southwestern Africa.

Nederland (Country) Dutch, Norwegian
Dutch and Norwegian cognate of Netherlands.

Nederlandene (Country) Danish
Danish cognate of Netherlands.

Nederländerna (Country) Swedish
Swedish cognate of Netherlands.

Netherlands (Country) English
From English nether meaning "lower" and land, referring to the low-lying position of the country. This is the name of a country in northwestern Europe. It is sometimes called Holland in English, though this is properly one of its subregions. In English it is usually referred to using the definite article, the.

Niederlande (Country) German
German cognate of Netherlands. It is usually referred to using the definite article, die.

Nizozemska (Country) Croatian, Slovene
Croatian and Slovene cognate of Nizozemsko, referring to the Netherlands.

Nizozemsko (Country) Czech
From Czech nízký "low" and země "land". This is the Czech name for the Netherlands (for which it is also a translation).

Paesi Bassi (Country) Italian
Italian cognate of Pays-Bas, used as the Italian name for the Netherlands.

Países Baixos (Country) Portuguese
Portuguese cognate of Pays-Bas. This is the Portuguese name for the Netherlands.

Países Bajos (Country) Spanish
Spanish cognate of Pays-Bas. This is the Spanish name for the Netherlands.

Pakistan (Country) Urdu, Punjabi, English, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian
From Persian پاک (pak) meaning "pure" and the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". The name was coined in 1933 by the Pakistani nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali who justified it as an acronym of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir and Sindh, plus the final three letters of Baluchistan.

Pangaea (Region) English
Created by the German geologist Alfred Wegener in 1915 to refer to a supercontinent that existed over 200 million years ago. He called it in German Pangäa, from Greek πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" and γαῖα (gaia) meaning "earth".

Pays-Bas (Country) French
From French pays "country, land" and bas "low". This is the French name for the Netherlands (for which it is also a translation).

Poland (Country) English
From the name of the Slavic tribe of the Poles, derived from the medieval Slavic word polje meaning "field", combined with land. This is the name of a country in Eastern Europe.

Priestley (Settlement) English
From Old English preost "priest" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a few small towns in England.

Provença (Region) Provençal
Provençal form of Provence.

Provence (Region) French, English, German
From Latin provincia meaning "province", a Roman territorial division. This is the name a region in southern France, originally acquiring its name because it was the first Roman province beyond the Alps.

Provenza (Region) Italian, Spanish
Italian and Spanish form of Provence.

Ramsey (Settlement) English
Means "garlic island", derived from Old English hramsa "garlic" and eg "island". This is the name of villages in England.

Romania (Country & Region) English, Italian, Ancient Roman
From Latin meaning "land of the Romans" (see Rome). This is the name of a country in Eastern Europe, so named in the 16th century because of its historic and linguistic connections to the Roman Empire.... [more]

Romiley (Settlement) English
From Old English rum "roomy, spacious" and leah "woodland, clearing". This was the name of a town that is now part of Greater Manchester.

Rossum (Settlement) Dutch
From the older Rotheheim, derived from Dutch rothe "cleared area in a forest" and heim "home". This is the name of a town in Gelderland in the Netherlands.

Rusland (Country) Dutch, Danish
Dutch and Danish cognate of Russland.

Rússland (Country) Icelandic
Icelandic cognate of Russland.

Russland (Country) German, Norwegian
Derived from the medieval state of Rus and land meaning "country, state". This is the German and Norwegian name for Russia.

Ryley (Settlement) English
From Old English ryge "rye" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Lancashire, England.

Ryssland (Country) Swedish
Swedish cognate of Russland.

Sakartvelo (Country) Georgian
From Georgian ქართველი (kartveli), a term referring to a Georgian person, itself derived from the central region of ქართლი (Kartli). It is prefixed with სა (sa), indicating a place. This is the Georgian name for the country of Georgia.

Saxony (Region & Political Subdivision) English
From the name of the Germanic tribe of the Saxons, ultimately derived from Germanic *sahsą meaning "knife". This is the name of a historical region in Germany, and appears in the names of the German states of Saxony, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

Schotland (Country) Dutch
Dutch form of Scotland.

Schottland (Country) German
German form of Scotland.

Scotland (Country) English
Means "land of the Scots", from Latin Scoti meaning "Gaelic speaker". This is the name of a country (part of the United Kingdom) in the north of the island of Great Britain.

Sharon (Region) Biblical, Biblical Hebrew
Means "plain" in Hebrew, referring to the fertile plain near the coast of Israel.

Sherwood (Region) English
From Old English scir "shire, district" and wudu "wood". This is the name of a forest near Nottingham. It is known in English folklore as the home of the outlaw hero Robin Hood.

Shirley (Settlement) English
From Old English scir "bright" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of several towns in England.

Sidney (Island) English
Means "wide island", from Old English sid "wide" and eg "island". This is the name of a place in Surrey.

Skotland (Country) Danish
Danish form of Scotland.

Skotlanti (Country) Finnish
Finnish form of Scotland.

Skottland (Country) Swedish, Norwegian
Swedish and Norwegian form of Scotland.

Spain (Country) English
Derived from Hispania, the Latin name of the Iberian Peninsula, which is of uncertain origin. It could be derived from Punic I-Shaphan meaning "land of the rabbits".

Stati Uniti (Country) Italian
Italian calque of United States, written with the definite article gli.

Stockholm (Settlement) Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, German, Dutch, French
From Swedish stock "log" and holme "islet". The islet probably referred to Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. This is the name of the capital city of Sweden. The first written mention of the name occurs in 1252.

Suomi (Country) Finnish
Possibly from the Balto-Slavic root zeme meaning "ground, earth". This is the Finnish name for Finland.

Sverige (Country) Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From Swedish svear "Swede" and rike "realm, kingdom". This is the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish name for Sweden.

Switzerland (Country) English
From Switzer, a word meaning "Swiss", ultimately derived from the name of the Swiss town and canton of Schwyz, plus land. This is the name of a country in central Europe.

Tatham (Settlement) English
From the Old English given name Tata combined with ham meaning "homestead". This is the name of a town in Lancashire.

Thailand (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Combination of Thai and land. This is the name of a country in southeastern Asia, formerly called Siam.

Thornley (Settlement) English
From Old English þorn "thorn" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of several towns in England and Scotland.

Turan (Region) Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Arabic
Historical region in central Asia, originally inhabited by nomadic Iranian peoples and traditionally said to mean "land of Tur". It is mentioned frequently in the 10th-century Persian epic the Shahnameh.

Turkey (Country) English
From Latin Turcia, derived from the ethnonym Turk, which is from Old Turkic possibly meaning "ancestry". This is the name of a country situated on the Anatolian peninsula.

Tyrone (Political Subdivision) Irish
From Irish Gaelic Tir Eoghain meaning "land of Eoghan". This is the name of a county in Northern Ireland.

Tyskland (Country) Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Swedish, Norwegian and Danish form of Deutschland.

Uganda (Country) English, Ganda, Swahili, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Georgian, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay
From Buganda, the name of a kingdom within Uganda, which means "land of the Ganda" in the Luganda language. The Ganda are an ethnic group, their name possibly deriving from a Bantu word meaning "family". Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa.

United Kingdom (Country) English
The name of a Western European island country, composed of the smaller countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is almost always written with the definite article the. This name came into use in the year 1801, when the realm was officially renamed from the Kingdom of Great Britain to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After Ireland became independent in 1922 it was formally renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

United States (Country) English
The name of a country in North America, almost always written with the definite article the. The country is officially named the United States of America, and is also commonly called America or the USA. It was selected in 1776 when 13 British colonies on the eastern coast united to declare their independence from Britain. Etymologically, the English words in the name are both of Latin origin (unitus and status).

Ural (Region & River) Russian, English, German, Turkish, Bashkir
Meaning unknown, possibly from Turkic aral meaning "island, boundary". This is the name of a mountain range and a river in western Russia.

Uzbekistan (Country) English, Russian, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Swedish
From Uzbek O'zbekiston, derived from the ethnic name O'zbek (which is probably in part from Turkic beg meaning "chieftain, master") combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.

Vereinigtes Königreich (Country) German
German calque of United Kingdom (using the adjective vereinigt meaning "united"). It is written with the definite article das.

Vereinigte Staaten (Country) German
German calque of United States (using the adjective vereinigt meaning "united"). It is written with the definite article die.

Verenigde Staten (Country) Dutch
Dutch calque of United States (using the adjective verenigd meaning "united"). It is written with the definite article de.

Wakefield (Settlement) English
From Old English wacu "wake, vigil" and feld "field". This is the name of a city in England.

Walmersley (Settlement) English
Meaning uncertain. The final element is Old English leah "woodland, clearing". The first element may be a given name such as Wealdmær or Wealhmær. This is the name of a town near Manchester.

Wembley (Settlement) English
Means "Wemba's clearing" in Old English. This was the name of a town that is now part of Greater London.

Westley (Settlement) English
From Old English west "west" and leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a few small English towns.

Whitney (Settlement) English
Probably from Old English hwit "white" and ieg "island". This is the name of a small town in Herefordshire.

Wickham (Settlement) English
From Old English wic "village, town" (of Latin origin) and ham "home, settlement". This is the name of a few towns in England.

Willey (Settlement) English
From Old English welig "willow" or weoh "idol, image" combined with leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a few towns in England.

Wortham (Settlement) English
From Old English worþ "enclosure" and ham "home, settlement". This is the name of a town in Suffolk.

Wymondham (Settlement) English
From the given name Wigmund combined with Old English ham "home, settlement". This is the name of a town in Norfolk.

Yazhou (Region) Chinese
From a short form of Yaxiya combined with 洲 (zhōu) meaning "continent, island". This is the modern Chinese name for Asia.

Zealand (Country) English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
From Dutch Zeeland, from Middle Dutch Seelant, derived from see "sea" and lant "land". This is the name of a province in the western Netherlands (now typically called Zeeland in many languages). It is also borne by the country of New Zealand in the South Pacific, which was named by the Dutch in the 17th century.

Zhongguo (Country) Chinese
Means "middle kingdom", from Chinese 中 (zhōng) meaning "middle" and 国 (guó) meaning "country, state". This is the Chinese name for China. The name originally referred to China's central regions, as opposed to the territory on the fringes.

Zwitserland (Country) Dutch
Dutch form of Switzerland.