Gallia (Region, Political Subdivision & Country) Ancient Roman, Italian, GreekLatin name for the historical region of
Gaul. It is derived from the Latin ethnic word
Gallus, referring to the Gauls (Celts of continental Europe), probably ultimately derived from the Celtic root *
galn- "be able".
... [more] Ganga (River) Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Nepali, Urdu, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Sinhalese, Mongolian, Czech, Slovak, Latvian, LithuanianForm of
Ganges in several languages.
Gary (Settlement) EnglishCity in Indiana that was named after businessman Elbert Henry
Gary (1846-1927), the founder of U.S. Steel.
Gaul (Region) EnglishFrom French
Gaule, the name of a historical region that was situated approximately in the area of modern
France. In the Roman era it was called
Gallia, which may be the origin of
Gaule, though the evolution of the word would be irregular. It is more likely derived from Frankish
walh meaning
"foreigner, Celt".
Genoa (Settlement) EnglishFrom Latin
Genua, probably derived from
genu meaning
"knee". This is the name of a port city in northwestern
Italy. It is called
Genova in Italian.
Georgia 2 (Political Subdivision) English, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, DutchFrom the given name
George, named in honour of the British king George II. This was the name of an American colony, later a state.
Germany (Country) EnglishFrom Latin
Germania, first attested in the writings of Julius Caesar, used to refer to the areas east of the
Rhine and north of the
Danube. The origin of the term is uncertain. This is an English exonym corresponding to German
Deutschland.
Gethsemane (Region) BiblicalFrom
Γεθσημανί (Gethsemani), the Greek form of an Aramaic place name meaning
"oil press". In the New Testament this is the name of the garden where
Jesus was arrested, located on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem.
Gihon (River) BiblicalFrom Hebrew
גִּיחוֹן (Giḥon), derived from
גִּיחַ (giyaḥ) meaning
"to burst forth". According to the Old Testament, this was the name of a river that originated in the Garden of Eden.
Gilead (Region) BiblicalMeans
"heap of witness" in Hebrew. This is the name of a mountainous region east of the Jordan River, as mentioned in the Old Testament.
Glympton (Settlement) EnglishDerived from the name of the river
Glyme and Old English
tun "enclosure, yard, town". This is the name of small town in Oxfordshire,
England.
Gorjestan (Country) PersianFrom Persian
گرج (Gorj) meaning "Georgia (country)" combined with the suffix
ستان (stān) meaning "land of". This is the modern Persian name for the country of
Georgia.
Górka (Settlement) PolishFrom Polish
góra meaning
"mountain". This is the name of various towns in
Poland.
Gotham (Settlement) English, Popular CultureFrom 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.
Grainville (Settlement) FrenchMeans
"Guarin's town" in Old French. This is the name of various towns in Normandy.
Grantham (Settlement) EnglishFrom Old English
grand meaning "gravel" and
ham meaning "home, estate, settlement". This is the name of a town in Lincolnshire.
Greece (Country) EnglishEnglish 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.
Hailey (Settlement) EnglishFrom Old English
heg "hay" and
leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Oxfordshire,
England.
Hamilton (Settlement) EnglishMeans
"crooked hill" from Old English
hamel "crooked, mutilated" and
dun "hill". This was the name of a town in Leicestershire,
England (which no longer exists). After the town name became a surname, it was used for several other cities, including ones in
Scotland,
Canada,
Australia and the
United States.
Harden (Settlement) EnglishFrom Old English
hara "hare" and
denu "valley". This is the name of a town in West Yorkshire.
Har'el (Other) Biblical HebrewMeans
"altar, mountain of God" in Hebrew. In the Hebrew Old Testament this name is applied to the altar in the temple in Jerusalem (
Ezekiel 43:15).
Hayastan (Country) ArmenianFrom the Armenian word
հայ (hay) meaning "Armenian" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stān) meaning "land of". This is the Armenian name for
Armenia.
Hind (Country) ArabicArabic form of
India, usually written with the definite article:
الهند (al-Hind).
Holland 1 (Political Subdivision & Country) Dutch, English, German, Danish, IcelandicFrom 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) EnglishFrom Old English
hoh "point of land, heel" and
land "land". This is the name of several towns in
England.
Hollande (Political Subdivision & Country) FrenchFrench form of
Holland 1, referring to the provinces and sometimes the entire country.
Holstein (Political Subdivision & Region) German, English, DutchFrom the name of a Saxon tribe, derived from Old Saxon
holt meaning "wood" and the suffix
-setio meaning "inhabitant". This is the name of a historical region in
Germany, near the Danish border. It forms part of the name of the modern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Hořovice (Settlement) CzechFrom Czech
hora meaning "mountain". This is the name of a town in the Czech Republic.
Houston (Settlement) Scottish, EnglishMeans
"Hugh's town", from the given name
Hugh and Old English
tun meaning "enclosure, town". This is the name of a town in
Scotland. The American city of Houston is named after the Texas president Sam Houston (1793-1863), whose surname is derived from the Scottish town.
Hungary (Country) EnglishFrom Latin
Hungaria, derived from Byzantine Greek
Οὔγγροι (Oungroi), from Turkic
Onogur meaning
"ten tribes". This is the name of a country in Eastern
Europe that was settled by the Hungarians in the 9th century. Because they were identified with the Huns, the
H was added to the beginning of their Latin name. The Hungarian name for the country is
Magyarország.
Huxley (Settlement) EnglishFrom Old English
hux "insult, scorn" (possibly) and
leah "woodland, clearing". This is the name of a town in Cheshire,
England.
India (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Tagalog, Ancient Roman, Ancient GreekDerived from the name of the
Indus River. In many languages of India, the name
Bharat is used to refer to the country. However, some southern Indian languages use spellings based on English
India.
Indija (Country) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, LithuanianSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian and Lithuanian form of
India.
Indo (Country) Japanese, KoreanJapanese and Korean form of
India. It is usually written in katakana in Japan and Hangul in Korea.
Indonesia (Country) Indonesian, Malay, Buginese, Minangkabau, English, Italian, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish, KoreanFrom 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.
Irak (Country) German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Thai, Lao, Mongolian, IndonesianForm of
Iraq in several languages.
Iran (Country) Persian, Arabic, English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Greek, Hebrew, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Urdu, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Burmese, Thai, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, MongolianDerived from Middle Persian
Eran, related to Old Iranian
Arya meaning
"Iranian, Aryan". This is the name of a country in western
Asia, formerly called
Persia in the West.
Ireland (Country & Island) EnglishDerived 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.
Isin (Settlement) SumerianMeaning unknown. This was the name of a city-state in Mesopotamia, originally Sumerian.
Israel (Country) English, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Biblical, Biblical GreekFrom the name of the Old Testament hero Jacob, who was also called
Israel. This was the name of an ancient kingdom that existed until the 8th century BC. The modern country of Israel is named for it.
Italy (Country) EnglishAnglicized 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.
Ithaca (Island) English, Greek MythologyFrom Greek
Ἰθάκη (Ithake), meaning unknown. This is the name of an island off the west coast of
Greece. In Greek mythology Ithaca was the home of the hero Odysseus. Homer's epic the
Odyssey describes his long and perilous voyage home after the Trojan War.
Ivah (Settlement) BiblicalDerived from Hebrew
עַוָּה (ʿawwa) meaning
"ruin, destruction". According to the Old Testament, this was the name of a city in Assyria.
Janków (Settlement) PolishFrom the given name
Janek. This is the name of several Polish towns.
Jemen (Country) German, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Dutch, Afrikaans, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, MacedonianForm of
Yemen in several languages.
Jericho (Settlement) English, BiblicalMeaning uncertain, possibly related to the Hebrew word
יָרֵחַ (yareaḥ) meaning
"moon", or otherwise to the Hebrew word
רֵיחַ (reyaḥ) meaning
"fragrance". This is the name of a city in Palestine, mentioned several times in the Old Testament.
Jerusalem (Settlement) English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Luxembourgish, Afrikaans, Catalan, Bosnian, BiblicalFrom Hebrew
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim), from an earlier Canaanite form like
Urushalim, probably meaning
"established by (the god) Shalim". This is the name of a city in
Israel and Palestine. Originally a Canaanite city, it was conquered by the Israelites under King
David at the beginning of the 10th century BC. It is now regarded as a holy city by Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Jordan (River & Country) English, Danish, Norwegian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Slovene, BiblicalRiver that flows between the countries of Jordan and
Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is
יַרְדֵן (Yarḏen), and it is derived from
יָרַד (yaraḏ) meaning
"descend, flow down". The river has lent its name to the country to the east (in German, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish and Slovene this is only the name of the river, with the name of the country taking a different form).
Kailash (Mountain) Hindi, MarathiProbably derived from Sanskrit
केलास (kelāsa) meaning
"crystal". This is the name of a mountain in the Himalayas that is believed to be the paradise of the Hindu god
Shiva.
Karmel (Mountain) Biblical HebrewMeans
"garden, vineyard" in Hebrew. This is the name of a mountain in
Israel mentioned in the Old Testament.
Kazahstan (Country) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, RomanianSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Romanian form of Kazakh
Қазақстан (see
Kazakhstan).
Keilah (Settlement) BiblicalFrom Hebrew
קְעִילָה (Qeʿila) meaning
"fortress, citadel". This was the name of a town in Judah mentioned in the Old Testament.
Kemet (Region) Ancient EgyptianFrom Egyptian
km meaning
"black", referring to the colour of the soil around the
Nile River. This was the Ancient Egyptian name for the Nile Valley in
Egypt.
Kendal (Settlement) EnglishFrom the name of the river
Kent combined with Old English
dæl meaning "valley, dale". This is the name of a town in Cumbria.
Kent (Political Subdivision & River) EnglishPossibly from a Brythonic element meaning
"border, edge, coast". This is the name of a historic kingdom and modern county in southeastern
England, called
Cent in Old English,
Cantium in Latin. It is also the name of a river in Cumbria, northwestern England.
Kerry (Political Subdivision) IrishFrom Irish Gaelic
Ciarraí meaning
"Ciar's people". This is the name of an Irish county.
Kimberley (Settlement) EnglishMeans 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.
Kingston (Settlement) EnglishFrom Old English
cyning "king" and
tun "enclosure, yard, town". This is the name of many towns in
England, as well as other parts of the English-speaking world (including the capital of Jamaica).
Kolumbija (Country, Region, Settlement & Political Subdivision) Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian, LithuanianSerbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, Latvian and Lithuanian form of
Columbia and
Colombia.
Kozłów (Settlement) PolishFrom Polish
kozioł meaning
"male goat". This is the name of several Polish towns.
Kozłowo (Settlement) PolishFrom Polish
kozioł meaning
"male goat". This is the name of several towns in
Poland.
Kurdistan (Region) Kurdish, Arabic, English, French, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, RussianFrom Kurdish
کوردستان (Kurdistan), from the Persian ethnic name
کرد (Kord) meaning "Kurd" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stān) 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.
Kynaston (Settlement) EnglishMeans
"Cynefrith's town" in Old English. This is the name of hamlets in Herefordshire and Shropshire.
Kyrgyzstan (Country) Kyrgyz, EnglishFrom Kyrgyz
Кыргызстан (Kyrgyzstan), a combination of the name of the Kyrgyz people and the Persian suffix
ستان (stān) 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.
Lehi (Region) BiblicalMeans
"jawbone" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of the site where the hero
Samson killed 1,000 men using only a donkey's jawbone.