Ancient Greek Place Names

Aigaios Αἰγαῖος (Body of Water) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Aegean.

Aigyptos Αἴγυπτος (Country) Greek, Ancient Greek
Greek form of Egypt.

Aithiopia Αἰθιοπία (Country) Greek, Ancient Greek
Greek form of Ethiopia.

Alexandreia Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Settlement) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Alexandria.

Alexandria Ἀλεξάνδρεια (Settlement) English, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek (Latinized)
From the Greek given name Ἀλέξανδρος (see Alexander), bestowed by Alexander the Great upon the cities he founded or conquered. This is the name of many cities throughout the world, notably in Egypt.

Arabia Ἀραβία (Region) Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish
From Greek Ἀραβία (Arabia), derived from Arabic عرب (ʿArab) meaning "Arabs, Arabian people". This is the name of a large peninsula in the Middle East, also called the Arabian Peninsula.

Armenia Ἀρμενία (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Polish, Greek, Norwegian, Finnish, Indonesian, Malay, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
From Greek Ἀρμενία (Armenia), which was from Old Persian Armina, which is itself probably of Armenian origin. This is the name of a country in the Caucasus region, called Hayastan in Armenian.

Asia Ἀσία (Region) English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Greek, Norwegian, Indonesian, Malay, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
Perhaps derived from Akkadian asu, meaning "east". This is the name of the world's largest continent.

Assyria Ἀσσυρία (Region) English, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
From Greek Ἀσσυρία (Assyria), derived from Akkadian Ashurayu, itself from the name of the empire's capital city Ashur. This was the name of an ancient Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.

Athenai Ἀθήναι (Settlement) Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek form of Athens.

Atlantikos Ἀτλαντικός (Body of Water) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Atlantic.

Attike Ἀττική (Region) Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek form of Attica.

Babylon Βαβυλών (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Greek form of Akkadian 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 (Babili), which appears to mean "gateway of God", from Akkadian 𒆍 (babu) meaning "gate" and 𒀭 (ilu) meaning "God", though it may in fact derive from a non-Semitic language. This was the name of a major city in ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian Empire. It was located in present-day Iraq.

Damaskos Δαμασκός (Settlement) Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Greek form of Damascus.

Delphoi Δελφοί (Settlement) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Delphi.

Erythra Ἐρυθρά (Body of Water) Ancient Greek
From Greek ἐρυθρός (erythros) meaning "red". This was the Greek name for the Red Sea (the English name is a translation from the Greek).

Euphrates Εὐφράτης (River) English, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
From Greek Εὐφράτης (Euphrates), the name of a river in Mesopotamia. It is derived from Old Persian 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 (Ufratu), itself from Elamite or Sumerian, of uncertain meaning.

Euripos Εὔριπος (Body of Water) Ancient Greek
Possibly from Greek εὖ (eu) meaning "good" and ῥιπή (rhipe) meaning "throw, swing". This was the name of the strait between Euboea and Boeotia.

Europe Εὐρώπη (Region) English, French, Ancient Greek
From Greek Εὐρώπη (see Europa). The name of the mythological princess is from that of the continent.

Galatia Γαλατία (Region & Political Subdivision) Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English
From the Greek word for the Gaulish people Γαλάτης (Galates), probably a cognate of Latin Gallus (see Gallia). This was the Greek name for the region of Gaul. It was also used to refer to a region in Anatolia (modern Turkey) where Gauls settled in the 3rd century BC.... [more]

Galilaia Γαλιλαία (Region) Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Greek form of Galilee.

Ganges Γάγγης (River) Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese
From Ancient Greek Γάγγης (Ganges), derived from Sanskrit गङ्गा (Gaṅgā), derived from गम् (gam) meaning "to go". This is the name of a river in South Asia that flows through India and Bangladesh.

Hellada Ἑλλάδα (Country) Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek form of Ellada.

Ilion Ἴλιον (Settlement) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Ilium.

Ilium Ἴλιον (Settlement) Ancient Greek (Latinized)
From Greek Ἴλιον (Ilion), probably of Luwian or Hittite origin. This was another name for the ancient city of Troy.

India Ἰνδία (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Tagalog, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
Derived 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.

Indos Ἰνδός (River) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Indus.

Ioudaia Ἰουδαία (Region) Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek, Greek
Greek form of Judah.

Ithake Ἰθάκη (Island) Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology
Ancient Greek form of Ithaca.

Korinthos Κόρινθος (Settlement) Ancient Greek, Greek
Greek form of Corinth.

Kypros Κύπρος (Island & Country) Greek, Norwegian, Ancient Greek
Greek and Norwegian form of Cyprus.

Libye Λιβύη (Country & Region) French, Czech, Ancient Greek
French and Czech form of Libya, as well as the Ancient Greek transcription.

Lydia Λυδία (Region) Ancient Greek, English
An ancient region on the west coast of Asia Minor, said to be named for the legendary king Lydos.

Macedonia Μακεδονία (Region, Country & Political Subdivision) Ancient Greek (Latinized), English, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Polish
Derived from Greek Μακεδονία (Makedonia), the name of an ancient kingdom and region that was named after the ancient Macedonian people. Their name was derived from Greek μακεδνός (makednos) meaning "tall, thin", which was descriptive of the people or perhaps of where they lived in the highlands.... [more]

Makedonia Μακεδονία (Region, Country & Political Subdivision) Ancient Greek, Greek, Norwegian, Finnish
Greek, Norwegian and Finnish form of Macedonia.

Messene Μεσσήνη (Settlement) Ancient Greek
Meaning unknown. This was the name of an ancient Greek city on the Peloponnese.

Nazaret Ναζαρέτ (Settlement) Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Czech, Greek, Armenian, Croatian, Serbian, Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Form of Nazareth in various languages.

Neapolis Νεάπολις (Settlement) Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
Greek and Latin form of Naples.

Neilos Νεῖλος (River) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Nile.

Nineue Νινευή (Settlement) Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Biblical Greek form of Nineveh.

Odessos Ὀδησσός (Settlement) Ancient Greek
Meaning uncertain. This was the name of an ancient Greek city located on the west coast of the Black Sea, at the site of present-day Varna, Bulgaria.

Olympos Ὄλυμπος (Mountain) Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology, Greek
Meaning unknown. This is the name of the highest mountain in Greece. According to legend is the home of the Greek gods.

Palaistine Παλαιστίνη (Region) Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek form of Palestine.

Persis Περσίς (Country) Ancient Greek
Greek form of Persia.

Petra Πέτρα (Settlement) Ancient Greek, English
From Greek πέτρα (petra) meaning "rock". This was the Greek name of the capital city of the Nabataeans, which may have been known as Raqmu to its Semitic inhabitants. Its ruins lie in Jordan.

Philadelpheia Φιλαδέλφεια (Settlement) Ancient Greek, Biblical Greek
Greek form of Philadelphia.

Sikelia Σικελία (Island & Political Subdivision) Greek, Ancient Greek
Greek form of Sicily.

Syria Συρία (Country & Region) English, Polish, Norwegian, Greek, Ancient Roman, Ancient Greek
From Greek Συρία (Syria), which was probably a variant of Assyria, used in an expanded sense to refer to the northern Levant. This was the name of a province of the Roman Empire. It is now the name of a country in western Asia, having gained independence from the Ottoman Empire early in the 20th century.

Troia Τροία (Settlement) Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology
Greek form of Troy.