AALST (Settlement) DutchPossibly from Germanic
alhust meaning
"living place". This is the name of various towns in Belgium and the Netherlands.
AARLE (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of various towns in the Netherlands.
ACHTHOVEN (Settlement) DutchMeans
"eight gardens" in Dutch. This is the name of various towns in the Netherlands.
ADRICHEM (Settlement) DutchMeans
"Adrik's home". This was the name of an estate and castle (demolished in 1812) that was formerly in North Holland, the Netherlands.
AFGHANISTAN (Country) Pashto, Arabic, Urdu, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, French, ItalianFrom Pashto
افغانستان (Afghanistan), from the Persian ethnic name
افغان (Afkhan) meaning "Afghan, Pashtun" combined with the Persian suffix
ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a country in central Asia.
ALGIERS (Settlement) English, DutchFrom 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.
ALTENA (Settlement) DutchPossibly means
"close, near" in Dutch. This is the name of a town in the Netherlands.
AMERIKA (Region & Country) German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Luxembourgish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Albanian, Armenian, Georgian, Tatar, Bashkir, Chechen, Kazakh, Uzbek, Indonesian, MalayForm of
AMERICA, used to refer to the continents and sometimes to the United States of America.
AMERSFOORT (Settlement) DutchMeans
"ford of the Amer (Eem) River" in Dutch. This is the name of a city in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
AMSTEL (River) DutchMeans
"water place" in Dutch. This is the name of a river in the Netherlands, which lent its name to
Amsterdam.
ANDEL (Settlement) DutchPossibly means
"upper forest" in Old Dutch. This is the name of a town in North Brabant in the Netherlands.
ANGOLA (Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, GeorgianPortuguese form of
Ngola, the royal title of the kings of Ndongo, an African kingdom that was conquered by the Portuguese in the 17th-century. It was a Portuguese colony until 1975, when it became an independent country.
ANTWERPEN (Settlement) Dutch, German, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Hungarian, Slovene, Croatian, BosnianDutch form of
ANTWERP, as well as the form in several other languages.
APELDOORN (Settlement) DutchMeans
"apple tree" in Dutch. This is the name of a city in the Netherlands.
ARENDONK (Settlement) DutchDerived from Dutch
arend "eagle" and
donk "hill". This is the name of a city in northern Belgium.
ASCH (Settlement) DutchFrom Old Dutch
aska meaning
"ash tree". This is the name of a town in the Netherlands.
ASSENDORP (Settlement) DutchFrom Dutch
es meaning "ash tree" (plural
essen) and
dorp meaning "village". This is the name of a city in the Netherlands.
BABYLON (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, Biblical, Ancient Roman, Biblical Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical GreekGreek 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.
BEERS (Settlement) DutchPossibly from Dutch
baar meaning
"bar". This is the name of a town in the Netherlands (plus a smaller one in Frisia).
BELIZE (Country & River) English, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, MacedonianFrom Spanish
Belice, earlier
Balis, from the name of the Belize River, which may itself be from Mayan
beliz meaning
"muddy water". This is the name of a country on the Atlantic coast of Central America.
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, MalayFrom 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).
BETHLEHEM (Settlement) English, German, Dutch, BiblicalMeans
"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.
BUREN (Settlement) DutchFrom Old Dutch
bur "house, dwelling". This is a small town on the island of Ameland in the north of the Netherlands, as well as a small city in Gelderland.
CANADA (Country) English, French, Italian, Dutch, Danish, NorwegianDerived from the Iroquoian word
kanata meaning
"village". This word was used by Native Americans to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to Stadacona. Cartier used the word to refer to the region.
CYPRUS (Island & Country) English, DutchFrom Greek
Κύπρος (Kypros), which may get its name from the cypress tree (Greek
κυπάρισσος). This is the name of an island country in the eastern Mediterranean. Although considered one nation by most other countries, the northern part of the island is occupied by Turkish forces and claims independence.
GEORGIA (2) (Political Subdivision & Country) 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.
GHANA (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, SlovakFrom the name of the Ghana Empire, which was located in the southwestern Sahara and existed up to the 13th century.
Ghana, meaning
"warrior" in Mande, was actually the title of the rulers, while the empire itself was more properly known as
Awkar. In 1957 this was adopted as the name of the newly independent country of Ghana, formerly the British colony Gold Coast, despite the fact that the country lies outside the empire's territory.
HAANRADE (Settlement) DutchFrom Dutch
haan "rooster" and
raad "advice". This is the name of a small village in the south of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.
HOFWEGEN (Settlement) DutchFrom Dutch
hof meaning "garden, courtyard" and
weg meaning "way, path, road". This is the name of a town in the Netherlands.
HOLLAND (1) (Political Subdivision & Country) Dutch, English, GermanFrom Old Dutch
holt "forest" and
lant "land". This is the name of two provinces (North and South Holland) in the Netherlands. It is sometimes used to refer to the entire country of the
Netherlands.
HOLSTEIN (Political Subdivision & Region) German, English, DutchFrom the name of a Saxon tribe, derived from Old Saxon
holt meaning "wood" and
sat 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.
INDIA (Country) English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Estonian, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Albanian, Greek, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, 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.
IRAK (Country) German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, 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, Indonesian, Malay, Japanese, KoreanDerived 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.
JAPAN (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Croatian, Serbian, BosnianFrom Portuguese
Japão, which was derived from a Malay form of
Riben, the Chinese reading of
NIPPON.
KANNE (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in the province of Limburg in Belgium.
KONGO (Region, River & Country) Central African, Kongo, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Turkish, GeorgianForm of
CONGO in many languages.
KOREA (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Greek, Georgian, Indonesian, MalayFrom medieval Latin
Corea, itself derived from
GORYEO, the name of a kingdom that ruled most of the Korean Peninsula from the 10th to 14th centuries. This is the name of two countries, North and South Korea.
Hanguk and
Joseon are the Korean names for the countries.
LIBERIA (Country) English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Spanish, PolishDerived from Latin
liber meaning
"free". This was the name of a colony established in western Africa by free African Americans in the 1820s. It declared its independence in 1847, and was one of only two independent countries in Africa in the early 20th century (along with
Ethiopia).
MEXICO (Country & Settlement) English, French, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, DutchFrom Spanish
México, itself derived from Nahuatl
Mehxico. There are many theories regarding the ultimate origin, including Nahuatl
metztli meaning "moon" combined with
xictli meaning "navel". This is the name of a country in North America, as well as its capital city (the country is named after the city). In French and Swedish
Mexico is the name of the capital city, while the country is called
Mexique in French and
Mexiko in Swedish.
MOZAMBIQUE (Island & Country) English, French, Spanish, DutchFrom the name of an island off the southeastern coast of Africa, named
Moçambique by the Portuguese after the 15th-century local sultan
موسى بن بيك (Musa bin Bik). This island became the region's Portuguese colonial capital in the 16th century, and the name was eventually applied to a large area of mainland Africa. Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1974.
MYANMAR (Country) English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French, Czech, Romanian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Turkish, Indian, HindiFrom Burmese
မြန်မာ (Myanma), the name of the main Burmese ethnic group (also called the Bamar), which is of unknown origin. This is the name of a country in southeastern Asia. It was formerly called
Burma, derived from a variant of this term.
NEPAL (Country) Nepali, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Romanian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Malay, SanskritFrom Sanskrit
नेपाल (Nepal), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south Asia.
NIFTRIK (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands.
NIGER (River & Country) English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Croatian, Serbian, Late RomanMeaning unknown, possibly of Berber origin, though influenced by Latin
niger "black". This is the name of a river in western Africa (and a country that is named after it).
NIGERIA (Country) English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, GeorgianFrom the name of the
NIGER River, applied in the 19th century to the British colonial territory in western Africa. It continued to be used after the territory became an independent country in 1960.
OIRSCHOT (Settlement) DutchPossibly from Dutch
oeros meaning "aurochs" and
schoot meaning "projection (of land)". This is the name of a town in the province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands.
PADUA (Settlement) English, German, Spanish, DutchFrom Italian
Padova, Latin
Patavium, of unknown meaning. This is the name of a city in northern Italy.
PAKISTAN (Country) Urdu, Punjabi, English, Italian, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Slovak, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, SerbianFrom 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.
PEKING (Settlement) German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, English (Archaic)Form of
BEIJING in various languages, as well as an older English form.
PERU (Country) English, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Indian, HindiFrom Spanish
Perú, older
Birú, which was possibly derived from the name of a chieftain (who nevertheless resided in modern-day Panama).
PEY (Settlement) DutchMeaning unknown. This is the name of a town in Limburg in the Netherlands.
PORTUGAL (Country) Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, German, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Indonesian, MalayFrom
Portugale, which was derived from
PORTUS CALE, the old name of the city of Porto. The name of the city was later applied to the entire country.
ROME (Settlement) English, French, DutchMeaning uncertain, from Latin
Roma. This is the name of the capital city of Italy, formerly the capital of the Roman Kingdom, Republic and Empire. According to legend the city was named for
ROMULUS.
ROSSUM (Settlement) DutchFrom 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.
SCHOORL (Settlement) DutchFrom older
Scoronlo, meaning
"forest by the shore" in Dutch. This is the name of a town in the province of Noord-Holland in the Netherlands.
SENEGAL (River & Country) Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Romanian, TurkishFrom Portuguese, possibly from the name of the Berber Zenaga people of northern Senegal. This is the name of a river in western Africa, and a country named after it. It gained independence from France in 1960.
TEHERAN (Settlement) German, Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Romanian, Croatian, SerbianForm of
TEHRAN in several languages.
TROYES (Settlement) French, English, German, DutchThe name of a city in France, named in Latin
(Augustobona) Tricassium, which was named after the Gallic tribe of the Tricasses.
VENEZUELA (Country) Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovene, Croatian, Albanian, Turkish, Indonesian, MalayPossibly from Italian
Veneziola meaning
"little VENICE". This is the name of a country on the northern coast of South America. The region was supposedly named this in 1499 by a Spanish expedition (which included Amerigo Vespucci) because an indigenous town on Lake Maracaibo was built on stilts over the water, reminiscent of the Italian city. Another theory suggests that the country's name comes from
Veneciuela, the name of a local people.
VIETNAM (Country) English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, GreekFrom
Việt Nam, meaning
"southern Yue", derived from Sino-Vietnamese
越 (việt), referring to the Yue people, and
南 (nam) meaning "south". This is the name of a country in southeastern Asia.
WIEREN (Settlement) DutchMeans
"seaweed" in Dutch. This is the name of towns in Frisia and other parts of the Netherlands.