ACHTERBERG(Settlement)Low GermanThe name of various villages and estates in the Netherlands and Germany, derived from Low German
achter "behind" and
berg "mountain, hill".
ASSISI(Settlement)Italian, English, GermanFrom Latin
Asisium, which is of unknown, possibly pre-Latin, origin. This is the name of a city in central Italy.
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.
BOLL(Settlement)GermanFrom Middle High German meaning "hill". This is the name of several towns in Germany.
BOLOGNA(Settlement)Italian, English, GermanFrom Latin
Bononia, possibly derived from a Celtic word meaning "settlement". This is the name of a city in northern italy.
BRETAGNE(Region)French, GermanFrench form of
Britannia (see
BRITAIN). In French this typically refers to the region known as Brittany in France, while Great Britain is called
Grande-Bretagne.
DEUTSCHLAND(Country)GermanDerived from the German
deutsch meaning "German" (ultimately from Germanic
þeudo "people") and
Land. This is the German endonym for
Germany.
ENGLAND(Country)English, German, Swedish, Danish, NorwegianFrom 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.
ESSEN(Settlement)German, EnglishFrom older
Astnide, possibly a derivative of Old High German
asc meaning "ash tree". This is the name of a city in Germany, founded in the 9th century.
FRANKREICH(Country)GermanDerived from German
Frank, the name of a Germanic tribe, and
Reich meaning "empire, realm". This is the German name for
France.
GHANA(Country)English, French, German, Italian, SpanishFrom 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.
GUINEA(Region, Country & Island)English, Italian, Spanish, GermanFrom Portuguese
Guiné, which is of unknown meaning, possibly of Berber origin. This name was used by the Portuguese to refer to a portion of western Africa. It was also applied by westerners to the island of New Guinea starting in the 16th century. It is now the name or part of the name of the countries of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea.
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.
IRAN(Country)Persian, Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Croatian, SerbianDerived 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.
JERUSALEM(Settlement)English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, 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, German, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, BiblicalRiver which flows between the countries of Jordan and Israel. The river's name in Hebrew is
יַרְדֵן (Yarden), and it is derived from
יָרַד (yarad) meaning "descend" or "flow down". The river has lent its name to the country to the east (in German, Swedish, Finnish and Polish this is only the name of the river, with the name of the country taking a different form).
KONGO(Region, River & Country)Central African, Kongo, German, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Polish, Russian, Croatian, SerbianForm of
CONGO.
KOREA(Country)English, German, Dutch, Finnish, CzechFrom medieval Latin
Corea, itself derived from
GORYEO, the name of a kingdom which 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.
NEPAL(Country)Nepali, Indian, Hindi, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, SanskritFrom Sanskrit
नेपाल (Nepal), of unknown meaning. This is the name of a landlocked country in south Asia.
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 which is named after it).
NIGERIA(Country)English, French, Italian, Spanish, GermanFrom 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.
OCHTRUP(Settlement)GermanThe name of a town in Germany, of uncertain meaning.
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.
PERU(Country)English, Portuguese, German, DutchFrom Spanish
Perú, older
Birú, which was possibly derived from the name of a chieftain (who nevertheless resided in modern-day Panama).
PORTUGAL(Country)Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Galician, Catalan, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Croatian, SerbianFrom
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.
ROMAGNA(Region & Political Subdivision)Italian, English, GermanFrom Latin
ROMANIA, in this case the name of a historic region on the Adriatic coast of Italy (part of the modern administrative region of Emilia-Romagna).
RUSSLAND(Country)GermanDerived from the medieval state of
RUS and
land meaning "country, state". This is the German name for
Russia.
SAMARRA(Settlement)Arabic, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, GermanThis is the name of a city in Iraq, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century. It was possibly built at the site of the ancient Assyrian city of
Surmarrati, which is of uncertain meaning.
SCHWYZ(Settlement & Political Subdivision)German, English, SpanishMeaning uncertain, possibly related to Old High German
suedan "to burn" or possibly of Celtic origin. This is the name of a town (and a canton named for it) in central
Switzerland.
STOCKHOLM(Settlement)Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, German, Dutch, FrenchFrom 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.
SUDAN(Country)English, Arabic, German, ItalianFrom Arabic
سُود (sud) meaning "black", referring to the darker skin of the inhabitants. This is the name of a country in Africa. In Arabic it is properly written with the definite article:
السُودان (al-Sudan).
URAL(Region & River)Russian, English, German, Turkish, BashkirMeaning unknown, possibly from Turkic
aral meaning "island, boundary". This is the name of a mountain range and a river in western Russia.
VALENCIA(Settlement & Region)Spanish, Italian, English, GermanThe name of a city and surrounding region in eastern Spain, originally named in Latin
Valentia (Edetanorum) meaning "strength (of the Edetani people)", and derived from Latin
valentius "strength, vigour", from
valens "strong, vigourous". Besides the city in Spain, this is also the name of a city in Venezuala.