Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Aalborg(Settlement)Danish Ultimately derived from Old Norse áll "river, stream" and borg "fortress, castle". This is the name of the fourth largest city in Denmark.
Agadir(Settlement)Arabic (Maghrebi), Berber, English, French Means "fortified fortress, wall" in Central Atlas Tamazight, ultimately from Phoenician gdr meaning "wall, compound". This is the name of a city in Morocco.
Akershus(Political Subdivision)Norwegian From the name of Akershus Fortress, composed of Aker (from Old West Norse akr "acre, field") and hús "house, castle, fortress". Aker used to be a Norwegian municipality, but it is now an area in Oslo... [more]
Amarapura(Settlement)Burmese Means "immortal city", derived from Sanskrit अमर (amara) meaning "immortal, undying" and पुर (pura) meaning "fortress, city"... [more]
Arkalgud(Settlement)Hindi Derived from Kannada ಅರಕೇಶ್ವರ (Arakeshvara), the name of a local deity, and ಗೂಡು (gudu) meaning "hut, hutment." It is a town in Karnataka.
Baghdad(Settlement)Arabic, English, Armenian, Hindi, Italian, Malay, Pashto, Persian, Urdu, Uyghur From Persian بغداد (Baghdad) most likely derived from Middle Persian 𐭡𐭢𐭣𐭲 (bgdt) meaning "given by god", itself from Old Persian 𐏎 (baga) meaning "god" and 𐎭𐎠𐎫 (dātaʰ) meaning "given, created"... [more]
Balıkesir(Settlement)Turkish Most likely from Greek Παλαιόκαστρον (Palaiokastron) meaning "old castle", from παλαιός (palaios) "old" and κάστρον (kastron) "castle". This is the name of a city in Turkey.
Banteay Meanchey(Political Subdivision)Khmer From Khmer បន្ទាយ្ (banteay) meaning “fortress” and from Sanskrit जय (jaya) meaning “victory”.
Banteay Meanchey(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means "fortress of victory" in Khmer, from បន្ទាយ (banteay) meaning "fort, fortress", មាន (mean) meaning "have, possess, own" and ជ័យ (chay) meaning "victory"... [more]
Bastille(Other)French This is the name of a fortress, formally known as Bastille Saint-Antoine, which played an important role in France's internal conflicts.... [more]
Bayt al-Maqdis(Settlement)Arabic Means "holy house" in Arabic, from بَيْت (bayt) meaning "house" and مُقَدَّس (muqaddas) meaning "holy, sacred". This is an Arabic name for Jerusalem.
Bharatpur(Settlement)Nepali From the name of the mythological king Bharata combined with Sanskrit पुर (pura) meaning "city, fortress"... [more]
Björneborg(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of Swedish björn "bear" and borg "castle, fortress". This is the Swedish name for Pori (whose name is a Finnicized form of -borg).
Blythburgh(Settlement)English (British) Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Southwold and 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth... [more]
Bonn(Settlement)German From Latin Bonna, of uncertain meaning. Theories are that it is derived from the name of a Gallic-Germanic tribe, the Eburoni, or that it is derived from words meaning "settlement" or "castle"... [more]
Brandenburg(Political Subdivision, Region & Settlement)German Derived from believed to be West Slavic brani boru, meaning "defensive forest" or brand "burned" burg "fortress" meaning "burnt fortress" the name of a German city, state, and street.
Brussels(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English Union of Proto-Germanic elements brōk, "marsh", and sali, "building, room"; influenced by Dutch Brussel. This is the name of the capital city of Belgium.
Camarines(Political Subdivision)Filipino, Central Bikol, Tagalog, English Either from a Hispanicized plural form of Bikol kamalig meaning "shelter, hut, storage shed" or the plural form of Spanish camarín meaning "alcove, niche". This is the name of two provinces of the Philippines, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.
Casablanca(Settlement)English, French, Spanish Means "white house" in Spanish. The name comes from a Spanish translation of the Arabic name الدار البيضاء (ad-Dar al-Bayda'), which in turn was derived from a calque of the Portuguese name Casa Branca... [more]
Castlebar(Settlement)Irish Means "Barry's Castle", from a castle built by the de Barry family, which the town grew around.... [more]
Castleblayney(Settlement)English "Castle", referring to the castle outside the town, + "Blayney", after Sir Edward Blayney, whom the British Crown granted land in the area to.
Chhattisgarh(Political Subdivision)Indian The name "Chhattisgarh" is derived from the combination of two Hindi words: "Chhattis," which means "sixteen," and "Garh," which means "fortress" or "stronghold." It refers to the sixteen forts that were believed to have been built in the region during ancient times.
Chittagong(Settlement)Bengali, English The etymology of Chittagong is uncertain. One explanation credits the first Arab traders for shatt ghangh, where shatt means "delta" and ghangh stood for the Ganges. The Arakanese chronicle states that a king named Tsu-la-taing Tsandaya, after conquering Bengal, set up a stone pillar as a trophy or memorial at the place since called Tst-ta-gaung as the limit of conquest... [more]
Cill Dara(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish The Irish name for County Kildare. Means "church of the oak" in Irish.... [more]
Cill Mhantáin(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish Irish name for the county of Wicklow. Meaning "church of Mantan". It is named after a peer of Saint Patrick. Mantan had his teeth knocked out by Irish pagans, and then he was renamed Mantan, which means "toothless one".
Coimbra(Settlement)Portuguese From Latin Conimbriga, itself derived from the name of an ancient tribe known as the Conii and Old Celtic brigā meaning "hill, fortress". This is the name of a city in Portugal.
Colossae(Settlement)Greek either "Establishing a Temple or Shrine" or "to Punish" or "Dyed Wool," but no direct connection to "the Colossus of Rhodes"
Dar Es Salaam(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Swahili, English Derived from Arabic دار السلام (dar as-salam) meaning "house of peace" or "abode of peace". This is the name of an administrative region and city in Tanzania.
Demelza(Settlement)Cornish Name of a hamlet in Cornwall, sometimes explained as a contraction of Cornish Dinas Maeldaf "fort of Maeldaf", but more likely derived from Cornish ty "house" and malsai "eel".
Devizes(Settlement)English Derived from castrum ad divisas, latin for “castle at the boundary”
Dharamshala(Settlement)English From Hindi धर्मशाला (dharmshala) referring to a type of sanctuary for religious pilgrims, itself derived from Sanskrit धर्म (dharma) meaning "law, duty, virtue" (with the additional meaning of "religion, faith" in Hindi) and शाला (shala) meaning "house"... [more]
Đồng Tháp(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 墥 (đồng) and 塔 (tháp) meaning "tower".
Đồng Tháp(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese Shortened form of Đồng Tháp Mười, itself from Vietnamese đồng meaning "field", tháp meaning "tower" and mười meaning "ten". This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Eturkalamma(Other)Babylonian Means "house, cattle pen of the land", deriving from the Akkadian elements erṣutu ("ground, earth, soil, land"). Name of the temple of Ishtar in Babylon, where she was worshipped as Belet-babili.
Fannborg(Mountain)Icelandic The name of a mountain peak of Kerlingarfjöll, a mountain range in the highlands of Iceland, possibly meaning "snow fortress" from Icelandic fönn "snow" and borg "castle" (from Old Norse borg).
Fortaleza(Settlement)Portuguese Means "fortress" in Portuguese, a shortened form of the original name Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora de Assunção meaning "Fort of Our Lady of the Assumption". This is the name of a city in Brazil.
Funabashi(Settlement)Japanese Means either "bridge on a ship" or "bridge made of ships" in Japanese, from 船 (funa), meaning "ship, vessel", and 橋 (hashi), meaning "bridge"... [more]
Ghalghayche(Political Subdivision)Ingush From гӀалгӀай (ghalghay) the native name of the Ingush people, combined with the suffix -че (-che) meaning "place of". The ethnic name is of uncertain origin, though it is most popularly believed to mean "residents of the towers"... [more]
Göteborg(Settlement)Swedish From the name of Göta älv ("River of the Geats"), combined with Swedish borg "castle, fortress". The Geats were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting present-day Sweden. Göteborg is the second largest city in Sweden.
Guadalajara(Political Subdivision, Region & Settlement)Spanish name comes from the Arabic (وادي الحجارة) wādī al-ḥajārah which means "Valley of the Stone", or "Fortress Valley". A city in Mexico bears this name from the birthplace of a conquistador of the same name as the city and the province of Spain the same name.
Helsingborg(Settlement)Swedish Helsingborg is a city in Scania, Sweden. The name is a combination of hals "neck, narrow strait" and borg "castle, fortification". There has been a permanent settlement around Helsingborg since 1085, making it one of Sweden's oldest cities.
Houtadi(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 后 (hòu) meaning "rear," 塔 (tǎ) meaning "tower," and 底 (dǐ) meaning "base" (literally "base of the rear tower"). It is the name of a village in Hebei, China.
Húsavík(Settlement)Icelandic, Faroese Combination of Icelandic and Faroese hús "house" and vík "bay".
Hwaseong(Settlement)Korean Combination of 華 (화, hwa, "bright, colorful") and 城 (성, seong, "castle"). This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Ibaraki(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "thorn castle" in Japanese.
Ibaraki(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "thorny castle" from Japanese 茨 (ibara) meaning "thorn" and 城 (ki) meaning "castle", so named for a legendary castle of thorns that was built in the area to vanquish thieves or burglars... [more]
Itasca(Body of Water)English Lake Itasca in north central Minnesota.... [more]
Jaipur(Settlement)English, Punjabi, Telugu From Hindi जयपुर (Jaypur) derived from the given name Jay 2 (so named for the city's founder, 18th century ruler Jai Singh II) and Sanskrit पुर (pura) meaning "fortress, city"... [more]
Janakpur(Settlement)Nepali, Maithili From the name of the mythological character Janaka combined with Sanskrit पुर (pura) meaning "city, fortress"... [more]
Kildare(Region)Irish, English From Irish Cill Dara meaning "church of the oak".
Kilkenny(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish Town and county in Ireland. Means "church of Cainnech". Saint Cainnech was the man who converted the county to Christianity in 597.
Killough(Settlement)Irish Killough, derived from Irish Cill Locha "church of the loch", is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland.
Kurashiki(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 倉 (kura) meaning "granary, storehouse" and 敷 (shiki) meaning "spread, pave". This is the name of a city in Japan.
Lanchester(Settlement)English Derived from the words lang "long" and chester "camp, fortress".
Lannstevan(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Cornish Lannstevan (Launceston in English) is a town, ancient borough, and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the middle stage of the River Tamar, which constitutes almost the entire border between Cornwall and Devon... [more]
Limerick(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish, English Possibly derives from loimeanach, meaning "bare marsh" or "spot made bare by feeding horses". Other potential derivations connect with luimnigthe "cloaked" and luimnechda, meaning "shielded"... [more]
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch(Settlement)Welsh Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a large village and local government community on the island of Anglesey, Wales, on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and across the strait from Bangor... [more]
Luimneach(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish The Irish name for Limerick, a city and the county town of the county in the province of Munster, Ireland... [more]
Luxor(Settlement)Arabic (Egyptian) Means “the palaces” in Arabic. This is the name of a city in Egypt.
Luxor(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English From a corruption of Arabic الأقصر (al-'uqsur) meaning "the palaces". This is the name of a governorate and city in Egypt.
Magadan(Settlement)Biblical Hebrew Derived from Hebrew מגדל (Migdal) meaning "tower"; ultimately from Aramaic מגדלא (Magdala) "elegant, great" or "tower". The King James' Version of the Bible provide the name Magdala, while some Greek manuscripts and the Revised Version provide the name "Magadan"... [more]
Makhachkala(Settlement)Russian Means "Makhach's fortress", from the given name Makhach and Kumyk къала (qala) meaning "fortress". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Dagestan, named in honour of Magomed-Ali "Makhach" Dadaev (1882-1918), a Dagestani revolutionary.
Mecca(Settlement)English, Italian, Romanian From Arabic مكة (Makka) which is from بكة (bakka), an ancient name for the region. The name is of uncertain origin and meaning; it may be from Arabic بكى (baka) meaning "to cry, to mourn" or Ge'ez ምኵራብ (məkʷrab) meaning "temple, sanctuary"... [more]
Miyagi(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "home castle" in Japanese.
Miyagi(Political Subdivision)Japanese From Japanese 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and 城 (ki) meaning "castle". This is the name of a prefecture of Japan.
Miyazaki(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Monaco(Country)English, French This is the name of a sovereign city-state and microstate bordering France on three sides and the Mediterranean Sea on one side.... [more]
Monoikos(Settlement)Greek This is the name of a 6th century BC Phocaean Greek colony, near what is now Monaco.... [more]
Mullingar(Settlement)Irish From Irish An Muileann gCearr, meaning "the left-hand mill", describing a mill noted in the legend of St. Colmán mac Luacháin, the patron saint of Lynn, Westmeath.... [more]
Narathiwat(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai นร (nara) meaning "man" and อธิวาส (athiwat) meaning "residence, house". This is the name of a province and city in Thailand.
Nishinomiya(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west", the unwritten possessive marker の (no), and 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace"... [more]
Nouakchott(Settlement)French, English From Arabic نواكشوط (Nuwakshut), itself from Tamazight Nawākšūṭ meaning "place of the winds" or inua u-kshut meaning "made of wood, made of sticks". This is the name of the capital of Mauritania.
Petrograd(Political Subdivision & Region)Russian The name of Saint Petersburg during 1914 to 1924. Saint Petersburg's name was changed to this to avoid German connotations, as burg is a common German suffix meaning "fortress, fortification, castle" and sankt meaning saint... [more]
Phan Rang – Tháp Chàm(Settlement)Vietnamese Derived from Eastern Cham Pandarang, itself from Sanskrit पाण्डुरङ्ग (panduranga) meaning "white god" (an epithet of the Hindu god Vithoba), combined with Vietnamese tháp Chàm meaning "Cham tower" or "Cham temple"... [more]
Plovdiv(Settlement)Bulgarian From a Thracian translation of the Latin name Pulpudeva, which was possibly derived from the given name Phillip combined with Dacian dava meaning "city, town, fortress"... [more]
Pori(Settlement)Finnish Derived from Swedish borg "castle, fortress".
Preah Vihear(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer From the name of an ancient temple itself meaning "temple, sanctuary", derived from Khmer ព្រះ (preah) meaning "god, lord" and វិហារ (vihear) meaning "temple, monastery"... [more]
Qiantadi(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 前 (qián) meaning "front," 塔 (tǎ) meaning "tower," and 底 (dǐ) meaning "base" (literally "base of the front tower")... [more]
Rhyl(Settlement)Welsh Seaside resort and community in the Welsh county of Denbighshire. The origin is not fully known. The name seems to be a hybrid of the English word "hill" and the Welsh definite article "y", meaning "the hill"... [more]
Sarajevo(Settlement)Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian, English From Turkish saray meaning "palace, mansion, house" and ova meaning "plain, lowland" or the Slavic suffix -evo used to indicate place names. This is the name of the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Saraybosna(Settlement)Turkish From Turkish saray meaning "place, mansion, house" and Bosna meaning "Bosnia". This is the Turkish name for Sarajevo.
Sejong(Settlement)Korean In honor of King Sejong the Great (1397–1450), creator of the Hangul alphabet. Combination of 世 (세, se, "life, age, generation") and 宗 (종, jong, "school, sect, purpose"), thus "kind river"... [more]
Seongnam(Settlement)Korean Combination of 城 (성, seong, "castle") and 南 (남, nam, "south"), thus "southern castle". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Siloam(Body of Water)Biblical Hellenized form of Hebrew שִׁלֻּחָה (Shiloach), derived from שילח (shileach) "to send out" and interpreted as meaning "a sending out, gushing forth (of water)". According to the Gospel of John in the New Testament, the Pool of Siloam was a spring in the southeast corner of Jerusalem where Jesus sent the "man born blind" to wash and receive sight... [more]
Sønderborg(Settlement)Danish (Modern) Town in Denmark located in North Slesvig specifically on the southern part of the island of Als and partly on the peninsula Jutland. Sønder meaning "southern" and borg meaning "castle"... [more]
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte(Settlement)English From Sinhalese ශ්රී ජයවර්ධනපුර කෝට්ටේ (shri jayawardhanapura kotte) meaning "blessed fortress city of growing victory" or "fortified city of victory"... [more]
Sudbury(Settlement)English City in Ontario, Canada. Meaning "south fortress" from Old English suð (south) and byrig (fortified place).
Sukhumi(Settlement)English From Georgian სოხუმი (sokhumi) of uncertain origin. It may be from Georgian ციხე (tsikhe) meaning "fortress" combined with the suffix ომი (omi) denoting a geographical location or from Svan ცხუმ (tskhum) meaning "hornbeam"... [more]
Surakarta(Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From Sanskrit शूर (shura) meaning "brave, heroic" and कृत (krta) meaning "done, made, accomplished". This is the name of a city in Indonesia.
Tikeshromi(Settlement)Coptic Possibly means "breaker of men" in Coptic, from the feminine definite article ϯ (ti) combined with ⲕⲱϣ (kosh) meaning "break" and ⲣⲱⲙⲓ (romi) meaning "man" — taken from a calque of the city's Arabic name القاهرة (al-Qahirah) meaning "the victorious"... [more]
Tiperses(Settlement)Coptic Means "the Persian (fortress)" from the Coptic definite article ϯ (ti) combined with ⲡⲉⲣⲥⲏⲥ (perses) meaning "Persian". This is the Coptic name for the Egyptian city of Giza.
Trelleborg(Settlement)Swedish Derived from the word trelleborg meaning "ring fort" or "Viking ring fortress", referring to a type of circular forts built during the Viking Age. The word trelleborg itself might be a combination of Old Norse þræll "slave" or trel "wooden staves" and borg "fortress, castle".
Uleåborg(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of Ule, the name of a river whose name derives from the Finnish dialectal word oulu "floodwater", Swedish å "river, stream", and borg "castle, fortification"... [more]
Utsunomiya(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a city which is the capital and most populous city of Tochigi Prefecture, located in central Japan. The kanji used are 宇 (u) meaning "eaves, heaven, house, roof", 都 (tsu, to, miyako) meaning "capital, metropolis" and 宮 (kyuu, ku, kuu, guu, miya) meaning "constellations, palace, princess, Shinto shrine."... [more]
Xiamen(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 厦 (xià) meaning "mansion, large building" and 门 (mén) meaning "gate, door", itself an alteration of the older name 下门 (Xiàmén) from 下 (xià) meaning "under, below, down" and 门 (mén) meaning "gate, door"... [more]
Yogyakarta(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian From Javanese ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ (ngayogyakarta), itself derived from Sanskrit अयोध्या (ayodhya) meaning "unconquerable, irresistible" (also referring to the mythical city of Ayodhya mentioned in Hindu texts such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata) and कृत (krta) meaning "done, made, accomplished"... [more]