Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Abisko(Other)Swedish From Northern Sami Ábeskovvu meaning "forest by the big water", from Sami áphi "lake, sea, big water" and skovvu, identical to Swedish skog "forest". The "big water" is probably Torneträsk... [more]
Adygea(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Адыгея (Adygeya), which is from Adyghe адыгэ (adyge), the endonym of the Circassian (Adyghe) people. The ethnic name is of uncertain meaning, though it may mean "mountain between seas" or "mountain by the sea"... [more]
Alaska(Political Subdivision)English Derived from Russian Аляска (Alyaska), which in turn is derived from Aleut alaxsxaq meaning "object to which the action of the sea is directed". Alaska is the largest of the 50 American states, located northwest of the United States mainland and bordering Canada.
Almería(Settlement)Spanish From Arabic المريّة (Al-Mariyya), meaning "the watchtower" or possibly "the mirror (of the sea)". This is the name of a city in the south of Spain.
Ba Bể(Body of Water, Political Subdivision & Other)Vietnamese From Vietnamese ba meaning "three," and bể meaning "lake" or "sea"; literally "three lakes/seas." It is the name of a lake, a county, and a national park in northeast Vietnam.
Bến Tre(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese biển meaning "sea" and tre meaning "to know".
Caucasus(Mountain)English From Greek Καύκασος (Kaúkasos), which is of uncertain origin; it may be derived from Scythian *xrohukäsi meaning "ice-shining" or "white snow". Alternatively, it may be from Greek κήξ (kḗx) meaning "sea swallow (a kind of bird)" and κάσος (kásos) possibly meaning "mountain" or "rock"... [more]
Châu Đại Dương(Region)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 洲 (châu) meaning "continent, island" and 大洋 (đại dương) meaning "ocean". This is the Vietnamese name for Oceania.
Chukotka(Political Subdivision)Russian, English Derived from the Russian name Чукчи (Chukchi), referring to the native people who originally inhabited the area. The word Chukchi is derived from Chukchi Chauchu meaning "rich in reindeer", used by the Reindeer Chukchi people to distinguish themselves from the Maritime Chukchi (the Anqallyt meaning "sea people")... [more]
Dayangzhou(Region)Chinese From Chinese 大洋 (dàyáng) meaning "ocean, sea" and 洲 (zhōu) meaning "continent, island". This is the Chinese name for Oceania.
Dinagat(Political Subdivision & Island)Filipino, Cebuano, Surigaonon, Waray, Tagalog, English From Cebuano dinagat meaning "of the sea", ultimately from dagat meaning "sea". This is the name of an island in the Philippines, as well as a province (called Dinagat Islands).
Ellesmere(Settlement)English The name of a town in Shropshire, England, which possibly meant either "Elli's lake", "principal lake" or "eel lake". The first element may refer to the personal name Elli or to an adjoining lake or mere that was the largest of several in the neighbourhood, or could be derived from Old English ǣl meaning "eel"; the second element is Old English mere "sea, ocean; lake, pool, pond, cistern".
Gimhae(Settlement)Korean Combination of 김 (gim, "money, gold") and 해 (hae, "sea, ocean"). This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Hải Dương(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 海 (hải) meaning "sea, ocean" and 陽 (dương) meaning "light, sun"... [more]
Hainan(Political Subdivision & Island)Chinese Means "south of the sea" from Chinese 海 (hǎi) meaning "sea, ocean" and 南 (nán) meaning "south", referring to the Qiongzhou Strait... [more]
Haiphong(Settlement)English From Vietnamese Hải Phòng derived from Sino-Vietnamese 海 (hải) meaning "sea, ocean" and 防 (phòng) meaning "defend, protect, guard"... [more]
Hokkaido(Political Subdivision & Island)Japanese From Japanese 北海 (hokkai) meaning "northern sea" and 道 (dō) meaning "circuit". This is the name of an island and prefecture of Japan.
Itämeri(Body of Water)Finnish Means "east sea" in Finnish. This is the Finnish form of the Baltic Sea, even though the sea is located to the west of Finland... [more]
Kaiyō(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a town in Japan's Tokushima Prefecture.... [more]
Kashmir(Region)Hindi, Urdu, Dogri, Persian, English Derived from Sanskrit कश्मीर (kashmira) of uncertain meaning. It could be derived from the name of the sage Kashyapa combined with Sanskrit मीर (mira) meaning "ocean, sea" or मेरु (meru) referring to the legendary Mount Meru in Hindu and Buddhist tradition... [more]
Läänemeri(Body of Water)Estonian Means "west sea" in Estonian. This is the Estonian name for the Baltic Sea.
Maranhão(Political Subdivision)Portuguese (Brazilian) Of uncertain origin: it may come from Tupi mar'anhan ("running sea"), a name for the Amazon River. This is the name of a state of Brazil.
Marseille(Settlement)French, English From the name of the ancient Greek colony and city of Μασσαλία (Massalia), of uncertain meaning. It may have been derived from Ligurian mas meaning "spring" or from Greek meaning "(city) on the far end of the sea", derived from μάσσων (masson) meaning "further" and ἅλς (hals) meaning "sea"... [more]
Medelhavet(Body of Water)Swedish Combination of Swedish medel "middle, centre, medium" and havet "the sea". This is the Swedish name of the Mediterranean Sea.
Miðjarðarhafið(Body of Water)Icelandic Combination of Icelandic mið/ur "middle", jarðar (the genitive singular form of jörð) "earth" and haf "sea". This is the Icelandic name for the Mediterranean Sea.
Mittelmeer(Body of Water)German Combination of German mittel "middle, medium" and Meer "sea". This is the German name for the Mediterranean Sea.
Morvah(Settlement)Cornish From Cornish Morvedh, derived from mor "sea" and bedh "grave". This is the name of a small Cornish village.
Mtsho Sngon(Body of Water & Political Subdivision)Tibetan From Tibetan མཚོ (mtsho) meaning "lake, ocean" and སྔོན (sngon) meaning "blue". This is the Tibetan name for Qinghai Lake as well as the Chinese province of Qinghai.
Nan'yō(Region)Japanese This is the shorter version of the name Nan'yō Guntō. It's an abbreviation. It in English means the "South Seas" and "Micronesia." It was used lots of times by Okinawans during the Japanese administration era... [more]
Okinawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "island in the far-away sea" in Japanese.
Okinawa(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island)Japanese From Japanese 沖 (oki) meaning "open sea" and 縄 (nawa) meaning "rope, cord", possibly from an archaic word for a type of rope used to catch fish. This is the name of a prefecture and city in Japan, as well as the name of a group of islands (along with the main island within that group).
Østersjøen(Body of Water)Norwegian Means "the eastern sea" in Norwegian. This is the Norwegian bokmål name for the Baltic Sea.
Östersjön(Body of Water)Swedish Means "the eastern sea" in Swedish. This is the Swedish name for the Baltic Sea.
Pará(Political Subdivision & River)Portuguese From Tupi pará, meaning "sea" or "large river". This is the name of a river and a state of Brazil.
Paraná(Political Subdivision & River)Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese From Geral paraná, meaning "river". Some sources claim that the name comes from Guaraní para ("sea") and anã "resembling", owing to the width of the river Paraná. This is the name of a state in Brazil.
Pathein(Settlement)Burmese Most likely derived from Mon ဖာသီ (pha sem) meaning "big sea" or "great sea". This is the name of a city in Myanmar, formerly known as Bassein in English.
Pernambuco(Political Subdivision)Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese Four theories exist over the origin of the name. The first theory is that it may come from Tupi para'nã ("great river" or "sea") and buka, meaning "hole", thus meaning "hole in the sea", perhaps indicating the Canal de Santa Cruz, which separates the island of Itamaracá from mainland Brazil.... [more]
Qinghai(Body of Water & Political Subdivision)Chinese, English From Chinese 青 (qīng) meaning "blue, green" and 海 (hǎi) meaning "sea, ocean". This is the name of a lake in as well as a province of China (the province is directly named after the lake).
Rebun(Island)Japanese This is the name of an island which is off the north-western tip of Hokkaidō in the far north of Japan.... [more]
Sagarmatha(Mountain)Nepali From Nepali सागर (sagar) meaning "ocean" and माथा (matha) meaning "head, top". This is the Nepali name for Mount Everest, coined by the Nepali government in the 1960s.
Stilla Havet(Body of Water)Swedish Means "the calm sea" in Swedish, from stilla "still, calm" and havet "the sea". This is the Swedish name for the Pacific Ocean.
Sulu(Political Subdivision, Region & Body of Water)Filipino, Tagalog, English From Suluk, the Malay name for the Tausug people, in turn derived from Tausug Tau Sūg meaning "people of the current", from tau meaning "man, person" and sūg meaning "(sea) current, flow of water"... [more]
Sumatra(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian, Acehnese, Minangkabau, Malay, English From Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra) meaning "sea, ocean". This is the name of an island in Indonesia as well as three Indonesian provinces.
Tijuana(Settlement)Spanish Derives from the rancho that Santiago Argüello Moraga established in 1829 on his Mexican land grant, naming it Rancho Tía Juana.... [more]
Tōkai(Region & Settlement)Japanese Means "eastern sea" from Japanese 東 (tō) meaning "east" and 海 (kai) meaning "sea, ocean". This is the name of a subregion of Japanese regions of Chūbu and Kansai... [more]
Topanga(Settlement)Indigenous American Topanga is a community in western Los Angeles County, California, United States located in the Santa Monica mountains. The name is given by the Native American indigenous Tongva tribe, and may mean "where the mountain meets the sea" or "a place above".
Transcaspia(Political Subdivision)English, Italian, Spanish Means "beyond the Caspian Sea", derived from Latin trans meaning "across, beyond" combined with Latin Caspia meaning "Caspian Sea".... [more]
Vahemeri(Body of Water)Estonian Combination of Estonian vahe "gap" and meri "sea". This is the Estonian name for the Mediterranean sea.
Välimeri(Body of Water)Finnish Combination of Finnish väli "gap, space" and meri "sea". This is the Finnish name for the Mediterranean Sea.