Mediterranean(Region & Body of Water)English, Ganda, Scots From the Latin term Mediterrāneum meaning "in the middle of land", composed of Latin medius "middle", terra "land, earth" and āneus "having the nature of". The Mediterranean Sea is located between Europe, Africa and a small part of Asia... [more]
Meguro(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 目 (me) meaning "eye, look, appearance" and 黒 (kuro) meaning "black", so named for a black-eyed statue that was placed on the outskirts of Edo for protection... [more]
Meije(Mountain)French From Occitan meija meaning "middle, centre, half," taken from its original name l'Agulha de la Meija meaning "the needle of the Meije."... [more]
Meknes(Settlement)English From French Meknès, itself from Arabic مكناس (Maknas) ultimately derived from Miknasa (Imeknasen), the name of a Berber tribe. This is the name of a city in Morocco.
Mekong(River)English From Thai แม่โขง (Mae Khong), a contraction of แม่น้ำโขง (Mae Nam Khong) from แม่น้ำ (mae nam) meaning "river" (literally "mother of waters") and โขง (khong) derived from Proto-Austroasiatic ruŋ meaning "river"... [more]
Melilla(Settlement)Spanish, English The etymology of Melilla is uncertain. Since Melilla was an active beekeeping location in the past, the name has been related to honey; this is tentatively backed up by two ancient coins featuring a bee as well as the inscriptions RSADR and RSA... [more]
Mellieħa(Settlement & Body of Water)Maltese The name of a large village or small town located on the northern tip of Malta's main island, it comes from mellieħa meaning "salt pan," derived from the Semitic root m-l-h (compare melħ meaning "salt"), probably referring to the ancient Punic-Roman salt pans which existed at Mellieħa Bay, the site of which is now occupied by the Għadira Nature Reserve.
Melnkalne(Country)Latvian Latvian form of Montenegro. It is literally a direct translation of the country's name, since it consists of the Latvian adjective melns meaning "black" combined with the Latvian noun kalns meaning "mountain".
Melrose(Settlement)Scottish Habitational namefor a place near Galashiels in the Scottish borders, so named from British words that were ansetors of Welsh moel 'bare', 'barren' rhos 'heath'.... [more]
Mer(Island)Meriam Mer This is the name of Mer Island which is in the Torres Strait Islands. The area is the home of the Meriam Mer people. This is the birth place of the Eddie Koiki Mabo (1936-1992), one of the plaintiffs in "The Mabo Case" for ownership concerning Mer Island.
Merapi(Mountain)Indonesian, Javanese From Sanskrit मेरु (Meru), the name of a legendary mountain in Buddhist and Hindu mythology, combined with Indonesian api meaning "fire". This is the name of a volcano on the island of Java in Indonesia.
Mesa(Settlement)English, Spanish From Spanish mesa, literally "table", referring to a flat-topped elevation. This is the name of a city in the US state of Arizona.
Mexic(Country & Settlement)Occitan, Romanian Occitan and Romanian form of Mexico. The Occitan name refers to both the country and city, whereas the Romanian name is used only for the country.
Miami(Settlement)English Name of a city in Florida. The name was first mentioned by Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a captive of Indians in southern Florida for 17 years, when he referred to what is now Lake Okeechobee as the "Lake of Mayaimi, which is called Mayaimi because it is very large"... [more]
Michigan(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, originally applied to Lake Michigan, perhaps from Old Ojibwa (Algonquian) meshi-gami "big lake".
Michoacán(Political Subdivision)Mexican Spanish form of Nahuatl Michhuahcan meaning "place of the fishermen" with michhuah being "possessor of fish" and -cān being "place of".
Micronesia(Country & Region)Dutch, English, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog From Greek μικρός (mikrós) meaning "small, little" and νῆσος (nesos) meaning "island". This is the name of a subregion of Oceania as well as an island country... [more]
Middlesex(Political Subdivision)English Middlesex is a city in New Jersey. It is also the name of a county in Massachusetts and a historic one in England.
Milpitas(Settlement)English Means "little cornfields" from a diminutive of Spanish milpa meaning "cornfield". This is the name of a city in California.
Milton(Settlement)English Name of a town in Ontario, Canada.
Milwaukee(Settlement)English From Algonquian millioke, meaning "good", "beautiful" and "pleasant land". This is the name of several settlements in the United States, including the largest city in the state of Wisconsin.
Minas Gerais(Political Subdivision)Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese Literally "general mines" in Portuguese. It is unclear whether the adjective Gerais refers to the many mines within the region or to the Matos Gerais (or Campos Gerais), the fields that were far away from the mines... [more]
Minato(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 港 (minato) meaning "harbour". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo as well as the name of wards in several other Japanese cities.
Mindanao(Island)Filipino, Cebuano, Tagalog, English From a Spanish corruption of Magindanaw, the endonym of the Maguindanao people. The ethnic name means "people of the flood plains" or "people of the lake" from Maguindanao danao meaning "lake"... [more]
Mingala Taungnyunt(Settlement)Burmese From Burmese မင်္ဂလာ (mingala) meaning "auspicious; prosperous," တောင် (taung) meaning "mountain," and ညွန့် (nyun) meaning "apex; peak." It is the name of a township in Yangon, Myanmar.
Minneapolis(Political Subdivision)English Name of a city in Minnesota, from Dakota mni "river, stream" + Ancient Greek polis "city".
Minnesota(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, originally the name of a river, from Dakota (Siouan) mnisota, literally "cloudy water", "milky water", from mni "river, stream" + sota "slightly clouded".
Minnetonka(Settlement)English Name of a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, means "great water" from Dakota mni "river, stream" and tanka "freat".
Minquier(Island)Breton, Norman, English An island chain in the Channel Islands, England. Could be from Breton 'minihi', meaning "sanctuary, or from 'minkier' meaning "seller of fish".
Minsk(Settlement)Belarusian, English, Russian From Old East Slavic Мѣньскъ (Menisku), which was derived from a river named Men. This is the name of the capital city of Belarus.
Mirabeau(Political Subdivision)French From Provençal mirar ("to see") and bel ("beautiful"). This is the name of a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, which is in southeastern France.
Mirna(River, Settlement & Political Subdivision)Slovene Dissimilation from Slavic nyrati meaning "to rise from the earth." It is the name of a river, village, and municipality in Slovenia.
Mississauga(Region)Ojibwe (Anglicized) From the Anishinaabe word misi-zaagiing, meaning "Those at the Great River Mouth". Name of the Mississauga tribe, and now a name of a Toronto suburb. Closely related to the Ojibwe word misswezahging, mean "river of many outlets".
Mississippi(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, originally the name of a river, from Ojibwe misi-ziibi "Great river".
Mitaka(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 三 (mi) meaning "three" and 鷹 (taka) meaning "hawk". This is the name of a city in the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.
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.
Mito(Settlement)Japanese The kanji that make up the name are 水 (mizu), meaning "water", and 戸 (to), meaning "door". This is the name of the capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
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.
Mizoram(Region)Mizo The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "land." Thus "Mizo-ram" means "land of the Mizos".
Mogholestan(Country, Political Subdivision & Region)Persian From Persian مغول (moğul) meaning "Mongol, Mongolian" combined with the suffix ستان (stân) meaning "land of". This is the Persian name for Mongolia.
Moldavië(Country & Region)Dutch Dutch name for the historical region of Moldavia. The name is also used to refer to Moldova, a country that currently contains most of the aforementioned region.
Molise(Political Subdivision)Italian, English, French Most likely derived from the Norman family de Moulins of Moulins-la-Marche. Rodolphe de Moulins, forefather of the family, became count of Bojano in 1053, which would go on to form the County of Molise.... [more]