South Africa(Country)English Combination of south and Africa, named after its geographic location. This is the name of a country in southern Africa.
South America(Region)English Combination of south and America, named after it’s geographic location. This is the name of a continent in the Southern Hemisphere.
South Carolina(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, Named after King Charles I of England.
South Dakota(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, also the name of indigenous people of the Great Plains, from the Dakota word dakhóta "friend".
South Holland(Political Subdivision)English Combination of South and Holland 1, named after it’s geographic location. This is the name of a province of the Netherlands.
South Korea(Country)English South Korea (Korean: 한국/韓國, RR: Hanguk; literally 남한/南韓, RR: Namhan, or 남조선, MR: Namchosŏn in North Korean usage), officially the Republic of Korea (ROK; Korean: 대한민국/大韓民國, RR: Daehan Minguk), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea... [more]
Spalding(Settlement)English This is the name of several places in England, USA, Canada and Australia, including one located in the eastern English county of Lincolnshire.... [more]
Sparta(Settlement)English, Czech, Danish, Finnish, German, Icelandic, Manx, Polish, Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman From Doric Greek Σπάρτα (Sparta) and Attic Greek Σπάρτη (Spartē), which is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from σπάρτον (sparton) meaning "rope, cable" - a reference to the cords laid as the city’s foundation boundaries, though this could be just a folk etymology.... [more]
Springville(Settlement)English (American) The city of Springville in Utah was named after Fort Springville, a fort that religious leader Brigham Young ordered to be built to be turned into a town as soon as possible.
Spruce Grove(Settlement)English The name Spruce Grove refers to the abundance of spruce trees in the area and the original natural landscape of the settlement. Established as a small agricultural community in the late 19th century, it grew alongside the development of the Canadian railway... [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]
Srinagar(Settlement)English From Hindi श्रीनगर (shrinagar) comprised of श्री (shri) meaning "radiance, splendour, beauty" and नगर (nagara) meaning "town, city"... [more]
Srivijaya(Country)Malay, English From Sanskrit श्रीविजय (Shrivijaya) meaning "shining victory", from श्री (shri) meaning "diffusing light, radiance, splendour, beauty" combined with विजय (vijaya) meaning "victory"... [more]
Staffordshire(Political Subdivision)English County in England. From Old English 'stæð' meaning "landing place, ford, and scir, meaning "shire".
St Albert(Settlement)English, French (Quebec) Named after Albert Lacombe, a Roman Catholic priest who founded the St. Albert Mission in 1861 to serve the Métis people and local settlers. St. Albert is located in Alberta, Canada, and is part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region.
Stalingrad(Settlement)Russian From the surname Stalin and Russian grad meaning "town, city". The former name of the city Volgograd, after Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the then-General Secretary of the USSR's Communist Party.
Stamps(Settlement)English Stamps is a city in Arkansas, a state in the southern United States of America. This is where the author and actress Maya Angelou spent most of her childhood.
Staraya Russa(Settlement)Russian Staraya Russa is a town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist River.
Starbeck(Settlement)Old Norse The name **Starbeck** has an interesting origin! It is derived from the Old Norse term **"Stor-Bokki"**, which means **"Great River"**. The village of Starbeck, near Harrogate in Yorkshire, was formerly spelled as **"Starbok"** and appears in the 1086 Domesday Book... [more]
Starkville(Political Subdivision)English Starkville is the most populous city in Mississippi.
Statham(Settlement)English This is the name of a hamlet in the civil parish of Lymm, part of the borough of Warrington in Cheshire (Lancashire before 1974) in northern England. See Statham on the surname site for more information.
Steinauer(Settlement)Medieval German The first settlement at Steinauer was made in the 1850s by Joseph Steinauer and his two brothers. Steinauer was platted in 1886 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named for Joseph A. Steinauer, an early settler and the first postmaster.
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.
Stockton(Political Subdivision)English Stockton is the name of a city in California, and it's the name of borough in New Jersey. It is the home of Stockton University.
Storsjön(Body of Water)Swedish Means "the great lake" in Swedish (from stor "big, great, large" and sjön "the lake"). Storsjön is the 5th largest lake in Sweden, but it's also known for being the supposed home of Storsjöodjuret ("The Great-Lake monster"), a lake monster similar to the one in Loch Ness.
Stralsund(Settlement)German From the polabian name Stralov. From slavic stral- (arrow) and -ow (place).... [more]
Strängnäs(Settlement)Swedish Combination of an uncertain first element (possibly from a word describing a snare used for hunting, but other meanings are possible), and Swedish näs "isthmus". On June 6 in 1523, Gustaf Vasa was elected king of Sweden here... [more]
Stranraer(Settlement)Scottish A port town in South-West Scotland. Its name derives from Gaelic An t-Sròn Reamhar, literally meaning 'the fat nose', but which more prosaically might be rendered as 'the broad headland', referring to the local geography.
Strathcona(Political Subdivision & Region)English, Scottish Gaelic The name Strathcona originates from the Scottish Gaelic term strath, meaning "broad valley," combined with the name Cona, potentially referring to a river or a region in Scotland. The name was adopted in honor of Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, a prominent Canadian businessman and politician of Scottish descent.... [more]
Stungaičiai(Settlement)Lithuanian Stungaičiai is located in Šilalė district municipality, Tauragė county, Lithuania.
Stung Treng(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “river of reeds” in Khmer.
Stung Treng(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Means "river of reeds" from Khmer ស្ទឹង (stung) meaning "stream, small river" and ត្រែង (traeng) meaning "reed". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Cambodia.
Stuotgarten(Settlement)Old High German From Old High German Stuotgarten meaning "stud farm"; the city in Germany was founded as a site for breeding warhorses.
Sturgis(Settlement)English Transferred use of the English surname Sturgis. The city in South Dakota was named for General Samuel D. Sturgis, who fought for the Union during the American Civil War.
Sucre(Settlement)Spanish This is the constitutional capital city of Bolivia, it was named after Venezuelan revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre in 1839.
Suginami(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 杉 (sugi) meaning "cedar" and 並 (nami) meaning "row, line, avenue", so named for the row of cedar trees planted by an Edo period lord to mark the bounds of his property... [more]
Sukabumi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian, Sundanese Derived from Indonesian suka meaning "like, love" (ultimately from Sanskrit सुख (sukha) meaning "pleasant, happy") and bumi meaning "earth, soil" (from Sanskrit भूमि (bhumi))... [more]
Sukhothai(Political Subdivision, Country & Settlement)Thai Most likely means "rise of happiness" from Thai สุข (suk) meaning "joy, happiness" and อุทัย (uthai) meaning "sunrise, dawn, emergence, rise". This is the name of a province of Thailand... [more]
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]
Sulawesi(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian Probably means "iron island" in an uncertain South Sulawesi language, from sula (cognate with Indonesian pulau) meaning "island" and mesi (compare Indonesian besi) meaning "iron"... [more]
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.
Sumbawa(Island & Political Subdivision)Indonesian From a Portuguese corruption of the name Sambawa, which is most likely derived from Sanskrit शम्भु (shambhu) meaning "beneficent, benevolent" (also a name for the Hindu god Shiva)... [more]
Sümeg(Settlement)Hungarian Hungarian place name of unknown origin.
Sumer(Region)History From Akkadian Šumeru, a word of unknown meaning. Sumer was an early civilization in southern Mesopotamia inhabited by the Sumerians, emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC.
Sumida(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 墨 (sumi) meaning "ink" and 田 (ta) meaning "field, rice paddy". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo.
Sundance(Settlement)English A city in Wyoming named for the Sun Dance ceremony held by various local Native American nations.
Sunderland(Settlement)English A port city in North-East England. Derives from Old English sundor, 'separate' (c.f German sondern, 'but, instead') and land, 'land'.
Sunnyvale(Settlement)English From the English words sunny and vale meaning "valley". This is the name of a city in California.
Suō(Political Subdivision)Japanese Shifted from earlier Suhau(Sufau) or Suha(Sufa) (first written as 周芳), belonging to an old province which corresponds to the eastern part of modern Yamaguchi Prefecture.... [more]
Superior(Settlement & Body of Water)English Name of the largest of the North American Great Lake Chain as well as a city in Wisconsin bordering it. In the case of the lake, it is an Anglicization of French superieur meaning "upper" (referring to its position north of Lake Huron)... [more]
Surabaya(Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese From Javanese ꦯꦸꦫꦧꦪ (shurabaya), itself derived from ꦯꦸꦫ (shura) meaning "white shark" and ꦧꦪ (baya) meaning "crocodile". The name refers to 12th-century Javanese monarch Jayabaya, who supposedly saw a vision of a fight between a white shark and crocodile (which may have been a prediction of the Mongol invasion of Java in the late 13th century)... [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.
Surat(Settlement)Gujarati, English A city in India, derived from Arabic سورة (surah) meaning "surah", the name for the chapters of the Qur'an.... [more]
Surin(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai สุร (sura) meaning "brave, courageous" or "god, deity" and อินทร์ (in) referring to the Hindu god Indra... [more]
Suriname(Country)English The name of the Country in South America. Suriname is a small country on the northeastern coast of South America. It's defined by vast swaths of tropical rainforest, Dutch colonial architecture and a melting-pot culture... [more]
Surprise(Settlement)English Several places in the United States, including a city in Nebraska and a city in Arizona. From the English word "surprise".
Surrey(Settlement)English The name Surrey originates from the Old English "Sūþrige," meaning "southern district" or "southern region," derived from sūþ ("south") and rige ("region"). Surrey, British Columbia, was named after Surrey, England, by an early settler who thought the view of the Fraser River reminded him of the Thames in England... [more]
Surtsey(Island)Icelandic Means "Surtr's island" in Icelandic. Surtsey is an uninhabited island south of Iceland that formed in a volcanic eruption (which lasted several years) in the mid-1960s.
Suwannee(River)English (American) A river in Georgia and Florida. Possibly from Spanish San Juan, from the name of the Shawnee Native American people, or from Creek sawani eaning "echo".
Suzhou(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 苏 (sū) referring to Mount Gusu and 州 (zhōu) meaning "province, prefecture". This is the name of a city in China.
Svalbard(Political Subdivision)Norwegian, English, Swedish Originally from Old Norse Svalbarð, composed of svalr "cold" and barð "edge, ridge". Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean located right between continental Norway and the North Pole.
Svay Rieng(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Possibly from Khmer ស្វាយ (svay) meaning "mango" and រៀង (rieng) meaning "arrange, line up" or "sequential, consecutive, in order". This is the name of a province of, as well as a town in, Cambodia.
Svazi(Country)Bosnian, Croatian, Slovene Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Esvatini in the aforementioned three languages.
Svazilandas(Country)Lithuanian Lithuanian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Esvatinis in Lithuania.
Svazilenda(Country)Latvian Latvian form of Swaziland. The country changed its name to Eswatini in 2018 and so it is now known as Svatini in Latvia.
Svealand(Region)Swedish Means "land of the Swedes" (see Svea). The Swedes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting present-day Sweden. ... [more]