Sirion(River)Literature From JRR Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' series. From the fictional Sindarin language sîr meaning “river” and iaun meaning “wide”.
Sitka(Settlement)Tlingit From the Tlingit name Shee Atʼiká, meaning "people on the outskirts of Baranof Island." This is the name of a city in Southeast Alaska. It is the largest US city by total area.
Sittwe(Settlement)Burmese Means "place where war meets" in Burmese and Arakanese, from စစ် (sit) meaning "war" and the suffix တွေ (-twe). This is the name of a city in Myanmar that serves as the capital of Rakhine State.
Sjælland(Island)Danish, Norwegian Meaning uncertain. Perhaps a combination of Old Norse selr "seal" and the place name suffix -und. In Norse mythology, Sjælland was created by the god Gefion.
Skåne(Political Subdivision)Swedish Province and county in southern Sweden that was a part of Denmark until 1658. The name is likely derived from Old Norse Skáney (ultimately derived from the Germanic root *Skaðin-awjō) meaning "danger" or "damage"... [more]
Skellefteå(Settlement)Swedish Combination of an unexplained first element, though it's believed to be of Sami origin, and the place name suffix -eå "river".
Skipton(Settlement)English A town in North Yorkshire, England meaning "sheep town".
Slavkov u Brna(Settlement)Czech Historically named Slavkov, it is derived from the name Slávek, a colloquial derivative of Bohuslav, which was likely the name of a prominent town figure or property owner. In 1918, Slavkov was renamed Slavkov u Brna, meaning "Slavkov near Brno", to distinguish it from other places with the same name.... [more]
Sligo(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish Town and county in Ireland. Means "shelly place", because of the large amount of shellfish the nearby river.
Smara(Settlement)English Meaning unknown. Smara is a Moroccan-controlled city in the disputed Western Sahara.
Snezhnaya(River)Russian The name of a river in Russia. Снежная means "snowy" in Russian, thus the river name literally means "snowy river".
Śnieżka(Mountain)Polish Name of a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Krkonoše mountains.
Snir(River)Biblical Hebrew It's a river in the Bible, near the Hermon Mount. Sometimes the Hermon itself is called "Snir".
Snohomish(Settlement & River)English (American) A city and river in Washington State. From the name of the Snohomish people, who are indigenous to the area.
Snowdon(Mountain)English Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa, pronounced ər ˈwɪðva) is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands.e
Socotra(Island)English Scholars don't agree about the origin of the name of the island. After that the name Socotra may derive from:... [more]
Sóc Trăng(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Khmer ស្រក្ (srôk) meaning "depository" and Sino-Vietnamese 江 (giang) meaning "river".
Sóc Trăng(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese Derived from Khmer ស្រុក (srok) meaning "land, inhabited area" and ឃ្លាំង (khleang) meaning "storehouse, treasury" or ត្រែង (treng) meaning "reed"... [more]
Södermanland(Political Subdivision)Swedish Södermanland is a Swedish county and province meaning "land of the southern people". The southern people referred to people living south of Mälaren... [more]
Sodor(Other)Popular Culture This is the name of a fictional island where all the engines live in the TV-series 'Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends'.
Sofia(Settlement)Bulgarian, English Capital of Bulgaria named after the Saint Sofia Church located in the city. The name was first used by Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman in the 14th century.
Sog Po(Country, Political Subdivision & Region)Tibetan, Bhutanese From Tibetan སོག (sog) referring to Mongolia and པོ (po) meaning "person". This is the Tibetan and Dzongkha name for Mongolia.
Sog Yul(Country)Tibetan From Tibetan སོག (sog) referring to Mongolia and ཡུལ (yul) meaning "country, nation". This is the Tibetan name for the country of Mongolia.
Sollefteå(Settlement)Swedish Possibly a combination of Swedish sol "sun" and the place name suffix -eå "river". The river Ångermanälven runs through the town.
Solna(Settlement)Swedish From Old Swedish Solnö, a combination of soln "sun" and ö "island". Solna is a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden.
Solzha-Ghala(Settlement)Chechen Means "city (on the) Sunzha River" from Chechen Соьлжа (Solzha) referring to the Sunzha River and гӏала (ghala) meaning "town". This is the Chechen name for Grozny.
Somikh(Country)Ossetian Means "Armenian" in Ossetian, ultimately from Georgian სომეხი (somexi). This is the Ossetian name for Armenia.
Somkheti(Country)Georgian From Georgian სომეხი (somekhi) referring to the Armenian people and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for Armenia.
Somme(Body of Water & River)French, English A river, bay, and department in France. Derived from Samara, a proto-Celtic name for the river, possibly derived from samaro meaning "summery, quiet" or samo meaning "summer"... [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]
Song Dynasty(Country)History An ancient Chinese dynasty that caused the downfall of the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period. Until it’s invasion by the jin dynasty in 689AD.
Songkhla(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Derived from Malay Singgora, itself from Sanskrit सिंहपुर (sinhapura) meaning "city of lions", from सिंह (sinha) meaning "lion" and पुर (pura) meaning "city, town"... [more]
Sơn La(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 山 (sơn) meaning "mountain" and 羅 (la) meaning "to be".
Sonoma(Political Subdivision)Spanish County and town in the American state of California, the meaning of which is uncertain.
Sopot(Settlement)Polish Thought to mean "stream" or "spring" in Old Slavic. This is the name of a city in Poland.
Soquel(Settlement)English Soquel is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States approximately 75 miles (120 km) south of San Francisco, and forms part of the north coast of Monterey Bay.... [more]
Sortobe(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian, English, Ukrainian Meaning uncertain, possibly of Dungan origin. This is the name of a town in southern Kazakhstan.
Sostyn(Country)Manx Either from Old Irish Saxain meaning "Anglo-Saxon, England" or a back-formation of Manx Sostynagh meaning "English, Englishman". This is the Manx name of England.
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 Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands(Political Subdivision)English A British Overseas Territory, located in the Southern Ocean, which consists of two major groups of islands: South Georgia Island and South Sandwich Islands.
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.