Xia(Country)History The first dynasty of ancient China. Which was founded by Yu the great in 500 BCE. And succeeded by the Shang Dynasty in 5700 BCE
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]
Xi'an(Settlement)Chinese, English Means "western peace" from Chinese 西 (xī) meaning "west" and 安 (ān) meaning "peace, quiet"... [more]
Xiangkhouang(Political Subdivision)Lao Means "horizontal city" in Lao.
Xiangkhouang(Political Subdivision)Lao Means "horizontal city" from Lao ຊຽງ (siang) meaning "city, town" and ຂວາງ (khuang) meaning "horizontal, broad, wide". This is the name of a province of Laos.
Xiangtian(Body of Water & Mountain)Chinese Xiangtian is a mountain in Taipei. It's also the name of a lake.
Xinjiang(Political Subdivision & Region)Chinese Means "new frontier" from Chinese 新 (xīn) meaning "new" and 疆 (jiāng) meaning "boundary, border, frontier". This is the name of an autonomous region in western China as well as a historical region in Central Asia.
Xinshan(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 新 (xīn) meaning "new" and 山 (shān) meaning "mountain". This is the Chinese name for the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.
Xipilli(Other)Aztec Xipilli is a masculine name of Aztec origin, meaning “jeweled prince”. Xipilli’s roots are difficult to unearth. However, one source references a warrior with this name who fought in the Fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521.
Xishuangbanna(Political Subdivision)Chinese From Lü ᧑᧒ᦗᧃᦓᦱ or ᦉᦲᧇᦉᦸᧂᦗᧃᦓᦱ (sipsoangpanna) meaning "twelve-thousand fields", derived from ᦉᦲᧇᦉᦸᧂ (sipsoang) meaning "twelve", ᦗᧃ (pan) meaning "thousand" and ᦓᦱ (na) meaning "rice paddy, field"... [more]
Y(Settlement)French Probably from the Y family of Vermandois, who owned the district. This is the name of a commune in the Department of Somme, Hauts-de-France, France.
Ý(Country)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 意 (Ý), itself from Chinese 意大利 (Yìdàlì). This is the Vietnamese name for Italy.
Yaang'na(Political Subdivision)Tongva This is the name of a Tongva village under the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles and for the region Los Angeles. This village used to be a important trading center. The Los Angeles City Council in 2013 stated its support for the Tongva to have a government-to-government relationship with America.
Yaban(Country)Arabic Arabic form of Japão (see Japan), usually written with the definite article: اليابان (al-Yaban).
Yabi(Settlement)Chinese From Malay Api-Api, one of the former names of the city. This is the Chinese name of the Malaysian city of Kota Kinabalu.
Yabucoa(Settlement)Spanish (Latin American) A city in Puerto Rico. Likely from Taíno yaucoa meaning "cassava plantation". Another possibility is Taíno guaroca meaning "where water is found".
Yakutia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Якутия (Yakutiya), which is from the name of the Yakut people. The ethnic name ultimately comes from Yаkо, the Evenki name for the Yakuts, which was eventually transferred to Russian... [more]
Yakutsk(Political Subdivision)Russian "Place" of the Yakut (from the Evenk "Yako," a term Russia uses to refer to the "Sakha" people, whose name (of Turkic origin) comes from words that mean "Edge, Collar")
Yala(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Derived from Malay jala meaning "net", ultimately from Sanskrit जाल (jala). This is the name of a province in southern Thailand as well as the region's capital city.
Yamoussoukro(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English, French, Danish, Portuguese In honor of Yamousso, a Baoulé queen and great-aunt of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905–1993), with the addition of the suffix kro ("village"). This is the name of the de iure capital city of Côte D'ivoire, as well as the name of the district around it.
Yana Chuku(Mountain)Spanish (Latin American) A mountain in Peru. Meaning "black hat", from Quecha yana meaning "black" and chuku meaning "hat".
Yanacocha(Mountain)Spanish (Latin American) A mountain in Peru. Meaning "black lake", from Quecha yana meaning "black" and qucha meaning "lake".
Yana Mach'ay(Mountain)Spanish (Latin American) A mountain in Peru. Meaning "black cave", from Quecha yana meaning "black" and mach'ay meaning "cave".
Yangon(Settlement)Burmese, English Means "end of strife" in Burmese, from ရန် (yan) meaning "enemy, danger" or "quarrel" combined with ကုန် (gon) meaning "to run out, end". This is the name of the largest city in Myanmar, which served as the country's capital until 2006... [more]
Yangtze(River)Chinese The third-longest river in the world and the longest in Eurasia. From Mandarin Chinese 长江 (Yángzǐ) meaning "long river".
Yankton(Settlement & Body of Water)English (American) The city in South Dakota was named for the Yankton tribe of the Western Dakota, who are indigenous to the area; Yankton itself is derived from Dakota Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ, meaning "village at the end".
Yaoundé(Settlement)English, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Welsh, Yoruba From the outpost of Jaundo, founded between 1887 and 1889 by German explorers Lt. Richard Kund and Hans Tappenbeck and named so after the local Ewondo people, also known as Yaunde. The name could also have been a German rendition of the Ewondo expression mia wondo ("peanut farmers")... [more]
Yardi(Other)Arabic e name is inspired by Arabic roots, derived from "يَرْضِي" (Yardi), meaning "to satisfy" or "to bring contentment," emphasizing devotion and spiritual fulfillment in Islamic culture.
Yarmouth(Settlement)English The name Yarmouth is derived from the town of Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. The name is thought to be a combination of "Yare", the name of a nearby river, and "mouth", which refers to the mouth of the river... [more]
Yathrib(Settlement)Arabic Meaning uncertain, probably of Ancient North Arabian origin. This was the name of the city of Medina before the advent of Islam. Traditionally it is said that the city's name was changed due to its negative connotation with the Arabic root ث ر ب (th-r-b) meaning "to complain, to accuse, to blame".
Yazd(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Persian Derived from Middle Persian 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭲𐭩 (yzdty) meaning "god, divinity", ultimately from Avestan 𐬫𐬀𐬰𐬀𐬙𐬀 (yazata). This is the name of a province and city in Iran.
Yekaterinburg(Settlement)Russian Derived from the given name Yekaterina, named in honour of empress consort (later empress regnant) Catherine I of Russia. This is the name of a city in Russia.
Yellowknife(Settlement)English (Canadian) Yellowknife is the name of the capital and only city of Northwest Territories in Canada.... [more]
Yellowstone(River)English (American) The name of a major tributary of the Missouri River. The name Yellowstone derives from translations of several indigenous names for the river that refer to the sulfur-containing yellow rocks the river has carried out of the Yellowstone Caldera, an active supervolcano that powers the hydrothermal features of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming... [more]
Yên Bái(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 安 (yên) meaning "safe" and 沛 (phải) meaning "copious".
Yên Bái(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 安 (yên) meaning "calm, peaceful" and 沛 (bái) meaning "abundant, full". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Vietnam.
Yenisey(River)Russian, English, Turkish, Azerbaijani The name of a river in northern Mongolian and the Siberian federal district of Russia. It may be derived from either Evenki Ионэсси (Ionəssi) meaning "big water" or Old Kyrgyz Эне-Сай (Ene-Sai) meaning "mother river."
Yeovil(Settlement)English (British) Derived from the Celtic river name, 'gifl' meaning forked river - which was an earlier name for the River Yeo, which runs through Yeovil.
Yerevan(Settlement)Armenian, English, Russian Meaning unknown. It may be from Yervand, the name of a 3rd-century BC Armenian king (also known as Orontes IV), or from Էրեբունի (Erebuni), an ancient Urartian fortification and city... [more]
Yggdrasil(Other)Norse Mythology Possibly means "Odin's gallows", referring to how Odin hanged himself from it to gain knowledge of the runes. In Norse mythology this is the name of the mythical tree that connects the Realms.
Yingguo(Country)Chinese From Chinese 英 (Yīng), a shortened form of 英格蘭 (Yīnggélán) or 英吉利 (Yīngjílì), both names for England, and 国 (guó) meaning "country"... [more]
Yining(Settlement)Chinese Renamed from the former name 宁远 (Ningyuan) to avoid confusion with other places in China with the same name (such as a county in Hunan province). The name itself is literally written with the characters 伊 (yī), a third person pronoun, and 宁 (níng) meaning "peaceful, calm, serene"... [more]
Ynys Môn(Island)Welsh From Welsh ynys "island" and mon, which is most likely derived from Proto-Celtic *moniyos "mountain". This is the Welsh name of the island and county of Anglesey.
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]
Yoichi(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a district and town in Shiribeshi Subprefecture in south-western Hokkaidō, located in northern Japan.... [more]
Yokohama(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 横 (yoko) meaning "sideways, horizontal" and 浜 (hama) meaning "beach, seashore". This is the name of a city in Japan.
Yokosuka(Settlement)Japanese This is from a place in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture in the east of the country. The kanji that make up Yokosuka are 横 (ou, yoko) meaning "horizontal, side, sideways, width, woof", 須 (shu, su, subekara.ku, subeshi, hige, matsu, machi.iru, mato.meru) meaning "by all means, necessarily, ought" and 賀 (ga, ka) meaning "congratulations, joy."... [more]
Yomi(Other)Japanese Mythology From Japanese 黄泉 (yomi) meaning "underground spring" or "Hades, hell, underworld". This is the name of the underworld or the land of the dead in Japanese mythology.
Yongin(Settlement)Korean Combination of 용 (yong, "dragon") and 인 (in, "benevolence"). This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Yongzhen(Settlement)Chinese Chinese form of Vientiane. This form is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.
Yonkers(Settlement)English Name of the 4th most populous city in New York state, a variant of Dutch Jonkers, jonker, "young gentleman", derived from Dutch jong "young".
Yorkshire(Region)English Newer form of Old English Eoferwicscir, a combination of Eoferwic "York" and scīr "shire, district".
Yorkton(Settlement)English Yorkton was named in 1882 by members of the York Farmers' Colonization Company, a group of settlers from Toronto (then called York). The name "York" honors York, England, and follows a common British colonial tradition of naming places after locations in the United Kingdom... [more]
Yosemite(Other)English (American), Indigenous American (Anglicized, Rare) A national park and a valley located in Mariposa County, California, the name is derived from the Southern Sierra Miwok joh-heˀ-HmetiH-, meaning "warriors, killers, those not afraid to die"... [more]
Yoshkar-Ola(Settlement)Mari, Russian Means "red city" in Mari, from Eastern Mari йошкар (yoshkar) meaning "red" and ола (ola) meaning "city". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Mari El.
Ytyk-Kyuyol(Settlement)Russian, Yakut A settlement in Yakutia, Russia. It is named for a nearby lake, whose name literally means "Sacred Lake" in the Yakut language.
Yucaipa(Settlement)English (American) A city in California. From Serrano yukaipa't meaning "green valley".
Yucatán(Political Subdivision & Region)Spanish Most likely from Chontal Maya Yokot'an either meaning "I do not understand you" or "hear how they talk!", both phrases supposedly uttered by the Mayans when questioned by Spanish explorers. Alternately it may mean "land of yucas", referring to the edible tuber... [more]
Yugoslavia(Country)English From Serbo-Croatian Jugoslavija meaning "land of the South Slavs", derived from jug meaning "south" and slavija meaning "land of Slavs". This was the name of a European country that existed from 1918 to 1941 (as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), from 1943 to 1945 (as the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia), from 1945 to 1992, and from 1992-2003 (as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).
Yunanistan(Country)Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Turkish From Yunan combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stân) meaning "land of". This is the Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, and Turkish name for Greece.
Yuriria(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Body of Water)Mexican Short form of Purépecha Yuririapundaro meaning "lake of blood" or "place of the bloody lake". This is the name of a lake, town and municipality in central Mexico, located in the 'Bajío', or lowlands, of Guanajuato (state)... [more]
Yuzhno-zakhalinsk(Political Subdivision)Russian literally "South Sakhalin City" - a city in Sakhalin island, and the administrative center of Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. It is located in the Far East part of Russia, situated north of Japan... [more]
Zaagawaamik(Settlement)Ojibwe An Ojibwe settlement in Minnesota, from Ojibwe zaagawaamik meaning "sandbar".
Zacatecas(Political Subdivision)Spanish Derived from Nahuatl zacatēcah meaning "people of the place of grass" or "where grass is abundant", ultimately from zacatl meaning "grass". This is the name of a state of Mexico.
Zadar(Settlement)Croatian, English Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city.... [more]