Fishers(Settlement)English From the English surname Fisher. The city in Indiana was named for Fisher's Station, a nearby railroad station platted by Salathial Fisher.
Flin Flon(Settlement)English A city in Manitoba. From the name of the fictional character Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, from J.E. Preston Muddock's novel The Sunless City.
Fond Du Lac(Settlement)English (American) From French fond du lac, meaning "bottom of the lake" or "south end of the lake". The city in Wisconsin is at the southern end of Lake Winnebago.
Fostoria(Settlement)English (American) Derived from the English surname Foster. The city in Michigan was named for Thomas Foster, the foreman of the Pere Marquette Railway.
Fridley(Settlement)English Transferred use of the surname Fridley. The city in Minnesota is named for Abram M. Fridley, the area's first territorial representative.
Fruita(Settlement)English A city in Colorado. From the English word "fruit" or the Spanish word fruta meaning "fruit".
Gettysburg(Settlement)English From the Irish surname Gettys and burg meaning "fortress, fortification, citadel". The city in Pennsylvania was named for colonist and influential landowner James Gettys... [more]
Gialíta(Settlement)Late Greek A city in Crimea. From γιαλός (gialós) meaning “beach, seashore”.
Gichi-biitoobiig(Region)Ojibwe A region in Minnesota. From Ojibwe gichi-biitoobiig meaning "great duplicate water, parallel body of water, double body of water".
Gichigami-ziibi(River)Ojibwe A river in Minnesota. From Ojibwe gichigami-ziibi meaning "great lake river".
Gillette(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the French surname Gillette. The city in Wyoming is named for Edward Gillette, a surveyor for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
Gonzales(Settlement)English (American) From the Spanish surname Gonzáles. A city in Texas, one of the first Anglo-American settlements in the state, was named for Rafael Gonzáles, the governor of Coahuila y Tejas.
Gorgoroth(Region)Literature A region in JRR Tolkien's works. From the fictional Sindarin words gor meaning "fear" and goroth meaning "horror".
Guayama(Settlement)Spanish (Latin American) A city and municipality in Puerto Rico. Most likely from the name of a Taíno cacique, Guayama, from Taíno wayama meaning "great place, big open space"; however, a local story suggests that the name comes from the surname of a local landowner, Juanan Guayama.
Guymon(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the surname Guymon. The city in Oklahoma was named for Edward T. "E.T." Guymon, president of the Inter-State Land and Town Company.
Hammond(Settlement)English Transferred use of the English surname Hammond. The city in Indiana was named for George H. Hammond, the owner of a nearby meat-packing plant.
Hatillo(Settlement)Spanish (Latin American) A town and municipality in Puerto Rico. Likely from Spanish hatillo meaning "bundle".
Hattiesburg(Settlement)English (American) A city in Mississippi. The name is derived from the English given name Hattie, after Hattie Hardy (the wife of city founder Captain William H. Hardy), and the suffix burg meaning "fortress, fortification, citadel".
Hauppauge(Settlement)English (American) A hamlet in New York. From an Algonquian term said to mean either "land of sweet waters" or "overflowed land".
Hebron(Settlement)English From Hebrew חֶבְרוֹן (Ḥevrōn), ultimately from northwest Semitic ḥbr meaning "unite, colleague, friend, alliance". Several sites in the United States were named for the city in Palestine.
Hemet(Settlement, Body of Water & Other)English (American) Etymology uncertain. Possibly from Swedish hemmet meaning "home, homeland". Other theories claim that the name is derived from an unspecified Native American language, possibly meaning "box", "acorn valley", "surrounded by trees", or derived from a female given name, Hemetica... [more]
Hennepin(Political Subdivision)English (American), French The name of a county in Minnesota, from the French surname Hennepin, after Louis Hennepin, a Belgian Catholic priest and missionary.
Herculaneum(Settlement)Ancient Roman An ancient Roman town in Italy destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Derived from the name of Hercules, a mythological figure whom some claimed had founded the settlement.
Immokalee(Settlement)English (American) A census-designated place in Florida. The name is derived from the Mikasuki word immokalee meaning "your home".
Iola(Settlement)English Transferred use of the English given name Iola. The city in Kansas is named for Iola Colborn, the wife of Josiah Colborn, one of the town's founders.
Irondequoit(Settlement)English (American) A town in New York. The name is derived from the Iroquois language, and is said to mean "where the land meets the water".
Irtysh(River)Russian A river in Siberia. Likely ultimately from the Bakshir language.
Iselin(Settlement)English (American) Transferred usage of the surname Iselin. The community in New Jersey is named for Adrian Iselin, a banker and philanthropist who funded the establishment of a finishing school and a train station in the area.
Issaquah(Settlement)English (American) A city in Washington, USA. The name is derived from the Southern Lushootseed word sqʷáxʷ, meaning either "the sound of birds", "snake", or "little stream".
Janesville(Settlement)English From the English surname Janes and ville, meaning "city". The city in Wisconsin is named after the settler and city planner Henry F Janes.
Jesup(Settlement)English (American) Transferred usage of the surname Jesup. The city in Georgia is named for Thomas Jesup, a US army officer who fought in the Second Seminole War.
Joliet(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the French surname Joliet. The city in Illinois was named for Louis Joliet, one of the first Europeans to map the Upper Mississippi area.
Joppatowne(Settlement)English (American) A settlement in Maryland. The name is a combination of the place name Jaffa and the word "town".
Kabekona(Body of Water)English (American) A lake in Minnesota. From Ojibwe gabekana meaning "end of the trail".
Kabetogama(Body of Water)English (American) A lake in Minnesota. From Ojibwe gaa-biitoogamaag-zaaga'igan meaning "the lake that lies parallel with another lake, the lake that doubles with another lake, the place where there is one lake after another."
Kailua(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian kailua meaning "two seas", from kai meaning "sea, seawater" and ʻelua, meaning "two". The community in Hawaiʻi is named for two former fishponds located nearby.
Kandiyohi(Settlement)English (American) A city in Minnesota. From Dakota kandi, "buffalo fish" and ohi, "arrive in".
Kaneohe(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian kāne ʻohe meaning "bamboo man", after the story of a local woman who compared her husband's cruelty to the sharp edge of cutting bamboo.
Kannapolis(Settlement)English (American) A city in North Carolina. The name is derived from the English surname Cannon (after the Cannon Mills Corporation or its founder, James William Cannon, and spelled with a 'K' at Cannon's request) and the Ancient Greek name element polis (πόλις) meaning "city, town".
Kapaa(Settlement)English (American) A city in Hawaiʻi. From Hawaiian kapaʻa meaning "the solid one".
Kaposia(Settlement)Sioux A Dakota settlement in Minnesota. From Dakota kaposia meaning "light, light-footed".
Kaukauna(Settlement)English (American) A city in Wisconsin. The name is apparently of unknown Native American origin and is said to mean "portage, long portage", "place where pickerel are caught", or "place of pike".
Kawishiwi(River)English (American) A river in Minnesota, likely derived from Ojibwe amikwiish meaning "beaver lodge".
Kego(Body of Water)English (American) A lake in Minnesota. From Ojibwe kego meaning "fish".
Kelso(Settlement & Mountain)English Transferred usage of the surname Kelso or Kelsall, used for various settlements in English-speaking countries... [more]
Kennebunk(Settlement)English (American) A town in Maine. The name is said to be derived from an Algonquian phrase meaning "the long-cut bank".
Kennesaw(Settlement)English (American) A city in Georgia. The name is derived from the Cherokee word gah-nee-sah, meaning "cemetery, burial ground".
Kennewick(Settlement)English (American) A city in Washington. Possibly from a phrase meaning "grassy place" in an unknown Native American language, or derived from the surname Chenoythe, which belonged to a member of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Kenosha(Settlement)English (American) A city in Wisconsin. From the Ojibwe kinoje meaning "pike, pickerel".
Ketchikan(Settlement & River)English (American) The city in Alaska is named for the nearby Ketchikan Creek, which itself comes from Tlingit kichx̱áan, of disputed meaning.
Kewanee(Settlement)English (American) Various cities in the United States. The name is derived from a Winnebago word meaning "greater prairie-chicken".
Kinnickinnic(River)English (American) A river in Wisconsin. The name is derived from the word kinnikinnick, referring to a kind of mixture of herbs used for smoking by various Native American peoples.
Kisco(Settlement)English (American) A river and several settlements in New York. The name derives from the Algonquin word cisqua meaning "muddy place".
Kissimmee(Settlement & River)English (American) A city, river, and lake in Florida. Possibly from a Jororo word, or from Atissimi, the name of a Spanish mission in the area.
Kitch-iti-kipi(Body of Water)English (American) The largest freshwater spring in Michigan. The name derives from the Ojibwe language, and is said to mean "mirror of heaven".
Kokomo(Settlement)English (American) Various settlements in the United States. The city in Indiana is named for Ma-Ko-Ko-Mo, also known as Kokomo, a semi-legendary member of the Miami people.
Laccadive(Political Subdivision, Body of Water & Other)English Probably an Anglicized version of Lakṣadvīpa.
Lackawanna(Settlement, Body of Water & River)English (American) A city in New York, a river in Pennsylvania, and a lake in New Jersey. The name may be derived from a phrase in a Lenape language meaning "stream that forks".
Lac Qui Parle(Body of Water)English (American) A lake, river, and city in Minnesota, from French lac qui parle meaning "lake which speaks".
La Crosse(Settlement)English (American) From French la crosse, meaning "crozier". The city in Wisconsin was named for a game played by the Native Americans living in the area, which used sticks resembling, in the eyes of Euro-American colonists, a bishop's crozier.
Lafayette(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the French surname Lafayette. Several places in the United States are named Lafayette after the the French general Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Lahaina(Settlement)English, Hawaiian A city in Hawaiʻi. From the Hawaiian language, but of uncertain etymology.
Lajas(Settlement & Other)Spanish (Latin American) A valley in Puerto Rico and various settlements in Latin American and the Caribbean. From Spanish lajas meaning "slabs, stones".
Lakshadweep(Political Subdivision)English A union territory of India. An Anglicized form of Sanskrit लक्षद्वीप (lakṣadvīpa) meaning "hundred thousand islands", from लक्ष (lakṣa) meaning “hundred thousand” and द्वीप (dvīpa) meaning "island".
Lamar(Settlement)English Transferred use of the surname Lamar. The city in Colorado is named for Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, author of the Mississippi Ordinance of Secession, and soldier for the Confederacy in the American Civil War.
Lantana(Settlement)English (American) A town in Florida, named for plants of the genus Lantana which grew in the area.
Laramie(Settlement, River & Mountain)English (American) From the French surname Laramie. Several places in the United States were named for Jacques LaRamie, a French or French-Canadian trapper who was one of the first people of European descent to come to the Wyoming area.
Laurel(Settlement)English From the English word "laurel". The city in Montana was named for a laurel shrub which was growing in the area.
Livingston(Settlement)English Transferred use of the surname Livingston. The city in Montana was named for Johnston Livingston, a Northern Pacific Railway stockholder and director.
Lodi(Settlement)English (American), Italian A city in Caliornia, likely named for the city in Italy, which in turn is likely derived from Latin laude, "praise".
Lomita(Settlement)English (American) A city in California. From Spanish lomita meaning "little hill".
Lompoc(Settlement)English (American) A city in California. From Chumash Purisimeño lumpo'o̥ meaning "in the cheeks".
Luquillo(Settlement)Spanish (Latin American) A town in Puerto Rico. While legend claims that the town is named for the Taíno cacique Loquillo, the name is more likely derived from Yukiyu, the Taíno name for El Yunque, a nearby mountain.
Mākaha(Settlement)Hawaiian A city in Hawaiʻi. From Hawaiian mākaha meaning "fierce".
Malibu(Settlement)English (American) A city in California. The name is derived from the Chumash word humaliwo meaning "the surf sounds loudly", which was the name of a pre-colonial Chumash settlement in the area.
Mamaroneck(Settlement)English (American) A river and town in New York, USA. Possibly from the Unami word mehëmalunèk meaning "place to dance", but more likely from the Munsee word maamaalahneek meaning "striped stream".
Mandan(Settlement)English (American) The city in North Dakota was named for the Mandan people, who are indigenous to the area.
Manistee(Settlement & Body of Water)English (American) A city, lake, and river in Michigan. The name may be derived from the Ojibwe word ministigweyaa meaning "river with islands at its mouth", or another Ojibwe phrase, possibly meaning "spirit of the woods".
Manitowoc(Settlement & River)English (American) A river and city in Wisconsin. From Ojibwe manidoowaak meaning "spirit spawn", "spirit woods" or "spirit land".