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.
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]
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.
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.
Tammerfors(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of an unknown first element and Swedish fors "rapid, waterfall". This is the Swedish name of Tampere.
Tampere(Settlement)Finnish From Tammerkoski, the name of the rapids that flow through the city. The first element tammer is of uncertain etymology. The second element is koski "rapids"... [more]
Tasiilaq(Settlement)Greenlandic Means "the place with a lake" in Greenlandic. Tasiilaq is a town on the east coast of Greenland.
Teide(Mountain)Spanish Meaning uncertain, but possibly derived from a Guanche term referring to a powerful being living inside the volcano. Teide is a volcano on the Spanish island Tenerife... [more]
Tenerife(Island)Spanish, English Means "snow mountain" or "white mountain" in Guanche, probably referring to the volcano Teide. Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands, Spain.
Trelleborg(Settlement)Swedish Derived from the word trelleborg meaning "ring fort" or "Viking ring fortress", referring to a type of circular forts built during the Viking Age. The word trelleborg itself might be a combination of Old Norse þræll "slave" or trel "wooden staves" and borg "fortress, castle".
Tromsø(Settlement)Norwegian From the name of an island, Tromsøya (Old Norse: Trums), whose name is derived from Old Norse straumr possibly meaning "stream, strong current". Tromsø is a city in northern Norway. See also: Troms
Trondheim(Settlement)Norwegian Trondheim is the third largest city in Norway. It was originally named Nidaros but known colloquially as kaupangr "marketplace" or kaupangr í Þróndheimi "the marketplace in Trondheim/Trøndelag" which was later shortened to just Þróndheimr... [more]
Tuna(Other)Swedish Derived from Old Norse tún meaning "enclosure, fence, homestead, courtyard, plot". This is the name of many localities and parishes in Sweden. It is also a common place-name element (see Eskilstuna).
Uleåborg(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of Ule, the name of a river whose name derives from the Finnish dialectal word oulu "floodwater", Swedish å "river, stream", and borg "castle, fortification"... [more]
Umeå(Settlement)Swedish From the name of the Ume River. Possibly derived from Old Norse úma "roaring" and the place name element -eå denoting the city's location near the river. Another theory is that the name is derived from Finnish uoma "riverbed".
Uppland(Region)Swedish Uppland is a Swedish historical province. The name is a combination of Swedish upp "up" and land "land". The name is believed to refer to its location north of Lake Mälaren.
Uummannaq(Other)Greenlandic Means "heart-shaped" in Greenlandic, ultimately derived from uummat "heart". Uummannaq is the name of several places in Greenland, including a mountain, a town, an island, and a fjord.
Vadstena(Settlement)Swedish Probably a combination of Old Swedish *vazt "place to fish" and sten "stone". Vadstena is a city in Sweden that had an important role in Sweden's early Christian history. Saint Bridget (Heliga Birgitta) founded the Bridgettine Order here at the Vadstena Abbey in the 14th centry.
Vahemeri(Body of Water)Estonian Combination of Estonian vahe "gap" and meri "sea". This is the Estonian name for the Mediterranean sea.
Välimeri(Body of Water)Finnish Combination of Finnish väli "gap, space" and meri "sea". This is the Finnish name for the Mediterranean Sea.
Valletta(Settlement)Maltese, English From the name of 16th century French nobleman Jean de Valette. This is the name of the capital city of Malta.
Vänern(Body of Water)Swedish Meaning uncertain. One theory is that the name is derived from Old Swedish vænir and therefore related to Archaic Swedish words vån "hope, prospect" and vän "beautiful, fair"... [more]
Vantaa(Settlement)Finnish From the name of the Vantaa River. Vantaa is the 4th largest urban area in Finland.
Värmland(Political Subdivision)Swedish Swedish county and province. The name could be derived from Swedish värma meaning "warmth, to heat up".
Västerås(Settlement)Swedish Derived from Westra Aros meaning "west river mouth". Västerås is the 5th largest city in Sweden.
Västerbotten(Political Subdivision)Swedish Swedish county (län) and historical province (landskap) in Northern Sweden. The name refers to its geographical location west of the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea... [more]
Vättern(Body of Water)Swedish Meaning uncertain, but possibly derived from Swedish vatten "water". Vättern is the second largest lake in Sweden and the sixth largest lake in Europe.
Vilnius(Settlement)Lithuanian, English From the name of the Vilnia River, which is derived from Lithuanian vilnis meaning "wave, ripple". This is the name of the capital city of Lithuania.
Vinland(Region)Old Norse Old Norse name for a place in modern Canada, named by viking Leif Eriksson c. 1000 AD. The first element of the name is uncertain, but it could be from Old Norse vín "wine" or vin "meadow".
Zealand(Island)English English form of Danish Sjælland. Zealand is the largest island in Denmark (excluding Greenland).
Zinkgruvan(Settlement)Swedish Means "the zink mine" in Swedish. Zinkgruvan is both a village and a mine. It is the only locality in Sweden starting with Z.