Abra(Political Subdivision)Filipino, Ilocano, Tagalog From Spanish abra meaning "opening, gap", so named for a topographic feature in the region. This is the name of a province of the Philippines.
Aceh(Political Subdivision)Indonesian From Acehnese Acèh of uncertain meaning. A popular belief is that it is derived from the backronym Arab, Cina, Eropa, Hindia meaning "Arab, China, Europe, Indies", referring to the major regions that have historically influenced Aceh... [more]
Acre(Political Subdivision & River)Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese Most likely from Aquiri, a transliteration by European explorers of the Ipurinã term Umákürü or Uakiry. Other theories include the name originating from Tupi a'kir ü ("green river") or a'kir ("to sleep"), or from Yasi'ri, or Ysi'ri, meaning "flowing or swift water"... [more]
Adan(Settlement & Body of Water)Arabic Arabic form of Aden.
Aden(Settlement & Body of Water)English From Arabic عدن ('Adan) derived from Akkadian edinu meaning "plain, lowland", itself from Sumerian eden meaning "plain, open country". This is the name of a city in Yemen as well as a gulf between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea (the Gulf of Aden).
Agra(Settlement)Hindi, Urdu, English Most likely derived from Sanskrit अग्रेवण (agrevana) meaning "forest border", from अग्र (agra) meaning "border, in front of, foremost point" and वन (vana) meaning "forest, wood, grove"... [more]
Ấn Độ(Country)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 印度 (Ấn Độ), itself from Chinese 印度 (Yìndù). This is the Vietnamese name for India.
Anfa(Settlement)Berber Means "hill" or "top" in Tamazight. This is the Berber name for Casablanca, which was used as the city's official name before the 1755 Lisbon earthquake destroyed the area... [more]
An Lú(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish The Irish name for Louth, from Lú, the modern Irish form of Lugh, a god from Irish mythology associated with skill in many disciplines, kingship and oaths.... [more]
Baen(Settlement & Political Subdivision)Thai Thai form of Bern.
Bago(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Burmese Most likely derived from Old Mon ဗဂေါ (bagaw) meaning "beautiful city" or "beautiful town". This is the name of a region of, as well as a city in, Myanmar.
Baku(Settlement)English, Russian, Persian From Azerbaijani Bakı from Persian باکو (baku), which is of uncertain meaning. One popular etymology suggests that it means "wind-pounded city" from Persian باد (bad) meaning "wind" and کوبیدن (kubidan) meaning "to pound, to beat", given in reference to the area's frequent storms and high winds... [more]
Bali(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian, Balinese, Javanese, English Derived from Sanskrit बलि (bali) meaning "offering, tribute". This is the name of an island and province in Indonesia.
Bécs(Settlement)Hungarian Either derived from Avar becs meaning "guarding place" or Old Hungarian bécs meaning "coal-burning furnace" (itself of Turkic origin). This is the Hungarian name of Vienna.
Bern(Settlement)Swiss Bern is the capital city of Switzerland. The etymology of the name Bern is uncertain; according to the local legend, based on folk etymology, Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen, the founder of the city of Bern, vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on the hunt, and this turned out to be a bear.
Bonn(Settlement)German From Latin Bonna, of uncertain meaning. Theories are that it is derived from the name of a Gallic-Germanic tribe, the Eburoni, or that it is derived from words meaning "settlement" or "castle"... [more]
Brač(Island)Croatian From Latin Brattia or Brettia, posited to be derived from Messapic brentos meaning "stag." It is the name of a major island in Croatia... [more]
Brae(Settlement)Scottish Brae is a settlement on the island of Mainland in Shetland Scotland.... [more]
Brno(Settlement)Czech Meaning uncertain. Possible explanations are that it's derived from Old Czech brnie "muddy, swampy", from the Slavic verb brniti "to fortify", or that it's related to Welsh bryn "hill, mound" (Celtic languages were spoken in the area in ancient times)... [more]
Cana(Settlement)Biblical The Galilean settlement where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning the water to wine, according to the Gospel of John.
Cebu(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island)Filipino, Tagalog, English From Cebuano Sugbo, derived from Old Cebuano sibu or sibo meaning "trade", itself a shortened form of the phrase sinibuayng hingpit meaning "place for trading". This is the name of an island, province and city (Cebu City) in the Philippines.
Chin(Political Subdivision)Burmese, English From the name of the Chin people, which was most likely a Burmese adaptation of a Chin word meaning "man, person". This is the name of a state of Myanmar.
Chūō(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 中央 (chūō) meaning "centre, middle, central". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo as well the name of wards in multiple other cities throughout Japan. It is also the name of a city in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Cuba(Country)English From the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as 'where fertile land is abundant' (cubao), or 'great place' (coabana). Authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal.
Đắk Lắk(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Mnong ដក្ (dâk) meaning "lake" and ឡក្ (ḷâk) meaning "Lắk", referring to Lắk Lake.
Đắk Lắk(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese Derived from Eastern Mnong dak Lak referring to Lak Lake, a freshwater lake in the region. This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Fuji(Mountain)Japanese, English The name of a mountain (a symbol for the Japanese for centuries), known in Japanese as Fuji-san or Fujiyama (富士山), located on the boundaries of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures in central Japan... [more]
Giau(River)Mormon In an account of a vision published in the Millennial Star, a map of the world is described, with the names of the four major rivers, which appear to be in the Adamic language. One river was labeled Giau, which appears to be the same as Gihon from the Bible and the Book of Moses.
Gifu(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 岐 (gi) meaning "branch off, fork, divide" and 阜 (fu) meaning "mound". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Gürj(Country)Mongolian Derived from Persian گرج (Gorj) referring to Georgia (the country). This is the Mongolian name for the country of Georgia.
Gusu(Mountain & Settlement)Chinese Meaning uncertain, probably of Wu or Yue origin. This is the name of a mountain in China and of a capital city of the ancient Chinese state of Wu.
Hilo(Settlement)Hawaiian, English Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Hawaiian hilo meaning "twist, braid, spin". This is the name of a town in the US state of Hawaii.
Ilim(River)Russian, Arabic I couldn't find the meaning of the river's name, but Wiktionary (without mentioning the river) says it's a Turkish word with an Arabic root that means "Knowledge, Science"
Imus(Settlement)Filipino Imus, officially the City of Imus, is a 3rd class component city and de jure capital of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 496,794 people.
Iowa(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, possibly from Dakota ayuxba "sleepy ones".
Ipoh(Settlement)Malay, English From Malay ipuh meaning "upas" (a type of poisonous tree). This is the name of the capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak.
Isan(Region)Thai, Lao Means "northeast" in Thai, ultimately from Sanskrit ईशान्य (ishanya). This is the name of a region in northeastern Thailand consisting of 20 provinces.
Isan(Region)Thai, Isan, Lao Means "northeast" in Thai, ultimately from Sanskrit ईशान्य (ishanya). This is the name of a region in northeastern Thailand consisting of 20 provinces.
Isar(River)German (Austrian) A river in Austria. Likely from the Indo-European '*es' or '*is', meaning "flowing water".
Isca(River)Old Celtic (Latinized), History Romanized form of a Celtic river name, from Common Celtic *iska- "water" (cognate with whiskey). This is the Latin name for both the River Exe and the River Usk, after which the towns of Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) and Caerleon (Isca Augusta) got their Roman names.
Java(Political Subdivision & Island)English, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish From Indonesian Jawa, which is of uncertain origin. It is most likely derived from Sanskrit यव-द्वीप (yava-dvipa) meaning "island of barley", though it may have come from Javanese ꦗꦸꦮꦮꦸꦠ꧀ (juwawut) meaning "foxtail millet (a type of plant)" or Malay jauh meaning "far, distant"... [more]
Jeju(Settlement, Island & Political Subdivision)Jeju, Korean From Sino-Korean 濟 (je) meaning "to cross (a river)" and 州 (ju) meaning "state, province". This is the name of an island province and city in South Korea.
Jena(Settlement)German Settlement in Thuringia Germany. ... [more]
Jesi(Settlement)Italian Jesi is a town and comune of the province of Ancona in Marche, Italy.
Jiza(Settlement)Chinese, Arabic Chinese form of Giza, as well as an alternate transcription of Arabic جيزة (see Jizah).
Jolo(Settlement & Island)Filipino, Tagalog, English Probably derived from Hokkien 好儂 (hó lâng) meaning "good people", named by Chinese traders to reflect how they perceived the native people of the region. This is the name of an island in the southern Philippines as well as the capital city of the province of Sulu.
Kiëv(Settlement)Dutch Dutch variant spelling of Kiev.
Kiev(Settlement)Ukrainian, Russian, Bulgarian, German, English The name Kiev comes from a medieval legend about the founding of the city told by a Chronicler of Rus-Ukraine. It was three brothers, Kie, Shchek and Khoriv, and their sister Lebid, who were the founders.
Kita(Settlement & Mountain)Japanese From Japanese 北 (kita) meaning "north". This is the name of multiple wards in several different cities throughout Japan, including Tokyo. It is also the name of a village in Hokkaido Prefecture and a mountain in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Kōfu(Settlement)Japanese Means "capital of Kai Province" in Japanese. The kanji that make up the name are 甲 (kō), originally an abbreviation of 甲斐 (kai), of uncertain meaning, and 府 (fu), meaning "government office"... [more]
Komi(Political Subdivision)Komi, Russian From the name of the Komi people, which is most likely derived from the Finno-Ugric word kojema meaning "man, human", but also possibly from the name of the Kama River... [more]