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".
Utah(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, from Spanish yuta, name of the indigenous Uto-Aztecan people of the Great Basin perhaps from Western Apache (Athabaskan) yudah "high" (in reference to living in the mountains).
Vinh(Settlement)Vietnamese Shortened form of any of the place's previous names, such as Kẻ Vinh, Vinh Giang, Vinh Doanh or Vinh Thi, most likely from European influence. The use of the Sino-Vietnamese character 永 (vĩnh) comes from the old practice of phonetic matching, with the character itself holding no significant meaning... [more]
Vỹ Dạ(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From a mispronunciation of Sino-Vietnamese 葦野 (vi dã) meaning "reed field". This is the name of a ward in the Thuận Hóa district of Huế, the subject of "Đây thôn Vĩ Dạ," one of the most famous Vietnamese poems by the celebrated Hàn Mặc Tử.
Waco(Settlement)English (American) A city in Texas, named for the Waco subdivision of the Wichita people, who are indigenous to the area.
Wank(Mountain)Upper German The Wank is a mountain in southern Germany, situated in the Loisach valley close to the Austrian border in the southwestern Ester Mountains range near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Wawa(Settlement & Body of Water)Ojibwe Name of a town and lake in Ontario, Canada. From the Ojibwe wording wewe, meaning "wild goose"
Wear(River)English A river in North-East England. It is taken to be of Old Celtic origin and meant 'blood-colored water', referring to the reddish-brown color of the river. In modern Welsh, the name would be waed dwr, 'blood water'... [more]
Yāfō(Settlement)Hebrew A port city in modern-day Israel. According to legend, the name is derived from the Biblical figure Japheth or the Greek mythological characters Cassiopeia or Iopa.
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.
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.
Yigo(Political Subdivision & Region)Chamorro Some sources suggest it comes from the Spanish word yugo, meaning "yoke," referring to the frame used to harness a carabao. Others believe it may be a pre-colonial Chamorro word, potentially Asyigo, meaning "the home of the person Yigo," but this person's name and the meaning of the word have been lost.
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.