Ilkley(Settlement)English Of uncertain origin. The English-born clergyman Robert Collyer (1823-1912) claimed this is derived from an old British word llecan meaning "rock". The second syllable may be derived from Old English leah "(woodland) clearing".
Iloilo(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Filipino, Hiligaynon, Tagalog, English Derived from Hiligaynon Ilong-Ilong, itself from ilong meaning "nose" referring to the nose-like shape of a landform in the region. This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, the Philippines.
Istros(Island & River)Ancient Greek Ancient Greek name for the Greek island of Gyali as well as for the lower section of the Danube river. In the case of the latter, the name is a loanword from either Dacian or Thracian... [more]
Jaipur(Settlement)English, Punjabi, Telugu From Hindi जयपुर (Jaypur) derived from the given name Jay 2 (so named for the city's founder, 18th century ruler Jai Singh II) and Sanskrit पुर (pura) meaning "fortress, city"... [more]
Jeddah(Settlement)English, Danish, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Swedish, Tagalog From Arabic جدة (Jiddah) derived from the word جَدَّة (jaddah) meaning "grandmother", perhaps referencing the folk belief that the Tomb of Eve (who is considered the 'grandmother' of humanity) is located there... [more]
Jeonju(Settlement)Korean Combination of 全 (전, jeon, "perfect") and 州 (주, ju, "province"), thus "perfect province". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Jepara(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese Derived from Javanese para meaning "share, part, division", so named for the division of fish caught by local fishermen. This is the name of a regency of, as well as a town in, the Indonesian province of Central Java.
Jersey(Political Subdivision & Island)English, Medieval Scandinavian One of the Channel Islands in England. Also a name of a state in the United States. May be derived from the Old Norse jarð meaning "earth" or jarl meaning "earl", or maybe from the given name Geirr... [more]
Jethou(Island)Norman One of the Channel Islands in England. The -'hou' suffix means small island or small hill.
Joilet(Settlement)English (American) It was renamed in 1845 for Louis Jolliet, the French Canadian explorer who visited the site in 1673. Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, near Chicago.
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.
Jórvík(Settlement)Old Norse, Icelandic Icelandic and Old Norse form of York. It is believed to be derived from Old English Eoforwic, itself believed to be derived from Latin Eboracum possibly meaning "place of the yew trees".
Jurupa(Settlement)English (American) From a Native American word of uncertain meaning. Jurupa Valley is a town in the inland empire of California that is currently getting gentrified due to its proximity to bougier Riverside
Kachin(Political Subdivision, Region & Mountain)Bengali, Assamese, English (British) The well known British English pronunciation of Ga Hkyeng, which means ‘red soil’ in Jingpho.
Kachin(Political Subdivision & Region)Burmese, English From a collective term for various ethnolinguistic groups that inhibit the Kachin Hills in northern Myanmar, itself of unclear origin. This is the name of a state of Myanmar, as well as a geographical region in the northeastern part of the country.
Kadith(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Greek Modern Greek form of Cádiz.
Kadyks(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Polish Polish form of Cádiz.
Kagawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "river incense" in Japanese.
Kagawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese From Japanese 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream". This is the name of a prefecture of Japan.
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.
Kajang(Settlement)Malay, English Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Temuan kajang referring to an art of weaving pandanus leaves. Alternately it could be from Buginese berkajang meaning "camp, accommodation". This is the name of a city in Malaysia.
Kalisz(Political Subdivision)Polish Comes from Kalisz in west central Poland, which probably derives its name from Old Polish kal ‘muddy place’, ‘slough’.
Kansas(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, named after Kanas river, from French variant of Kansa, native name of the Siouan people who lived there.
Kanton(Political Subdivision)Japanese Japanese form of Canton, used for the province of Guangdong. The kanji are taken from Chinese 广东 (Guǎngdōng).
Karasu(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a former town located in Japan's Mie Prefecture which merged and expanded, along with a few other towns and municipalities, into the city of Tsu.... [more]
Kargil(Settlement)English, Urdu Most likely derived from Tibetan དཀར (dkar) meaning "white, pure, bright" and སྐྱིལ (skyil) meaning "expanse" or འཁྱིལ ('khyil) meaning "mountainous amphitheater, place where water flows"... [more]
Kazbek(Mountain)Russian, English From Arabic قاضي (qadi) meaning "judge, arbiter" combined with the Turkish military title beg meaning "chieftain, master". This is the name of a dormant stratovolcano and mountain located in the central Caucasus.
Kenwyn(Settlement)Cornish This is the name of a town and river, located in the south-western English county of Cornwall, which is called Keynwynn in Cornish. It is said that the name is derived from Cornish keyn meaning "back, keel, ridge" and gwynn meaning "white, fair, blessed."
Keokia(Country & Political Subdivision)Hawaiian Hawaiian form of Georgia 1 or Georgia 2, referring to both the country and US state.
Kerala(Political Subdivision)English From Malayalam കേരളം (Keralam) of uncertain meaning. One theory suggests that it means "land of coconuts", derived from Malayalam കേരം (keram) meaning "coconut" and അളം (alam) meaning "place"... [more]
Kirrin(Island)Literature Kirrin Island is the fictional island in Enid Blyton's 'The Famous Five' series of children's books.
Kiruna(Settlement)Swedish From the name of the mountain Kiirunavaara, composed of Finnish kiiruna "ptarmigan" and vaara "large forested hill" (from Northern Sami várri "mountain"). Kiruna is the northernmost town in Sweden known for the Kiruna Mine, the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world, and Esrange Space Center, a rocket range and research centre.
Kisoro(Political Subdivision, Region & Settlement)Rwandan
Kittim(Settlement)Hebrew Kittim was a settlement in present-day Larnaca on the west coast of Cyprus, known in ancient times as Kition, or (in Latin) Citium. On this basis, the whole island became known as Kittim in Hebrew, including the Hebrew Bible.
Kiyose(Political Subdivision)Japanese Kiyose is a city in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.
Kluane(Other)Cree National park in Yukon, Canada. The name comes from the Southern Tutchone language.
Kluang(Settlement)Malay, English From Malay keluang meaning "flying fox, megabat", so named for the formerly large population of these bats in the area. This is the name of a city in Malaysia.
Kodiak(Settlement)Indigenous American Kodiak is a settlement in Alaska USA , Located on Kodiak Island. Originally inhabited by native Americans and Russians.... [more]
Kogane(Other)Japanese This is the name of several towns, stations and mountains found in Japan.... [more]
Kolyma(Body of Water & River)Russian Originated in the tundra Yukaghir word kulumaa, which means river.
Komodo(Settlement & Island)Indonesian Meaning uncertain, possibly from the name of a local ethnic group. This is the name of an island and village in eastern Indonesia.
Kon Tum(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Bahnar kon meaning "village" and tum meaning "pool".
Kon Tum(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese Derived from Bahnar Kon Tum meaning "lake village", from kon meaning "village" and tum meaning "pool, lake". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Vietnam.
Kratié(Political Subdivision)Khmer (Gallicized) Meaning uncertain, possibly from a corruption of the French name Gatille, either a surname or the name of a post in colonial times. Alternately it may come from Khmer ក្រចេះ (kracheh) referring to a type of tree with aromatic wood (genus Naringi) or from a word meaning "buffalo"... [more]