Surrey(Settlement)English The name Surrey originates from the Old English "Sūþrige," meaning "southern district" or "southern region," derived from sūþ ("south") and rige ("region"). Surrey, British Columbia, was named after Surrey, England, by an early settler who thought the view of the Fraser River reminded him of the Thames in England... [more]
Suzhou(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 苏 (sū) referring to Mount Gusu and 州 (zhōu) meaning "province, prefecture". This is the name of a city in China.
Swabia(Political Subdivision)German (Anglicized) Administrative region in Germany. Named after the ancient tribe, the 'Suebi', which itself possibly means "one's own people".
Sylhet(Settlement)Bengali A metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. The city is located on the right bank of the Surma River in northeastern Bengal. Sylhet is one of Bangladesh's most important spiritual and cultural centres... [more]
Tabriz(Settlement)Persian The name of a city in Iran, meaning uncertain. It may be derived from Proto-Iranian tr̥Hwáns meaning "overcoming, victorious", tap-rīz meaning "causing heat to flow" (so named for the thermal springs in the area) or Classical Armenian ta-vrezh meaning "this revenge".
Taguig(Settlement & River)Filipino The City of Taguig was founded on April 25, 1587. It is one of the 16 cities making up the NCR of the Philippines. It has an area of 53.67 km2 and has 804,915 people living in Taguig as of the 2015 census.... [more]
Taipei(Settlement)English, Japanese From Chinese 臺北 (Táiběi) derived from 臺 (tái) referring to Taiwan and 北 (běi) meaning "north". This is the name of the capital city of Taiwan.
Taiwan(Country)English While Taiwan still exists, it is not always considered an independent country. However, it did represent China in the United Nations until 1971.
Tarlac(Political Subdivision, Settlement & River)Pampangan, Pangasinan, Ilocano, Tagalog, English Derived from Pampangan malatarlak referring to a type of grass. This is the name of a province of, as well as a city and river in, the Philippines.
Taytay(Settlement)Filipino Taytay, officially the Municipality of Taytay, is a 1st class urban municipality in the province of Rizal, Philippines... [more]
Teslin(Other)English Name of a mountain, plateau, river, and small lake in Yukon, Canada, and of a larger lake spanning the Yukon-British Columbia border. The word comes from the Tlingit name for the river, Teslintoo or Teslintuh, meaning "long, deep water."
Thames(River)English The name of the river in southern England on which London is situated. This is a Brythonic river-name, explained as a derivative of Common Brythonic *temēlos, 'darkness' (compare Old Welsh timuil, 'darkness').
Thaton(Political Subdivision)Burmese Thaton is a town in south-central Myanmar, whose name is Likely Derived from the formal Pali name Sudharmapura, itself named for sudharma, the moot hall of the Buddhist deities... [more]
Thebes(Settlement)English, Ancient Greek (Anglicized) Perhaps ultimately from Semitic teba "chest, box". This is the name of a city in Boeotia, Greece, which played an important role in many Greek myths (as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles and others).
Thibet(Region, Political Subdivision & Country)Thai, French, English (Archaic) Thai form of Tibet. It is also a French variant as well as an older English form of the name.
Thụy Sĩ(Country)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 瑞士 (Thụy Sĩ), possibly from Min Nan 瑞士 (Sūi-sū), itself from French Suisse. This is the Vietnamese name for Switzerland.
Thyrea(Settlement)Ancient Greek Thyrea was a town of Cynuria, and was fought over between ancient Argolis and ancient Laconia. According to Pausanias, Thyrea was named after a mythological figure: Thyraeos, the son of Lycaon.
Tiñana(Settlement)Asturian From the name Tinius or Tennius to Tini-ana or Tenni-ana adding a Latin possesive suffix -ana, Romans used to named new conquered lands by the name of its owner and this suffix.... [more]
Tobago(Island)English The name of the Island in Trinidad and Tobago. Tobago is the smaller of the 2 Caribbean islands comprising the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It’s known for its wide, sandy beaches and biodiverse tropical rainforest... [more]
Toluca(Settlement)Paiute From a Paiute word meaning "fertile valley" or "beautiful valley". This is the name of a neighborhood and lake in Los Angeles, California, USA, i.e., Toluca Lake.
Topeka(Political Subdivision)English Name of the capital city in Kansas, meaning "a good place to dig potatoes". From Kansa to "wild potato" + pi "good" + ke "to dig".
Toyama(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese Means "wealthy mountain" in Japanese.
Tralee(Settlement)Irish (Anglicized) From Irish Trá Lí, meaning "strand of the Lee River", after the confluences of small rivers the town was built on.... [more]
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
Tutong(Political Subdivision, Settlement & River)Malay Possibly from the name of the Tutong people (itself derived from the name of a folk hero) or from a Dusun word meaning "turtle". This is the name of a district of, as well as a town and river in, Brunei.
Tuvalu(Country)Polynesian Tuvalu is also the name of a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its name meaning 'eight standing together'.
Tuy Hòa(Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 綏 (tuy) meaning "pacify, placate" and 和 (hoà) meaning "peace, harmony, draw, tie". This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Ulster(Region)Northern Irish, Irish From the name of a group of tribes that once lived in the area, the Ulaidh, and either Irish tír or Old Norse staðr, both meaning “land”, “place” or “territory”.... [more]
Ürümqi(Settlement)English From Uyghur ئۈرۈمچى (ürümchi), which may have been derived from Mongolian ᠦᠯᠡᠮᠵᠢ (ülemji) meaning "great", a short form of the phrase ᠦᠯᠡᠮᠵᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠰᠠᠶ᠋ᠢᠬᠠᠨ ᠪᠡᠯᠴᠢᠭᠡᠷ (ülemji-yin say᠋iqan belchiger) meaning "great pasture" or "beautiful pasture"... [more]
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.
Varese(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Italian Province and city in Italy.
Venäjä(Country)Finnish From Finnish venät meaning "Russian" (a rare word), ultimately from Germanic winidaz meaning "Wend, Slav". This is the Finnish name of Russia.
Versen(Settlement)German Speculated to be from German Ferse meaning "heel", as it was founded on the figurative heel of the river Ems. First documented as fersne in 854.
Viedma(Settlement)Spanish Possibly of Huarpe origin. This is the name of a city in Argentina which is the capital of Río Negro province in northern Patagonia. Together with the city of Carmen de Patagones across the river in Buenos Aires Province, Viedma is the oldest European settlement in Patagonia (founded 1779).
Vuntut(Other)Cree National park in Yukon, Canada. Meaning "among the lakes" in Gwich'in.
Vyimka(Settlement)Ukrainian Derived from Ukrainian виїмка (vyyimka), a shorting of виймання (vyymanya) "extraction (mining)". Vyyimka is an abandoned village in the Bakhmut Rayon, Donyetsk Oblast. It is called Выемка (Vyyemka) in Russian.
Wabash(Settlement & River)English (American) A river and various cities in the United States. From Miami-Illinois waapaahšiiki meaning "it shines white, pure white", after the white limestone making up the riverbed.
Walton(Settlement)English The name of several villages in England, particularly Lancashire. Named from Old English wale, meaning 'Celt, foreigner' (Compare Wales) and tun, meaning 'town, village'.
Waupun(Settlement)English (American) A city in Wisconsin. From Ojibwe waubun meaning "east, morning, dawn".
Wausau(Region & Settlement)Indigenous American (Latinized, Rare) Term used in many Native American languages with varying similar meanings such as "to see from a distance" or "to hear from a distance." It was the Native American name for a valley in central Wisconsin that is still refered to as such by locals... [more]
Wawina(Settlement)English (American) A township in Minnesota. From Ojibwe waawiinaa meaning "I mention him often".
Wekiwa(River)English (American) Two rivers in Florida. The name is derived from the Creek-Seminole word wekiwa meaning "spring".
Wenlai(Country)Chinese Chinese form of Brunei. 文萊 or 文莱 (Wénlái) is the spelling more commonly used in mainland China while 汶萊 or 汶莱 (Wènlái) or (Wénlái) is the prominent spelling in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia.