Changan(Settlement)Chinese Changan was the capital of the Tang dynasty from A.D 618 to A.D 907. It was even the largest city in the world. But it was lost due to rebellion and invasion.
Châu Phi(Region)Vietnamese From Vietnamese châu meaning "continent" and Phi referring to Africa (from a calque of Chinese Feizhou). This is the Vietnamese name for Africa.
Chausey(Island)Norman A large group of islands in the Channel Islands, France. The -ey is the Norman word for "island".
Chengdu(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 成 (chéng) meaning "completed, finished, succeeded" and 都 (dū) meaning "capital city, large city", supposedly named during the city's founding by the ninth king of the Kaiming dyntasty of the ancient state of Shu... [more]
Chennai(Settlement)Indian, Tamil, English Most likely from the name of 17th-century Telugu monarch Damarla Chennapa Nayaka (or Chennappa Naicker). This is the name of the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which was officially called Madras until 1996.
Cheonan(Settlement)Korean Combination of 天 (천, cheon, "sky, heaven") and 安 (안, ān, "peace"), thus "heavenly peace". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Cheragh(Settlement)Persian This is the name of a village in Lorestan Province in western Iran. This is also used as a place name element (first or last) in other villages across Iran.... [more]
Cheviot(Mountain)English The name of a mountain and the surrounding mountains on the Anglo-Scottish border. The name is thought to be Celtic and to derive from Brythonic *ceμ-, *cejn 'ridge, spine' (Welsh chefn, 'back, ridge'), and -ed, which might have meant 'having the quality of-'.
Chexiya(Country)Uzbek Uzbek form of Čechy, used as a name for the Czech Republic.
Chezmeh(Country)Pakistani Chezmeh meaning Pakistani. Chezmeh is a acronym of 'Cheh Zameeneh' which translates to 6 lands in Urdu. Chezmeh is a ethnonym (endonym) for Pakistanis referring to the people and its 6 regions Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashsmir, Gilgit Baltistan & Sindh.
Chineti(Country)Georgian From Georgian ჩინური (chinuri) referring to the Chinese people and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for China.
Choctaw(Settlement)English (American) A city in Oklahoma. From the name of the Choctaw people, although the city has no cultural relation to the Choctaw nation.
Cilacap(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian, Javanese, Sundanese Derived from Javanese tlacap meaning "corner, point, end", so named for the sharp angle made by the end of a local bay. This is the name of a regency and city in Indonesia.
Cilegon(Settlement)Indonesian, Sundanese Derived from Sundanese cai meaning "water" and legon meaning "arch, bay, cove". This is the name of a city in Indonesia.
Cirebon(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Indonesian, Sundanese, Javanese Either derived from Javanese caruban meaning "mixed, assorted" (likely a reference to the region's mixed cultural influences) or from Sundanese cai meaning "water" and rebon meaning "shrimp, prawn"... [more]
Cloquet(Settlement & River)English (American) Transferred use of the French surname Cloquet. The river in Minnesota may have been named for French doctors Hippolyte and Jules Cloquet, and the city was named for the river.
Coimbra(Settlement)Portuguese From Latin Conimbriga, itself derived from the name of an ancient tribe known as the Conii and Old Celtic brigā meaning "hill, fortress". This is the name of a city in Portugal.
Colombo(Settlement)English Probably from the old Sinhalese word kolamba meaning "ferry" or "port". It is popularly believed to be derived from Sinhalese කොලොන් තොට (kolon tota) meaning "port on the river Kelani" or කොල අඹ (kola amba) meaning "leafy mango grove", altered with influence from the name of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus or Latin columba meaning "dove"... [more]
Conakry(Settlement)French, English The capital of Guinea. Its name is derived from Kɔnakiri, a local village populated by the Susu, a Mande speaking ethnic group.
Cordele(Settlement)English From the English given name Cordelia. The city in Georgia was named for Cordelia Hawkins, the daughter of Colonel Samuel Hawkins, the president of the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railway.
Crystal(Settlement)English Various cities in the United States. From the English word "crystal".
Cuillin(Mountain)English The Cuillin (Scottish Gaelic: An Cuilthionn or An Cuiltheann) is a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Cumorah(Mountain)Mormon This is the name of the hill where the Nephite known as Moroni buried the golden plates. It is located in New York.
Curaçao(Political Subdivision & Island)Dutch, English From Portuguese Curação of uncertain origin, possibly from a name used by the indigenous peoples of the island. This is the name of an island country in the Caribbean Sea that is part of the Netherlands.
Daedeok(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Korean From Sino-Korean 大德, meaning "great virtue." It is the name of numerous districts and settlements in South Korea.
Daejeon(Settlement)Korean Combination of 大 (대, dae, "big, large") and 田 (전, jeon, "cultivated piece of land"). This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Dahomey(Other)English The name of the Kingdom. Dahomey Kingdom was an African kingdom that existed from about 1600 until 1894, when the last king, Behanzin, was defeated by the French, and the country was annexed into the French colonial empire.
Đăk Nông(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese Combination of Đắk Lắk and M'Nông, the name of an ethnic group in Vietnam. This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Decatur(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the surname Decatur. The city in Alabama was named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., a United States Navy officer.
Demelza(Settlement)Cornish Name of a hamlet in Cornwall, sometimes explained as a contraction of Cornish Dinas Maeldaf "fort of Maeldaf", but more likely derived from Cornish ty "house" and malsai "eel".
Detroit(Political Subdivision)English (American) From the French word, meaning “strait.” The full name of the city’s phrase is “le détroit du Lac Érie,” meaning “the strait of Lake Erie.”
Devizes(Settlement)English Derived from castrum ad divisas, latin for “castle at the boundary”
Dinagat(Political Subdivision & Island)Filipino, Cebuano, Surigaonon, Waray, Tagalog, English From Cebuano dinagat meaning "of the sea", ultimately from dagat meaning "sea". This is the name of an island in the Philippines, as well as a province (called Dinagat Islands).
Donegal(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish County and town in Ireland. Meaning "place of foreigners" (i.e. the Vikings). Alternatively, it may mean "land of Conall", a king from the area. Conall means "strong wolf".
Đồng Nai(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 同 (đồng) meaning "same" and 狔 (nai).
Đồng Nai(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese Meaning uncertain. According to folk etymology, it is derived from Vietnamese đồng meaning "field" and nai meaning "deer"; alternately, it may be of Maasai or Cham origin. This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Doriath(Country & Other)Literature A kingdom in JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion. From the fictional Sindarin language dôr meaning "land" and iath meaning "fence".
Doumpai(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Greek Greek form of Dubai.
Drayton(Settlement)English Drayton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England.
Dresden(Settlement)German Dresden, capital of the eastern German state of Saxony, is distinguished by the celebrated art museums and classic architecture of its reconstructed old town. The name is of Slavic origin.
Druk Yul(Country)Bhutanese, Tibetan From Tibetan འབྲུག (brug) meaning "thunder dragon" (a mythical creature in Bhutanese and Tibetan mythology) combined with ཡུལ (yul) meaning "country, nation, kingdom". This is the Bhutanese and Tibetan name for Bhutan.
Dubuque(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the French surname Dubuque. The city in Iowa was named for Julien Dubuque, the first white man to settle in Iowa
Dunedin(Settlement)English (New Zealand) This is a city in the South Island of New Zealand. It is known as the 'Edinburgh Of The South' due to its many historical buildings.
Ecuador(Country)English The name of the Country in South America. Ecuador is a country straddling the equator on South America’s west coast. Its diverse landscape encompasses Amazon jungle, Andean highlands and the wildlife-rich Galápagos Islands... [more]
Emirgan(Settlement)Turkish, English Derived from the name Emirgune, possibly influenced by Persian suffix ـگان (-gan) meaning "pertaining to, relating to"... [more]
Eriador(Region)Literature A region in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. Meaning "lonely land, wilderness" in the fictional Sindarin language, likely derived from Primitive Elvish eryā meaning "isolated, lonely" and ndore meaning "land".
Errigal(Mountain)Irish Name of a mountain in Ireland (Errigal Mountain, near Gweedore in County Donegal, Ireland. It is the tallest peak of the Derryveagh Mountains and the tallest peak in County Donegal).
Etruria(Country)English, Italian, Spanish, Ancient Roman, History Meaning unknown. This was the name of an ancient country in the Italian Peninsula (located in what is now Tuscany) inhabited by the Etruscans.... [more]
Euskadi(Political Subdivision)Basque The Basque name for the Basque Country autonomous community in Spain. Coined by Basque nationalist writer Sabino Arana.
Exmouth(Settlement)English Exmouth has the -mouth ending, which denotes at the mouth of a river, the river being the river Exe in this case. Exmouth means 'on the mouth of the river Exe'.
Fangorn(Region)Literature A forest in JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. From the given name Fangorn, itself meaning "treebeard" in the fictional Sindarin language, from fang meaning "beard" and #orn" meaning "tree".
Fayette(Political Subdivision & Other)English Fayette is a county in Pennsylvania, and there is a city named Lexington-Fayette in Kentucky.
Feizhou(Region)Chinese From Chinese 非 (fēi) referring to Africa (from a shortened form of the older name 阿非利加 (Āfēilìjiā)) and 洲 (zhōu) meaning "continent". This is the Chinese name for Africa.