Mairena(Settlement & Other)Spanish From an Andalusian Arabic rendition of the Roman name Mariana.... [more]
Majorca(Island)English Majorca is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The local language, as on the rest of the Balearic Islands, is Catalan, which is co-official with Spanish.
Makkavu(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Tamil Tamil form of Macau.
Makuria(Country & Region)History, English Derived from Μακουρια (Makouria), which is the hellenized form of the autochthonous name of a Nubian kingdom that existed from the 5th century AD to the late 15th century AD. The original Nubian name is unknown, as is its meaning... [more]
Malabon(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Filipino The City of Malabon was founded on May 21, 1599. It is one of the 16 cities making up the NCR of the Philippines. It has a land area of 15.71 km2 and has 365,525 people living in it as of the 2015 census.... [more]
Malacca(Country, Political Subdivision, Settlement & Body of Water)English From Malay Melaka, probably derived from the Malay name for the Indian gooseberry (genus Phyllanthus), a type of tree. This is the name of a state in southern Malaysia as well as a city (Malacca City) and a narrow body of water between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra (the Strait of Malacca)... [more]
Manamah(Settlement)Arabic, Indonesian, Urdu Arabic and Urdu alternate transcription of Manama as well as the Indonesian form. In Arabic it is usually written with the definite article: منامة (al-Manamah), which is also used in Indonesian.
Mərakeş(Country & Settlement)Azerbaijani Azerbaijani form of Arabic مراكش (see Marrakesh), used to refer to both the city and the entire country of Morocco.
Marakka(Country, Political Subdivision, Settlement & Body of Water)Japanese Japanese form of Malacca.
Mascara(Settlement)Arabic The word mascara is the francisation of the Arabic word معسكر (mouaskar), meaning “camp”. Due to French colonization at that time, the city's name has adopted the French version as an official name.... [more]
Mashhad(Settlement)Persian, Tajik, Arabic Derived from Arabic مشهد (mashhad) meaning "place of martyrdom", named for the shrine of imam Ali al-Rida in Twelver Shia tradition. This is the name of a city in Iran.
Mashhad(Settlement)Persian Derived from Arabic مشهد (mashhad) meaning "place of martyrdom", so named for the shrine of imam Ali al-Rida in Twelver Shia tradition. This is the name of a city in Iran.
Mataram(Settlement & Country)Indonesian, Javanese Meaning uncertain, perhaps derived from Sanskrit मातरम् (mataram) meaning "mother" or "motherland". Other theories include माता (mata) meaning "mother" or मत्त (mata) meaning "joy, excitement, passion" combined with आराम (arama) meaning "pleasure, delight".... [more]
Matsuda(Mountain)Japanese This the name of a mountain in the Ishikari Mountain range in Hokkaido, Japan. Matsuda is also a surname meaning "mountain rice paddy."
Mayfair(Other)English Mayfair was named after the May Fair, an annual event. It took place in the area, on the site that now plays host to today's popular Shepherd Market. It comes from Old English mæg, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning ‘have power’; related to Dutch mogen and German mögen and Old English fæger ‘pleasing, attractive’, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German fagar.
Melilla(Settlement)Spanish, English The etymology of Melilla is uncertain. Since Melilla was an active beekeeping location in the past, the name has been related to honey; this is tentatively backed up by two ancient coins featuring a bee as well as the inscriptions RSADR and RSA... [more]
Melrose(Settlement)Scottish Habitational namefor a place near Galashiels in the Scottish borders, so named from British words that were ansetors of Welsh moel 'bare', 'barren' rhos 'heath'.... [more]
Mizoram(Region)Mizo The name of the state is derived from "Mizo", the self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo language means "land." Thus "Mizo-ram" means "land of the Mizos".
Morioka(Settlement)Japanese Means "prosperous hill" in Japanese. The kanji that make up the name are 盛 (mori), meaning "prosper", and 岡 (oka), meaning "hill". This is the name of the capital city of Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
Muttama(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Other)Mon, Burmese Mottama is a town in south central Myanmar, whose name derives from the Mon language term Mumaw (Mon: မုဟ်တၟံ), which means "rocky spur."
Nahanni(River & Other)Chipewyan River and national park in Northwest Territories, Canada. From the Dene name for the area, 'Nahʔa Dehé', which means "river of the land of the Nahʔa people".
Nakaumi(Body of Water)Japanese Lake Nakaumi is located in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.
Nam Định(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 南 (nam) meaning "south" and 定 (định) meaning "to set".
Nam Định(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 南 (nam) meaning "south" and 定 (định) meaning "fix, appoint, set". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Vietnam.
Nanjing(Settlement)Chinese Means "southern capital" from Chinese 南 (nán) meaning "south" and 京 (jīng) meaning "capital city". This is the name of a city in China.
Navarre(Country)French From the name of the historic Royaume de Navarre, a kingdom in the West Pyrenees mountains which is divided today between Spain and France. It is either derived from the Basque nabar, meaning "brownish" or "multicolor" (which would be a contrast with the green mountain lands north of the original County of Navarre); or from the Basque naba, "valley" or "plain", and herri, "land" or "people".
Navotas(Settlement)Filipino The City of Navotas was founded on December 20, 1827. It is one of the 16 cities making up the NCR of the Philippines. It has a land area of 10.77 km2 and has a population of 249,463 as of the 2015 census.... [more]
Nayarit(Political Subdivision)Spanish From the ethnic name of the Cora people, Náayerite, itself derived from the name of chief Cora Naye. This is the name of a state of Mexico.
New Bern(Settlement)English New Bern was settled in 1710 by Swiss and Palatine immigrants led by Christoph von Graffenried. They named the settlement after Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
New York(Political Subdivision)English Name of a state in the United States, also the name of a city in that state, named after the then Duke of York, later King James II of England.
Niagara(Body of Water, Settlement & Region)Iroquois Name of a popular waterfall, a town, and region, in Canada. Derived from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra, meaning either "the strait", or "bisected bottom lands"
Nicosia(Settlement)English From a French corruption of Greek Λευκωσία (Lefkosia), which is of uncertain meaning. The most probable theory states that it is derived from the Greek phrase λευκό περιουσία (lefko periousia) meaning "white estate"... [more]
Nidaros(Settlement)Medieval Scandinavian From the the name of the River Nid (see Nidelva) combined with Old Norse óss denoting the city's location near the river. This was the former name of Trondheim.
Nidelva(River)Norwegian The name of a river that runs through Trondheim, and the name of a river in southern Norway. The name is a combination of the words elv "river" and nid (of unknown meaning).
Niigata(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 新 (nii) meaning "new" and 潟 (kata) meaning "lagoon". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Ningxia(Political Subdivision)Chinese From Chinese 宁 (níng) meaning "peaceful, calm, serene" and 夏 (xià) referring to the Western Xia, an empire that existed from 1038 to 1227... [more]
Nipigon(River & Settlement)Ojibwe Town and river in Ontario, Canada. From the Ojibwe word Alimipigon, possibly meaning "where the water begins".
Okinawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "island in the far-away sea" in Japanese.
Okinawa(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island)Japanese From Japanese 沖 (oki) meaning "open sea" and 縄 (nawa) meaning "rope, cord", possibly from an archaic word for a type of rope used to catch fish. This is the name of a prefecture and city in Japan, as well as the name of a group of islands (along with the main island within that group).
Okoboji(Body of Water)Sioux Legend tells the lake was named for Chief Okoboji; meaning either ‘place of rest’ or ‘reeds or rushes,’-preferred.... [more]
Opelika(Settlement)English Derived from Muscogee (Creek) opilwa lako meaning "large swamp". This is the name of a small city in the American state of Alabama.
Oppland(Political Subdivision)Norwegian From the Old Norse upp meaning "up, upper" and lǫnd meaning "lands." The inner regions of Norway were called Upplǫnd in Norse times.... [more]
Orcadia(Island)Medieval, Old Celtic (Latinized) A medieval name for the Orkney Islands, the famous archipelago of the northwest coast of Scotland. It comes from the Roman name Orcades which was probably derived from Celtic *forko- "young pig"... [more]
Orinoco(River)English, Spanish, Italian The name of a river in Venezuela and Colombia, one of the longest rivers in South America.
Orlando(Political Subdivision)English Name of a city in Florida, named in honor of Orlando Reeves who died in 1835 during a supposed attack by Seminoles in the Second Seminole War.