Vallejo(Settlement)Spanish, English The name of a city in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, which was founded by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1807-1890), a Californio military leader and landowner... [more]
Vättern(Body of Water)Swedish Meaning uncertain, but possibly derived from Swedish vatten "water". Vättern is the second largest lake in Sweden and the sixth largest lake in Europe.
Vatykan(Country)Ukrainian Ukrainian form of Vatican, which is one of the names commonly used to refer to Vatican City.
Vavylon(Settlement)Ukrainian, Greek Ukrainian form of Babylon as well as the modern Greek transcription of the name. However, in modern Greece, Vavylona is typically the form used to refer to the capital city of ancient Babylonia.
Venisti(Other)Mormon The name of the eighth great star according to Mormon cosmology. Preceded by Vurel and succeeded by Waine.
Vermont(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, literally "green mountain" from French verde "green" + mont "mountain".
Veyatie(Body of Water)Scottish The name of a loch in north-west Scotland, from the Gaelic Mheathadaidh, which is of uncertain derivation. This appears to be a tri-thematic name composed of meatha-, a derivative of Old Norse mjó or mjór "narrow", combined with an uncertain second element and the suffix -aidh, derived from Old Norse á "river"... [more]
Vilnius(Settlement)Lithuanian, English From the name of the Vilnia River, which is derived from Lithuanian vilnis meaning "wave, ripple". This is the name of the capital city of Lithuania.
Vĩnh Yên(Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 永 (vĩnh) meaning "forever, perpetual, eternal" and 安 (yên) meaning "calm, peaceful". This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Vinland(Region)Old Norse Old Norse name for a place in modern Canada, named by viking Leif Eriksson c. 1000 AD. The first element of the name is uncertain, but it could be from Old Norse vín "wine" or vin "meadow".
Viroqua(Settlement)English From the Spanish Veragua. A town in Wisconsin.
Vistula(River)English, Amharic, Indonesian, Romanian, Swahili Borrowed from Latin, likely originating from the Indo-European root *weys- meaning "to flow". It is the longest river in Poland and has significant connections to Polish history and culture.
Vũng Tàu(Settlement)Vietnamese Means "anchorage" in Vietnamese, so named for the European trading ships that used to visit the area during the 14th and 15th centuries. This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Wadsley(Other)English Name of a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England.
Waikato(River)Maori From the Māori word wai, meaning "water", and kato, meaning "flow; current". Together, this is often translated as "flowing water". The Waikato River is the biggest river in Aotearoa New Zealand, and is often referred to by locals as the 'Mighty Waikato'
Wakanda(Country)Popular Culture The name of a fictional country in the Marvel Universe, home to the superhero Black Panther.
Walkden(Settlement)English (British) The name Walkden or Walkeden derives from the Old English 'denu', a valley, belonging to a man possibly called Wealca.
Walpole(Settlement)English The name of two places in Norfolk and Suffolk. The place names probably derive from Old English walh "foreigner, Briton, serf" (genitive plural wala) and pol "pool", though the Norfolk place name may have Old English wall "wall" as the first element.
Waveney(River)English The name of a river that forms much of the boundary between the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk in eastern England. It is derived from Old English wagen meaning "quagmire" and ēa "meaning "river; running water, stream."
Wichita(Settlement)English Name of a city in Kansas, named after the Native American tribe Wichita. Possibly from Wichita We-chate hatchee, "Red Water River".
Wicklow(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish, Old Norse Town and county in Ireland. From Old Norse 'víkingalág' or 'vikinga-ló', meaning "meadow of the Vikings".
Windsor(Settlement)English City in Ontario, Canada, from an English surname that was from a place name meaning "riverbank with a windlass" in Old English (a windlass is a lifting apparatus). This has been the surname of the royal family of the United Kingdom since 1917.
Wrexham(Settlement)English Wrexham is a city and the administrative center of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England.
Wrocław(Settlement)Polish From the Old Polish names Wrocisław, Wrócisław or Warcisław, meaning a return to glory. Cognate with Czech Vratislav. It is associated with Vratislaus I of Bohemia, the legendary founder, but the first records of the city appear decades after his death... [more]
Wryeton(Settlement)English Middle English Wry(e) may mean "bent", "twisted" combined with the "ton" ending.
Wyoming(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, from Algonquian chwewamink "at the big river flat," from xw "big" + e:wam "river flat" + enk "place".
Xinshan(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 新 (xīn) meaning "new" and 山 (shān) meaning "mountain". This is the Chinese name for the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.
Yaang'na(Political Subdivision)Tongva This is the name of a Tongva village under the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles and for the region Los Angeles. This village used to be a important trading center. The Los Angeles City Council in 2013 stated its support for the Tongva to have a government-to-government relationship with America.
Yakutia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Якутия (Yakutiya), which is from the name of the Yakut people. The ethnic name ultimately comes from Yаkо, the Evenki name for the Yakuts, which was eventually transferred to Russian... [more]
Yakutsk(Political Subdivision)Russian "Place" of the Yakut (from the Evenk "Yako," a term Russia uses to refer to the "Sakha" people, whose name (of Turkic origin) comes from words that mean "Edge, Collar")
Yaoundé(Settlement)English, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Welsh, Yoruba From the outpost of Jaundo, founded between 1887 and 1889 by German explorers Lt. Richard Kund and Hans Tappenbeck and named so after the local Ewondo people, also known as Yaunde. The name could also have been a German rendition of the Ewondo expression mia wondo ("peanut farmers")... [more]
Yathrib(Settlement)Arabic Meaning uncertain, probably of Ancient North Arabian origin. This was the name of the city of Medina before the advent of Islam. Traditionally it is said that the city's name was changed due to its negative connotation with the Arabic root ث ر ب (th-r-b) meaning "to complain, to accuse, to blame".
Yenisey(River)Russian, English, Turkish, Azerbaijani The name of a river in northern Mongolian and the Siberian federal district of Russia. It may be derived from either Evenki Ионэсси (Ionəssi) meaning "big water" or Old Kyrgyz Эне-Сай (Ene-Sai) meaning "mother river."
Yerevan(Settlement)Armenian, English, Russian Meaning unknown. It may be from Yervand, the name of a 3rd-century BC Armenian king (also known as Orontes IV), or from Էրեբունի (Erebuni), an ancient Urartian fortification and city... [more]
Yingguo(Country)Chinese From Chinese 英 (Yīng), a shortened form of 英格蘭 (Yīnggélán) or 英吉利 (Yīngjílì), both names for England, and 国 (guó) meaning "country"... [more]
Ynys Môn(Island)Welsh From Welsh ynys "island" and mon, which is most likely derived from Proto-Celtic *moniyos "mountain". This is the Welsh name of the island and county of Anglesey.
Yonkers(Settlement)English Name of the 4th most populous city in New York state, a variant of Dutch Jonkers, jonker, "young gentleman", derived from Dutch jong "young".
Yucatán(Political Subdivision & Region)Spanish Most likely from Chontal Maya Yokot'an either meaning "I do not understand you" or "hear how they talk!", both phrases supposedly uttered by the Mayans when questioned by Spanish explorers. Alternately it may mean "land of yucas", referring to the edible tuber... [more]
Yuriria(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Body of Water)Mexican Short form of Purépecha Yuririapundaro meaning "lake of blood" or "place of the bloody lake". This is the name of a lake, town and municipality in central Mexico, located in the 'Bajío', or lowlands, of Guanajuato (state)... [more]
Zalipie(Settlement)Polish Zalipie is known for being "Poland's Painted Village". The insides and outsides of the buildings, doghouses, and even bridges in Zalipie are painted in brightly colored folk art that attracts tourists from around the globe... [more]
Zapopan(Settlement)Spanish (Mexican) From Nahuatl Tzapopan, from a combination of tzapotl, referring to a sapote tree, and the locative suffix -pan.... [more]
Zealand(Island)English English form of Danish Sjælland. Zealand is the largest island in Denmark (excluding Greenland).
Zugdidi(Settlement)Georgian, Mingrelian Means "large hill" in Georgian and Mingrelian, from ზუგი (zugi) meaning "hill" and დიდი (didi) meaning "big, large". This is the name of a city in Georgia.