Abyssinia(Country)English The name of Ethiopia until the early 20th century.
Abyssinia(Country & Region)English From Latin Abissinus meaning "Abyssinian, Ethiopian", ultimately derived from Arabic الحبشة (al-Habashah) of uncertain meaning. This is the name of a region and former empire in the Horn of Africa, consisting of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Adygeycho(Political Subdivision)Chechen From адыгей (adygey), the Chechen name for the Circassian (Adyghe) people, combined with the suffix -чоь (-cho) meaning "place of". This is the Chechen name for Adygea.
Ahmedabad(Settlement)English From Urdu احمد آباد (Ahmad Abad) or Hindi अहमदाबाद (Ahmadabad) both derived from the given name Ahmad combined with the place name suffix -آباد/-आबाद (-abad) (of Persian origin)... [more]
Ahmestrah(Country)Mormon An alternate name for Egypt, used in Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language, which was written by Joseph Smith. It appears to be partly derived from Mitzrayim, the son of Ham, which was occasionally written as Mestraim... [more]
Allegheny(Body of Water)Lenape The name Allegheny may come from Lenape welhik hane or oolikhanna, which means 'best flowing river of the hills' or 'beautiful stream', and from a Lenape account of an ancient mythical tribe called "Allegewi", who lived along the river before being taken over by the Lenape.
Almodóvar(River, Body of Water & Settlement)Spanish From Arabic المدور (al-mudawwar) meaning "round (place)" referring to a fort, hill or other topographic feature. It is the name of a river and reservoir in the province of Cádiz, Spain, as well as three towns in other provinces.
Almodôvar(Settlement)Portuguese From Arabic المدور (al-mudawwar) meaning "round (place)" referring to a fort, hill or other topographic feature. It is the name of a town in Portugal.
Alor Setar(Settlement)Malay, English From Malay alor meaning "river, stream" and setar meaning "gandaria" (a type of fruit). This is the name of the capital city of the Malaysian state of Kedah.
Al-qahirah(Settlement)Arabic It is the original form of Cairo the Egyptian capital city. Al-Qāhira means 'The Conquerer' because of a myth between its foundation and the planet Mars (that in Arabic is 'The Conquerer Star').
Amarapura(Settlement)Burmese Means "immortal city", derived from Sanskrit अमर (amara) meaning "immortal, undying" and पुर (pura) meaning "fortress, city"... [more]
Anticosti(Island)French (Quebec) Anticosti is an island in the Minganie Regional County Municipality Canada. Originally inhabited by natives , The Innu called it Notiskuan which means "where bears are hunted", and the Mi'kmaq called it Natigôsteg meaning "forward land".... [more]
Apkhazeti(Country)Georgian From აფხაზი (apxazi), the Georgian exonym for the Abkhaz people, and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for Abkhazia.
Aquitaine(Region)French French form of Aquitania. This is the name of a historical region of France located roughly between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Garonne... [more]
Aquitania(Region)Spanish Aquitania was a region of Gaul inhabited by the Aquitani, a people living in Gallo-Roman times in what is now Aquitaine, France.
Arendelle(Region & Settlement)Popular Culture Likely based on Arendal, the name of a town and municipality in Southern Norway. Arendalle is a fictional kingdom in Disney's animated movie 'Frozen' (2013).
Arlandria(Settlement)English (American) The name of a neighbourhood in north-eastern Alexandria, Virginia. It is a portmanteau of Arlington and Alexandria, reflecting its location on the border of Arlington County and Alexandria.
Arlington(Settlement)English Three possible places called Arlington in Gloucestershire, Devon, and East Sussex.
Arrington(Settlement)English Arrington, a place in Cambridgeshire, named from an Old English byname, Earn(a), meaning ‘eagle’ + -inga- ‘people or followers of’ + tūn ‘settlement’.
Athabasca(Settlement, Other, Body of Water & Mountain)Cree (Anglicized) Name of numerous towns, lakes, rivers, a glacier, and a mountain, in Canada, primarily in the province of Alberta... [more]
Auroville(Settlement)English The name of an indian town built by UNESCO located in southern India. It was built as an experimental town to see how is the world without politics, money or polution.
Aust-Agder(Political Subdivision)Norwegian From the Nynork word aust "east" and the place name agder. It means "the eastern part of Agder."... [more]
Ayutthaya(Country & Settlement)Thai, English Derived from Sanskrit अयुध्य (ayudhya) meaning "invincible, unconquerable". This was the name of a kingdom (as well as one of its capital cities) that reigned from 1350 to 1767, considered the precursor of modern Thailand.
Balıkesir(Settlement)Turkish Most likely from Greek Παλαιόκαστρον (Palaiokastron) meaning "old castle", from παλαιός (palaios) "old" and κάστρον (kastron) "castle". This is the name of a city in Turkey.
Baltic Sea(Body of Water)English Meaning uncertain. Possibly derived from Latin balteus "belt". The Baltic Sea is a sea in Northern Europe. The name was first used, as Mare Balticum, by Adam of Bremen in the 11th century... [more]
Baltimore(Settlement)English Baltimore is an independent city in the state of Maryland within the United States.
Baltistan(Region)Urdu, English From the ethnic name بلتی (Balti) combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the name of a region in Pakistan.
Banda Aceh(Settlement)Indonesian Means "port of Aceh" from Indonesian bandar meaning "port, harbour" (of Persian origin) and Aceh. This is the name of the capital city of the Indonesian province of Aceh.
Bangalore(Settlement)English From Kannada ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು (Bengaluru) of uncertain meaning, possibly from Old Kannada beṅga-val-ūru meaning "city of guards" or benda-kāl-ūru meaning "town of boiled beans" (referring to a story from Kannada folklore)... [more]
Barcelona(Settlement)Catalan, Spanish, English Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain.
Bashkiria(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Башкирия (Bashkiriya) which is from башкир (bashkir), the Russian name for the Bashkir people. This is another name for Bashkortostan, a republic in Russia.
Batu Gajah(Settlement)Malay, English Means "elephant rock" from Malay batu meaning "stone, rock" and gajah meaning "elephant", most likely named for two large boulders that resembled elephants located along a nearby river... [more]
Baukungri(Mountain)Bodo The name of both a famous hill in the autonomous Assamese subregion of Bodoland and the festival surrounding it.
Beersheba(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English Beersheba is a city in Israel, whose name is derived from the Hebrew Be'er Sheva, which means “Well of the Oath”.
Berkshire(Political Subdivision & Region)English From a wood of box trees in the area called Bearroc, a Celtic word meaning "hilly", with Old English sċīr, from Proto-West Germanic *skīru. meaning "county" or "shire".... [more]
Bình Dương(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 平陽 (bình dương) meaning "plain".
Bình Dương(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 平 (bình) meaning "level, even" and 陽 (dương) meaning "male, virile". This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Bình Thuận(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 平 (bình) meaning "level" and 順 (thuận) meaning "along".
Bình Thuận(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 平 (bình) meaning "level, even" and 順 (thuận) meaning "obey, submit, conform". This is the name of a province of Vietnam.
Bir Lehlou(Settlement)English Derived from Hassaniya Arabic bir lehlou meaning "sweet water well". Bir Lehlou is an oasis town in the Polisario-controlled region in northeastern Western Sahara.
Blackpool(Settlement)English A coastal town in Lancashire. Literally means 'black pool', so named from a nearby drainage stream which ran through a peat bog, discharging discoloured water into the nearby Irish Sea. (Compare Dublin).
Bobrownik(Settlement)Polish From bobrownik ("beaver hunter" or "beaver breeder"), a calque of Prussian *Bebriniks or *Beb(i)rniks, from the owner's surname. A village in northeastern Poland.
Bonnyrigg(Settlement)Scottish A town, near Edinburgh, Scotland. It derives from Lowland Scots bonnie, meaning 'beautiful, fine', and rig, meaning 'ridge, hill-crest' (Old Norse hryggr, 'back, ridge', Dutch rug, 'ridge').
Bourgogne(Political Subdivision & Region)French From the ethnonym for the Burgundians, an East Germanic people who moved westwards beyond the Rhine during the late Roman period.... [more]