Submitted Place Names Starting with A
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
ABAKAN (Settlement & River) Russian, EnglishDerived from the name
Abakhan which is the name of a mythological Turkish khan (king). His name means "bear's blood" in the Khakas language, and was bestowed to the present-day Abakan River and the city of the same name...
[more] ABERDEEN (Settlement) English (Rare)A city in Scotland, stemming from the prefix aber- meaning 'river mouth', and the suffix -deen, which could possibly be referring to the rivers don and dee.
ABISKO (Other) SwedishFrom Northern Sami
Ábeskovvu meaning "forest by the big water", from Sami
áphi "lake, sea, big water" and
skovvu, identical to Swedish
skog "forest". The "big water" is probably
Torneträsk...
[more] ABKHAZIA (Country & Political Subdivision) EnglishDerived from Russian
Абхазия (Abkhaziya), which is derived from Georgian
აფხაზეთი (Apkhazeti); ultimately from Abkhaz
Аҧсны (Aṗsny), meaning "country of mortals" (popularly "a land/country of the soul")...
[more] ADYGEA (Political Subdivision) EnglishDerived from Adyghe
адыгэ (adyge) referring to an Adyghe person, collectively an ethnic group in the Caucasus. Adygea is a republic of Russia in the
Caucasus region. It was formerly a part of the historic region of
Circassia.
AE (Settlement & River) Scottish, ScotsThe name of a village and a stream in Southwest Scotland. The name seems to be derived from Old Norse
á, meaning 'river'.
AFGHANISTAN (Country) EnglishMeans "land of the Afghans (Pashtuns)"; a combination of the ethonym
افغان (Afġān), used to refer to the native Pashtuns (the largest ethnic group inhabiting the region today), and the Persian suffix
ـستان (-stān) meaning "land, place of", "country"...
[more] AGADIR (Settlement) English, BerberDerived from Berber
ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ (agadir) meaning "wall, enclosure, fortified building, citadel". Agadir is a port city located in southwestern
Morocco along the shore of the
Atlantic Ocean.
AIKAWA (Settlement) JapaneseThis is the name of several towns in Japan. The first one (愛川) is located in Kanagawa Prefecture in eastern Japan, the second one (合川), located in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan, was merged with other towns to form the city of Kitaakita...
[more] AKIHABARA (Region) JapaneseFrom Japanese 秋
(aki) meaning "autumn", 葉
(ha) meaning "leaf" and 原
(hara) meaning "field, plain".
ALABAMA (Political Subdivision) EnglishName of a state in the United States, from the name of the Native American tribe
Alabama meaning "thick cutters," from Choctaw
albah "medicinal plants" and
amo "to clear".
ÅLAND (Island) SwedishEither derived from Old Norse
*Ahvaland meaning "land of water" (from
ahva "water"), or from Finnish
Ahvenanmaa "perch land" (from
ahven "perch"). Åland is an autonomous archipelago province in the
Baltic Sea...
[more] ALASKA (Political Subdivision) EnglishDerived from Russian
Аляска (Alyaska), which in turn is derived from Aleut
alaxsxaq meaning "object to which the action of the sea is directed". Alaska is the largest of the 50 American states, located northwest of the United States mainland and bordering
Canada.
ALBANY (Settlement) EnglishName of the capital in
New York, renamed after British acquisition in 1664 in honor of the Dukes of Albany (House of Stuart), hence a name borne by their retainers.
ALBERTA (Political Subdivision) EnglishName of one of the 12 provinces in
Canada, named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Victoria, Queen of Canada, and Albert, Prince Consort.
ALEI (River) GermanGerman transcription of the Russian Aley River.
ALMATY (Settlement) Kazakh, Russian, EnglishMeaning disputed. One theory suggests that the name comes from
Almatu, a medieval tribe that inhabited the area near present-day Almaty. Another states that the name is derived from the Kazakh word
алма (alma) meaning "apple".
ALMERÍA (Settlement) SpanishFrom the name of the Spanish city. Means 'the mirror of the sea.'
AL-QAHIRAH (Settlement) ArabicIt 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').
ALTAI (Political Subdivision & Mountain) English, Mongolian, Russian, Altai, KazakhCombination of Mongolian
алт (alt) meaning "gold" and
тай (tay) meaning "with" (wholly meaning "the mountain with gold"). The Altai Republic is a federal subject north of Mongolia in Russia...
[more] AMPER (River) GermanThis is the name of a river in Southern Bavaria, located in Southern Germany....
[more] ANCRE (River) FrenchThis is the name of a river in Picardy, France.
ANDORRA (Country) VariousThe name of the country of Andorra, whose name is possibly derived from a Basque word andurrial (“shrub-covered land”), but it may come from Arabic الدرا (“the forest”) or Spanish andar (“to walk”).
ÅNGERMANLAND (Region) SwedishDerived from Old Norse
anger "deep fjord". Ångermanland is a historical province in Northern Sweden.
ANJOU (Other) English, FrenchFrom the name of the former county/duchy/province centered around the city of Angers in the Loire Valley of western France, which is in the present-day
département of Maine-et-Loire. It was the cradle of the House of Plantagenet who ruled England from the twelfth century, of whom the current royal family are descendants...
[more] ANKARA (Settlement) Turkish, EnglishDerived from Ancient Greek
ἄγκυρα (ánkura) meaning "anchor". The city was formerly called
Ancyra and
Angora. Ankara is a city in Turkey and the largest city after Istanbul.
AOBA (Political Subdivision) JapaneseFrom Japanese 青
(ao) meaning "blue, green" and 葉
(ha) meaning "leaf".
AONIA (Country) EnglishThis was an ancient name of the country of Boeotia in Greek legend, allegedly derived from that of the hero
Aon. Aonia was a region sacred to the Muses, whom the English poet Alexander Pope called the "Aonian maids".
AQUITANIA (Region) SpanishAquitania was a region of Gaul inhabited by the Aquitani, a people living in Gallo-Roman times in what is now Aquitaine, France.
ÅRE (Settlement) SwedishMeaning uncertain, but probably derived from Old West Norse
*ár "peak, crest". Åre is a village and a popular ski resort in
Jämtland, Sweden.
ARENDAL (Settlement) NorwegianCombination of Old Norse
ǫrn "eagle" and
dalr "valley, dale". Arendal is a town and municipality in Southern Norway.
ARENDELLE (Region & Settlement) Popular CultureLikely 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).
ARICA (Settlement) SpanishIt is the name of province, and town in Chile. It is also the name of a town in Colombia.
ARIMATHEA (Settlement) BiblicalFrom
Arimathaea, the Latinized form of Greek Ἁριμαθαία
(Harimathaia), probably of Aramaic or Hebrew origin; it may be connected to רָמָתַיִם
(Ramathayim), a biblical place name also recorded as
Aramathaim, derived from Hebrew רָמָה
(ramah) "height"...
[more] ARIZONA (Political Subdivision) English (American)Name of a state in the United States, originally as the name of a breakaway Confederate region of southern New Mexico, organized roughly along modern lines as a U.S. territory in 1863. From Spanish
Arizonac, probably from a local name among the O'odham (Piman) people meaning "having a little spring"...
[more] ARKANSAS (Political Subdivision) English (American)Name of a state in the United States, from the French pronunciation of the Quapaw people who lived on the Arkansas River.
ARLINGTON (Settlement) EnglishThree possible places called Arlington in Gloucestershire, Devon, and East Sussex.
ARRINGTON (Settlement) EnglishArrington, a place in Cambridgeshire, named from an Old English byname, Earn(a), meaning ‘eagle’ + -inga- ‘people or followers of’ + tūn ‘settlement’.
ASHFORD (Other) English (British)The name of several places in England. All but one of these derive the second element of their name from Old English ford meaning "ford" - for the one in North Devon, it is derived from Old English
worō or
worth meaning "enclosure"....
[more] ASHGABAT (Settlement) English, Yoruba, Scots, Occitan, Malay, Swahili, Irish, Indonesian, Welsh, ShonaMeans "city of love", "city of devotion" from Persian عشقآباد
(ešq-âbâd), a combination of Persian عشق
('ešq) meaning "love" and آباد
(âbâd) "city". This is the name of the capital city of
Turkmenistan.
ASKRIGG (Settlement) EnglishA village in rural Northeast England. It is derived from the Old Norse
askr, 'ash tree' (c.f Swedish
ask, 'ash tree') and
hryggr, 'ridge' (c.f Swedish
rygg, 'ridge, spine', German
rücken, 'spine', Scots
rig, 'ridge').
ASTANA (Settlement) Kazakh, EnglishDerived from Persian
آستانه (âstâne) meaning "capital". Astana is the current capital city of Kazakhstan, and was formerly named Akmoly, Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, and Akmola.
ATHENRY (Settlement) IrishAthenry (Baile Áth an Rí) meaning "Town of the Ford of the King" is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies 25 kilometres east of Galway city.
ATLANTA (Settlement) EnglishName of a city in
Georgia, named by J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad.
AUCKLAND (Settlement) EnglishThe Baron Auckland and the Earl of Auckland are titles of the English nobility. The first Baron Auckland, William Eden, had the city of Auckland in New Zealand named after him. Bishop Auckland is a town in the county of Durham in Britain which has lent its name to the title...
[more] AUROVILLE (Settlement) EnglishThe 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.
AUSTRIA (Country) EnglishMedieval Latin word meaning "eastern borderland" Austriaca is the Latinised form of the Old High German name for the country, Ostarreich, which means 'eastern kingdom'; ostar meaning 'eastern' and reich meaning 'kingdom' in Old High German.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY (Country) HistoryA monarchy (also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire) that was established in 1867 and included not just Austria and Hungary, but also parts of the Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Romania, and the Balkans....
[more] AVALBANE (Settlement) Irish (Anglicized)Anglicized form of Irish
Abhaill Bhán "white orchard". This is or was the name of a township in the civil parish of Clontibret in County Monaghan, Ireland.
AVEN (Settlement) BiblicalA
Biblical place name meaning "vanity", "nothingness", "iniquity" and "sorrow"....
[more] AVONLEA (Settlement) Literature (Rare)Coined by author Lucy Maude Montgomery as a place name in her Anne of Green Gables series. She intended for
Avonlea to echo the
Avalon of Arthurian legends, an idyllic place of beauty. Literally means "grassy meadow" from an unknown element and the Old English
leah "clearing, meadow"...
[more] AZERBAIJAN (Country) EnglishDerived from Persian
آذربایجان (âzarbâyjân) which is ultimately from Middle Persian
Ādurbādagān referring to
Atropates, the Persian nobleman who founded the kingdom of Atropene...
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