ABAKAN(Settlement & River)Russian, English Derived 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)Swedish From 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]
ÅBO(Settlement)Swedish Possibly from Swedish å "river" and bo "home, dwelling" or "dweller, inhabitant". Other meanings are possible, like it being derived from the given name AABO... [more]
ABYSSINIA(Country)English The name of Ethiopia until the early 20th century.
ACÁDIA(Country, Region & Settlement)Portuguese Portuguese form of both Acadia and Akkad (mostly the ancient city, but sometimes also the Akkadian Empire).
ADYGA KHAKU(Country & Region)Circassian From Circassian адыгэ (adyga), the name of the Adyghe people, combined with хэку (khaku) meaning "homeland, land". This is the Circassian name for Circassia.
ADYGEA(Political Subdivision)English, Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog From Russian Адыгея (Adygeya), which is from Adyghe адыгэ (adyge), the endonym of the Circassian (Adyghe) people. The ethnic name is of uncertain meaning, though it may mean "mountain between seas" or "mountain by the sea"... [more]
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.
AE(Settlement & River)Scottish, Scots The name of a village and a stream in Southwest Scotland. The name seems to be derived from Old Norse á, meaning 'river'.
AGADIR(Settlement)English, Berber Derived 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)Japanese This 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]
AIRTON(Settlement)English The name of a small village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire in England, also known as Airton-in-Craven. It is derived from a combination of AIRE (referring to the river) and Old English tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town."
AKERSHUS(Political Subdivision)Norwegian The Norwegian fylke of Akershus is names after Akershus Fortress, meaning "the (fortified) house of (the district) Aker." Aker used to be a Norwegian municipality, but it is now an area in OSLO.... [more]
AKIHABARA(Other)Japanese From Japanese 秋 (aki) meaning "autumn", 葉 (ha) meaning "leaf" and 原 (hara) meaning "meadow, field, plain".
AKTI ELEFANTOSTOU(Country)Greek Greek form of Ivory Coast. It literally means "Coast of Ivory" in Greek, as it is derived from the Greek noun ακτή (akti) meaning "coast" combined with the Greek noun ελεφαντοστό (elefantosto) meaning "ivory".
AKUREYRI(Settlement)Icelandic Combination of Icelandic akur "field" and eyri "sandbank". Akureyri is a town in the north of Iceland.
ALABAMA(Political Subdivision)English Name 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)Swedish Either 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)English Derived 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)English Name 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)English Name 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.
ALBUQUERQUE(Settlement)English (American) Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, sits in the high desert. Its modern Downtown core contrasts with Old Town Albuquerque, dating to the city’s 1706 founding as a Spanish colony.
ALDERNEY(Island)English, Medieval Scandinavian One of the Channel Islands in ENGLAND. It may be a corruption of 'adreni' or 'alrene', derived from Old Norse, meaning "island near the coast". Alternatively, it may come from other old Norse words; 'alda', meaning "swelling wave', 'renna', meaning "strong current', and -ey, meaning "island'.
ALEI(River)German German transcription of the Russian Aley River.
ALGOMA(Region)Algonquin Region in ONTARIO, CANADA. Created name by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. The 'al' is from "Algonquin", the the 'goma' is from the word 'gomee', meaning "water".
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').
AL-QUDS(Settlement)Arabic Variant of QUDS with the definite article ال (al-).
ALTAI(Political Subdivision & Mountain)English, Mongolian, Russian, Altai, Kazakh Combination 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]
AMALFI(Settlement)Italian, Spanish (Latin American) The name of a coastal in the Italian province of Salerno and a town and municipality in the Antioquia Department of Colombia which is named in honour of the Italian town.... [more]
ANADYR(Political Subdivision)Russian (Archaic) Although the town itself has only been in existence for just over a century, the origins of the name Anadyr are much older. The name initially derives from the Yukaghir word "any-an" meaning "river"
ANAMOOSE(Settlement)Ojibwe City in NORTH DAKOTA. From the Ojibwe word 'uhnemoosh', meaning "female dog".