Submitted Place Names Starting with A

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]

ABBOTSFORD(Other)English (Canadian)
A city in British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Fraser Valley region.

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]

ABKHAZIA(Country & Political Subdivision)English
Derived 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]

ABKHAZIYA(Country & Political Subdivision)Russian
Russian form of Abkhazia.

ABYSSINIA(Country)English
The name of Ethiopia until the early 20th century.

ADYGEA(Political Subdivision)English
Derived 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.

ADYGE KHEKU(Region)Adyghe
Adyghe form of Circassia.

ADYGEYA(Political Subdivision)Russian
Russian form of 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'.

AFGANISTAN(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Afghanistan.

AFGHANISTAN(Country)English
Means "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]

AFRIKA(Region)Croatian
Croatian form of Africa.

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.

AĞBAN(Settlement)Khakas
Khakas form of Abakan.

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]

AKELDAMA(Region)Biblical, Ancient Aramaic
"Field of blood"

AKIHABARA(Region)Japanese
From Japanese 秋 (aki) meaning "autumn", 葉 (ha) meaning "leaf" and 原 (hara) meaning "field, plain".

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.

ALBANIJA(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Albania.

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.

ALEI(River)German
German transcription of the Russian Aley River.

AL-JAZAIR(Country & Settlement)Arabic
Arabic form of Algeria and Algiers (the city and country share the same Arabic name).

AL-MAGHRIB(Country)Arabic
Arabic form of Morocco.

ALMATY(Settlement)Kazakh, Russian, English
Meaning 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)Spanish
From the name of the Spanish city. Means 'the mirror of the sea.'

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-QAWQAZ(Region)Arabic
Arabic form of Caucasus.

ALSÁCIA(Region)Portuguese
Portuguese form of Alsace (a region of France).

ALSACIA(Region)Spanish
Spanish form of Alsace (a region of France).

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]

ALTAY(Political Subdivision & Mountain)Russian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz
Russian, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz form of Altai.

ALŽIR(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Algeria.

AMEERIKA(Country)Estonian
Estonian form of America.

AMÈRICA(Country)Catalan
Catalan form of America.

AMERIK(Country)Haitian Creole, Mongolian
Haitian Creole and Mongolian form of America.

AMERIKË(Country)Albanian
Albanian form of America.

AMERIKKA(Country)Filipino
Filipino form of America.

AMERIKO(Country)Esperanto
Esperanto form of America.

AMIGDALIA(Settlement)Greek
Greek name that means almond tree.

AMPER(River)German
This is the name of a river in Southern Bavaria, located in Southern Germany.... [more]

AMRIKO(Country)Tajik
Tajik form of America.

AMURKA(Country)Hausa
Hausa form of America.

ANCRE(River)French
This is the name of a river in Picardy, France.

ANDALUCÍA(Political Subdivision)Spanish
Spanish form of Andalusia.

ANDEGAVIA(Region)Late Roman
Latin name for the former French county and province of Anjou.

ANDELLE(River)French
The name of a river in Normandy, France.

ANDORA(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Andorra.

ANDORRA(Country)Various
The 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)Swedish
Derived from Old Norse anger "deep fjord". Ångermanland is a historical province in Northern Sweden.

ANGOLA(Country)English, Croatian
The name of the Country in Central Africa. Angola is a Southern African nation whose varied terrain encompasses tropical Atlantic beaches, a labyrinthine system of rivers and Sub-Saharan desert that extends across the border into Namibia... [more]

ANJOU(Other)English, French
From 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, English
Derived 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.

ANTARCTICA(Region)English
Greek for "opposite of the North".

ANTARKTIKA(Region)Croatian
Croatian form of Antarctica.

ÁO(Country)Vietnamese
Means Austria in Vietnamese.

AOBA(Political Subdivision)Japanese
From Japanese 青 (ao) meaning "blue, green" and 葉 (ha) meaning "leaf".

AONIA(Country)English
This 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".

APKHAZETI(Country & Political Subdivision)Georgian
Georgian form of Abkhazia.

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.

ARDEA(Settlement)Late Roman
Means "heron" in Latin. A town in Italy.

ARENDAL(Settlement)Norwegian
Combination of Old Norse ǫrn "eagle" and dalr "valley, dale". Arendal is a town and municipality in Southern Norway.

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).

AREQUIPA(Political Subdivision)Spanish (Latin American)
Legend says it comes from Ari-quepay "let's stay here" in Quechua.

ARGÉLIA(Country)Portuguese
Portuguese form of Algeria.

ARGENTINA(Country)English, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swedish, Swahili, Turkmen, Uzbek
The name of the Country in South America. Argentina is a massive South American nation with terrain encompassing Andes mountains, glacial lakes and Pampas grassland, the traditional grazing ground of its famed beef cattle... [more]

ARICA(Settlement)Spanish
It is the name of province, and town in Chile. It is also the name of a town in Colombia.

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)English
Three possible places called Arlington in Gloucestershire, Devon, and East Sussex.

ARMENIJA(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Armenia.

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’.

AŞGABAT(Settlement)Turkmen
Turkmen form of Ashgabat.

ASHBY(Settlement)English
Ash farm; ash settlement... [more]

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, Shona
Means "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)English
A 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').

AṖSNY(Country & Political Subdivision)Abkhaz
Original Abkhaz form of Abkhazia.

ASTANA(Settlement)Kazakh, English
Derived 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)Irish
Athenry (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.

ATHERTON(Settlement)English
Placename meaning Ather's town.

ATLANTA(Settlement)English
Name of a city in Georgia, named by J. Edgar Thomson, Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad.

AUCKLAND(Settlement)English
The 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)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.

AUSTRALASIA(Region)English
Means ”south of Asia” (Latin australis ”southern, of the south” combined with Asia). It is a region in Oceania consisting of Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands.

AUSTRALIJA(Country & Region)Croatian
Croatian form of Australia.

AUSTRI(Country)Albanian
Means Austria in Albanian.

AUSTRIA(Country)English
Medieval 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)History
A 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]

AUSTRIJA(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Austria.

AVEN(Settlement)Biblical
A 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]

AVUSTURYA(Country)Turkish
Means Austria in Turkish.

AZERBAIJAN(Country)English
Derived from Persian آذربایجان (âzarbâyjân) which is ultimately from Middle Persian Ādurbādagān referring to Atropates, the Persian nobleman who founded the kingdom of Atropene... [more]

AZERBAJDŽAN(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Azerbaijan.

AZIJA(Region)Croatian
Croatian form of Asia.

AZƏRBAYCAN(Country)Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani form of Azerbaijan.