Ba Bể(Body of Water, Political Subdivision & Other)Vietnamese From Vietnamese ba meaning "three," and bể meaning "lake" or "sea"; literally "three lakes/seas." It is the name of a lake, a county, and a national park in northeast Vietnam.
Bạc Liêu(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Teochew 薄遼 (po liaw) meaning "meagre hamlet".
Bạc Liêu(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese Perhaps from Sino-Vietnamese 薄 (bạc) meaning "miserable, poor" and 寮 (liêu) meaning "neighbourhood, village". Alternately it may be derived from Khmer ប៉ុស្តិ៍ (poh) meaning "post, station" or ពល (pol) meaning "troops, forces" and លាវ (leav) meaning "Lao"... [more]
Bacolod(Settlement)Hiligaynon, Tagalog, English Derived from Hiligaynon bakolod meaning "hill, mound". This is the name of a city in the Philippines.
Bacoor(Settlement)Filipino Bacoor, officially the City of Bacoor, is a 1st class component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines... [more]
Badley(Settlement)English Habitational name from Badley in Suffolk or Baddeley Green in Staffordshire, both named with the Old English personal name Bad(d)a + lēah ‘woodland clearing’.
Baen(Settlement & Political Subdivision)Thai Thai form of Bern.
Baensik(Country)Lao Lao form of Belgium via the French form Belgique.
Baffin(Island & Body of Water)English Named after English navigator William Baffin. This is the name of an island in Nunavut and the name of a sea from Canada to Greenland.
Baghdad(Settlement)English, Italian, Malay, Uyghur From Arabic بغداد (baḡdād), itself from Persian بغداد (baǧdâd), probably from Middle Persian bgdt, meaning "given by god", from Old Persian *Bagadātaʰ... [more]
Baghdad(Settlement)Arabic, English, Armenian, Hindi, Italian, Malay, Pashto, Persian, Urdu, Uyghur From Persian بغداد (Baghdad) most likely derived from Middle Persian 𐭡𐭢𐭣𐭲 (bgdt) meaning "given by god", itself from Old Persian 𐏎 (baga) meaning "god" and 𐎭𐎠𐎫 (dātaʰ) meaning "given, created"... [more]
Bago(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Burmese Most likely derived from Old Mon ဗဂေါ (bagaw) meaning "beautiful city" or "beautiful town". This is the name of a region of, as well as a city in, Myanmar.
Bagshaw(Settlement)English Means "Bacga's thicket" or "Bacga's copse". Derived from the Anglo-Saxon given name Bacga and the word sceaga "thicket, copse"
Bahamas(Country)English The name of the Country in the Caribbean. The Bahamas is a coral-based archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. Its 700-plus islands and cays range from uninhabited to packed with resorts. The northernmost, Grand Bahama, and Paradise Island, home to many large-scale hotels, are among the best known... [more]
Bahia(Political Subdivision)Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese, English Literally "bay" in Portuguese, this name comes from the Bay of All Saints (Baía de Todos os Santos), for which a Portuguese captaincy was named. This is the name of a state in Brazil.
Baikal(Body of Water)Russian, English From Buryat Байгал (Baygal) of uncertain origin, perhaps from the Turkic roots baj meaning "rich" and kol meaning "lake" or from Mongolian байгалийн нуур (baigaliin nuur) meaning "natural lake"... [more]
Baikonur(Settlement)Russian, English From Kazakh Байқоңыр (Bayqonyr) meaning "wealthy brown" or "fertile land with many plants", derived from бай (bay) meaning "rich, wealthy" and қоңыр (qonyr) meaning "brown"... [more]
Baja California(Political Subdivision & Other)English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish Combination of Spanish bajar meaning "to go down, come down" and California, essentially meaning "Lower California". This is the name of a state in Mexico as well as a peninsula.
Bakersfield(Settlement)English Named after a person bearing the surname Baker. The city in California was named after former colonel Thomas Baker of the Ohio Militia, who moved to the area in 1863.
Baku(Settlement)English, Russian, Persian From Azerbaijani Bakı from Persian باکو (baku), which is of uncertain meaning. One popular etymology suggests that it means "wind-pounded city" from Persian باد (bad) meaning "wind" and کوبیدن (kubidan) meaning "to pound, to beat", given in reference to the area's frequent storms and high winds... [more]
Ba Lan(Country)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 波蘭 (Ba Lan) possibly from Chinese 波蘭 (Bōlán) or Min Nan 波蘭 (Pho-lân). This is the Vietnamese name for Poland.
Balba(Country)Mongolian Derived from Mongolian ᠪᠠᠯᠪᠤ (balbu), ultimately from Sanskrit नेपाल (Nepal) of unknown meaning. This is the modern Mongolian name for Nepal.
Bali(Political Subdivision & Island)Indonesian, Balinese, Javanese, English Derived from Sanskrit बलि (bali) meaning "offering, tribute". This is the name of an island and province in Indonesia.
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.
Balikpapan(Settlement)Indonesian The name of a city in Indonesia, meaning uncertain.
Balochistan(Political Subdivision & Region)Balochi, Urdu, Pashto, English From the ethnic name بلۏچ (Baloch) referring to the Baloch people (itself of uncertain meaning) combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan 2) meaning "land of"... [more]
Balqaş(Body of Water)Kazakh From Kazakh balkas, meaning "tussocks in a swamp".
Bălți(Settlement)Romanian, Moldovan The name Bălți is believed to derive from the Romanian word baltă, meaning "swamp" or "lake".
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 2) meaning "land of". This is the name of a region in Pakistan.
Bal Yul(Country)Bhutanese, Tibetan From Bhutanese and Tibetan བལ (bal) meaning "Nepal" and ཡུལ (yul) meaning "country, nation". This is the Bhutanese and Tibetan name for Nepal.
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.
Bandaríkin(Country)Icelandic Combination of Icelandic bönd "connections, relations, ties" and ríki "state". This is the Icelandic name for the United States.
Bandar Lampung(Settlement)Indonesian From Indonesian bandar meaning "harbour, port" (of Persian origin) and Lampung. This is the name of a city in Indonesia.
Bandar Seri Begawan(Settlement)Malay, English Means "town of the radiance of the gods" from Malay bandar meaning "town" (of Persian origin), seri meaning "radiance, splendour, glory" and begawan meaning "holy". The name comes from Seri Begawan, a Malay title used by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III (1914-1986), which was ultimately derived from Sanskrit श्री भगवान् (shri bhagvan)... [more]
Bandung(Settlement)Indonesian, Sundanese From Indonesian bendung or bendungan meaning "dam, dike", given in reference to the area in relation to the nearby Citarum River. Local sources also relate the name to the phrase Nga-Bandung-an Banda Indung, which is considered sacred in Sundanese culture... [more]
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]
Bangkok(Settlement)Thai, English Believed to be from Thai บาง (bang) meaning "village, settlement" and กอก (kok) meaning "olive" (so named because of the olive trees that used to grow in the area) or perhaps เกาะ (ko) meaning "island"... [more]
Bangor(Settlement)Welsh, English From Old Welsh bancor "wattled enclosure". This is the name of a city in Wales, and the namesake of the associated University.
Bangsamoro(Political Subdivision)Filipino, Tagalog From Malay bangsa meaning "nation, country, race" combined with Moro, the collective term for the thirteen predominantly Muslim ethnic groups of the Philippines, which is ultimately of Spanish origin... [more]
Banjarmasin(Settlement)Indonesian, Banjar Possibly a corruption of Bandar Masih meaning "Port Masih", referring to a local ruler named Patih Masih (likely a nickname). This is the name of a city in Indonesia.
Banteay Meanchey(Political Subdivision)Khmer From Khmer បន្ទាយ្ (banteay) meaning “fortress” and from Sanskrit जय (jaya) meaning “victory”.
Banteay Meanchey(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means "fortress of victory" in Khmer, from បន្ទាយ (banteay) meaning "fort, fortress", មាន (mean) meaning "have, possess, own" and ជ័យ (chay) meaning "victory"... [more]
Banten(Country & Political Subdivision)Indonesian, Sundanese, Javanese Meaning uncertain. It may be derived from the Sundanese and Bantenese phrase katiban inten meaning "struck down by diamonds", which was used to describe the spead of Islam in the region in the 15th century... [more]
Baoding(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 保 (bǎo) meaning "protection" and 定 (dìng) meaning "stable". This is the name of a city just south of Beijing in Hebei province.
Barad-dûr(Settlement)Literature A tower in JRR Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' series. From the fictional Sindarin language barad meaning “tower” and dûr meaning “dark, somber”.
Barbados(Country)English The name of the Country in the Caribbean. Barbados is an eastern Caribbean island and an independent British Commonwealth nation. Bridgetown, the capital, is a cruise-ship port with colonial buildings and Nidhe Israel, a synagogue founded in 1654... [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.
Barnet(Settlement)English Means "land cleared by burning". This is the name of a large town in Barnet Borough, England. Named after it is a small town in Vermont State, US.
Barnum(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English (American, Americanized, Modern) Barnum (population: 175; in Johnson Township), Iowa, USA, is a town located on the southeastern margin of Manson crater, that was named after P.T. Barnum's third cousin William Barnum, a senator from Connecticut who was connected to the railroad that brought the town increased business... [more]