Bishkek(Settlement)Kyrgyz, English, Russian Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests that it comes from a word meaning "whorl, whisk" in Kyrgyz, referring to a tool used to prepare kumis, a traditional dairy product. It could also mean "five heights" from Kyrgyz беш (besh) meaning "five" and бийик (biyik) meaning "tall, high", or it could mean "five chiefs" from беш (besh) meaning "five" and the Turkish title beg meaning "chieftain, master"... [more]
Björneborg(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of Swedish björn "bear" and borg "castle, fortress". This is the Swedish name for Pori (whose name is a Finnicized form of -borg).
Blackheath(Political Subdivision)English English place name which may be a corruption of "bleak heath", or simply mean "dark heath" from Old English blæc "black" and hǣth (see also Heath)... [more]
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).
Blagoveshchensk(Political Subdivision)Russian literally 'the city of The Annunciation (of The Lord to The Blessed Virgin Mary)'
Blythburgh(Settlement)English (British) Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Southwold and 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth... [more]
Bờ Biển Ngà(Country)Vietnamese From Vietnamese bờ biển meaning "coast, seashore" and ngà meaning "ivory". This is the Vietnamese name for the Ivory Coast.
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.
Bobrowniki(Settlement & Political Subdivision)Polish Plural of bobrownik, meaning "beaver hunters" or "beaver breeders." It is the name of multiple villages and current and former political subdivisions across Poland. The settlements in Lower Silesia, Pomerania, and West Pomerania come from German Biebersdorf, Bewersdorf and Beweringen respectively.
Bod(Region, Political Subdivision & Country)Tibetan, Bhutanese Possibly from a name that originally referred to the inhabitants of modern-day Nyêmo County in China. The name itself may be related to the Tibetan word བོན (bon) meaning "express, give, offer"... [more]
Bồ Đào Nha(Country)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 葡萄牙 (Bồ Đào Nha) possibly derived from Hokkien 葡萄牙 (Pô-tô-gâ). This is the Vietnamese name for Portugal.
Bodaybo(Political Subdivision)Russian possibly named after the Celtic queen "Boadicea" or "Boadacaea"
Bohol(Island & Political Subdivision)Filipino, Cebuano, Tagalog, English From Cebuano bo-ol referring to a type of fruiting tree found on the island. This is the name of an island province of the Philippines.
Boise(Settlement)English Most likely from French, but of uncertain ultimate origin. One account states that it may come from a story of a French-speaking person who yelled "Les bois! Les bois!" ("The woods! The woods!"); another account is that the name comes from the phrase la rivière boisée ("the wooded river").... [more]
Bojótie(Political Subdivision & Region)Czech Czech form of Boiotia (see Boeotia).
Bolgharestan(Country)Persian From Persian بلغار (bolghar) meaning "Bulgarian" combined with the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the Persian name for Bulgaria.
Bombay(Settlement)English (Archaic), Dutch, French, Spanish From Portuguese Bombaim, which may have been derived from the phrase bom baim meaning "good little bay" or from the Marathi name मुंबई (Mumbai). This is an older English name for Mumbai, officially used until 1995... [more]
Bombo(Mountain & Other)Kongo, Literature, Popular Culture The name of a hill in the border between southernmost mainland Congo Brazzaville and westernmost DRC; the meaningful name of a little known Tarzan inspired character.
Bonn(Settlement)German From Latin Bonna, of uncertain meaning. Theories are that it is derived from the name of a Gallic-Germanic tribe, the Eburoni, or that it is derived from words meaning "settlement" or "castle"... [more]
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').
Boryslav(Settlement)Ukrainian Boryslav is a city located on the Tysmenytsia River (a tributary of the Dniester), in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. Boryslav is designated as a city of oblast significance.
Bosnia(Country)English Named after the river Bosna, which flows through Bosnia. It is the third longest river in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina(Country)English Bosnia and Herzegovina, abbreviated BiH or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country of South and Southeast Europe, located within the Balkans. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city.
Bottenviken(Body of Water)Swedish Combination of Old Swedish botn "bay, gulf" and the definite form of Swedish vik "bay", making it a tautological place name meaning "the bay bay". Bottenviken is a part of Bottniska viken and the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea.
Boughton Malherbe(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English (British) From Boughton, which means "farmstead where the beech-tree grows" from Old English boc meaning "beech tree" and tun "enclosure, farmstead", combined with Malherbe, a manorial affix taken from the 13th-century owner Robert de Malherbe, distinguishing the village from others with the same name (all of which Domesday Book records as Boltune or Boltone).... [more]
Boulder(Settlement)English Name of a city in Colorado, from Middle English bulderston, from a Scandinavian source akin to Swedish dialectal bullersten "noisy stone", (Swedish buller "rumbling noise" + sten "stone".
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]
Boyolali(Political Subdivision)Indonesian, Javanese Derived from Javanese aja lali meaning "don't forget". This is the name of a regency of the Indonesian province of Central Java.
Bozeman(Settlement)English (American) A settlement in Montana.Originally was travelled through by indigenous people like Shoshone and Blackfeet.... [more]
Brač(Island)Croatian From Latin Brattia or Brettia, posited to be derived from Messapic brentos meaning "stag." It is the name of a major island in Croatia... [more]
Brae(Settlement)Scottish Brae is a settlement on the island of Mainland in Shetland Scotland.... [more]
Breadalbane(Region)Scottish Breadalbane is a region of the south/central Scottish Highlands. ... [more]
Brecqhou(Island)Medieval Scandinavian A Channel Island in England. The name Brecqhou derives from the Old Norse 'brekka', meaning "slope' or "escarpment", and holmr, or -'hou', meaning "island" or "islet".
Breda(Political Subdivision)Dutch Breda is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from brede Aa ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa.7
Brezovica pri Mirni(Settlement)Slovene Meaning "Brezovica near Mirna"; Brezovica from Slovene breza meaning "birch." It is the name of a village in central Slovenia.
Bridge(Settlement)English Bridge is a city in Texas.
Bridgemont(Settlement)English This very old and rare medieval English surname is almost certainly locational and derives from a now "lost" medieval village called "Bridgemont". Meaning, "mount of the bridge."
Brno(Settlement)Czech Meaning uncertain. Possible explanations are that it's derived from Old Czech brnie "muddy, swampy", from the Slavic verb brniti "to fortify", or that it's related to Welsh bryn "hill, mound" (Celtic languages were spoken in the area in ancient times)... [more]
Bro(Settlement)Swedish Means "bridge" in Swedish. This is the name of many localities and parishes in Sweden. It's also a common place name element (see Örebro).
Broadalbin(Settlement)English (American) Broadalbin is a settlement in New york USA. Founded in 1741 by European settlers.... [more]
Broadford(Settlement)Scottish A village in Skye, Scotland. It's name derives from the Old Norse words for 'wide fjord', referencing the local geography.... [more]
Broughton(Settlement)English Broughton (Welsh: Brychdyn) is a district in Flintshire, Wales, close to the Wales–England border, located to the west of the City of Chester, England.
Brussels(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English Union of Proto-Germanic elements brōk, "marsh", and sali, "building, room"; influenced by Dutch Brussel. This is the name of the capital city of Belgium.