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]
Brampton(Settlement)English A city in the Great Toronto-Hamilton area of Ontario, Canada. From the surveyor of the same name.
Brandenburg(Political Subdivision, Region & Settlement)German Derived from believed to be West Slavic brani boru, meaning "defensive forest" or brand "burned" burg "fortress" meaning "burnt fortress" the name of a German city, state, and street.
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(Settlement)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.
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."
Bridgetown(Settlement)Bajan Bridgetown, Barbados got its name from the original Indian inhabitants who named the area "Indian Bridge" due to the crude bridge they built over the river. Later, when the British settled there, they renamed it Bridgetown, honoring the bridge and establishing it as the town's official name.
Brighton(Settlement)English The name of an English city, meaning "bright town" in Old English.
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.
Buchanan(Political Subdivision)Scottish A parish of Stirlingshire, Scotland. It's name derives from the Gaelic buth 'house, shed' and chanain 'canon', thus meaning 'house of the canon'.
Bucharest(Settlement)English Meaning uncertain. Traditional etymologies state that the city's name is derived from Bucur, the name of a prince, outlaw, fisherman, shepherd, or hunter (depending on the specific legend), whose name is derived from Romanian bucurie meaning "joy, happiness", probably of Dacian origin... [more]
Bucharest(Settlement)English, Malay, Tagalog From Romanian București, which is believed to be derived from the given name Bucur (referring to a figure in Romanian legend) combined with the suffix -ești used for place names... [more]
Bucheon(Settlement)Korean Combination of 富 (부, bu, "wealth") and 川 (천, cheon, "river, stream"), thus "wealthy river". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Buckinghamshire(Political Subdivision & Region)English From Old English, meaning "the county of Bucca's home", from Buckingham, named after its 12th-century landowner, Bucca, with sċīr, from Proto-West Germanic *skīru... [more]
Bueng Kan(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai บึง (bueng) meaning "lake, marsh" and กาฬ (kan) meaning "black, dark". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as its provincial capital.
Buenos Aires(Settlement)Spanish Ultimately derived from Aragonese buen ayre “good air”. It is the capital city of Argentina. The explorer who founded the city originally called it Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Nuestra Señora la Virgen María de los Buenos Aires meaning "City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Good Airs" which was later shortened to just Buenos Aires.
Bukhara(Settlement)English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian From Uzbek Buxoro, itself derived from Persian بخارا (bokhara) of uncertain meaning, possibly from Sogdian βuxārak meaning "place of good fortune". Alternately it may have come from Sanskrit विहार (vihara) referring to a Buddhist monastery... [more]
Bukidnon(Political Subdivision)Filipino, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Bukid, Higaonon, Ilocano, English From Cebuano bukidnon meaning "mountaineers, people of the mountains", referring to the indigenous tribes of the Central Mindanao highlands. This is the name of a province of the Philippines.
Bukit Merah(Settlement)Malay, English Means "red hill" in Malay from bukit meaning "hill" and merah meaning "red", referring to the red-coloured soil of a hill in the area. This is the name of a planning area and town in Singapore, also called Redhill.
Bukit Panjang(Settlement)Malay, English Means "long hill" in Malay, from bukit meaning "hill" and panjang meaning "long". This is the name of a planning area and town in Singapore.
Bukit Timah(Settlement)Malay, English Literally means "tin hill" in Malay, from bukit meaning "hill" and timah meaning "tin". However, the name is more likely a corrupted form of the original Malay name Bukit Temak meaning "temak hill", from bukit meaning "hill" and temak referring to a type of tree (genus Shorea)... [more]
Bukittinggi(Settlement)Indonesian, Minangkabau Means "tall hill" from Indonesian bukit meaning "hill" and tinggi meaning "high, tall". This is the name of a city in West Sumatra province, Indonesia.
Bulacan(Political Subdivision)Filipino, Tagalog, English From the name of a town called Bulakan, derived from Tagalog bulak meaning "cotton" and the place marker suffix -an. This is the name of a province of the Philippines.
Bulawayo(Settlement)Shona Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe and is also a province in the Matabeleland region. It was founded by a king named Lobengula around 1840. The city's name means 'place of slaughter'.
Bulgareti(Country)Georgian From Georgian ბულგარული (bulgaruli) referring to the Bulgarian people and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for Bulgaria.
Bulunksy(Region)Russian I don't know if it's the actual etymology or if it just 'looks similar,' but a search for 'etymology of bulunsky' turns up a lot of results about "Blue Sky"
Bunduqiyyah(Settlement)Arabic Arabic form of Venetia (see Venice) via the German form Venedig. It is usually written with the definite article: البندقية (al-Bunduqiyyah).
Bunkyō(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 文 (bun) meaning "literature, culture, writing" and 京 (kyō) meaning "capital city". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo.
Buôn Ma Thuột(Settlement)Vietnamese Means "village of Y Thuôt's father" from Rade ƀuôn meaning "village", ama meaning "father" and the given name Y Thuôt. This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Burgos(Settlement)Spanish From Gothic baurgs, "burg". It is a city in northern Spain.
Burgundy(Political Subdivision & Region)English From the ethnonym for the Burgundians, an East Germanic people who moved westwards beyond the Rhine during the late Roman period.... [more]
Burhou(Island)Norman A Channel Island in England. Means "storehouse island", from bur meaning "storehouse", and -hou, a Norman suffix derived from Old Norse holmr meaning "island".
Buriram(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "city of happiness" from Thai บุรี (buri) meaning "city, town" and รัมย์ (ram) meaning "joyful, pleasurable". This is the name of a province and city in Thailand.
Burlington(Settlement)English Burlington is a city in Vermont and other states, it could be named this from Richard Boyle, the third Earl of Burlington, or a family with he surname Burling.