Bukavu(Settlement & Other)Central African Derived from the Shi word nkafu, meaning ‘cow’.
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.
Bukovina(Region)Romanian Ukrainian The name was used in 1775 during the region’s annexation by the principality of Moldavia.... [more]
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.
Bulakan(Settlement)Filipino Bulakan, officially the Municipality of Bulakan, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines... [more]
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.
Burnaby(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English The name "Burnaby" is thought to have originated from the surname of a British colonial official, Sir Francis Burnaby. It may also be tied to the Old English words "burna" (stream) and "by" (town or village), potentially meaning "town near the stream."
Burnsville(Settlement)English From the English surname Burns and ville, "town". The city in Minnesota is named for the settler William Byrne, whose surname was recorded incorrectly.
Buryatia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Бурятия (Buryatiya), itself from буряад (buryaad), the name of the Buryat people. The ethnic name is of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly from Buryat буртэ (burte) meaning "wolf"... [more]
Busan(Settlement)Korean From Sino-Korean 釜山 (Busan) meaning "cauldron mountain", from 釜 (bu) meaning "cauldron, pot, kettle" and 山 (san) meaning "mountain". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Buskerud(Political Subdivision)Norwegian Named after an old manor of the same name. (Biskupsruð) It derives from the Old Norse biskup (bishop) and ruð (clearing, farm.) The biskup part referring in particular to the Bishop of the ancient Catholic diocese of Hamar.... [more]
Bute(Island)Scottish (Anglicized) Possibly from Old Irish bót, meaning "fire", in reference to signal fires.
Bute(Political Subdivision & Island)Scottish Gaelic, Norse, English The name Bute is believed to derive from the Old Norse word Bót, meaning "fire", possibly referring to ancient beacons or signal fires used on the island. Alternatively, it may come from the Scottish Gaelic Bòd or Bodach, meaning "island of the old man"... [more]
Buzzards Bay(Body of Water)English Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
Bwindi(Other)Kiga, African, Eastern African Bwindi is the name of a popular National Park in Southwestern Uganda. It means “a dark place” in the Kiga language.
Byblos(Settlement)English, Arabic, Greek Byblos, also known as Jebeil, Jbeil or Jubayl is an ancient city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon.
Byrzentwyla(Country)Abkhaz From Abkhaz абырзен (abyrzen) meaning "Greek" (derived from Mingrelian) and атәыла (atwyla) meaning "country". This is the Abkhaz name for Greece.
Byzantium(Settlement)Late Greek (Latinized) Byzantium was an ancient Greek colony on the site that later became Constantinople, the capital city of the Roman/Byzantine Empire since 330 AC. From 1204 to 1261 was conquered and ruled by crusaders but Michael VIII Palaeologus reintroduced there a Byzantine dynasty... [more]