Submitted Place Names Starting with C
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CALETA (Settlement) SpanishCity name meaning ''little bay, inlet, or cove''. Most often
La Caleta.
CALIFORNIA (Political Subdivision) Spanish, EnglishName of a state in the United States, and two states in Mexico. California was once believed to be an island, and was named after the fictional island,
California, in Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo's novel 'Las Sergas de Esplandián'...
[more] CALLIFAE (Settlement) EnglishFrom the name of a town in ancient Italy, of uncertain origin. It was mentioned only by the Roman historian Livy, and may correspond to the village Calvisi, at the foot of the Monte Matese.
CAMBODIA (Country) EnglishFrom an Anglicization of the French
Cambodge, which comes from Khmer
កម្ពុជា (Kampuchea), in turn derived from Sanskrit
कम्बोजदेश (Kambujadeśa), composed of
देश (deśá) "province, country, kingdom" and
कम्बोज (kāmboja) which refers to the foundation myths of the first ancient Khmer kingdom and the Kamboja tribe of Iron Age India...
[more] CAMBRIDGE (Settlement) EnglishCambridge is a university city and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, on the River Cam approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of London....
[more] CAMEROON (Country) EnglishThe name of the Country in Central Africa. Cameroon, on the Gulf of Guinea, is a Central African country of varied terrain and wildlife. Its inland capital, Yaoundé, and its biggest city, the seaport Douala, are transit points to ecotourism sites as well as beach resorts like Kribi – near the Chutes de la Lobé waterfalls, which plunge directly into the sea – and Limbe, where the Limbe Wildlife Centre houses rescued primates.
CARDIFF (Settlement) WelshThe capital city of Wales. Cardiff derives from the city's Welsh name
Caerdydd, which in turn was derived from the city's Old Welsh name
Caerdyf (In Welsh
f (v) is often mutated to
dd (th))....
[more] CARIA (Region) Ancient GreekCaria was an ancient province near the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor.
CARIBBEAN (Region) EnglishThe name of the Region. The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America.
CARPERBY (Settlement) EnglishA village in Yorkshire, England. The second element is Old Norse
-byr, 'farm'. The first element is possibly the Old Gaelic personal name
Cairpre. This seems to indicate a farm of an Irish or Scottish Viking, who settled in England...
[more] CASABLANCA (Settlement) English, SpanishMeans "white house", from Portuguese
casa meaning "house" and
branca meaning "white". The present-day spelling follows the Spanish form (
casa "house";
blanca "white"), however, because of the Portuguese Kingdom joining the Spanish Kingdom...
[more] CAUCASUS (Region & Mountain) EnglishEnglish form of the Greek Καύκασος
(Kaúkasos) of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from Scythian
*χrohu-käsi meaning "ice-shining" or "white with snow", of Greek origin meaning "seagull's mountain", or from a compound word meaning "high mountain"...
[more] CELILO (Body of Water) Native AmericanMeans: echo of falling water. A famous waterfall used as a Native American fishing ground.
CEYLON (Country) EnglishPrevious name of the country Sri Lanka. The name Ceylon most likely traces its roots back to the Sanskrit
Sinha, meaning "lion". As lions are not native to Sri Lanka, another possible interpretation of the name is "lion-like man" or "hero".
CHAMPA (Country) ChampaLocated in south and central Vietnam from the 7th century through 1832.
CHANTILLY (Settlement) FrenchFrom the name of a town in France near Paris, ultimately derived from the Gallo-Roman name
Cantilius. The city gave its name to a type of delicate lace originally made there.
CHARDONNAY (Settlement) FrenchThe name of a famous village for the white wine produced here. Means "a place of thistles" from the latin
cardonnacum.
CHARLOTTE (Settlement) EnglishName of a city in
North Carolina, named in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who had become the Queen of Great Britain just seven years before the town's incorporation.
CHECHNYA (Political Subdivision) Russian, EnglishDerived from Russian
Чечня (Chechnya), which is possibly from Kabardian
shashan with an unknown meaning. The term "Chechen" was first seen in Arabic texts in the 8th century. Chechnya (known as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria during the Chechen secession from Russia in the 1990s) is a Russian republic located in the
Caucasus.
CHERAGH (Settlement) PersianThis is the name of a village in Lorestan Province in western Iran. This is also used as a place name element (first or last) in other villages across Iran....
[more] CHEVIOT (Mountain) EnglishThe name of a mountain and the surrounding mountains on the Anglo-Scottish border. The name is thought to be Celtic and to derive from Brythonic
*ceμ-, *cejn 'ridge, spine' (Welsh
chefn, 'back, ridge'), and
-ed, which might have meant 'having the quality of-'.
CHICAGO (Settlement) EnglishName of a city in
Illinois, from town founded in 1833, named from a Canadian French form of Algonquian
sheka:ko:heki "place of the wild onion," or Ojibwa
shika:konk "at the skunk place".
CHIPPENHAM (Settlement) EnglishOne possibility for its naming may have been from Cyppa's Hamme which comes from the words ce-ap meaning market, and Hamme meaning enclosed by the river or an enclosed water meadow both of which Chippenham was....
[more] CHUKOTKA (Political Subdivision) Russian, EnglishDerived from the Russian name
Чукчи (Chukchi), referring to the native people who originally inhabited the area. The word
Chukchi is derived from Chukchi
Chauchu meaning "rich in reindeer", used by the Reindeer Chukchi people to distinguish themselves from the Maritime Chukchi (the
Anqallyt meaning "sea people")...
[more] CHUVASHIA (Political Subdivision) EnglishDerived from the name
Chuvash, referring to the indigenous Turkic ethnic group originally inhabiting the area. The etymology of the name
Chuvash is disputed; there are three main theories of its origin...
[more] CIRCASSIA (Region) EnglishDerived from a a Latinization of the name
Cherkess (spelled as
Çerkes in modern Turkish), which is the Turkic name for the Adyghe people, the indigenous people that inhabited the area...
[more] CLADDAGH (Settlement) Irish, EnglishThe name of an ancient village in Ireland, where the tradition of the Claddagh ring developed.
COLORADO (Political Subdivision) English (American)Name of a state in the United States, named after the Colorado river, from Spanish
colo + "colored"
rado "reddish", "ruddy".
CONNECTICUT (Political Subdivision) English (American)Name of a state in the United States, from the name of the Connecticut river, from Algonquian
quinnitukqut "at the long tidal river," from
kwen "long" +
ehtekw "tidal river" +
enk "place".
CONSTANȚA (Settlement) RomanianThis is the name of a romanian city which is also the biggest port in Romania. It's greek name is Tomis.
COQUET (River) EnglishA river in Northumberland, England. Its name originates from words of a local Brythonic-Celtic language, equivalent to the Welsh
coched, meaning 'red, brown'.
CORNWALL (Political Subdivision & Region) CornishA place next to
devon at the bottom of southwestern England. Named due to the old tribal name "Cornwealas" which eventually turned into "Cornwall". Name thought to come from the a Celtic word for "horn" or "headland" and old English "Wealas" which means strangers...
[more] CORSICA (Island) EnglishMediterranean island where Napoleon Bonaparte was born.
COSTARICA (Country) SpanishThe name of the Country in Central America. Costa Rica is a rugged, rainforested Central American country with coastlines on the Caribbean and Pacific. Though its capital, San Jose, is home to cultural institutions like the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, Costa Rica is known for its beaches, volcanoes, and biodiversity...
[more] CRAWFORDJOHN (Settlement) ScottishA village in Southern Scotland. It's name is of Scots origin and means 'Crow's ford of John'. See
Crawford.
CRIMEA (Political Subdivision & Region) EnglishDerived from Crimean Tatar
Qırım (today known as Stary Krym), the old name for the city that served as the capital of the province during the Golden Horde. The meaning of "Qırım" is uncertain, though it is either of Greek or Turkic origin...
[more] CUBA (Country) EnglishFrom the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as 'where fertile land is abundant'
(cubao), or 'great place'
(coabana). Authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in
Portugal.
CUMBERLAND (Region) EnglishA historical English county, covering the Northern half of modern-day Cumbria. It derives from the Brythonic
combrogi, meaning 'fellow-countrymen'.
CUMBERNAULD (Settlement) ScottishA town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The name in its present form is most likely derived from Gaelic
comar nan allt meaning 'meeting of the waters'. However, early forms containing
Cumyr- hint at a Cumbric predecessor derived possibly from Common Brittonic
*cömber-ïn-alt (Welsh
cymer-yn-allt), perhaps meaning 'confluence at the hill'.
CUZCO (Political Subdivision & Settlement) Incan (Spanish), Quechua (Spanish), Spanish (Archaic)Traditional spelling of
Cusco, a city in Peru which was the capital of the Inca Empire.
Cusco is the Hispanicized form of Quechua
Qusqu meaning "rock, boundary stone; heap of earth and stones; nucleus; navel; bed, dry bed of a lake".
CYPRUS (Country) EnglishThe name of the Country in the Middle East. The Republic of Cyprus occupies the southern part of the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The island (and capital city Nicosia) is divided with Turkey to the north...
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