Cainhannoch(Settlement)Mormon From an alternative name for New York used in the Doctrine and Covenants. A possible origin could be that in the Bible, Cain, the son of Adam, had a son named Enoch. A derivative of that is Henoch, and a further derivative is Hanoch... [more]
Calabria(Political Subdivision)Italian, English, Finnish, Galician, Spanish From Ancient Greek Καλαβρία (Kalabría), itself derived from the name of a local Oscan tribe. This is the name of a region in southern Italy.
California(Political Subdivision)Spanish, English From the name of a fictional utopian island featured in the 16th-century novel Las sergas de Esplandián by Spanish author Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The name comes from the island's queen, Calafia (or Califia), whose name is derived from Arabic خليفة (khalifah) meaning "caliph"... [more]
Callifae(Settlement)English From 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.
Calvados(Political Subdivision)French A department in Normandy, France. It is named after a cluster of sparsely vegetated rocks off the coast, likely from 'calva dorsa', meaning "bare backs".
Cam(River)English The River Cam is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England.... [more]
Cambodia(Country)English From French Cambodge taken from Khmer កម្ពុជា (Kampuchea). The name comes from Sanskrit कम्बोजदेश (Kambujadesha), derived from काम्बोज (kamboja), the name of an ancient tribe and kingdom described in Hindu literature, combined with देश (desha) meaning "kingdom, country"... [more]
Cambridge(Settlement)English Cambridge 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)English The 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.
Campania(Political Subdivision)Italian, English, Galician, Spanish, Ancient Roman From Latin Campania, itself from campania felix, denoting the fertile countryside around Mount Vesuvius. This is the name of a region in southern Italy.
Campobasso(Settlement)Italian, English, French, German, Spanish Literally "low field"; derived from Latin Campus Vassorum, denoting that the city was host to vassals. This is the name of the capital city of the southern Italian region of Molise.
Canaan(Region)English, Biblical Meaning unknown, though it may derive from the Semitic root knʿ ("to be low, humble, subjugated"). This was the name of a Semitic-speaking civilization and region in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC.
Canarias(Island)Spanish From Latin Canariae Insulae meaning "islands of the dogs". This is the name of a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of northwestern Africa.
Canary Islands(Region)English English form of Spanish Islas Canarias which is derived from Latin Canariae Insulae "islands of the dogs". This is the name of a Spanish archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, near the coast of northwestern Africa.
Canberra(Settlement)English From the city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Cần Thơ(Political Subdivision)Vietnamese Possibly from Vietnamese cầm thi giang meaning "river of poems", or from Vietnamese rau cần meaning "water dropwort" and rau cần meaning "mint".
Cao Bằng(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 高 (cao) meaning "tall, high" and 平 (bằng) meaning "level, even, peaceful". This is the name of a city in Vietnam as well as the province in which the city is located.
Cape Verde(Country)English From the name of the Senegalese peninsula Cap-Vert meaning "green cape" in Portuguese. Cape Verde is an island country spanning an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean.
Cardiff(Settlement)Welsh The 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]
Caribbean(Region)English The 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)English A 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]
Carson(Settlement)English (American) Carson City is the capital of the American state of Nevada.
Casablanca(Settlement)English, French, Spanish Means "white house" in Spanish. The name comes from a Spanish translation of the Arabic name الدار البيضاء (ad-Dar al-Bayda'), which in turn was derived from a calque of the Portuguese name Casa Branca... [more]
Casciago(Settlement)Italian Town in Italy. Possibly the site of the ancient Cassiciacum, a place where Saint Augustine and his friends lived after his conversion to Christianity.
Casquet(Island)French An island chain in the Channel Islands. Could from derived from French 'cascade', referring the nearby strong tides, or from 'casque', referring to the helmet-like shape of the rocks, or from 'cas', meaning "broken" and 'quet', "rock".
Catania(Settlement)Italian, English, German, Sicilian, Spanish From Ancient Greek Kατάvη (Katánē), itself either from Sicel katane ("grater"), due to its proximity to Mount Etna and the resulting rough earth, or from Proto-Italic katina ("basin"), owing to the wide valley around the town... [more]
Catanzaro(Settlement)Italian, English, French, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, German From Latin Catanciarium, itself derived from Catacium, ultimately from Ancient Greek Καταρτάριοι, meaning "silk spinners". This is the name of a city in southern Italy, the second city in Calabria, as well as its capital city.
Caucasus(Mountain)English From Greek Καύκασος (Kaúkasos), which is of uncertain origin; it may be derived from Scythian *xrohukäsi meaning "ice-shining" or "white snow". Alternatively, it may be from Greek κήξ (kḗx) meaning "sea swallow (a kind of bird)" and κάσος (kásos) possibly meaning "mountain" or "rock"... [more]
Ceará(Political Subdivision)Portuguese (Brazilian) Most likely from Tupi ceará, probably a combination of the words cemo ("to sing loudly", "to scream") and ara ("small macaw, parakeet, jandaia"), thus "the jandaia sings". Another interpretation is that the name means "river originating from the mountains"... [more]
Cebu(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island)Filipino, Tagalog, English From Cebuano Sugbo, derived from Old Cebuano sibu or sibo meaning "trade", itself a shortened form of the phrase sinibuayng hingpit meaning "place for trading". This is the name of an island, province and city (Cebu City) in the Philippines.
Çexiya(Country)Azerbaijani Azerbaijani form of Čechy, used as a name for the Czech Republic.
Ceylon(Country)English Previous 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".
Chainat(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai ชัย (chai) meaning "victory" and นาท (nat) meaning "resounding, roaring". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Chaiyaphum(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai ชัย (chai) meaning "victory" and ภูมิ (phum) meaning "land, region". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Changan(Settlement & Other)Chinese Changan was the capital of the Tang dynasty from A.D 618 to A.D 907. It was even the largest city in the world. But it was lost due to rebellion spans invasion, and then came the Song dynasty.
Changwon(Settlement)Korean Combination of 昌 (창, chang, "prosperity") and 原 (원, won, "meadow"), thus "prosperous meadow". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Chantilly(Settlement)French From 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.
Charlotte(Settlement)English Name 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.
Chavash En(Political Subdivision)Chuvash From Chuvash чӑваш (chavash), the ethnic name of the Chuvash people, and ен (en) meaning "place, region, country, side". This is the Chuvash name for Chuvashia.
Chawa(Political Subdivision & Island)Thai Thai form of Java.
Chechenistan(Political Subdivision)Persian From Persian چچن (čečen) meaning "Chechen" and the suffix ـستان (-stân) meaning "land of". This is a Persian name for Chechnya.
Chechneti(Political Subdivision)Georgian From ჩეჩნური (chechnuri), the Georgian exonym for the Chechen people, and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for Chechnya.
Chechnya(Political Subdivision)Russian, English Means "(place) of the Chechens", derived from the Russian name for the Chechen people. The exonym is of uncertain meaning, with Russian folk etymologies suggesting that it originates from the name of a village; on the other hand, it may be derived from the Kabardian name Шашан (Shashan)... [more]
Chehiya(Country)Bulgarian Bulgarian form of Čechy, used as a name for the Czech Republic.
Chekh(Country)Mongolian Mongolian form of Čechy, used as a name for the Czech Republic.
Chengdu(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 成 (chéng) meaning "completed, finished, succeeded" and 都 (dū) meaning "capital city, large city", supposedly named during the city's founding by the ninth king of the Kaiming dyntasty of the ancient state of Shu... [more]
Chennai(Settlement)Indian, Tamil, English Most likely from the name of 17th-century Telugu monarch Damarla Chennapa Nayaka (or Chennappa Naicker). This is the name of the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which was officially called Madras until 1996.
Cheonan(Settlement)Korean Combination of 天 (천, cheon, "sky, heaven") and 安 (안, ān, "peace"), thus "heavenly peace". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Cheongju(Settlement)Korean Combination of 淸 (청, cheong, "clear, clean") and 州 (주, ju, "province"), thus "clear province", or "perfect province". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Cheragh(Settlement)Persian This 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]
Chetthamada(Country)Burmese From Burmese ချက် (chet) meaning "Czech" and သမ္မတ (thamada) meaning "president". This is the Burmese name for the Czech Republic.
Cheviot(Mountain)English The 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-'.
Chexiya(Country)Uzbek Uzbek form of Čechy, used as a name for the Czech Republic.
Cheyenne(Other)English The capital of Wyoming, in the United States.
Chiba(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 千 (chi) meaning "thousand" and 葉 (ha) meaning "leaf". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Chicago(Settlement)English Name 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".
Chineti(Country)Georgian From Georgian ჩინური (chinuri) referring to the Chinese people and the suffix -ეთი (-eti) used to indicate location. This is the Georgian name for China.
Chippenham(Settlement)English One 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]
Chita(Political Subdivision)Russian "birch mat" or "clay" or "dirt (on the shore), slate, coal" or "blue" or "black earth (coal slate), coal" or "dwelling" or "upper reaches" or possibly the short form of a diminutive of a diminutive of a name that means "conception" (possibly referring to "The Immaculate Conception")
Chittagong(Settlement)Bengali, English The etymology of Chittagong is uncertain. One explanation credits the first Arab traders for shatt ghangh, where shatt means "delta" and ghangh stood for the Ganges. The Arakanese chronicle states that a king named Tsu-la-taing Tsandaya, after conquering Bengal, set up a stone pillar as a trophy or memorial at the place since called Tst-ta-gaung as the limit of conquest... [more]
Choibalsan(Settlement)Mongolian In honor of Communist leader Khorloogin Choibalsan, who took part in the Mongolian Revolution of 1920. This is the name of a city in Mongolia.
Chonburi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai ชล (chon) meaning "(body of) water" and บุรี (buri) meaning "city, town", so named for the nearby Gulf of Thailand. This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Chongqing(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 重 (chóng) meaning "repeat, duplicate" and 庆 (qìng) meaning "congratulate, celebrate"... [more]
Chorasmia(Region & Political Subdivision)Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English, Greek Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman name for the region of Khwarazm in Central Asia. It was named after the Chorasmians, a local Iranian tribe who were known as Χωράσμιοι (Chorasmioi) to the Greeks and as Chorasmii to the Romans.... [more]
Christchurch(Region)English Christchurch is a New Zealand city that was founded in 1850. The name was given in 1848 before the city even existed. It was given by J R Godley of the Canterbury Associtaion who went to Christ Church College in teenagehood.
Christiania(Settlement)Norwegian (Archaic) Named in honor of Christian IV (1577-1648), king of Denmark-Norway. This was the name of the capital of Norway between 1624 and 1925.
Chukotka(Political Subdivision)Russian, English Derived 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]
Chumphon(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai ชุม (chum) meaning "come together, assemble, gather" and พร (phon) meaning "blessing". The second element may be a corruption of พล (phon) meaning "force, strength, power" or, alternately, the entire name may come from a corruption of อุทุมพร (uthumphon) meaning "gular fig tree"... [more]
Chuvashia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Чувашия (Chuvashiya), derived from the name of the Chuvash people. The ethnic name чӑваш (chavash) is of uncertain meaning, possibly from Turkic yabal meaning "quiet, peaceful, slow", from a Turkic root meaning "friendly, peaceful" or from Tabghach, the Old Turkic name for the Tuoba, a Xianbei clan in Imperial China... [more]
Cill Mhantáin(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Irish Irish name for the county of Wicklow. Meaning "church of Mantan". It is named after a peer of Saint Patrick. Mantan had his teeth knocked out by Irish pagans, and then he was renamed Mantan, which means "toothless one".
Cincinnati(Political Subdivision)English Means "curly-haired", from Latin cincinnatus (see Cincinnatus). This is the name of a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States which was named in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, named after the Roman consul Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (born c. 519 – c. 430 BC).
Circassia(Country & Region)English, Italian From Turkish Çerkes or Russian Черкес (Cherkes) referring to the Circassian (Adyghe) people. The name is of uncertain meaning, possibly derived from Kerkety, the name of a Circassian tribe, or from Persian چهار کس (čahâr kas) meaning "four people"... [more]
Ciscaucasia(Region)English, Italian, Spanish Means "on this side of the Caucasus", derived from Latin cis meaning "on this side of" combined with the latinized Greek noun Caucasia meaning "the Caucasus" (both the mountains and their namesake region)... [more]