Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
CAINHANNOCH (Settlement) MormonFrom 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] CALETA (Settlement) SpanishCity name meaning ''little bay, inlet, or cove''. Most often
La Caleta.
CALIFORNIA (Political Subdivision) Spanish, English, Asturian, Estonian, Galician, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Romanian, TagalogFrom 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 خَلِيفَة
(ḵalīfa) meaning "caliph"...
[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 French
Cambodge, which is taken from Khmer កម្ពុជា
(Kampuchea). The name comes from Sanskrit कम्बोजदेश
(Kambujadeśa), derived from काम्बोज
(kāmboja), the name of an ancient tribe and kingdom described in Hindu literature, combined with देश
(deśá) meaning "kingdom, country"...
[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.
CANAAN (Region) English, BiblicalMeaning 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.
CANARY ISLANDS (Region) EnglishEnglish 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) EnglishFrom the city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
CAPE VERDE (Country) EnglishFrom 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) 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) Afrikaans, Bosnian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, TagalogMeans "white house" in Spanish, from
casa meaning "house" and
blanca meaning "white". The name originates from a Spanish translation of the Arabic name الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء
(ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ), which in turn was derived from a calque of the Portuguese name
Casa Branca...
[more] CASQUET (Island) FrenchAn 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, SpanishFrom 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] CAUCASUS (Mountain) EnglishFrom 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] CEBU (Political Subdivision, Settlement & Island) Filipino, Ilocano, Pampangan, Tagalog, Afrikaans, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, TurkishFrom Cebuano
Sugbo, which is derived from Old Cebuano
sibu or
sibo meaning "trade", itself a shortened form of
sinibuayng hingpit meaning "place for trading". This is the name of an island, province, and city (Cebu City) in the Philippines.
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.
CHÂU Á (Region) VietnameseFrom Vietnamese
châu meaning "continent" and
Á meaning "Asia". This is the Vietnamese name for
Asia.
CHAUSEY (Island) NormanA large group of islands in the Channel Islands,
FRANCE. The -'
ey' is the Norman word for "island".
CHECHENISTAN (Political Subdivision) PersianFrom Persian چچن
(čečen) meaning "Chechen" and the suffix ـستان
(-stân) meaning "land of". This is a Persian name for
Chechnya.
CHECHNETI (Political Subdivision) GeorgianFrom 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, Indonesian, Malay, TagalogMeans "(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] CHENGDU (Settlement) Chinese, Afrikaans, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Filipino, TagalogFrom 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, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu, Afrikaans, Bosnian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kyrgyz, Malay, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Filipino, Tagalog, Tajik, Thai, TurkishMost 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.
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] CHETTHAMADA (Country) BurmeseFrom Burmese ချက်
(chet) meaning "Czech" and သမ္မတ
(thamada) meaning "president". This is the Burmese name for the Czech Republic.
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".
CHILE (Country) Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Georgian, German, Hungarian, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, SwedishFrom the name of the country in South America....
[more] CHILI (Country) Afrikaans, Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Greek, Indonesian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian, Russian, Tajik, Thai, UzbekForm of
CHILE.
CHINETI (Country) GeorgianFrom 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) 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] 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, EnglishThe 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] CHONGQING (Settlement) Chinese, Afrikaans, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Kurdish, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, TagalogFrom Chinese 重
(chóng) meaning "to double, to duplicate" and 庆
(qìng) meaning "celebration, to celebrate". This is the name of a city in China.
CHORASMIA (Region & Political Subdivision) Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, English, GreekAncient 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] 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] CILL MHANTÁIN (Political Subdivision & Settlement) IrishIrish 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".
CIRCASSIA (Country & Region) English, ItalianFrom 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, SpanishMeans "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] CLADDAGH (Settlement) Irish, EnglishThe name of an ancient village in Ireland, where the tradition of the Claddagh ring developed.
COLOMBO (Settlement) Afrikaans, Bosnian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Luxembourgish, Malay, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, TagalogProbably from old Sinhalese
kolamba meaning "ferry" or "port". It is popularly believed to be derived from Sinhalese කොලොන් තොට
(kolon toṭa) meaning "port on the river
Kelani" or කොල අඹ
(kola am̆ba) meaning "leafy mango grove", altered with influence from the name of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus or Latin
columba meaning "dove"...
[more] 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".
COLOSSAE (Settlement) Greekeither "Establishing a Temple or Shrine" or "to Punish" or "Dyed Wool," but no direct connection to "the Colossus of Rhodes"
COMOROS (Country) EnglishFrom French
Comores, derived from Arabic قمر
(qamar) meaning "moon", which is ultimately from the phrase جزيرة القمر
(jazirat al-qamar) meaning "island of the moon"...
[more] 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.
COPACABANA (Island) VariousA resort on the Atlantic coast of Brazil that is near Rio de Janeiro.
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'.
CORINTH (Region & Settlement) EnglishFrom Greek Κόρινθος (Korinthos), ultimately from Doric Greek Ϙόρινθος. This is the name of a former municipality in Corinthia in south-central Greece, as well as the name of an ancient Greek city-state (
polis) on the Isthmus of Corinth.
CORK (Settlement & Political Subdivision) IrishA county and city in
IRELAND. Meaning "swamp".
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] CORUSCANT (Other) Popular CultureCoruscant is a fictional planet in the 'Star Wars' universe. The planet is an ecumenopolis -- the surface is almost entirely covered by one city. The name is derived from Latin
coruscant "vibrating, glittering, sparkling"...
[more] COSTA RICA (Country) Spanish, Afrikaans, Basque, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, SwedishThe 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] COTABATO (Political Subdivision & Settlement) Filipino, Cebuano, Ilocano, Pampangan, Tagalog, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, TurkishFrom Maguindanao
Kutawatu meaning "stone city", from
kuta meaning "city, fort" and
wato meaning "stone, rock". This is the name of both a province and a city in the southern Philippines.
CRAWFORDJOHN (Settlement) ScottishA village in Southern Scotland. It's name is of Scots origin and means 'Crow's ford of John'. See
CRAWFORD.
CRETE (Island) English, Cebuano, Scots, TsongaFrom Ancient Greek
Κρήτη (Krḗtē) which is of uncertain meaning. One theory is that it's derived from the name of a mythological hero, Κρυς (Krus), whose name is unexplained. Another theory is that it's derived from Luwian
kursawar “island” or
kursattar “cutting, sliver”...
[more] CREVICHON (Island) NormanIslet in the Channel Islands,
ENGLAND. Means "isle of crabs, crayfish, and cranes", due to the abundance of those animals in the area.
CRIMEA (Country, Political Subdivision & Region) English, Asturian, Catalan, Italian, SpanishFrom Crimean Tatar
Qırım, which is of uncertain origin. It may have been derived from a corruption of Latin
Cimmerium or Greek Κιμμερικόν
(Kimmerikon), the name of an ancient city, from Old Turkic
qurum meaning "protection, defense" or
qirum meaning "fosse, trench", or Ancient Greek κρημνοί
(krēmnoí) meaning "cliffs"...
[more] CRNA GORA (Country) Montenegrin, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, SerbianMontenegrin form of
MONTENEGRO, which several other Balkan countries have adopted as their name for the country. The name literally means "black mountain", as it is derived from the South Slavic adjective
crn meaning "black" combined with the South Slavic noun
gora meaning "mountain".
CSECSENFÖLD (Political Subdivision) HungarianFrom Hungarian
csecsen meaning "Chechen" and
föld meaning "land". This is the Hungarian name for
Chechnya.
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'.
CUMORAH (Mountain) MormonThis is the name of the hill where the Nephite known as Moroni buried the golden plates. It is located in New York.