Submitted Place Names Starting with D

DAGESTAN(Political Subdivision)English, Russian
Combination of Turkic dağ meaning "mountain" and the Persian suffix ـستان (-stān) meaning "land, place of". Dagestan is a federal subject in southern Russia situated in the Caucasus region.

DAĞISTAN(Political Subdivision)Avar
Avar form of Dagestan.

DAHOMEY(Other)English
The name of the Kingdom. Dahomey Kingdom was an African kingdom that existed from about 1600 until 1894, when the last king, Behanzin, was defeated by the French, and the country was annexed into the French colonial empire.

DALKEITH(Settlement)Scottish
A small town in Midlothian, Scotland, south of Edinburgh. It is of Cumbric language origin. The first element is dal, meaning 'meadow, plateau' (Welsh ddôl) and chyd, meaning 'trees, wood' (Welsh coed).

DALLAS(Settlement)English
Name of a city in Texas, possibly named in honor of American Vice President George Mifflin Dallas. Dallas is a surname which was originally taken from a Scottish place name meaning "meadow dwelling".

DAMASCUS(Settlement)Arabic
The place name for the capital of Syria.

DANIA(Country)Ancient Roman
Latin form of DANMARK.

DANMÖRK(Country)Icelandic
Icelandic form of DANMARK.

DANMǪRK(Country)Ancient Scandinavian
Means "land of the Danes" in Old Norse.

DANSKA(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Denmark.

DARJEELING(Other)Indian
Darjeeling India is a part of India and is well known because Mother Teresa (1910-1997) went there in 1929 for missionary reasons.

DECORAH(Settlement)English
Decorah, Iowa.

DELAWARE(Political Subdivision)English
Name of a state in the United States, named after the Delaware river, which was named after Lord De La Warr, from French de la guerre or de la werre literally "of the war".

DEMELZA(Settlement)Cornish
Name of a hamlet in Cornwall, sometimes explained as a contraction of Cornish Dinas Maeldaf "fort of Maeldaf", but more likely derived from Cornish ty "house" and malsai "eel".

DES MOINES(Settlement)English
Name of the capital and the most populous city in Iowa, which derived from Fort Des Moines, which was named for the Des Moines River. The French des Moines translates to either "from the monks" or "of the monks".

DJIBOUTI(Country)English
The name of the Country in East Africa. Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, is a mostly French- and Arabic-speaking country of dry shrublands, volcanic formations and Gulf of Aden beaches. It's home to one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, the low-lying Lake Assal, in the Danakil Desert... [more]

DONCASTER(Settlement)English
A town in England located on the River Don. The first element is from the Roman fort Danum, likely from an earlier Celtic settlement relating to the River Don. The second element is the Old English ceaster, 'fort' (c.f Modern English castle).

DOVER(Settlement)English
Dover is a small, but important port town in Kent, Southern England. It is derived from the Brythonic Dubrās, meaning 'water' (Modern Welsh ddwfr, 'water, tears').... [more]

DUBLIN(Settlement)English, Croatian
From Irish dubh "black" "dark" referring to a dark tidal pool where the River Poddle entered the Liffey on the site of the Castle Gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle.

DURHAM(Settlement & Region)English, Anglo-Norman
A cathedral city in the North-East of England. The name is derived from the city's Latin name Dunelm, which comprises of the Celtic element dun, 'fortress' (c.f Welsh dinas, 'city') and the Old Norse holme, which meant an island (referring to the peninsular formed by the River Wear).

DUŞANBE(Settlement)Tajik
Tajik variant of Dushanbe.

DUSHANBE(Settlement)Tajik, English
Derived from Persian دوشنبه meaning "Monday". Dushanbe is the capital city of the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan. It was formerly called Dyushambe and Stalinabad during Russian rule.

DZÆUDZHYQÆU(Settlement)Ossetian
Ossetian form of Vladikavkaz, meaning "Dzaug's settlement".

DŽIBUTI(Country)Croatian
Croatian form of Djibouti.