Kabardino-Balkaria(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Кабардино-Балкария (Kabardino-Balkariya) comprised of the names of the Kabardian and Balkar people. This is the name of a republic of Russia.
Kabetogama(Body of Water)English (American) A lake in Minnesota. From Ojibwe gaa-biitoogamaag-zaaga'igan meaning "the lake that lies parallel with another lake, the lake that doubles with another lake, the place where there is one lake after another."
Kabul(Settlement)English From Pashto کابل (Kabel) which may have been derived from Kambuja or Kamboja, the name of an ancient Indo-Iranian tribe and kingdom. The name is of uncertain meaning, possibly from Sanskrit काम (kama 1) meaning "love, desire" and भुज् (bhuj) meaning "use, possess, rule"... [more]
Kachin(Political Subdivision, Region & Mountain)Bengali, Assamese, English (British) The well known British English pronunciation of Ga Hkyeng, which means ‘red soil’ in Jingpho.
Kachin(Political Subdivision & Region)Burmese, English From a collective term for various ethnolinguistic groups that inhibit the Kachin Hills in northern Myanmar, itself of unclear origin. This is the name of a state of Myanmar, as well as a geographical region in the northeastern part of the country.
Kadyks(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Polish Polish form of Cádiz.
Kae-e-vanrash(Other)Mormon One of the three great stars of the Grand Key, appearing in the Book of Abraham, and Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language. It is the fourth great star from the center of the galaxy. According to the Book of Abraham, it governs fifteen great planets... [more]
Kaffa(Other)Arabic The place-name "Kaffa" has a rich history and significance. It was the name of an early modern state located in what is now Ethiopia, with its first capital at Bonga¹²... [more]
Kafkasia(Region)Greek Modern Greek form of Caucasia, which is an alternative name for the Caucasus geographical region.
Kafkasos(Region & Mountain)Greek Modern Greek transcription of Kaukasos, which is the ancient Greek form of Caucasus.
Kagawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "river incense" in Japanese.
Kagawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese From Japanese 香 (ka) meaning "fragrance" and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream". This is the name of a prefecture of Japan.
Kagoshima(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 鹿子 (kako) meaning "fawn, young deer" and 島 (shima) meaning "island". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Kailua(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian kailua meaning "two seas", from kai meaning "sea, seawater" and ʻelua, meaning "two". The community in Hawaiʻi is named for two former fishponds located nearby.
Kajang(Settlement)Malay, English Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Temuan kajang referring to an art of weaving pandanus leaves. Alternately it could be from Buginese berkajang meaning "camp, accommodation". This is the name of a city in Malaysia.
Kajr(Settlement)Maltese Maltese form of Cairo, usually written with the definite article: Il-Kajr.
Kakebertoun(Political Subdivision)Northern Irish (Anglicized, Archaic) Archaic name for Ballyhackamore, recorded in 1333 in a survey of the Earldom of Ulster. From a derivative of Irish cac, meaning “excrement” and denoting soft mud or slob land, and English toun, archaic and Ulster Scots spelling of “town”.
Kakin(Country, Region & Mountain)Popular Culture, Japanese An empire in Hunter X Hunter, named after the Kachin state of Myanmar, but inspired by northern parts of the country as a whole.
Kalaallit Nunaat(Country)Greenlandic Means "land of the Kalaallit". This is the Greenlandic endonym for Greenland. Kalaallit is the name of the dominant ethnic group on the island.
Kalamata(Region)Greek The modern name Kalamáta is a corruption of the older name Καλάμαι, Kalámai, "reeds". The phonetic similarity of Kalamáta with the phrase "kalá mátia" ("good eyes") has led to various folk etymologies.
Kalamazoo(Settlement)English (American) The city in Michigan and other places are named after the Kalamazoo River. There are several theories as to the etymology of Kalamazoo. One is that it comes from Potawatomi negikanamazo meaning "otter tail" or kikalamezo meaning "boiling pot, place where the water boils"... [more]
Kalasin(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai กาฬ (kala) meaning "black, dark" and สินธุ์ (sin) meaning "river, stream", believed to be taken from the name of the nearby Nam Kam river. This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Kalimantan(Political Subdivision, Island & Region)Indonesian, Banjar Means "burning weather (island)" from Sanskrit काल (kala) meaning "time, season" and मन्थान (manthana) meaning "churning, agitating, stirring". This is the name of the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, though it is used to refer to the entire island in Indonesian... [more]
Kalispell(Other)Salishan (Rare) The name Kalispell is a Salishan (Salish) word meaning "flat land above the lake". Kalispell is also the gateway to Glacier National Park.
Kalisz(Political Subdivision)Polish Comes from Kalisz in west central Poland, which probably derives its name from Old Polish kal ‘muddy place’, ‘slough’.
Kalmakstan(Political Subdivision)Kyrgyz From калмак (kalmak), the Kyrgyz name for the Kalmyk people, combined with the Persian suffix -ستان (-stan) meaning "land of". This is the Kyrgyz name for Kalmykia.
Kalmykia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Калмыкия (Kalmykiya) ultimately from хальмг (xal'mg), the native name of the Kalmyk people. The ethnic name is of probably Mongolian origin meaning "the people moving away", from Mongolian халих (khalikh) meaning "overflow, flood", referring to how the Kalmyk people were originally Mongolians who "leaked away" from their ancestral homeland... [more]
Kamchatka(Region)Ainu named for a native people, the Kamchadal, from Koryak (Chukotko-Kamchatkan) konchachal, which is said to mean "men of the far end"
Kamphaeng Phet(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai กำแพง (kamphaeng) meaning "wall" and เพชร (phet) meaning "diamond". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as a city in said province.
Kampong Cham(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “port of the chams” in Khmer.
Kampong Cham(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means "port of the Chams" in Khmer, from កំពង់ (kampong) meaning "port, landing" and ចាម (cham) referring to the Cham people. This is the name of a province of Cambodia.
Kampong Chhnang(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Means "port of pottery" in Khmer, from កំពង់ (kampong) meaning "port, landing" and ឆ្នាំង (chhnang) meaning "pot". This is the name of a province of and city in Cambodia.
Kampong Speu(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “port of starfruit” in Khmer.
Kampong Speu(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means "port of starfruit" in Khmer, from កំពង់ (kampong) meaning "port, landing" and ស្ពឺ (speu) meaning "starfruit". This is the name of a province of Cambodia.
Kampong Thom(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means “great port” in Khmer.
Kampong Thom(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Means "great port" in Khmer, from កំពង់ (kampong) meaning "port, landing" and ធំ (thom) meaning "big, large, great". This is the name of a province of and city in Cambodia.
Kanagawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese From Japanese 神 (kan) meaning "god", 奈 (na), a phonetic character, and 川 (kawa) meaning "river, stream"... [more]
Kanagawa(Political Subdivision)Japanese Means "god's kara pear river" in Japanese.
Kanazawa(Settlement)Japanese Means "marsh of gold" in Japanese; derived from a local legend, according to which a peasant who found flakes of gold while digging for potatoes. The kanji that make up the name are 金 (kana), meaning "metal, gold", and 沢 (sawa), meaning "marsh"... [more]
Kanchanaburi(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai กาญจน (kanchana) meaning "gold" and บุรี (buri) meaning "city, town". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Kandahar(Settlement)Afghan "Kandahar" is a city in southern Afghanistan. The name "Kandahar" likely originates from the Sanskrit word "Gandhara," which referred to a region in ancient India that included parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan... [more]
Kandal(Political Subdivision)Khmer Means "middle, center" in Khmer. This is the name of a province of Cambodia.
Kandiyohi(Settlement)English (American) A city in Minnesota. From Dakota kandi, "buffalo fish" and ohi, "arrive in".
Kandy(Settlement)English From Tamil கண்டி (Kanti) of uncertain meaning, possibly derived from Sinhala කන්ද උඩරට (kanda urarata) meaning "upland" or කන්ද උඩ පාස් රට (kanda ura pas rata) meaning "mountain pass country"... [more]
Kaneohe(Settlement)Hawaiian From Hawaiian kāne ʻohe meaning "bamboo man", after the story of a local woman who compared her husband's cruelty to the sharp edge of cutting bamboo.
Kanga(Settlement & Other)Kongo, Popular Culture, Literature Even though it is also the name of a hill range in westernmost Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kanga is best known internationally as the name of a certain Kangaroo from Winnie the Pooh books and the basis for the name Kaänga.
Kankakee(Settlement)Indigenous American Kankakee is probably derived from the Miami-Illinois word teeyaahkiki, meaning: "open country/ exposed land/ land in open/ land exposed to view".
Kansas(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, named after Kanas river, from French variant of Kansa, native name of the Siouan people who lived there.
Kanton(Political Subdivision)Japanese Japanese form of Canton, used for the province of Guangdong. The kanji are taken from Chinese 广东 (Guǎngdōng).
Kanungu(Political Subdivision, Region & Settlement)Kiga
Kaoh Kong(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Khmer Alternate transcription of Khmer កោះកុង (see Koh Kong).
Kaoli(Country)Lao, Thai Derived from Chinese 高丽 (Gāolí) referring to the ancient kingdom of Goryeo. This is the Lao and Thai name for Korea.
Kaolitai(Country)Thai From Thai เกาหลี (Kaoli) referring to Korea, ultimately from Chinese 高丽 (Gāolí), and ใต้ (tai) meaning "south". This is the Thai name for South Korea.
Kapaa(Settlement)English (American) A city in Hawaiʻi. From Hawaiian kapaʻa meaning "the solid one".
Karadağ(Country)Turkish Means "black mountain" from Turkish kara meaning "black" and dağ meaning "mountain". This is the Turkish name for Montenegro, from a calque of the country's Montenegrin and Serbo-Croatian name, Crna Gora.
Karaganda(Settlement)English, Russian From Kazakh Қарағанды (Qaraghandy), which is derived from қараған (qaraghan) meaning "caragana" (a type of flower). This is the name of a city in Kazakhstan.
Karakalpakstan(Political Subdivision)English, Russian From Karakalpak Қарақалпақстан (Qaraqalpaqstan), itself from the name of the Karakalpak people combined with the Persian suffix ستان (stan 2) meaning "land of"... [more]
Karamea(Settlement)Maori, English Means "speargrass" in Maori, peobably from a corruption of kakara taramea meaning "sweet-scented gum (of speargrass leaves)". This is the name of a town in New Zealand.
Karasjok(Settlement)Norwegian Norwegianized form of the Northern Sami language name Kárášjohka. The meaning of the first element could be káráš from Northern Sami which could mean "food plate of wood", or from Finnish, kara, "something that sticks"... [more]
Karasu(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a former town located in Japan's Mie Prefecture which merged and expanded, along with a few other towns and municipalities, into the city of Tsu.... [more]