SACRAMENTO(Settlement)English Name of a city in CALIFORNIA, from Spanish sacramento, in honor of the Holy Sacrament.
SAEKI(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a former town in Okayama Prefecture in western Japan and a ward of Hiroshima City, also in western Japan.... [more]
SAHRAWI ARAB DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC(Political Subdivision & Region)English Following the Spanish evacuation, consequence of the Moroccan Green March, Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania signed the Madrid Accords on November 14, 1975, six days before Franco died, leading to both Morocco and Mauritania moving in to annex the territory of Western Sahara... [more]
SAINT-MALO(Settlement)French An historic French port located in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany on the English Channel coast, named after Saint MALO.
SAINT PETERSBURG(Settlement)English Derived from German Sankt Petersburg meaning "Saint Peter's city", a reference to Saint Peter, a Disciple of Jesus Christ or Peter the Great, a Russian tsar. Saint Petersburg is a city in Russia and the former capital of the country... [more]
SAKHALIN(Island)Russian, English Derived from Manchu sahaliyan meaning "black". A misconception of the original Manchu word led to the present name. "Sahaliyan Ula" is also the Manchu name for the Amur River. Sakhalin Island is an island in the Far East of Russia, right above Japan.
SAN ANTONIO(Settlement & River)English Means "Saint Anthony" from Spanish san "Saint" + Antonio, a Spanish form of the given name ANTHONY. The river was named after San Antonio de Padua by the first governor of Spanish Texas, Domingo Terán de los Ríos in 1691... [more]
SANDHURST(Settlement)English Old English, meaning "sandy thicket of trees." A place name. In England, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (named after the village it is located) is the prestigious British Army officer training centre.
SAN DIEGO(Settlement)English Name of a city in CALIFORNIA, meaning "Saint Diego" from Spanish san "Saint" + the given name DIEGO.
SANDRINGHAM(Settlement)English Derived from the Old English: "sand" hring "ring"/"circular" ham "homestead". "Sandy circular homestead". The name of a village in Norfolk, where Sandringham House, one of the Queen's country retreats is located.
SAN JOSE(Settlement)English Name of a city in CALIFORNIA, meaning "Saint Joseph" from Spanish san "Saint" + Jose, a Spanish form of JOSEPH.
SAN JUAN(Other)Spanish The name of the Capital of Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital and largest city, sits on the island's Atlantic coast. Its widest beach fronts the Isla Verde resort strip, known for its bars, nightclubs and casinos... [more]
SARK(Island)English, Ancient Semitic, Medieval Scandinavian One of the Channel Islands in ENGLAND. Could be derived from the Proto-Semetic 'śrq', meaning "redden", "rise", or "east", as Sark is the easternmost island. Alternatively, it come from Old Norse 'serkr', meaning "shirt".
SAUDI ARABIA(Country)English From Arabic سُعُودِيّ (suʿūdiyy) referring to the House of Saud, the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia (see Arabic SAUDIYYAH), combined with Greek Ἀραβία (Arabíā) referring to the Arabian Peninsula... [more]
SAUDIYYAH(Country)Arabic From Arabic سُعُودِيّ (suʿūdiyy) referring to the House of Saud, the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia, usually written with a definite article as السعودية (as-Saudiyyah)... [more]
SAUGEEN(River & Political Subdivision)Ojibwe (Anglicized) Town and river in ONTARIO, CANADA. From the Ojibwe 'zaagiing', and means "at the river's outlet" or "at the mouth of the river".
SAWEL(Mountain)English, Irish (Anglicized) Sawel Mountain (historically known as Slieve Sawel) is the highest peak in the Sperrins, a mountain range in Northern Ireland. This is an Anglicized form of Irish samhail meaning "likeness", taken from its Irish name Samhail Phite Méabha "likeness to MÉABH's vulva", referring to a glen or hollow on the side of the mountain.
SÁŽŽÁ(Island)Northern Sami An Island and a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The meaning is unknown. The Norwegian name for the island is SENJA.
SCANDINAVIA(Region)English Likely derived from the Germanic root *Skaðin-awjō, a combination of the reconstructed elements *skaðan- "danger, damage" and *awjō "island". Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe and usually refers to SWEDEN, DENMARK, and NORWAY.
SCARBOROUGH(Settlement)English The name of a city in England. It is mentioned in the folk song "Scarborough Fair" about a fair held in the Middle Ages. A notable version of this song is the one by Simon and Garfunkel.
SECACAH(Settlement)Biblical A Hebrew girl's name, originating in Israel, meaning "covering, defense"
SEDBERGH(Settlement)English A small town in rural Northern England. Its name derives from Old Norse sed, meaning 'sand' and berg, meaning 'mountain', referring to the mountainous location of Sedbergh and possibly the sandstone hills.
SENJA(Island)Norwegian An island and a municipality in TROMS county, NORWAY. The meaning of the name is officially unknown, but it could come from the word sundr which means "split apart" or "tear"... [more]
SÈR(Island)Norman Sercquiais Norman version of SARK.
SERBESTAN(Country)Persian From Persian صرب (serb) meaning "Serb, Serbian" combined with the suffix ستان (stan) meaning "land of". This is the Persian name for Serbia.
SERDICA(Settlement)Ancient Greek Latin and Ancient Greek name for the Bulgarian city now known as SOFIA. Named after the Celtic tribe Serdi.
SERKLAND(Region)Ancient Scandinavian Old Norse name for a region around the Caspian sea in the Middle East. The name is composed of Old Norse serkr "gown" and land "country"... [more]
SETON(Settlement)English A Scottish place, Seaton near Longniddry, "is so named because it was held from the 12th century by a Norman family de Sey, from Say in Indre. Other places of this name, for example those in Cumbria, Devon, County Durham, Northumbria, and Yorkshire, are mostly named with Old English sæ "sea, lake" and tun "enclosure, settlement"... [more]
SEYCHELLES(Country)French, English, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Maltese, Romanian, Spanish, Tagalog From the name of Jean Moreau de Séchelles (1690-1761), a French politician who served as Minister of Finance during the reign of King Louis XV. This is the name of an East African island country in the Indian Ocean.
SHANGRILA(Body of Water)Pakistani, Tibetan Shangrila is a name of Tibetan origin. The name means "heaven on earth". The name is mainly known in northern Pakistan. The "Shangrila Lake" in northern Pakistan is very famous among the country.
SHIRETOKO(Other)Japanese This is the name of a peninsula (declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005) in north-eastern Hokkaidō in northern Japan. The kanji that make up Shiretoko are 知 (chi, shi.raseru, shi.ru, shire) meaning "know, wisdom" and 床 (shou, toko, yuka) meaning "bed, floor, padding, tatami."... [more]
SHQIPËRIA(Country)Albanian From shqip, the ethnic name of the Albanian people, which is of uncertain origin. It may be a calque of Proto-Slavic slověne meaning "Slavs" (through Albanian shqipoj meaning "to speak clearly") or from Albanian shkabë meaning "eagle"... [more]
SIBERIA(Region)Albanian, Basque, English, Italian, Romanian, Spanish Meaning uncertain. One theory suggests its derivation from Siberian Tatar Sib Ir meaning "sleeping land", while another suggests an origin from the ethonym Sirtya, Syopyr, an ethnic group which spoke a language that evolved into the Ugric languages... [more]
SICILY(Political Subdivision & Island)English This is the name of one of the islands of Italy. It is also the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.... [more]
SIERRA LEONE(Country)English The name of the Country in West Africa. Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. It’s known for the white-sand beaches lining the Freetown Peninsula. The capital city, Freetown, commemorates the nation’s slave-trade history with the Cotton Tree landmark and King’s Yard Gate... [more]