Mawlamyine(Settlement)English From Burmese မော်လမြိုင် (mawlamyaing) derived from Mon မတ်မလီု (motmalam) meaning "damaged eye", ultimately from မတ် (mot) meaning "eye" and လီု (lam) meaning "spoiled, damaged, ruined"... [more]
Maykop(Settlement)Russian From Adyghe Мыекъуапэ (Myeqwapa) meaning "cape of apples", from мые (mye) meaning "apple" and къуапэ (qwapa) meaning "cape, gorge, height". This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Adygea.
Mecca(Settlement)English, Italian, Romanian From Arabic مكة (Makka) which is from بكة (bakka), an ancient name for the region. The name is of uncertain origin and meaning; it may be from Arabic بكى (baka) meaning "to cry, to mourn" or Ge'ez ምኵራብ (məkʷrab) meaning "temple, sanctuary"... [more]
Medan(Settlement)Indonesian Possibly from Tamil மைதானம் (maidhanam) meaning "ground, field". This is the name of the capital city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra.
Medicine Hat(Settlement)English (Canadian) A city in Alberta, Canada. The name is from the Siksiká 'saamis', the word for the eagle tail feather headdress worn by medicine men.
Meguro(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 目 (me) meaning "eye, look, appearance" and 黒 (kuro) meaning "black", so named for a black-eyed statue that was placed on the outskirts of Edo for protection... [more]
Meknes(Settlement)English From French Meknès, itself from Arabic مكناس (Maknas) ultimately derived from Miknasa (Imeknasen), the name of a Berber tribe. This is the name of a city in Morocco.
Melilla(Settlement)Spanish, English The etymology of Melilla is uncertain. Since Melilla was an active beekeeping location in the past, the name has been related to honey; this is tentatively backed up by two ancient coins featuring a bee as well as the inscriptions RSADR and RSA... [more]
Mellieħa(Settlement & Body of Water)Maltese The name of a large village or small town located on the northern tip of Malta's main island, it comes from mellieħa meaning "salt pan," derived from the Semitic root m-l-h (compare melħ meaning "salt"), probably referring to the ancient Punic-Roman salt pans which existed at Mellieħa Bay, the site of which is now occupied by the Għadira Nature Reserve.
Melrose(Settlement)Scottish Habitational namefor a place near Galashiels in the Scottish borders, so named from British words that were ansetors of Welsh moel 'bare', 'barren' rhos 'heath'.... [more]
Mesa(Settlement)English, Spanish From Spanish mesa, literally "table", referring to a flat-topped elevation. This is the name of a city in the US state of Arizona.
Mexic(Country & Settlement)Occitan, Romanian Occitan and Romanian form of Mexico. The Occitan name refers to both the country and city, whereas the Romanian name is used only for the country.
Miami(Settlement)English Name of a city in Florida. The name was first mentioned by Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, a captive of Indians in southern Florida for 17 years, when he referred to what is now Lake Okeechobee as the "Lake of Mayaimi, which is called Mayaimi because it is very large"... [more]
Milpitas(Settlement)English Means "little cornfields" from a diminutive of Spanish milpa meaning "cornfield". This is the name of a city in California.
Milton(Settlement)English Name of a town in Ontario, Canada.
Milwaukee(Settlement)English From Algonquian millioke, meaning "good", "beautiful" and "pleasant land". This is the name of several settlements in the United States, including the largest city in the state of Wisconsin.
Minato(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 港 (minato) meaning "harbour". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo as well as the name of wards in several other Japanese cities.
Mingala Taungnyunt(Settlement)Burmese From Burmese မင်္ဂလာ (mingala) meaning "auspicious; prosperous," တောင် (taung) meaning "mountain," and ညွန့် (nyun) meaning "apex; peak." It is the name of a township in Yangon, Myanmar.
Minnetonka(Settlement)English Name of a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, means "great water" from Dakota mni "river, stream" and tanka "freat".
Minsk(Settlement)Belarusian, English, Russian From Old East Slavic Мѣньскъ (Menisku), which was derived from a river named Men. This is the name of the capital city of Belarus.
Mirna(River, Settlement & Political Subdivision)Slovene Dissimilation from Slavic nyrati meaning "to rise from the earth." It is the name of a river, village, and municipality in Slovenia.
Mitaka(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 三 (mi) meaning "three" and 鷹 (taka) meaning "hawk". This is the name of a city in the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan.
Mito(Settlement)Japanese The kanji that make up the name are 水 (mizu), meaning "water", and 戸 (to), meaning "door". This is the name of the capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.
Mitsue(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a village located in the eastern-most part of Nara prefecture in western Japan.... [more]
Miyazaki(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape, peninsula". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Mompracem(Political Subdivision, Region, Settlement & Island)Literature, Popular Culture Mompracem is the historical name of Kuraman, which is currently known primarily as the alter ego name of Keraman in the Sandokan series.
Montego Bay(Settlement)English Possibly from Spanish manteca meaning "fat, lard", allegedly because lard, leather and beef were exported there during the Spanish period. This is the name of a city in Jamaica.
Montevideo(Settlement)English, Spanish All agree that "Monte" refers to the Cerro de Montevideo, the hill situated across the Bay of Montevideo, but there is disagreement about the etymological origin of the "video" part. This is name of Uruguay’s capital city.
Montreal(Settlement)English Name of a city in Canada, from French le mont Royal "mont royal". Jacques Cartier named it after the nearby mountain, but it is uncertain how royal became real... [more]
Monywa(Settlement)Burmese Means "Hmong village" from Burmese မုံ (mon) referring to the Hmong people and ရွာ (ywa) meaning "village". This is the name of a city in Myanmar.
Morioka(Settlement)Japanese Means "prosperous hill" in Japanese. The kanji that make up the name are 盛 (mori), meaning "prosper", and 岡 (oka), meaning "hill". This is the name of the capital city of Iwate Prefecture, Japan.
Mörön(Settlement)Mongolian Means "river" in Mongolian. This is the name of a city in Mongolia.
Mos Eisley(Settlement)Popular Culture Mos Eisley is a fictional town and large spaceport located on the planet Tatooine in the 'Star Wars' universe. The name is unexplained.
Mukden(Settlement)Manchu Derived from Manchu ᠮᡠᡴᡩᡝᠮᠪᡳ (mukdembi) meaning "rise, flourish". This is the Manchu name for the Chinese city of Shenyang.
Mullingar(Settlement)Irish From Irish An Muileann gCearr, meaning "the left-hand mill", describing a mill noted in the legend of St. Colmán mac Luacháin, the patron saint of Lynn, Westmeath.... [more]
Muntinlupa(Settlement)Filipino The City of Muntinlupa was founded in 1601. It is one of the 16 cities making up the NCR of the Philippines. It has a land area of 39.75 km2 and has 504,509 people living in it as of the 2015 census.... [more]
Murmansk(Settlement)Russian Murmansk is a port city in north Russia. Founded in 1916 , being the last settlement founded is the Russian empire.... [more]
Muscat(Settlement)English, Danish, Dutch, Romanian, Tagalog From Arabic مسقط (Masqat) of disputed meaning, perhaps of Arabic or Old Persian origin. This is the name of the capital city of Oman.
Muttama(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Other)Mon, Burmese Mottama is a town in south central Myanmar, whose name derives from the Mon language term Mumaw (Mon: မုဟ်တၟံ), which means "rocky spur."
Myeik(Settlement)Burmese Derived from Shan မႃႉ (ma) meaning "horse" and an uncertain word possibly meaning "pillar" or "tail". This is the name of a city in Myanmar.
Myingyan(Settlement)Burmese From Burmese မြင်း (myin) meaning "horse" and ခြံ (gyan) meaning "farm". This is the name of a city in Myanmar.
Myitkyina(Settlement)Burmese Means "near the big river" from Burmese မြစ် (myit) meaning "river", ကြီး (kyi) meaning "big, large, great" and နား (na) meaning "near", referencing the city's location on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River... [more]
Mỹ Phương(Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 美 (mỹ) meaning "beautiful," and 芳 (phương) meaning "fragrant" or "virtuous." It is the name of a village and commune in northeast Vietnam.
Mỹ Tho(Settlement & River)Vietnamese Most likely means "land of white girls", derived from Khmer ស្រុក (srok) meaning "land, inhabited area" (this element was dropped at some point), មេ (me) meaning "girl" and ស (sa) meaning "white"... [more]
Naas(Settlement)Irish (Anglicized) From Irish An Nás, meaning "the place of assembly". This is a contraction of several names for Naas, each beginning with Nás.... [more]
Nagano(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 長 (naga) meaning "long" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Nagasaki(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 長 (naga) meaning "long" and 崎 (saki) meaning "cape". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Nagoya(Settlement)Japanese Of uncertain meaning, possibly from Japanese 和やか (nagoyaka) meaning "peaceful". This is the name of a city in Japan.
Naha(Settlement)Japanese Possibly a corruption of naba, a Western Japanese and Ryukyuan word for "mushroom". This is the name of the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.
Nairn(Settlement)Scottish A town in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The town is so called due to its location on the river Nairn, the name of which is probably of pre-Celtic origin.
Nakano(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 中 (naka) meaning "middle" and 野 (no) meaning "field, wilderness". This is the name of a special ward of Tokyo as well as a city in Nagano Prefecture.
Nakhon Nayok(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "city of exempted rice fields" from Thai นคร (nakhon) meaning "city", นา (na) meaning "rice field, paddy field" and ยก (yok) meaning "dismiss, exempt", so named because the rice fields in this region were exempted from taxes during the Ayutthaya period... [more]
Nakhon Sawan(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "city of heaven" from Thai นคร (nakhon) meaning "city" and สวรรค์ (sawan) meaning "heaven". This is the name of a province of, as well as a district and city in, Thailand.
Nakhon Si Thammarat(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai นคร (nakhon) meaning "city" combined with ศรี (si) meaning "glory, honour, splendour" and ธรรมราช (thammarat) meaning "righteous ruler". This is the name of a province of Thailand as well as said province's capital city.
Nam Định(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 南 (nam) meaning "south" and 定 (định) meaning "fix, appoint, set". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Vietnam.
Namyangju(Settlement)Korean Combination of 南 (남, nam, "south"), 楊 (양, yang, "willow") and 州 (주, ju, "province"), thus "southern willow province". This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Nanjing(Settlement)Chinese Means "southern capital" from Chinese 南 (nán) meaning "south" and 京 (jīng) meaning "capital city". This is the name of a city in China.
Nanortalik(Settlement)Greenlandic Means "the place with polar bears" in Greenlandic, ultimately derived from nanoq "polar bear". Nanortalik is the southernmost town in Greenland.
Nara(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a city which is the capital of Nara Prefecture in western Japan. The kanji used are 奈 (dai, na, nai, ikan, karanashi) meaning "Nara, what?" and 良 (ryou, i.i, yo.i, ra) meaning "good, pleasing, skilled."... [more]
Narathiwat(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai From Thai นร (nara) meaning "man" and อธิวาส (athiwat) meaning "residence, house". This is the name of a province and city in Thailand.
Narni(Settlement)Italian Derived from the name of the Nera River which was called Nar in Latin. Author C.S. Lewis used the town's Latin name Narnia for a fictional country in his Chronicles of Narnia series of fantasy novels first released 1950.
Narsaq(Settlement)Greenlandic Means "field, plain" in Greenlandic. Narsaq is town in southern Greenland.
Navotas(Settlement)Filipino The City of Navotas was founded on December 20, 1827. It is one of the 16 cities making up the NCR of the Philippines. It has a land area of 10.77 km2 and has a population of 249,463 as of the 2015 census.... [more]