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.
Montmartre(Political Subdivision, Settlement & Other)French "martyr's hill" or "mount of the martyr" references Saint Denis who was killed on the hill in the 3rd c. CE. Previously, the hill was known as "Mount of Mars" by Romans.... [more]
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.
Moorhead(Settlement)English Transferred use of the surname Moorhead. The city in Minnesota is named for William Galloway Moorhead, an official of the Northern Pacific Railway.
Moose Jaw(Settlement)English, Cree The origin of Moose Jaw's name is debated. One theory suggests it comes from the Cree word "Moosoochapiskanis", meaning "warm place by the river", referring to the area's natural water sources. Another explanation is that the river bends in the shape of a moose's jaw, which led to the name... [more]
Mopti(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Fula A region and city in Mali.
Moraga(Settlement)English Transferred use of the Spanish surname Moraga. The city in California was named for the rancher and local landowner Joaquín Moraga.
Morden(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English The city of Morden was named after Alvey Morden, an early settler and entrepreneur who played a role in developing the area. The name Morden is of Old English origin, likely derived from "mor" (marsh, moor) and "denu" (valley), meaning "valley near a moor".
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.
Mosul(Settlement)English Ultimately derived from Arabic الموصل (al-mawsil) meaning "the linking point, the junction" in reference to a bridge and ford over the Tigris river... [more]
Mount Pearl(Settlement)English The name Mount Pearl is believed to have been inspired by the scenic beauty of the area, possibly referring to a prominent hill (mount) and the pearl-like appearance of the region’s landscape or natural features, such as rivers and lakes... [more]
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]
Muncie(Settlement)English (American) A city in Indiana named for the term Euro-American settlers used for local Lenape people, who speak the Munsee language.
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]
Murrieta(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the Spanish surname Murrieta. The city in California was named for its founder, the ranchero Juan Murrieta.
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]
Nablus(Settlement)Arabic (Mashriqi) Derives from Nābulus, which comes from the Roman city of Flavia Neapolis which means "new city" in Greek. This is the name small settlement in Palestine.
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.
Najaf(Settlement)Arabic, English Means "elevated place not reached by water, hill, dike" in Arabic. This is the name of a city in Iraq, considered one of the holiest cities of Shia Islam. It is reportedly the burial place of Ali ibn Abi Talib... [more]
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 Ratchasima(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Thai Means "royal border city" from Thai นคร (nakhon) meaning "city" combined with ราช (ratcha) meaning "royal" and สีมา (sima) meaning "border, boundary", referring to the city's location within the Ayutthaya Kingdom... [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.
Nanaimo(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Coast Salish, English The name "Nanaimo" comes from the Hul’q’umi’num’ word Snuneymuxw, referring to the Snuneymuxw First Nation, whose traditional territory includes the area. The meaning is sometimes interpreted as "a great people" or "gathering place."
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.
Naqada(Country & Settlement)Ancient Egyptian An ancient city and Prehistoric Egyptian archaeological culture from 3000 years ago.
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.
Naryan Mar(Settlement)Russian Means "red town" in Nenets. Naryan-Mar is a large industrial and river port city in Nenetsiya, Russia and it is home to about half of it's region's population.
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]
Naypyidaw(Settlement)English From Burmese နေပြည်တော် (Nepyidaw) meaning "abode of the king" or "royal abode", from နေပြည် (ne pyi) meaning "abode" and တော် (taw) meaning "royal, sacred"... [more]
Nazran(Settlement)Russian From Ingush Наьсаре (Nasare) possibly from Нясара (Nyasara), supposedly the name of the first person to settle in the region. This is the name of a town in Ingushetia that served as the republic's capital until 2000.
Neftekamsk(Settlement)Russian From Russian нефть (neft) meaning "oil, petroleum" combined with the name of the Kama River. This is the name of a city in Bashkortostan, Russia.
Newark(Settlement)English (British) Newark-on-trent/Newark is a market town in the UK , Founded 1054 or 1123. Old names are Newarcha , Niweweorche and Newerche (in the book Domesday).... [more]
New Bern(Settlement)English New Bern was settled in 1710 by Swiss and Palatine immigrants led by Christoph von Graffenried. They named the settlement after Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
Newcastle(Settlement)English A city in North-East England. It simply denoted the site of a New Castle, as this is where a castle was erected by William the Conquer in 1080.... [more]
New Glasgow(Settlement)English The name New Glasgow was given to several settlements by Scottish settlers in the 18th century in honor of Glasgow, Scotland, one of the major cities in the country... [more]
New New York(Settlement & Island)Popular Culture New New York is the name of the main city from Futurama, which was built over Old New York after it was destroyed.
Nha Trang(Settlement)Vietnamese Possibly from Eastern Cham YjaTran, Ea Trang or Ea Dran (literally meaning "reed river"), all names for the Cái River. This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Niadi(River, Other, Political Subdivision & Settlement)Kongo, Central African The name of both a river and a valley in Southwest Republic of the Congo.
Niagara(Body of Water, Settlement & Region)Iroquois Name of a popular waterfall, a town, and region, in Canada. Derived from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra, meaning either "the strait", or "bisected bottom lands"
Niamey(Settlement)English, Armenian, Danish, Finnish, French, Italian, Slovak, Spanish Of uncertain origin; there are several theories on the origin of the name. It may be derived from a combination of Zarma words nia ("tree") and me ("shore where water is drawn"), or from the phrase "Wa niammané" ("take this city"), reportedly said by a Kalle clan chief... [more]
Nice(Settlement)French, English Founded by Greek colonists and given the name Νίκαια (Nikaia), ultimately derived from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory". Nice is a city on the south east coast of France.
Nicosia(Settlement)English From a French corruption of Greek Λευκωσία (Lefkosia), which is of uncertain meaning. The most probable theory states that it is derived from the Greek phrase λευκό περιουσία (lefko periousia) meaning "white estate"... [more]
Nida(Settlement)Lithuanian The name of a Lithuanian resort town located at the westernmost point of Lithuania and the Baltic states, close to the border with the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. It is said to be derived from Old Prussian nida meaning "fluent."
Nidaros(Settlement)Medieval Scandinavian From the the name of the River Nid (see Nidelva) combined with Old Norse óss denoting the city's location near the river. This was the former name of Trondheim.
Niigata(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 新 (nii) meaning "new" and 潟 (kata) meaning "lagoon". This is the name of a city in Japan, as well as the prefecture in which the city is located.
Ninh Bình(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 寧 (ninh) meaning "peaceful, tranquil, serene" and 平 (bình) meaning "level, even". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Vietnam.
Nininger(Settlement)English Transferred use of the surname Nininger. The township in Minnesota was named for John Nininger, the brother-in-law of Alexander Ramsey, an early governor of Minnesota.
Nipigon(River & Settlement)Ojibwe Town and river in Ontario, Canada. From the Ojibwe word Alimipigon, possibly meaning "where the water begins".
Nipissing(Body of Water & Settlement)Algonquin Lake and town in Ontario, Canada. From the Algonquin word meaning "big water"
Nishinomiya(Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 西 (nishi) meaning "west", the unwritten possessive marker の (no), and 宮 (miya) meaning "temple, shrine, palace"... [more]
Nixa(Settlement)English Named after one of the towns first civic leaders, Nicholas A. Inman. Originally supposed to be called 'Nix' before the inclusion of Inman's middle initial.
Niza(Settlement)Spanish Spanish for the city of Nice, France.