Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
Göteborg(Settlement)Swedish From the name of Göta älv ("River of the Geats"), combined with Swedish borg "castle, fortress". The Geats were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting present-day Sweden. Göteborg is the second largest city in Sweden.
Goyang(Settlement)Korean Combination of 高 (고, go, "high, tall") and 陽 (양, yang, "sky, sun, sun light, morning"). This is the name of a city in South Korea.
Grande Prairie(Settlement)English (Canadian) Grande Prairie takes its name from the large open prairie surrounding the area. The term grande comes from French, used by early French-speaking fur traders in the region. The area was originally inhabited by Indigenous peoples, including the Dane-zaa (Beaver) Nation... [more]
Greenwich(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English Means "green harbour, green settlement", derived from Old English grene "green" and wic, which can mean both "village, town" and "bay, inlet".
Gressenhall(Settlement)English Derived from the Old English grēosn "gravel" or gærsen "grass" and the Anglian halh meaning "a nook of land". The name of a village in the county of Norfolk.
Groningen(Settlement)Dutch, English, German This is a city in the north of the Netherlands and the capital city of the Groningen province. The meaning and origin of the name "Groningen" is unknown, one theory is that "Groningen" meant among the people of Groni, which was derived from lake Gronesbeke... [more]
Grozny(Settlement)Russian, English Means "formidable, menacing, fearsome" in Russian. This is the name of the capital city of the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Grzyb(Settlement & Other)Polish Meaning "mushroom". It is the name of a village and part of the village of Gawłów in central Poland, as well as several rock formations.
Grzybina(Settlement)Polish From the surname Grzyb (literally "mushroom") with the suffix -ina. It is a village in northeast Poland.
Grzybiny(Settlement)Polish From grzyb meaning "mushroom" with the suffix -ina in the plural form. It is a village in northern Poland.
Grzybów(Settlement)Polish From grzyb meaning "mushroom" with the suffix -ów, sometimes via the surname Grzyb. It is the name of over a dozen settlements across Poland... [more]
Grzybowa(Settlement & Other)Polish From grzyb meaning "mushroom" with the suffix -owa, sometimes via the surname Grzyb. It is the name of a part of Warsaw, as well as two small settlements and a rock formation in southern Poland.
Grzybowa Góra(Mountain & Settlement)Polish Meaning "mushroom mountain". It is the name of three different mountains and a village in southern Poland.
Grzybowo(Settlement)Polish From grzyb meaning "mushroom" with the suffix -owo, sometimes via the surname Grzyb. It is the name of about a dozen current and former settlements across Poland.
Grzybowo-Kapuśnik(Settlement)Polish See Grzybowo; Kapuśnik may come from the surname Kapustnik, kapusta suffixed with -nik, kapustnik meaning "cabbage patch" or from an old form of kapuśniak "cabbage soup", in all cases ultimately from kapusta meaning "cabbage"... [more]
Grzybowszczyzna(Settlement)Polish From surname Grzybowski with suffix -yzna, or grzyb with suffix -(ow)szczyzna (possibly via the surname Grzyb), in either case ultimately from grzyb meaning "mushroom"... [more]
Guadalajara(Political Subdivision, Region & Settlement)Spanish name comes from the Arabic (وادي الحجارة) wādī al-ḥajārah which means "Valley of the Stone", or "Fortress Valley". A city in Mexico bears this name from the birthplace of a conquistador of the same name as the city and the province of Spain the same name.
Guanajuato(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Spanish Derived from Purépecha kuanhasï juáta or kuanasï uata meaning "hill of frogs". This is the name of a state of, as well as a city in, Mexico.
Guangzhou(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 广 (guǎng) referring to the ancient prefecture of Guang that spanned parts of present-day Guangdong (the character itself means "broad, wide, extensive") and 州 (zhōu) meaning "province, prefecture"... [more]
Guantánamo(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Spanish, Taíno (Hispanicized) Borrowed from an uncertain Taino term meaning "land between rivers". This is the name of a city and province in Cuba.
Guayama(Settlement)Spanish (Latin American) A city and municipality in Puerto Rico. Most likely from the name of a Taíno cacique, Guayama, from Taíno wayama meaning "great place, big open space"; however, a local story suggests that the name comes from the surname of a local landowner, Juanan Guayama.
Guayaquil(Settlement)Spanish From the older name Santiago de Guayaquil, the second part of uncertain origin. It may have been derived from the joined names of indigenous leader Guayas and his wife, Quil. This is the name of a city in Educador.
Gusu(Mountain & Settlement)Chinese Meaning uncertain, probably of Wu or Yue origin. This is the name of a mountain in China and of a capital city of the ancient Chinese state of Wu.
Guttenberg(Settlement)English Name of a town in Hudson County, New Jersey. It was either named after Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, or the German word for "good village".
Guymon(Settlement)English (American) Transferred use of the surname Guymon. The city in Oklahoma was named for Edward T. "E.T." Guymon, president of the Inter-State Land and Town Company.
Hachiōji(Settlement)Japanese Means "eight princes" in Japanese, from 八 (hachi), meaning "eight", 王 (ō), meaning "king", and 子 (shi), meaning "child"... [more]
Hackney(Settlement)English A district of London. It possibly derives from Old English Haka’s ey, meaning 'Haka's Island'.
Hadley(Settlement)English Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2020 census. The name means “heather field.” and it was renamed for Hadleigh, Suffolk
Hadria(Settlement)Ancient Roman The name of two Roman settlements. The first one is modern Adria. It is an important Etruscan port town in northern Italy. The second one is modern Atri. It is named after the northern town in Italy... [more]
Hafnarfjörður(Settlement)Icelandic Combination of Icelandic höfn "harbour, port" and fjörður "fjord". Hafnarfjörður is the third largest city in Iceland.
Hà Giang(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 河 (hà) meaning "waterway" and 江 (giang) meaning "river".
Hà Giang(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese Possibly derived from Sino-Vietnamese 河 (hà) meaning "river" and a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 楊 (yáng) meaning "willow, poplar, aspen"... [more]
Haiphong(Settlement)English From Vietnamese Hải Phòng derived from Sino-Vietnamese 海 (hải) meaning "sea, ocean" and 防 (phòng) meaning "defend, protect, guard"... [more]
Hakha(Settlement)English From Burmese ဟားခါး (Hahka) possibly derived from Shan ဟား (ha) meaning "requesting, begging" and ခါး (hka) meaning "bitterness, without sweetness", referring to the residents of the historical village who had to pay taxes to the village's original founders... [more]
Hakone(Settlement)Japanese This is the name of a resort town in Japan's Kanagawa prefecture which, apart from its hot spring resorts, houses the Hakone Shrine (箱根神社, はこねじんじゃ) which dedicates to the Hakone Gongen (箱根権現, はこねごんげん).... [more]
Halifax(Settlement)English Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. The city was named after George Montagu-Dunk, the 2nd Earl of Halifax, a market town in West Yorkshire, England... [more]
Hallow(Settlement)English Hallow is a village and civil parish beside the River Severn.
Hạ Long(Settlement)Vietnamese Means "descending dragon" from Sino-Vietnamese 下 (hạ) meaning "lower, bring down, descend" and 龍 (long) meaning "dragon". This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Hamamatsu(Settlement)Japanese Means "pine beach" in Japanese. The kanji that make up the name are 浜 (hama), meaning "beach, seashore", and 松 (matsu), meaning "pine tree"... [more]
Hamhung(Settlement)English, Korean From Korean 함흥 (Hamheung) derived from Sino-Korean 咸 (ham) referring to the city's former name, Hamju, combined with 興 (heung) meaning "thrive, prosper, flourish". This is the name of a city in North Korea, also used as an alternate transcription of Korean 함흥 (see Hamheung).
Hamm(Settlement)German Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Hammond(Settlement)English Transferred use of the English surname Hammond. The city in Indiana was named for George H. Hammond, the owner of a nearby meat-packing plant.
Hangzhou(Settlement & Political Subdivision)Chinese From Chinese 杭 (háng) derived from the name of the ancient county of 余杭 (Yúháng) — meaning uncertain but most likely of Baiyue origin — and 州 (zhōu) meaning "province, prefecture"... [more]
Hanoi(Settlement)English From Sino-Vietnamese 河內 (Hà Nội), which is derived from Chinese 河內 (Hénèi) meaning "inside the river", from 河 (hé) meaning "river, stream" and 内 (nèi) meaning "inside", so named because of the area's location within the Red River... [more]
Harbin(Settlement)Manchu, English From a dialectal name meaning "(place of) drying fishnets" in Manchu, so named because the area was once a small fishing village. This is the name of a city in China.
Harlan(Region, Settlement, Mountain & Other)German Harlan is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Harlan County, Kentucky, United States. Harlan County is well known in folk and country music, having produced many prominent musicians. During the 20th century, it was often a center of labor strife between coal mine owners and union workers, especially in the Harlan County War of the 1930s.
Harrisburg(Settlement)English After a person bearing the surname Harris. In the case of the capital city of the US state of Pennsylvania, the city was named after founder John Harris Sr.
Hartford(Settlement)English Variant of Hertford, from the union of the words heorot ("hart, stag") and ford. This spelling is mostly used in the United States, most famously by the capital city of the State of Connecticut.
Hastinapura(Settlement)Sanskrit Means "city of elephants" in Sanskrit, from हस्तिना (hastinā) meaning "elephants" and पुर (pura) meaning "city". This was the name of the ancient capital of the Kuru kingdom, allegedly founded by King Hasti, the son of King Kuru, on the bank of the Ganges river in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
Hatillo(Settlement)Spanish (Latin American) A town and municipality in Puerto Rico. Likely from Spanish hatillo meaning "bundle".
Hà Tĩnh(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 河 (hà) meaning "river" and 靜 (tĩnh) meaning "still". This is the name of a city in Vietnam as well as the province in which it is located.
Hat Yai(Settlement)Thai From a short form of Thai มะหาดใหญ่ (mahat yai) meaning "big monkey fruit" (a type of tree). This is the name of a city in southern Thailand.
Havana(Settlement)English From Spanish Habana, derived from Habaguanex, the name of a Taíno chief who controlled the area. This is the name of the capital city of Cuba.
Havane(Settlement)French French form of Havana, usually written with the definite article: La Havane.
Havasu(Settlement & Body of Water)English (American), Indigenous American Means “blue” in the Mojave language. In July 2024, a 4 month old baby died of heat exposure while her negligent parents partied on Lake Havasu (California-Arizona border).... [more]
Hawley(Settlement)English The name of various settlements in England, all suffixed with Old English leah meaning "woodland", but with different initial elements... [more]
Hebron(Settlement)English From Hebrew חֶבְרוֹן (Ḥevrōn), ultimately from northwest Semitic ḥbr meaning "unite, colleague, friend, alliance". Several sites in the United States were named for the city in Palestine.
Hefei(Settlement)Chinese The name means "The junction of two rivers". The earliest record could be tracked back to the Han Dynasty (circa B.C. 202 - A.D. 8). 合 (hé) meaning "junction" and the two rivers 肥 (féi) being 南淝河 (South Fei River) and 东淝河 (East Fei River)... [more]
Heijō(Settlement)Japanese Alternate reading of Pyon'yan. This was the name for Pyongyang used during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the 20th century.
Heishan(Country, Political Subdivision & Settlement)Chinese Means "black mountain" in Chinese, from 黑 (hēi) meaning "black" and 山 (shān) meaning "mountain", used as the Chinese name for Montenegro (derived from a calque of the country's Montenegrin and Serbo-Croatian name, Crna Gora)... [more]
Heleb(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Kurdish Kurdish form of Aleppo.
Helena(Settlement)English Name of the capital city of Montana. Form the given name Helena
Helep(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Uyghur Uyghur form of Aleppo.
Helmsley(Settlement)English A small market town in Northern England. It's name derives from the Old English Helm, a personal name and leah, which means 'clearing, field'.
Helsingborg(Settlement)Swedish Helsingborg is a city in Scania, Sweden. The name is a combination of hals "neck, narrow strait" and borg "castle, fortification". There has been a permanent settlement around Helsingborg since 1085, making it one of Sweden's oldest cities.
Helsingfors(Settlement)Finland Swedish, Swedish From Swedish helsing, composed of hals "neck, narrow strait" and -inge denoting an inhabitant, combined with fors "rapid, waterfall". Helsing was either taken from the name of the Swedish province Hälsingland (where many early settlers originated from), or directly from the Swedish word (referring to a narrow part of the Vantaa River)... [more]
Helsingør(Settlement)Danish, Norwegian Combination of helsing (itself a combination of Danish hals "narrow strait, neck" and -ing, a suffix denoting an inhabitant) and ør "gravel" (in this case referring to Øresund, a strait separating Denmark from Sweden)... [more]
Hemet(Settlement, Body of Water & Other)English (American) Etymology uncertain. Possibly from Swedish hemmet meaning "home, homeland". Other theories claim that the name is derived from an unspecified Native American language, possibly meaning "box", "acorn valley", "surrounded by trees", or derived from a female given name, Hemetica... [more]
Hempstead(Settlement)English Name of a town and village in Nassau County, New York. It is either named after the Dutch castle of Heemstede, or the British town of Hemel Hempstead.
Hengesdon(Settlement)Medieval English Earlier name for Hingston Down in Moretonhampstead, Devon, recorded in 1333. It meant "Hengest's hill" or "stallion's hill" from the Old English byname Hengest (or from Old English hengest "stallion") and Old English dun "hill".
Herculaneum(Settlement)Ancient Roman An ancient Roman town in Italy destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Derived from the name of Hercules, a mythological figure whom some claimed had founded the settlement.
Herkimer(Settlement)English (American) Herkimer is a small settlement in new york USA. Herkimer was founded in 1788.... [more]
Hershey(Settlement)English A small community in Pennsylvania.
Hertford(Settlement)English Comes from a ford where a Hart (a male deer) drank at a ford.
Heshmon(Settlement)Biblical Hebrew City south of Judah, recorded in Joshua 15:27. Literal meaning, "fatness." Contextual meaning, "abundant blessing."
Hestitona(Settlement)Anglo-Saxon (Latinized) Latinized form of Old English Hengestestun meaning "town of Hengest", derived from the genitive of the Old English personal name Hengest and tun "enclosure, yard, town"... [more]
Hialeah(Settlement)American The name of a city in the American state of Florida, commonly said to mean "pretty prairie" from Muskogee haiyakpo "prairie" and hili "pretty". Alternatively it may mean "high prairie" or "upland prairie" in Seminole.
Hiawassee(Settlement)English The name of a town in the U.S. state of Georgia, located on the Hiwassee River. It is derived from a Cherokee or Creek word ayuhwasi meaning "meadow".
Hibbing(Settlement)English Transferred use of the surname Hibbing. The city in Minnesota was named for its founder, Frank Hibbing.
Higashiōsaka(Settlement)Japanese Means "East Ōsaka" in Japanese. This is the name of a city in Ōsaka Prefecture, Japan.
Hilo(Settlement)Hawaiian, English Meaning uncertain, possibly derived from Hawaiian hilo meaning "twist, braid, spin". This is the name of a town in the US state of Hawaii.
Hinxton(Settlement)English The name of a village in Cambridgeshire, ultimately derived from a contraction of Old English Hengestestun which possibly meant "town of Hengest", itself from the genitive of the Old English byname Hengest (or from Old English hengest "stallion") and Old English tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Hiroshima(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Japanese From Japanese 広 (hiro) meaning "vast, wide" 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.
Hòa Bình(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 和 (hòa) meaning "peace" and 平 (bình) meaning "level".
Hòa Bình(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 和 (hoà) meaning "peace, harmony" and 平 (bình) meaning "level, even". This is the name of a province of, as well as a city in, Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh(Settlement)English From the name of Vietnamese revolutionary and politician Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969; natively HồChíMinh in Vietnamese)... [more]
Hội An(Settlement)Vietnamese From Sino-Vietnamese 會 (hội) meaning "meeting, festival" and 安 (an) meaning "safe, secure". This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Hollywood(Settlement)English This is the name of several places throughout the United States as well as a few places in England. The most notable place is the district in Los Angeles, California, known for being the home of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose name allegedly means "hauling wood".
Holon(Settlement)Hebrew The name comes from the word "חול" meaning "sand"... [more]
Holywood(Settlement)Northern Irish (Anglicized) English translation of Latin Sanctus Boscus, meaning “holy wood”. Holywood is a seaside town in County Down, Northern Ireland. This was the name the Normans gave to the woodland surrounding the monastery of Saint Laiseran, son of Nasca, founded before 640 on the site of the present Holywood Priory... [more]
Honolulu(Settlement)Hawaiian, English Means "sheltered harbor", from Hawaiian hono "bay, harbor" and lulu "shelter". This is the state capital of Hawaii.
Horningtoft(Settlement)English From the Old English horn "horn-shaped" -ingas "people of" toft "curtilage". "people of the horn-shaped curtilage". The name of a village in the county of Norfolk.
Hornowo(Settlement)Polish From Belarusian горны (horny) meaning "upper". It is a village in northeast Poland.
Houma(Settlement)English (American) A city in Louisiana. From the name of the Houma Native American people.
Houtadi(Settlement)Chinese From Chinese 后 (hòu) meaning "rear," 塔 (tǎ) meaning "tower," and 底 (dǐ) meaning "base" (literally "base of the rear tower"). It is the name of a village in Hebei, China.
Huddinge(Settlement)Swedish Newer form of Uddunge (first mentioned as Wddunge in 1314) meaning "those who live by the headland". Huddinge is a part of Stockholm urban area.
Hue(Settlement)English English unaccented form of Huế.
Huế(Settlement)Vietnamese Likely a non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 化 (huà), which referred to the historical territory of Thuận Hoá (順化) in central Vietnam. This is the name of a city in Vietnam.
Hugo(Settlement)English Transferred use of the French surname Hugo.