Transoxiana(Region)English In English and several other languages, this is the name of a historical region in Central Asia, which was known as Hyperoxiane to the ancient Greeks and as Transoxania to the Romans... [more]
Transylvania(Region)English, Greek Means "beyond the forest", derived from Latin trans meaning "across, beyond" combined with medieval Latin sylvam, which is the accusative singular of the medieval Latin noun sylva meaning "forest, woods" (see Silvius)... [more]
Trece Martires(Settlement)English, Filipino Means "thirteen martyrs" in Spanish, referring to the Thirteen Martyrs of Cavite. This is name of the de facto capital city of Cavite, Philippines.
Tripoli(Settlement)Greek, Italian, English Derived from Ancient Greek Τρίπολις (Tripolis) meaning "three cities", from τρι (tri) meaning "three" and πόλις (polis) meaning "city"... [more]
Trowbridge(Settlement)English It could be derived from the Old English treow-brycg which means “tree bridge”... [more]
Truth Or Consequences(Settlement)English Truth or Consequences is a city in the U.S. It was named after "Truth or Consequences", the radio show.
Tuas(Political Subdivision)Malay, English Means "lever, haul" in Malay, referring to an old fishing technique used by coastal Malays. This is the name of a planning area of Singapore.
Tucson(Settlement)English Of Spanish origin, meaning "black hill."
Tulsa(Settlement)English From Muscogee Tallasi, meaning "old town". This is the name of a city in the US state of Oklahoma.
Turin(Settlement)English, French, German, Piedmontese, Russian From Latin Augusta Taurinorum, itself from Taurini, the name of a tribe. This is the name of the capital city of Piedmont, in northern Italy.
Turkmenia(Country & Political Subdivision)English (Rare) Anglicization of Turkmeniya, the Russian name for the country of Turkmenistan. In the Anglophone world, this name was primarily used during the Soviet era... [more]
Tuscany(Region)English Tuscany is named after the Etruscans who settled central Italy in the 8th century BC.
Tyne(River)English A river in North-East England. Its meaning is unknown, but some sources relate it to a word in a local Celtic or pre-Celtic language *tei-*, meaning 'river'. However, the evidence for the existence of such a word is insufficient.... [more]
Udmurtia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Удмуртия (Udmurtiya), which is derived from the name of the Udmurt people. The ethnic name is from odo-mort meaning "meadow people", from the Permic root od(o) meaning "meadow, glade, turf" and Iranian murt meaning "person, man"... [more]
Ürümqi(Settlement)English From Uyghur ئۈرۈمچى (ürümchi), which may have been derived from Mongolian ᠦᠯᠡᠮᠵᠢ (ülemji) meaning "great", a short form of the phrase ᠦᠯᠡᠮᠵᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠰᠠᠶ᠋ᠢᠬᠠᠨ ᠪᠡᠯᠴᠢᠭᠡᠷ (ülemji-yin say᠋iqan belchiger) meaning "great pasture" or "beautiful pasture"... [more]
Ussuri(Region, Body of Water & River)Russian, English Russian and English variant of the Manchu word Usuri.
Utah(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, from Spanish yuta, name of the indigenous Uto-Aztecan people of the Great Basin perhaps from Western Apache (Athabaskan) yudah "high" (in reference to living in the mountains).
Uttar Pradesh(Political Subdivision)Hindi, Bhojpuri, Urdu, English Means "north province", derived from Sanskrit उत्तर (uttara) meaning "north" and प्रदेश (pradesha) meaning "province". This is the name of a state in northern India, taken from a calque of its former English name, Northern Provinces.
Vail(Settlement)English Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States.
Vallejo(Settlement)Spanish, English The name of a city in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, which was founded by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1807-1890), a Californio military leader and landowner... [more]
Valletta(Settlement)Maltese, English From the name of 16th century French nobleman Jean de Valette. This is the name of the capital city of Malta.
Van(Settlement)English Derived from the surname Vance. Van is a town Texas, USA.
Vatican City(Country)English Vatican City (/ˈvætɪkən/), officially the Vatican City State (Italian: Stato della Città del Vaticano; Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae), is the Holy See's independent city state, an enclave within Rome, Italy... [more]
Vermont(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, literally "green mountain" from French verde "green" + mont "mountain".
Vientiane(Settlement)English, French French form of Lao ວຽງຈັນ (Wiangchan) meaning "city of sandalwood" or "city of the moon" from Lao ວຽງ (wiang) meaning "city, town" and ຈັນ (chan) meaning "sandalwood" or "moon"... [more]
Vilnius(Settlement)Lithuanian, English From the name of the Vilnia River, which is derived from Lithuanian vilnis meaning "wave, ripple". This is the name of the capital city of Lithuania.
Virginia(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, "country of the Virgin", after Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married.
Viroqua(Settlement)English From the Spanish Veragua. A town in Wisconsin.
Vistula(River)English, Latin, Amharic, Indonesian, Romanian, Swahili Borrowed from Latin, likely originating from the Indo-European root *weys- meaning "to flow". It is the longest river in Poland and has significant connections to Polish history and culture.
Volga(River)English, Russian English and Russian name for the largest river in Europe. The Old Mari name of the river is Volgydo, which means "bright". The name volgydo is cognate to Finno-Ugric valkea meaning "white" or "bright"... [more]
Wadsley(Other)English Name of a suburb of the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England.
Walpole(Settlement)English The name of two places in Norfolk and Suffolk. The place names probably derive from Old English walh "foreigner, Briton, serf" (genitive plural wala) and pol "pool", though the Norfolk place name may have Old English wall "wall" as the first element.
Walton(Settlement)English The name of several villages in England, particularly Lancashire. Named from Old English wale, meaning 'Celt, foreigner' (Compare Wales) and tun, meaning 'town, village'.
Warrenville(Political Subdivision)English Warrenville is a city in Illinois. It is also the name of a village in DuPage County.
Waterloo(Settlement)Flemish, English The name of multiple town and cities throughout the world, most notably the Battle of Waterloo, in 1815, where Napoleon was defeated. From the Flemish and Middle Dutch words 'water' and 'loo' (meaning forest, marsh).
Watonga(Settlement)English Watonga is a city in Blaine County, Oklahoma that is named after Arapaho Chief Watonga whose name means "Black Coyote".
Waveney(River)English The name of a river that forms much of the boundary between the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk in eastern England. It is derived from Old English wagen meaning "quagmire" and ēa "meaning "river; running water, stream."
Waverton(Settlement)English Possibly means "Weaver Town" from Old English waver meaning weaver, and ton meaning town.
Wear(River)English A river in North-East England. It is taken to be of Old Celtic origin and meant 'blood-colored water', referring to the reddish-brown color of the river. In modern Welsh, the name would be waed dwr, 'blood water'... [more]
Wellington(Settlement)English From Old English Weolingtun meaning "wealthy estate". Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. It is also the name of several settlements throughout the English-speaking world.
West Virginia(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, The western, transmontane, counties of Virginia; separated from Virginia during Civil War.
Wetherby(Settlement)English A town in West Yorkshire. It's name derives from Old Norse veðra, 'ram' (Swedish vadur, Norwegian vær) and byr, 'farm'. See Waterford.
Why(Settlement)English (American) Small community in Arizona State, US. Arizona law stated that a settlement's name must have at least 3 letters, so the towns founders named the town, which was situated on a Y-section, "Why" instead of "Y"... [more]
Wichita(Settlement)English Name of a city in Kansas, named after the Native American tribe Wichita. Possibly from Wichita We-chate hatchee, "Red Water River".
Wigan(Settlement)English A town in Northern England. Its etymology is uncertain but may represent Brittonic *wig, "a dwelling" (c.f. Welsh gwig), with the nominal suffix -an. Another possibility is that Wigan preserves a personal name corresponding to Gaulish Vicanus, Old Breton Uuicon or Welsh Uuicant.
Wiltshire(Political Subdivision)English The name of a county in southwest central England, earlier Wiltonshire, derived from Wilton (once the county's principal town) and Old English scir meaning "shire, administrative division".
Windhoek(Settlement)Afrikaans, Dutch, English This is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It’s unknown how this place got it’s name, most think it’s from the Afrikaans word wind-hoek, which means ''wind corner''... [more]
Windsor(Settlement)English City in Ontario, Canada, from an English surname that was from a place name meaning "riverbank with a windlass" in Old English (a windlass is a lifting apparatus). This has been the surname of the royal family of the United Kingdom since 1917.
Winnipeg(Settlement)English Name of a city in Manitoba, Canada Ojibwe wiinibig "dirty waters", from wini "dirty" + nibi "water".
Wisconsin(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, from French Ouisconsin, likely from the Miami word Meskonsing "it lies red".
Wisley(Settlement)English It is a small village in Surrey, England.
Woodstock(Settlement)English Name of many towns and cities throughout the world. Means "wood place".
Worthington(Settlement)English Place name meaning either "Wurð's settlement" or "enclosed settlement" in Old English.
Wrexham(Settlement)English Wrexham is a city and the administrative center of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England.
Wryeton(Settlement)English Middle English Wry(e) may mean "bent", "twisted" combined with the "ton" ending.
Württemberg(Political Subdivision & Region)German, English Etymology uncertain. Originally referred to a castle near Stuttgart, and increased its scope as the owners increased their possessions. Scholars have rejected the derivation Wirth am Berg, meaning "innkeeper/host on the hill/mountain"... [more]
Wyoming(Political Subdivision)English (American) Name of a state in the United States, from Algonquian chwewamink "at the big river flat," from xw "big" + e:wam "river flat" + enk "place".
Xi'an(Settlement)Chinese, English Means "western peace" from Chinese 西 (xī) meaning "west" and 安 (ān) meaning "peace, quiet"... [more]
Yakutia(Political Subdivision)English From Russian Якутия (Yakutiya), which is from the name of the Yakut people. The ethnic name ultimately comes from Yаkо, the Evenki name for the Yakuts, which was eventually transferred to Russian... [more]
Yamoussoukro(Political Subdivision & Settlement)English, French, Danish, Portuguese In honor of Yamousso, a Baoulé queen and great-aunt of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905–1993), with the addition of the suffix kro ("village"). This is the name of the de iure capital city of Côte D'ivoire, as well as the name of the district around it.
Yangon(Settlement)Burmese, English Means "end of strife" in Burmese, from ရန် (yan) meaning "enemy, danger" or "quarrel" combined with ကုန် (gon) meaning "to run out, end". This is the name of the largest city in Myanmar, which served as the country's capital until 2006... [more]
Yaoundé(Settlement)English, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Welsh, Yoruba From the outpost of Jaundo, founded between 1887 and 1889 by German explorers Lt. Richard Kund and Hans Tappenbeck and named so after the local Ewondo people, also known as Yaunde. The name could also have been a German rendition of the Ewondo expression mia wondo ("peanut farmers")... [more]
Yenisey(River)Russian, English, Turkish, Azerbaijani The name of a river in northern Mongolian and the Siberian federal district of Russia. It may be derived from either Evenki Ионэсси (Ionəssi) meaning "big water" or Old Kyrgyz Эне-Сай (Ene-Sai) meaning "mother river."
Yerevan(Settlement)Armenian, English, Russian Meaning unknown. It may be from Yervand, the name of a 3rd-century BC Armenian king (also known as Orontes IV), or from Էրեբունի (Erebuni), an ancient Urartian fortification and city... [more]
Yonkers(Settlement)English Name of the 4th most populous city in New York state, a variant of Dutch Jonkers, jonker, "young gentleman", derived from Dutch jong "young".
Yorkshire(Region)English Newer form of Old English Eoferwicscir, a combination of Eoferwic "York" and scīr "shire, district".
Yosemite(Other)English (American), Indigenous American (Anglicized, Rare) A national park and a valley located in Mariposa County, California, the name is derived from the Southern Sierra Miwok joh-heˀ-HmetiH-, meaning "warriors, killers, those not afraid to die"... [more]
Youngstown(Political Subdivision)English Youngstown is a city in Ohio, USA.
Yugoslavia(Country)English From Serbo-Croatian Jugoslavija meaning "land of the South Slavs", derived from jug meaning "south" and slavija meaning "land of Slavs". This was the name of a European country that existed from 1918 to 1941 (as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), from 1943 to 1945 (as the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia), from 1945 to 1992, and from 1992-2003 (as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia).
Zamboanga(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Filipino, Chavacano, Cebuano, Tagalog, English, Spanish Spanish form of Sinama Samboangan meaning "mooring place", derived from samboang meaning "mooring pole" and the place marker suffix -an. This is the name of a peninsula in the Philippines, as well as three provinces and a city located on the peninsula.
Zaragoza(Settlement)Spanish, English From Çaragoça, the medieval form of the Arabic name سرقسطة (Saraqusṭa), from the Roman name Caesaraugusta, which is the combination of two Roman names Caesar and Augusta.
Zealand(Island)English English form of Danish Sjælland. Zealand is the largest island in Denmark (excluding Greenland).
Zzyzx(Settlement)English When it was invented to be the last word listed in a dictionary, an area in California was named Zzyzx.