Scandinavian Submitted Place Names
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
ABISKO(Other)SwedishFrom Northern Sami
Ábeskovvu meaning "forest by the big water", from Sami
áphi "lake, sea, big water" and
skovvu, identical to Swedish
skog "forest". The "big water" is probably
Torneträsk...
[more] ÅNGERMANLAND(Region)SwedishDerived from Old Norse
anger "deep fjord". Ångermanland is a historical province in Northern Sweden.
ARENDAL(Settlement)NorwegianCombination of Old Norse
ǫrn "eagle" and
dalr "valley, dale". Arendal is a town and municipality in Southern Norway.
ARGENTINA(Country)English, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swedish, Swahili, Turkmen, UzbekThe name of the Country in South America. Argentina is a massive South American nation with terrain encompassing Andes mountains, glacial lakes and Pampas grassland, the traditional grazing ground of its famed beef cattle...
[more] BANGLADESH(Country)English, Breton, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Interlingua, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, SwedishMeans "land of the Bengalis", from Bengali বাংলা
(Bangla) meaning "Bengali" (referring to the Bengali people or Bengali language spoken by the Bengali people), which is ultimately from
Vanga, the name of an ancient kingdom on the Indian subcontinent (see
Bengal) combined with দেশ
(desh) "country, land, state", ultimately from Sanskrit देश
(deśá)...
[more] BRO(Settlement)SwedishMeans "bridge" in Swedish. This is the name of many localities and parishes in Sweden. It's also a common place name element (see
Örebro).
BURUNDI(Country)English, Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Interlingua, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, TurkishThe name of the Country in East Africa. Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa, bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
ESKILSTUNA(Settlement)SwedishCombination of the Swedish name
Eskil and Swedish
tun (from Old Norse
tún) meaning "enclosure, fence, homestead, courtyard, plot". The town was originally called just
Tuna but was renamed Eskilstuna after Saint Eskil who was stoned to death in 1080...
[more] EUROPA(Region)Catalan, Corsican, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Frisian, Galician, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, SwedishForm of
Europe.
FØROYAR(Country)FaroeseProbably derived from Old Norse
fær "sheep" and
oyer, an archaic Faroese word meaning "islands".
GÖTALAND(Region)SwedishMeans "land of the Geats". The Geats (sometimes referred to as Goths) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting southern Sweden. Götaland is one of three lands of Sweden, the others being
Svealand and
Norrland.
GÖTEBORG(Settlement)SwedishCombination of Swedish
Göte "Geat" and
borg "castle, fortress". The Geats (sometimes referred to as Goths) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting present-day
Götaland in Sweden.
HÄLSINGLAND(Region)SwedishHälsingland is a province in central Sweden meaning "land of the Hälsings". Hälsing is believed to be a combination of Swedish
hals "throat, neck" and
inge "dweller". The
hals-part is probably not referring to the anatomical part, but rather to a narrow strait of water.
HELSINGBORG(Settlement)SwedishHelsingborg 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.
HELSINGØR(Settlement)Danish, NorwegianDanish city founded in the 1420s. The name is derived from the word
hals meaning "neck, narrow strait". William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' is set in
Elsinore (Kronborg), a castle in Helsingør.
HJÄLMAREN(Body of Water)SwedishDerived from Old Swedish
*iælmber "noise, rumble".
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR(Settlement)IcelandicMeans "ice fjord" or "fjord of ice" in Icelandic. Ísafjörður is a town in Iceland.
JÓRVÍK(Settlement)Ancient Scandinavian, IcelandicIcelandic and Old Norse form of
York. It is believed to be derived from Old English
Eoforwic, itself believed to be derived from Latin
Eboracum possibly meaning "place of the yew trees".
JUKKASJÄRVI(Settlement)Swedish, FinnishOriginally from Northern Sami
Čohkkirasjávri meaning "lake of assembly". It was later changed to the much more Finnish-sounding name Jukkasjärvi. This probably changed the meaning of the name as the first element
jukkas is of uncertain origin (but it coincides with the Finnish given name
Jukka)...
[more] KARLSTAD(Settlement)SwedishMeans "
Karl's town" in Swedish. It was named after the Swedish king Karl IX who founded the town in 1584. ...
[more] KEBNEKAISE(Mountain)SwedishDerived from Lule Sami
giebnne "cauldron" and
gájsse "elevated and pointy crest". Kebnekaise is the highest mountain in Sweden.
KIRUNA(Settlement)SwedishFrom the name of the mountain
Kiirunavaara, composed of Finnish
kiiruna "ptarmigan" and
vaara "large forested hill" (from Northern Sami
várri "mountain"). Kiruna is the northernmost town in Sweden known for the Kiruna Mine, the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world, and Esrange Space Center, a rocket range and research centre.
KØBENHAVN(Settlement)DanishNewer form of
Køpmannæhafn, meaning "merchants' harbour".
KRISTIANSTAD(Settlement)SwedishSwedish city founded in 1614, named after the Danish king
Kristian IV. The city is located in
Skåne which belonged to Denmark until 1658.
LULE ÄLV(River)SwedishCombination of Lule Sami
lulij "the people living in the east" (referring to forest Sami people), and Swedish
älv "river".
MADRID(Settlement)Spanish, Croatian, English, Catalan, Czech, Danish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Tatar, TurkishNewer form of
Magerit. The etymology is uncertain, but it could be derived from Arabic المجريط (
al-Magrīt) "source of water". This is the name of the capital of Spain.
MÄLAREN(Body of Water)SwedishDerived from Old Norse
mælir meaning "gravel".
MALMÖ(Settlement)SwedishNewer form of
Malmhaug meaning "gravel pile" or "ore hill". Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden.
MALTA(Country)English, Basque, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Galician, German, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Turkish, Turkmen, West FrisianMalta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea....
[more] MARIEFRED(Settlement)SwedishSwedish town named after a charterhouse called
Pax Mariae "Maria's peace". A combination of the name
Maria and Swedish
fred "peace" (
pax means "peace, harmony" in Latin).
MARIESTAD(Settlement)SwedishMeans "
Maria's town". It was founded in 1583 by Charles IX of Sweden and was named after his wife Maria of the Palatinate....
[more] NÄRKE(Region)SwedishNärke is Swedish historical province. The name is believed to be derived from the word
när meaning "ridge, hill" (not to be confused with the word
nära "close, near").
NIDELVA(River)NorwegianThe name of a river that runs through
Trondheim, and the name of a river in southern Norway. The name is a combination of the words
elv "river" and
nid (of unknown meaning).
ODENSE(Settlement)DanishFrom Old Norse
Óðinn's vé meaning "Odin's sanctuary". This is the 3rd largest city in Denmark and the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), the author of fairy tales such as 'The Little Mermaid' (1837), and 'The Snow Queen' (1844).
ÖREBRO(Settlement)SwedishCombination of Swedish
ör, an archaic word meaning "gravel", and
bro "bridge. ...
[more] OSLO(Settlement)NorwegianMeaning uncertain. It was originally the name of a farm in Bjørvika, a neighborhood in present-day Oslo.
PANAMA(Country)English, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, German, Irish, Italian, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Tagalog, TurkishThe name of the Country in Central America. Panama is a country on the isthmus linking Central and South America. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route...
[more] REYKJAVÍK(Settlement)IcelandicMeans "bay of smokes", from Old Norse
reykir, plural of
reykr “smoke” and
vík "bay". Steam from hot springs in the region is said to have inspired Reykjavík's name.
RIGA(Settlement)English, French, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Afrikaans, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Faroese, Italian, SpanishCognate of
Rīga.
RIKSGRÄNSEN(Settlement)SwedishMeans "the national border" in Swedish. Riksgränsen is a small village and popular ski-resort in Northern Sweden, close to the Norwegian border.
SKÅNE(Political Subdivision)SwedishProvince and county in southern Sweden that was a part of Denmark until 1658. The name is likely derived from Old Norse
Skáney (ultimately derived from the Germanic root
*Skaðin-awjō) meaning "danger" or "damage"...
[more] SKELLEFTEÅ(Settlement)SwedishSwedish city located in
Västerbotten. The first element of the name is of unknown meaning, but is believed to be of Sami origin. The second element is
-eå "river".
SÖDERMANLAND(Political Subdivision)SwedishSödermanland is a Swedish county and province meaning "land of the southern people". The southern people referred to people living south of
Mälaren. The county is slightly smaller than the province due to that the eastern part of the province belongs to
Stockholm county.
SVEALAND(Region)SwedishMeans "land of the Swedes" (see
SVEA). The Swedes were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting present-day Sweden. ...
[more] TALLINN(Settlement)Estonian, English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, SwedishCapital of
Estonia and previously known as
Reval until 1918. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it is believed to be derived from Estonian
Taani-linn(a) meaning "Danish castle" or "Danish town".
TRELLEBORG(Settlement)SwedishDerived from the word
trelleborg meaning "ring fort" or "Viking ring fortress", referring to a type of circular forts built during the Viking Age. The word
trelleborg itself might be a combination of Old Norse
þræll "slave" or
trel "wooden staves" and
borg "fortress, castle".
TRONDHEIM(Settlement)NorwegianThird largest city in Norway. It was founded in 997 by
Olaf Tryggvason and was first known as Kaupangen "the market place" and later
Nidaros. The name Trondheim means "the land where it grows luxuriantly".
TUNA(Other)SwedishDerived from Old Norse
tún meaning "enclosure, fence, homestead, courtyard, plot". This is the name of many localities and parishes in Sweden. It is also a common place-name element (see
Eskilstuna).
UMEÅ(Settlement)SwedishPossibly derived from Old Norse
úma "roaring" and the place name element
-eå "river". Another theory is that the name is derived from Finnish
uoma "riverbed". Umeå is the largest city in
Norrland and the 12th largest city in Sweden...
[more] UPPLAND(Region)SwedishUppland is a Swedish historical province. The name is a combination of Swedish
upp "up" and
land "land". The name is believed to refer to its location north of Lake
Mälaren.
UZBEKISTAN(Country)English, Russian, Croatian, Slovene, Slovak, Swedish, Swahili, Indonesian, Serbian, MalayThe first element,
Uzbek, is of uncertain etymology. One theory suggests that the name is a combination of Turkic
uz meaning "genuine" and the Turkish military title
beg meaning "chieftain, master", ultimately from Sogdian
bek...
[more] VÄRMLAND(Political Subdivision)SwedishSwedish county and province. The name could be derived from Swedish
värma meaning "warmth, to heat up".
VÄSTERÅS(Settlement)SwedishDerived from
Westra Aros meaning "west river mouth". Västerås is the 5th largest city in
Sweden.
VÄSTERBOTTEN(Political Subdivision)SwedishSwedish county (
län) and historical province (
landskap) in Northern Sweden. The name refers to its geographical location west of the
Bothnian Bay and
Bothnian sea. The county is the 2nd biggest in Sweden (by area) and more than two times as big as the province...
[more] VENEZUELA(Country)English, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Tatar, TurkishThe name of the Country in South America. Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America with diverse natural attractions. Along its Caribbean coast are tropical resort islands including Isla de Margarita and the Los Roques archipelago...
[more] VILNIUS(Settlement)Lithuanian, Czech, Danish, English, Estonian, Faroese, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovak, SwedishCapital of
Lithuania. Named after the
Vilnia River whose name is derived from Lithuanian
vilnis "wave".
YEMENS(Country)DanishThe name of the Country in the Middle East. Yemen, officially known as the Republic of Yemen, is an Arab country in Western Asia, occupying South Arabia, the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is the second-largest country in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 km².
ZINKGRUVAN(Settlement)SwedishMeans "the zink mine" in Swedish. Zinkgruvan is both a village and a mine. It is the only locality in Sweden starting with Z.