Sønderborg(Settlement)Danish (Modern) Town in Denmark located in North Slesvig specifically on the southern part of the island of Als and partly on the peninsula Jutland. Sønder meaning "southern" and borg meaning "castle"... [more]
Sparta(Settlement)English, Czech, Danish, Finnish, German, Icelandic, Manx, Polish, Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman From Doric Greek Σπάρτα (Sparta) and Attic Greek Σπάρτη (Spartē), which is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from σπάρτον (sparton) meaning "rope, cable" - a reference to the cords laid as the city’s foundation boundaries, though this could be just a folk etymology.... [more]
Stilla Havet(Body of Water)Swedish Means "the calm sea" in Swedish, from stilla "still, calm" and havet "the sea". This is the Swedish name for the Pacific Ocean.
Storsjön(Body of Water)Swedish Means "the great lake" in Swedish (from stor "big, great, large" and sjön "the lake"). Storsjön is the 5th largest lake in Sweden, but it's also known for being the supposed home of Storsjöodjuret ("The Great-Lake monster"), a lake monster similar to the one in Loch Ness.
Strängnäs(Settlement)Swedish Combination of an uncertain first element (possibly from a word describing a snare used for hunting, but other meanings are possible), and Swedish näs "isthmus". On June 6 in 1523, Gustaf Vasa was elected king of Sweden here... [more]
Surtsey(Island)Icelandic Means "Surtr's island" in Icelandic. Surtsey is an uninhabited island south of Iceland that formed in a volcanic eruption (which lasted several years) in the mid-1960s.
Svalbard(Political Subdivision)Norwegian, English, Swedish Originally from Old Norse Svalbarð, composed of svalr "cold" and barð "edge, ridge". Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean located right between continental Norway and the North Pole.
Tammerfors(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of an unknown first element and Swedish fors "rapid, waterfall". This is the Swedish name of Tampere.
Tavastland(Political Subdivision)Swedish, Danish, Dutch Swedish form of Tavastia, which some countries have adopted as their name for the historical Swedish province that is now part of Finland.
Telemark(Political Subdivision)Norwegian From teler the name of an old Germanic tribe and the Old Norse mǫrk meaning "woodland, borderland, or march/mark."... [more]
Thingvellir(Other)Icelandic The ancient site of the Icelandic government, now a national park. From the Scandinavian 'Þingvöllr', meaning "the meeting place of the assembly".
Trelleborg(Settlement)Swedish Derived 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".
Troms(Political Subdivision)Norwegian A county in Norway. The name comes from the Norse word trums and could mean "stream" or "streaming water".
Tromsø(Settlement)Norwegian From the name of an island, Tromsøya (Old Norse: Trums), whose name is derived from Old Norse straumr possibly meaning "stream, strong current". Tromsø is a city in northern Norway. See also: Troms
Trondheim(Settlement)Norwegian Trondheim is the third largest city in Norway. It was originally named Nidaros but known colloquially as kaupangr "marketplace" or kaupangr í Þróndheimi "the marketplace in Trondheim/Trøndelag" which was later shortened to just Þróndheimr... [more]
Tuna(Other)Swedish Derived 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).
Túnis(Country & Settlement)Icelandic, Portuguese (Brazilian) Icelandic and Brazilian Portuguese form of Tunis. The Icelandic name refers to both the country of Tunisia and the city of Tunis, while the Portuguese name refers only to the city.
Uleåborg(Settlement)Finland Swedish Combination of Ule, the name of a river whose name derives from the Finnish dialectal word oulu "floodwater", Swedish å "river, stream", and borg "castle, fortification"... [more]
Ulkebøl(Settlement)Danish Village on the Danish island of Als. The name is derived from the Frisian given name Ulke (in modern Danish: Ole) and the old Danish word bøl (meaning an outlying farm) and as such means "Ole's outlying farm".... [more]
Umeå(Settlement)Swedish From the name of the Ume River. Possibly derived from Old Norse úma "roaring" and the place name element -eå denoting the city's location near the river. Another theory is that the name is derived from Finnish uoma "riverbed".
Uppland(Region)Swedish Uppland 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.
Uppsala(Settlement)Swedish Means "upstream from Sala", from Old Norse upp "up" and salir "halls, rooms". Sala was a village located downstream from Uppsala (it is nowadays a neighbourhood known as Sala backe)... [more]
Vadstena(Settlement)Swedish Probably a combination of Old Swedish *vazt "place to fish" and sten "stone". Vadstena is a city in Sweden that had an important role in Sweden's early Christian history. Saint Bridget (Heliga Birgitta) founded the Bridgettine Order here at the Vadstena Abbey in the 14th centry.
Vänern(Body of Water)Swedish Meaning uncertain. One theory is that the name is derived from Old Swedish vænir and therefore related to Archaic Swedish words vån "hope, prospect" and vän "beautiful, fair"... [more]
Värmland(Political Subdivision)Swedish Swedish county and province. The name could be derived from Swedish värma meaning "warmth, to heat up".
Västerås(Settlement)Swedish Derived from Westra Aros meaning "west river mouth". Västerås is the 5th largest city in Sweden.
Västerbotten(Political Subdivision)Swedish Swedish county (län) and historical province (landskap) in Northern Sweden. The name refers to its geographical location west of the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea... [more]
Vättern(Body of Water)Swedish Meaning uncertain, but possibly derived from Swedish vatten "water". Vättern is the second largest lake in Sweden and the sixth largest lake in Europe.
Vest-Agder(Political Subdivision)Norwegian From the Norwegian word vest meaning "west" and the place name agder. It means "the western part of Agder."... [more]
Vestfold(Political Subdivision)Norwegian From the old name of the Olsofjord fold and the Norwegian word vest. The name means, "the region west of the fold."... [more]
Visby(Settlement)Swedish Visby is a city on the island of Gotland, Sweden. The area's been settled for a long time and was pre-13th century called just Vi "holy place, place of sacrifice, sanctuary"... [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.
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]
Zinkgruvan(Settlement)Swedish Means "the zink mine" in Swedish. Zinkgruvan is both a village and a mine. It is the only locality in Sweden starting with Z.