What is the origin of the name of your Province or State?
I live in Ontario which name was acquired from the Iroquois word kanadario which means Sparkling Water
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Longpatrol · 31-35, M
Singapore or Singa Pura meaning Lion City in Bahasa.
Legend states that a Javan prince by the name of Sang Nila Utama spotted a Lion on the shores of the island and declared it Lion City.
Funny thing is, there are no lions native to this region, you'd have to go all the way to India for that.
So the legendary founder of Singapore was most definitely high when he found this place.
Legend states that a Javan prince by the name of Sang Nila Utama spotted a Lion on the shores of the island and declared it Lion City.
Funny thing is, there are no lions native to this region, you'd have to go all the way to India for that.
So the legendary founder of Singapore was most definitely high when he found this place.
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
Longpatrol · 31-35, M
@CountScrofula Not Prince Albert?
CountScrofula · 41-45, M
@Longpatrol I mean indirectly, she was named after him.
JimboSaturn · 51-55, M
Ducky · 31-35, F
I'm in Arizona, US. A common misconception is that Arizona gets its name from the Spanish term "arida zona," meaning "arid zone," but that's not true. It actually gets it name from a term in the indigenous Oʼodham peoples language "ali sonak," meaning "small spring." To the European settlers, it sounded like "Arizona" and eventually, the name became applied to the territory and subsequent state.
Beatbox34 · 31-35, M
This is what I found from an article from a reputed newspaper.
[quote]Delhi and Its Neighbourhood , brought out by the Archaeological Survey of India, historian Y.D. Sharma says, “The first medieval city of Delhi founded by the Tomars was called Dhilli or Dhillika, although among the known records the name Dhillika occurs for the first time in the inscription of 1170 from Bijolia, District Udaipur, which mentions the capture of Delhi by the Chahamanas. The Palam Baolli inscription of 1276 written in the time of Balban calls it Dhilli and the country in which it lies as Hariyanaka. But an inscription of the reign of Mohd Thuglak (1328) refers to the city as Dhillika… It is also called Dhilli, Dihli and Dhilli in old records, some of which refer to it as Dehali, meaning threshold of the country, though other prefer Dilli, the heart of Hindustan.[/quote]
[quote]Delhi and Its Neighbourhood , brought out by the Archaeological Survey of India, historian Y.D. Sharma says, “The first medieval city of Delhi founded by the Tomars was called Dhilli or Dhillika, although among the known records the name Dhillika occurs for the first time in the inscription of 1170 from Bijolia, District Udaipur, which mentions the capture of Delhi by the Chahamanas. The Palam Baolli inscription of 1276 written in the time of Balban calls it Dhilli and the country in which it lies as Hariyanaka. But an inscription of the reign of Mohd Thuglak (1328) refers to the city as Dhillika… It is also called Dhilli, Dihli and Dhilli in old records, some of which refer to it as Dehali, meaning threshold of the country, though other prefer Dilli, the heart of Hindustan.[/quote]
DunningKruger · 61-69, M
FreeSpirit1 · 51-55, F
OldBrit · 61-69, M
There's been humans living in my area for at least 500,000 years, the forebears of later Neanderthals.
However the name of my county, Kent, comes more from Roman times. The tribe that was living here when the Romans first arrived they called the Cantii. Kent is a Anglicized and evolved version of that.
However the name of my county, Kent, comes more from Roman times. The tribe that was living here when the Romans first arrived they called the Cantii. Kent is a Anglicized and evolved version of that.
blackarcher256 · 61-69, M
sarabee1995 · 26-30, F
[center][big][i]Massachusetts[/i][/big][/center]
[quote]Massachusetts takes its name from the Massachusett tribe of indigineous people, who lived in the Great Blue Hill region south of Boston. The term roughly translates as “at or about the Great Hill”.[/quote]
[quote]I demand we re-instate the borders of the original [b][i]Province of Massachusetts Bay[/i][/b]:
![]()
NY & NJ, you're ours!
NH & VT, get back over here!
ME & VT, don't think of leaving!
CT & RI, join the club!
You too, Nova Scotia, you're ours!
[/quote]
[quote]Massachusetts takes its name from the Massachusett tribe of indigineous people, who lived in the Great Blue Hill region south of Boston. The term roughly translates as “at or about the Great Hill”.[/quote]
[quote]I demand we re-instate the borders of the original [b][i]Province of Massachusetts Bay[/i][/b]:
NY & NJ, you're ours!
NH & VT, get back over here!
ME & VT, don't think of leaving!
CT & RI, join the club!
You too, Nova Scotia, you're ours!
[/quote]
KiwiBird · 36-40, F
@sarabee1995 There is a lil hill in New Zealand with a longish name.
The longest place name in the world [b]Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu[/b]
Roughly translates as "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his flute to his loved one"
The longest place name in the world [b]Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu[/b]
Roughly translates as "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his flute to his loved one"
ArishMell · 70-79, M
I don't know the etymology of the name [i]Dorset[/i] - which is not and never was "Dorsetshire" - but the county is part of the South-Western English region of [i]Wessex[/i]. Though now vaguely-defined and not a formal administrative area, the suffix [i]~sex[/i] indicates Wessex was originally a Saxon kingdom.
One of Dorset's most famous geographical features is the bay bar made entirely of shingle, called Chesil Beach. Its name is from the Old English word [i]cisel[/i] for... 'shingle'.
Other posts here show William Penn was the founder and first governor of the State of Pennsylvania. He was a Dorset native whose family home was on the original Portland, on the Dorset coast.
One of Dorset's most famous geographical features is the bay bar made entirely of shingle, called Chesil Beach. Its name is from the Old English word [i]cisel[/i] for... 'shingle'.
Other posts here show William Penn was the founder and first governor of the State of Pennsylvania. He was a Dorset native whose family home was on the original Portland, on the Dorset coast.
HumanEarth · 56-60, F
mindlessdrifter · M
caPnAhab · 26-30, M
Nevada
Is a Spanish word that refers to the snow on the mountains. Of all the land features to note, I wouldn't think that's the most obvious
Is a Spanish word that refers to the snow on the mountains. Of all the land features to note, I wouldn't think that's the most obvious
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@caPnAhab You illustrate a point that I think many people miss, that many if not most geographical names might look exotic but when translated into your own language, are really quite mundane descriptions of the features! They were often named locally when most people did not travel far from their own villages; but European settlers tended to impose their own names on things.
A shingle beach in my part of the world is called "Chesil Beach". Translated from Old English, it means just "Shingle Beach".
There is a short river on a fell in the Pennine Hills of Northern England, called "Fell Beck". It means only "Hill Steam": the region's dialect is heavily Scandinavian and in modern Norwegian that stream is "Fjell Bekk". ("Fell" / "Fjell" means rather loosely, hill or upland moor.)
I don't know the etymology of "Pennine", but Norway itself is full of Kvitfjells, Blåfjells, Snåfjells.... respectively White, Blue and Snow[-covered] Hills, again from when few people travelled far. (I think I've spelled them correctly.)
My nickname here concatenates "Arish Mell", a small bay on the English South coast, but I do not know its etymology. Arish might have been the family name of some land-owner many centuries ago, perhaps.
A shingle beach in my part of the world is called "Chesil Beach". Translated from Old English, it means just "Shingle Beach".
There is a short river on a fell in the Pennine Hills of Northern England, called "Fell Beck". It means only "Hill Steam": the region's dialect is heavily Scandinavian and in modern Norwegian that stream is "Fjell Bekk". ("Fell" / "Fjell" means rather loosely, hill or upland moor.)
I don't know the etymology of "Pennine", but Norway itself is full of Kvitfjells, Blåfjells, Snåfjells.... respectively White, Blue and Snow[-covered] Hills, again from when few people travelled far. (I think I've spelled them correctly.)
My nickname here concatenates "Arish Mell", a small bay on the English South coast, but I do not know its etymology. Arish might have been the family name of some land-owner many centuries ago, perhaps.
antonioioio · 70-79, M
It's simple
You have the county Waterford and the city of Waterford
The Vickings came up the river and built a water ford and hence the name
You have the county Waterford and the city of Waterford
The Vickings came up the river and built a water ford and hence the name
bookerdana · M
The Dutch coined it New Amsterdam after fleecing the Indigenous Lenape, later changed to New York
CactusJackManson · M
Virginia, named after the "Virgin" Queen, Elizabeth I
JimboSaturn · 51-55, M
That makes sense.
wildbill83 · 36-40, M
Carolina/Charles I
GeorgeTBH · 31-35, M
interesting
bijouxbroussard · F
Now this I didn’t know ! From historycooperative.org:
[quote] [b]California Name Origin: Spanish Explores and Las Sergas de Esplandián
In the 16th century, way before the United States became an actual country, a group of Spanish explorers started searching for an island called California described by a Spanish writer in a book called Las Sergas de Esplandián.
The book was written by a man named Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, a critically acclaimed writer at the time. It describes a mythical island paradise populated only by black warrior women, east of the Indies, and close to the garden of Eden.
The Spanish explorers did indeed find an unexplored area and believed it to be an island. They believed it to be the mythical island as described by Montalvo.
Little did the explorers know that it wasn’t the exact island they were looking for, or even an island altogether. This didn’t stop them, however, from naming the place after the island described in Montalvo’s novel.
Today, we know that the Spanish conquistadors did discover a terrestrial paradise on the Pacific coast. However, it was the area that we know today as the Baja California Peninsula, or the Baja Peninsula of California.
[/b]
[/quote]
[quote] [b]California Name Origin: Spanish Explores and Las Sergas de Esplandián
In the 16th century, way before the United States became an actual country, a group of Spanish explorers started searching for an island called California described by a Spanish writer in a book called Las Sergas de Esplandián.
The book was written by a man named Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, a critically acclaimed writer at the time. It describes a mythical island paradise populated only by black warrior women, east of the Indies, and close to the garden of Eden.
The Spanish explorers did indeed find an unexplored area and believed it to be an island. They believed it to be the mythical island as described by Montalvo.
Little did the explorers know that it wasn’t the exact island they were looking for, or even an island altogether. This didn’t stop them, however, from naming the place after the island described in Montalvo’s novel.
Today, we know that the Spanish conquistadors did discover a terrestrial paradise on the Pacific coast. However, it was the area that we know today as the Baja California Peninsula, or the Baja Peninsula of California.
[/b]
[/quote]
DDonde · 31-35, M
Pennsylvania is pretty straightforward. There was a guy named William Penn.
iamonfire696 · 41-45, F
I am from Manitoba
[quote] Manitoba
The name is believed to have originated with Cree term "Man-into-wahpaow", meaning “the narrows of the Great Spirit”, which describes Lake Manitoba and how it narrows significantly at the centre. The province entered confederation in 1870 following the Manitoba Act. Sir John A. Macdonald announced that the province’s name, suggested by Métis leader Louis Riel, was selected for its pleasant sound and its associations with the original inhabitants of the area.
[/quote]
[quote] Manitoba
The name is believed to have originated with Cree term "Man-into-wahpaow", meaning “the narrows of the Great Spirit”, which describes Lake Manitoba and how it narrows significantly at the centre. The province entered confederation in 1870 following the Manitoba Act. Sir John A. Macdonald announced that the province’s name, suggested by Métis leader Louis Riel, was selected for its pleasant sound and its associations with the original inhabitants of the area.
[/quote]