List of toponyms

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In linguistics and grammar, a toponym is a name derived from a place or a region.

This is a list of toponyms, followed by the name of the place it is derived from.

Contents

1 General
2 Events/Agreements
3 Food and Drink
4 Cheese
5 Corporations
6 Elements
7 See also

General

Angora wool, named after Angora
Armageddon, which may be named after Megiddo
Babel, after the story of the Tower of Babel
Balkanization, a geopolitical term for the fragmentation of a region — the Balkans, region in southeastern Europe
Bantustan, a disparaging term used by critics of the Apartheid-era government's "homelands" — territories designated as tribal "homelands" for black South Africans during the Apartheid era
Bay Street, a synonym for Canada's financial industry (similar to Wall Street) — Hudson's Bay Company in Canada
Beltway, name for the highway surrounding Washington, D.C.
Bikini, two-piece bathing suit for women — Bikini Atoll, a Micronesian Island in the Pacific Ocean
the Blarney and Blarney Stone — Blarney Castle
Boeotian
Bohemianism, term referring to artists, writers, and disenchanted people who wished to live a non-traditional lifestyle — Bohemia, a region occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic
Brazilianization, the idea that the white population in the United States will increasingly withdraw from a disjointed society
Broadway, street in New York City synonymous with Musical Theater
Bronx Cheer, a noise made by the mouth to signify derision — The Bronx, a borough of New York City
Brummagem, goods of shoddy quality — Birmingham, city in England
Bungalow, type of house deived from Bengal
Byzantine, used to describe any work, law, or organization that is excessively complex or difficult to understand, named after Byzantine Empire
Canary, bird named after the Canary Islands
Caucasian - Caucasus Mountains
Chautauqua
China, pottery
Chinese Wall, artificial organizational barrier, derived from Great Wall of China
Coach — the village Kocs in Hungary where this vehicle was first made
Sent to Coventry
Denim, from de Nîmes – Nimes, France
Detroit, often used as shorthand for the American automobile industry
Dixieland music — Dixie or "Dixie's Land", a nickname for the American South.
Dollar, currency named after Joachimsthal.
Donnybrook
Doolally named after a fort in the North West Frontier of colonial India (now Pakistan)
Duffel, heavy woollen cloth — Duffel, a town in Belgium
Dunkirk spirit , after the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II
Eden named after the religious Garden of Eden
El Dorado, mythical city of gold
Essex, 'common' or 'nouveau riche' sensibility — Essex, a county near London
Fez, (also called tarboosh), a hat — Fez, a city in Morocco
Finlandization
Fleet Street
Foggy Bottom, United States Department of State — Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Gibraltar, used as a word for a fortress or stronghold, named after the island
Glasgow kiss, a slang term meaning headbutt - Glasgow, Scotland
Greek, a language usage ("all Greek to me") — Greek language of Greece
Gypsies, nomadic peoples in Europe and United States — Egypt
Havana, cigar – from capital of Cuba
Hell, usage in language — Hell, mythical place
Hicksville
Honiton, famous Devon (England) town for lace
Holland, cotton or linen fabric — Holland
Hollywood, shorthand for the American film industry – Hollywood, district of Los Angeles, California
Iliad (see Troy)
Indian
Java, slang for coffee – from island in Indonesia
Jersey cattle (also tomato, milk, cream, jumper) — Jersey, one of the Channel Islands
K Street, lobbying industry
Labyrinth
Left Bank, style of life, fashion, or "look" — "Left Bank", bank of the Seine which is to the left, near Paris
Lesbian, homosexual — Lesbos, island in Greece
Lilliputian, meaning very small sized — Lilliput, fictional island in the book Gulliver's Travels
Madison Avenue, a metaphor for advertising — Madison Avenue, a street in New York
Magenta, colour — named after Magenta, Italy
Marathon, long race — Marathon, Greece, town
Madras, lightweight cotton fabic — Madras, old name for Chennai, coastal city in southeastern India
Main Street, name for a generic American community
Manila envelopes, Manila fiber — Manila, city in Philippines
Marseillaise, national anthem of France — Marseille, city in France
Masada
Mausoleum, a large and impressive tomb — Mausoleum of Maussollos in Turkey
Mecca, ultimate destination or activity center — Mecca, holy city in Saudi Arabia
Mongoloid race — Mongolia, country in northern Asia
Motown, R & B music – Detroit, Michigan (called the Motor City)
Neanderthal man, known by his fossils — Neanderthal, Germany, valley where the fossils were found
Nuremberg Trials — Nuremberg, German city where the trials were held
Olympics, worldwide games — Mount Olympus, tallest mountain in Greece
Paisley (design), used in shawls — Paisley, Scotland
Palookaville
Peoria – symbolic of small-town America
Peyton Place
Quai d'Orsay, French Ministry of External Affairs
the Rubicon, the point of no return — Rubicon (or Rubico), Latin name for a small river in northern Italy
Rugby football — Rugby School, in Rugby, central England
Seltzer (commercial name)
Shambhala
Shanghai woman, English expression for a prostitute — Shanghai, China's largest city
Shangri-La, a mythical utopia, a language usage — Shangri-La, fictional place in the novel Lost Horizon
Siamese twins, conjoined twins — Siam, old name for Thailand
Siberia, a remote undesirable location — Siberia, in eastern Russia
Skid Row, originally Skid Road of Seattle, now the rundown area of a U.S. city
Sodomy, forbidden sexual acts — Sodom, Biblical town on the plain of the Jordan River
Solecism, incorrect or ungrammatical usage of language — Soli an ancient city in Cilicia, where a dialect of Greek regarded as substandard was spoken.
Spa, place having water with health-giving properties — Spa, a municipality in Belgium
Surrey, horse-drawn carriage — Surrey, southern England
Timbuktu, metaphor for an exotic, distant land — Timbuktu, city on the Niger River in Mali, West Africa
Tin Pan Alley
Trojan horse, malicious computer virus — Trojan Horse, of Troy, from the Iliad
Utopia, term for organized society — Utopia, fictional republic from the book of the same name
Wall Street, financial market — Wall Street, a narrow thoroughfare in lower Manhattan running east from Broadway downhill to the East River
Watergate, American political scandal and constitutional crisis of the 1970s — Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Woodstock Festival, music and art festival held in August, 1969 — venue of the festival Woodstock, New York
Xanadu, a symbol of opulence — Xanadu (or Shangdu), summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire
Zion

Events/Agreements

Beijing (China) - the Fourth World Conference on Women of 1994
Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) - The Bretton Woods system
Cairo (Egypt) - the International Conference on Population and Development of 1994
Copenhagen (Denmark) - the World Summit for Social Development of 1995
Durban (South Africa) - the World Conference against Racism of 2001
Geneva (Switzerland) - the Geneva Conventions, and the unofficial Geneva Accord negotiations of 2003
Hiroshima (Japan) - the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945
Kyoto (Japan) - the Kyoto Protocol of 1997
Maastricht (The Netherlands) - the Maastricht treaty of 1992
Munich (Germany) - the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics
My Lai (Vietnam) - the My Lai Massacre of 1968
Oslo (Norway) - the Oslo Accords of 1993
Potsdam (Germany) - the Potsdam Conference in 1945
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) - site of the Earth Summit, officially the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) of 1992
Schengen (Luxembourg) - the Schengen treaty of 1985
Seattle (Washington) - the WTO Meeting of 1999 in Seattle
Yalta (Ukraine) - the Yalta Conference of 1945
Warsaw (Poland) - the Warsaw Pact (1955 - 1991)
Waterloo (Belgium) - the Battle of Waterloo in 1815

Food and Drink

Berliner (pastry), named after Berlin.
Bombay duck, a kind of fish — Bombay, old name for Mumbai, coastal city in western India
Bordeaux
Brussels sprout
Burgundy
Cantaloupe (also called rockmelon), a variety of melon — Cantalupo, the Pope's summer residence
Cantonese Chow/Lo Mein
Champagne, a sparkling wine named after the region of France in which it is produced.
Cognac
Cuban, sub sandwich in Florida — Cuba, country in the Caribbean
Danish, a sweet pastry — (in Denmark it is called wienerbrød, which means "bread from Vienna").
Dijon, mustard named after the French city
Frankfurter (or Wiener — from Vienna)
Hamburger — Hamburg, Germany
Hollandaise sauce — Holland
Madeira wine, a fortified wine and Plum in madeira, a dessert — Madeira islands of Portugal
Manhattan cocktail — Manhattan Club in New York City
Mocha coffee, ice cream — Mocha, Yemen, place where the coffee is grown
Peking Duck, a Chinese dish made of duck — Peking, old name for Beijing, China
Port wine (or Porto), sweet fortified wine — Porto, in northern Portugal
Salisbury Steak — Salisbury, England
Sardine, types of small fish — Sardinia, island in the Mediterranean near Italy
Sherry wine, a mispronunciation of Jerez — Jerez de la Frontera, a city in southern Spain
Yorkshire puddings from Yorkshire

Cheese

American cheese, a common name for processed cheese.
Aveyron(nais)
Caerphilly
Cheddar
Cheshire
Colby
Derby
Gloucester
Gorgonzola
Gouda
Gruyere
Lancashire
Leicester
Limburg(er)
Monterey (Jacks)
Munster
Parme(san)
Roma(no)
Roquefort
Stilton
Swiss
Tilsit
Wensleydale

Corporations

There are some corporations whose name is simply the same as their original location.

Elements

See: Chemical elements named after places