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San Francisco is indirectly named for St. Francis. The city's original name was Yerba Buena. The bay was actually named San Francisco before the city was and it was from the bay that the city took it's name. Berkeley was named for a British poet, George Berkeley and Berkley Mass. was named for him as well but was misspelled. the city I currently live in, Chula Vista means something like, "nice view". Seattle was named for the Indian chief Seathl and anglicized.
In Seattle, most surrounding areas are native names such as Tacoma, Tahoma, Snohomish, Duwamish, Nisqually and Spanaway which became anglicized from Spanueh.
Around San Francisco, there is a mixture of Spanish as well as east coast names. Spanish include: San Bruno, Milpitas, El Cerrito, Alameda, San Pablo, and many others. Cities like Albany, Richmond and Pittsburg were named after the cities in the east. And yes, in the CA version the H was intentionally dropped from Pittsburgh. El Cerrito means "the little hill" and is in reference to the Albany hill, a random small hill sitting there not far from the bay shore. Alameda is apparently a grove of poplar trees.
In the San Diego area, almost all names of surrounding areas are Spanish: Chula Vista, El cajon, La Mesa, Encinitas, Escondido etc. with a few that aren't. El Cajon means "the box". the city mostly sits in a flat shallow valley. La Mesa is quite likely named for Mt. Helix which from certain angles look flat on top like the mesas of the deserts. Escondido means "hidden". It's in a valley surrounded by steep mountains. No one I know has any clue what Encinitas means.
I am gonna' keep coming back to this because I would LOVE to know how BUCKSNORT, Tennessee & MONKEY'S EYEBROW, Kentucky goy their names! Maybe this thread will enlighten!
From around here, the names I don't like are "date" names. Names like "9 de Julio" (July 9th), "25 de Mayo" and so on. These two give name to towns as well as streets, squares, and so on. There's even a street in BA whose name includes the year too: 15 de Noviembre de 1889.
Then, I also don't like the names with a military rank preposed: General Lavalle, Coronel Roca, and so on. And this is regrdless of the person they're honoring. There are some with a political rank instead, like "Presidente Bernardino Rivadavia", Those I don't like either.
Tres Arroyos (Three Streams/Creeks), a town in the province of Buenos Aires.
RÃo Cuarto (Fourth River, not very imaginative though; there's also a First, a Second and a Third River, all of them giving a name to cities and streets apart from the rivers themselves, all of them in the province of Córdoba).
Sierra Colorada (Red Hill or Red Range), a little town in the province of RÃo Negro, which itself has another of this type of name: Black River.
You're right. I had a brain cramp and somehow thought it was named for someone's daughter in British royalty, sort of like Alberta was.
Although... Manitoba's a bit of an odd name for a British girl...
Indeed, unlike the other aboriginal named provinces, the province of Manitoba has it's name because the actual aboriginals and Metis wanted it to have an Aboriginal name, to reflect it's purpose and identity as their recognized homeland in the federation. Unfortunately for them, it's actual destiny ended up being quite different indeed.
San Francisco is indirectly named for St. Francis. The city's original name was Yerba Buena. The bay was actually named San Francisco before the city was and it was from the bay that the city took it's name. Berkeley was named for a British poet, George Berkeley and Berkley Mass. was named for him as well but was misspelled. the city I currently live in, Chula Vista means something like, "nice view". Seattle was named for the Indian chief Seathl and anglicized.
In Seattle, most surrounding areas are native names such as Tacoma, Tahoma, Snohomish, Duwamish, Nisqually and Spanaway which became anglicized from Spanueh.
Around San Francisco, there is a mixture of Spanish as well as east coast names. Spanish include: San Bruno, Milpitas, El Cerrito, Alameda, San Pablo, and many others. Cities like Albany, Richmond and Pittsburg were named after the cities in the east. And yes, in the CA version the H was intentionally dropped from Pittsburgh. El Cerrito means "the little hill" and is in reference to the Albany hill, a random small hill sitting there not far from the bay shore. Alameda is apparently a grove of poplar trees.
In the San Diego area, almost all names of surrounding areas are Spanish: Chula Vista, El cajon, La Mesa, Encinitas, Escondido etc. with a few that aren't. El Cajon means "the box". the city mostly sits in a flat shallow valley. La Mesa is quite likely named for Mt. Helix which from certain angles look flat on top like the mesas of the deserts. Escondido means "hidden". It's in a valley surrounded by steep mountains. No one I know has any clue what Encinitas means.
San Francisco is DIRECTLY named for Saint Francis of Asis, the mission founded there by Father Serra. Yerba Buena - the name for mint - comes from the herb growing in the area and was then transferred to the small pueblo built on the edge of the bay where the creek entered.
An Encino is a small live oak that loses its leaves in the fall as opposed to a Robles, the live oak that keeps its leaves all year. Encinitas means a grove of the small live oak trees that grew in the area when Governor Portola' and Father Crespi' explored the region in 1769.
It is a very simple matter of taking the various towns and cities and doing a search on Wikipedia. They all have a history that explains the names.
San Francisco is DIRECTLY named for Saint Francis of Asis, the mission founded there by Father Serra. Yerba Buena - the name for mint - comes from the herb growing in the area and was then transferred to the small pueblo built on the edge of the bay where the creek entered.
An Encino is a small live oak that loses its leaves in the fall as opposed to a Robles, the live oak that keeps its leaves all year. Encinitas means a grove of the small live oak trees that grew in the area when Governor Portola' and Father Crespi' explored the region in 1769.
It is a very simple matter of taking the various towns and cities and doing a search on Wikipedia. They all have a history that explains the names.
Thanks for the Encinitas update.
having grown up across from San Francisco, we will agree to disagree on that one and leave it at that.
Here in Brazil, many places have indigenous names, mostly from the Tupi language.
The state where I live, Ceará, has an indigenous name. The exact meaning of the word is disputed.
The capital city of the state, where I live, is named Fortaleza, and that is not an indigenous name, it's the Portuguese for "fortress", since the city originated around a fortress.
Also, many place names of indigenous origin in Brazil have the sufix "açu" or "assu": Igarassu, Iguaçu. "Açu" means "big" or "large", in the Tupi language.
And many place names of indigenous origin have the sufix "mirim": Mogi-Mirim, Guajará-Mirim. "Mirim" means "little" or "small", in the Tupi language.
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