Comments on: What countries are named after individuals or families?

By: tekumse

tekumse — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:04:01 +0000

Georgia the country is another example of the language differences. In native language or even any of the other local languages it is nothing like George.

By: Sergio G.

Sergio G. — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:06:52 +0000

4 of 31 states of Mexico
Guerrero (from Vicente Guerrero)
Hidalgo (Miguel Hidalgo)
Morelos (José María Morelos)
Quintana Roo (Andrés Quintana Roo)

By: sophy

sophy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:01:27 +0000

Lawrence above said:
“Interesting to me is that you can get different answers in different languages.”

Yeah, the other official name for India is Bharat after King Bharat–long dead but not forgotten. So when Indians speak in Hindi or other Indian languages, they say Bharat–not India.

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:17:33 +0000

Interesting to me is that you can get different answers in different languages. In Hebrew, both modern and biblical, Egypt is called Mitzra’im, and is named after one of the descendants of Noah.

By: kbrowne

kbrowne — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:30:34 +0000

The Canadian province of Alberta was named after Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who was born Louise Caroline Alberta.

By: Will Schenk

Will Schenk — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:09:07 +0000

America – Amerigo Vespucci (country name by way of continent name)
Bolivia – Simón Bolívar
Columbia — Chrisopher Columbus

Those were the few that I knew off my head… wikipedia of course has a huge list http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_named_after_people

By: EDZ

EDZ — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:30:07 +0000

This is fun!

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
The United States of America (Vespucci)
Colombia
San Marino
El Salvador (if you consider Jesus an historical figure)

US States: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Georgia, N and S Carolina, Louisiana, Washington (assuming tribes don’t count as “families,” or else there would be many others)

Canadian provinces: Alberta, PEI

By: Roger Sen

Roger Sen — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:29:25 +0000

Three smaller ones:

Barcelona, Spain: Amílcar Barca (Anibal’s father)
Sandwich Islands: John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
Rome, Italy: Romulus

By: Mark Dettinger

Mark Dettinger — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:13:46 +0000

Pennsylvania = Penn’s Sylvania = Admiral Penn’s Woods

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:34:36 +0000

Pennsylvania (William Penn)
Maryland (Henrietta Maria, Queen Consort of Charles I of England)
Virginia (Elizabeth I of England)
Georgia (George II of England)
North and South Carolina (Charles I of England)
Washington (George Washington)
Louisiana (Louis XIV of France)
Bolivia (Simon Bolivar)
Israel (Biblical Jacob/Israel)
Philipines (Philip II of Spain)