Identifies origins, meanings, and historical importances of the names of all North American provinces, states, capitals, countries, and county seats and of selected cities, towns, and geographical features and sites.

There is no populated place without a name, and every name is chosen for a reason. This fascinating dictionary unveils the etymological roots and history of thousands of locations and landmarks from around the world. It contains over 11,000 entries, and covers an enormous range of country, region, island, city, town, mountain and river names from across the world, as well as the name in the local language. Place names are continually changing, and new names are adopted for many different reasons such as invasion, revolution, and decolonization. The Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names includes selected former names, and, where appropriate, some historical detail to explain the transition. The names of places often offer a real insight into the places themselves, revealing religious and cultural traditions, the migration of peoples, the ebb and flow of armies, the presence of explorers, local languages, industrial developments and topography. Superstition and legend can also play a part. This new edition has been updated to include over 750 new names, including Azincourt, Kropyvnyts'kyy , and Tlaxcala. It has also been edited to reflect socio-political and geographical shifts, notably the reorganisation of the French regions, and their consequent name alterations, as well as the decommunization of Ukrainian place-names. In addition to the entries themselves, the dictionary includes two appendices: a glossary of foreign word elements which appear in place-names and their meanings, and a list of personalities and leaders from all over the world who have influenced the naming of places.

Despite the plethora of books about the Civil War, the origins of many of the placenames associated with the conflict remain a mystery. This gazetteer provides information on nearly 1600 sites, including not only locations of battles and skirmishes but also hospitals, prison camps, military academies, factories and navy yards, both North and South. Also listed are islands, rivers, creeks, fords, ferries and railroad stations, as well as many temporary fort and camp names. From Abbeville, Georgia, where Jefferson Davis stopped in May 1865 days before his capture near Irwinville, to Yorktown, Virginia, which was besieged by General George B. McClellan at the start of the Peninsula campaign, entries explain the origin of each placename and its wartime connections. An appendix listing town and city population figures from the 1860 census completes this informative supplement for Civil War scholars and enthusiasts.

This volume combines historical research and linguistic fieldwork with native speakers from across the United States to present the first comprehensive, up-to-date, scholarly dictionary of American placenames derived from native languages." "Linguist William Bright assembled a team of twelve editorial consultants - experts in Native American languages - and many other native contributors to prepare this lexicon of eleven thousand placenames along with their etymologies. New data from leading scholars make this volume an invaluable reference for students of American Indian culture, folklore, and local histories. Bright's introduction explains his methodology and the contents of each entry. This comprehensive, alphabetical lexicon preserves native language as it details the history and culture found in American indian placenames.

Place name elements from over 300 languages are arranged alphabetically, followed by the name of the language or language group of origin, the meaning in English and, in many cases, the word's usage in an actual place name.