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List of countries named after people

This is a list of countries and dependent territories named after people.

Sovereign countries named after people

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Country Source of name
Azerbaijan Atropates (initially Atropatene in Ancient Greek, the name evolved to Azerbaijan in Persian)
Bolivia Simón Bolívar
Colombia Christopher Columbus
Dominican Republic Saint Dominic
El Salvador Jesus (literally, The Saviour)
Eswatini (Swaziland) King Mswati II
Georgia (country) Saint George
Kiribati Thomas Gilbert ("Kiribati" is the Gilbertese rendition of "Gilberts")
Marshall Islands John Marshall
Mauritius Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange
Mozambique Mussa Bin Bique
Nicaragua Nicarao
Peru Birú, a local ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama City, in the early 16th century.[1]
Philippines King Philip II of Spain
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Christopher
Saint Lucia Saint Lucy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent of Saragossa
San Marino Saint Marinus
São Tomé and Príncipe Saint Thomas, and the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid
Saudi Arabia Saud Bin Muhammad
Seychelles Jean Moreau de Séchelles
United States of America Amerigo Vespucci (see Naming of America)
Uzbekistan Öz Beg Khan
Venezuela (The Bolivarian Republic of) Simón Bolívar (for the "Bolivarian Republic" part), the name Venezuela is derived from Venice. See: Venezuela#Etymology

Countries named after legendary figures

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Country Source of name
Afghanistan Supposedly named after tribal chief Prince Afghana.[2]
Armenia (Hayastan) Hayk
Bangladesh from "Bengal", which, according to one hypothesis, is named after Bang, son of Hind, son of Ham, son of Noah[3][4][5]
Belarus Rus
Cambodia Sage Kambu Swayambhuva
Czech Republic Čech
Denmark Dan I of Denmark
Djibouti "Djibouti" means "Land of Tehuti" or "Land of Thoth", after the Egyptian Moon God
Hungary Hunor (or Magyarország — Magor)
Bhārat (India) Dushyanta's son Bharata or Rishabha's son Bharata[6]
Egypt Misr in Arabic, Misrayim in Hebrew, named after the biblical figure Mizraim.
Israel Jacob, who was also called Israel in the Bible
Éire (Ireland) Éire (Ériu), a Celtic fertility goddess
Italy Italus
Laos possibly after Lava
Lechia (historical and/or alternative name of Poland) Lech
Norway Nór (although other etymologies are generally more widely accepted)
Romania from "Rome" (the modern capital city of Italy) / "Roman", which possibly comes from Romulus
Russia Rus
Solomon Islands King Solomon of Israel and Judah
Somalia Supposedly named after Samaale.[7]

Former countries named after people

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Country Source of name
Principality of Antioch, now part of Turkey Antiochus, father of Seleucus I Nicator
Kingdom of Dahomey and Republic of Dahomey, now part of Benin Chief Dan, who was killed by Chief Dakodonu in a dispute after sarcastically saying "shall I open up my belly and build a palace inside it?"; Dan=chief, xo=Belly, me=Inside of[8]
Lotharingia (Lorraine), now part of Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands Lothair II
Rhodesia (former name of Zimbabwe) Cecil Rhodes
Samo's Empire Samo, a Slavic king
Seljuk Empire Seljuk, legendary founding warlord of the Seljuk Empire
Sultanate of Rum (Saljuqiyan-i Rum)
Ottoman Empire Osman I, founder of the empire
Umayyad Caliphate Umayya ibn Abd Shams
Abbasid Caliphate Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib
Achaemenid Empire Achaemenes
Sasanian Empire Sasan
Hamdanid state Hamdan ibn Hamdun
Timurid Empire Timur
Idrisid state Idris I
Idrisid Emirate of Asir
Ayyubid Sultanate Najm al-Din Ayyub
Mirdasid state Mirdas ibn Idris, father of Salih ibn Mirdas
Jabrids Emirate Jabr ibn Mady
Arsacid Empire Arsaces I
Usfurid Emirate Usfur ibn Rashid
Samanid Empire Saman Khuda
Buyid Emirate Buya ibn Panah-Khusrow, father of Imad al-Dawla, founder of the emirate, and his brothers Rukn al-Dawla and Mu'izz al-Dawla
Zirid state Ziri ibn Manad
Aghlabid Emirate al-Aghlab ibn Salim, father of Ibrahim I ibn al-Aghlab
Hammadid Sultanate Hammad ibn Buluggin
Marinid Sultanate Marin ibn wartajin
Jarwanid Emirate Jarwan ibn Nasser
Nasrid Kingdom of Granada Nasr ibn al-Aḥmar
Safavid Empire Safi-ad-din Ardabili
Seleucid Empire Seleucus I Nicator
Ptolemaic Kingdom Ptolemy I Soter
Qedarite Kingdom Qedar, son of Ishmael
Gupta Empire Gupta
Mazyadid Emirate Mazyad ibn Marthad
Artuqid State Artuk Bey
Rashidi Emirate Rashid ibn Hamad
Numayrid Emirate Numayr ibn Āmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa
Uqaylid Emirate Uqayl ibn Ka'b ibn Rabi'a ibn Āmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa
Shah Mir Sultanate Shah Mir
Fatimid Empire Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad
Tulunid Emirate Tulun, father of Ahmad ibn Tulun
Sur Empire Sher Shah Suri

Dependent territories named after people

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Territory Source of name
Baker Island Michael Baker
Bermuda Juan de Bermúdez
Bouvet Island Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier
Clipperton Island John Clipperton
Cocos (Keeling) Islands Captain William Keeling
Cook Islands Captain James Cook
Falkland Islands Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland
Gibraltar Tariq ibn Ziyad (from Jabal Ṭāriq, meaning 'Mountain of Tariq')
Jan Mayen Jan Jacobszoon May van Schellinkhout
Jarvis Island Edward, Thomas and William Jarvis
Johnston Atoll Captain Charles J. Johnston
Kingman Reef Captain W. E. Kingman
Isle of Man Manannán mac Lir[9]
Montserrat Our Lady of Montserrat (Virgin Mary)
Norfolk Island Wife of Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk
Northern Mariana Islands Mariana of Austria
Peter I Island Peter the Great
Queen Maud Land Maud of Wales
Pitcairn Islands Robert Pitcairn (midshipman)
Saint Barthélemy Saint Bartholomew
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Helena of Constantinople and Tristão da Cunha
Saint Martin Martin of Tours
Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Peter and Saint Michael
Sint Maarten Martin of Tours
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands George II of Great Britain and John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
Virgin Islands Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgins
Wake Island William Wake
Wallis and Futuna Samuel Wallis

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. El nombre del Perú. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968, p. 83.
  2. ^ India and the Afghans: a study of a neglected region, 1370-1576 A.D., Amrendra Kumar Thakur, Janaki Prakashan, 1992 - 231 pages, Covers the history of Bihar during the Afghan rule in India. Page 2 & 9.
  3. ^ Land of Two Rivers, Nitish Sengupta
  4. ^ Abu'l-Fazl. Ain-i-Akbari.
  5. ^ RIYAZU-S-SALĀTĪN: A History of Bengal Archived 15 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Ghulam Husain Salim, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta, 1902.
  6. ^ Roshen Dalal (2010). The Religions of India: A Concise Guide to Nine Major Faiths. Penguin Books India. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-14-341517-6.
  7. ^ Lewis, Ioan M. (1961). A Pastoral Democracy: A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 11–13. ISBN 9780852552803.
  8. ^ Monroe, J. Cameron (2011). "In the Belly of Dan: Space, History, and Power in Precolonial Dahomey". Current Anthropology. 52 (6): 769–798. doi:10.1086/662678. S2CID 142318205.
  9. ^ "Manannán mac Lir | Irish deity". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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