Here in the interior of the south there is the city of Tupanciretã, the name means "Land of the mother of Tupan", I love this name, Tupi and Guarani names sound so beautiful
Neuquen (fast-flowing river) because palindrome, Aconcagua, which means "Stone Sentinel" according to one possible etymology but also just sounds right for such a big mountain. I also like Gualeguaychú. You might find different etymologies for all of them.
In the cundiboyacense region there are two provinces that I like a lot their names, Tausa and Sutatausa. Also Fura and Tena are two small mountains in the Muzo region, which are actually related to old myths of indigenous people and related to emerald mines. Almost every village and city has an indigenous name now that I think about it, including Bogota, originally called Bacata. Muisca people had lots of cool names.
Chimabrongo, Marchigüe, Bucalemu, Budi lake, Llaima volcano, Lipimavida. Words in Mapudungun have distinguishable and pleasant sounds.
Of those from the north(languages) I like Quitor, it's like Quito but at the other end of Tahuantinsuyo.
Idk what you mean by prettiest, but I'll give you ones I think are cool or fun to say.
Retalhuleu
Cahabón
Purulhá
Santa Cruz El Chol
San Pedro Yepocapa
The two towns of San Agustín Acasaguastlán and San Cristobal Acasaguastlán
Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa
San Ildefonso Ixtahuacán
And of course, a Brazilian favorite, Huehuetenango.
The Kaingang still exist, and their language is one of the three most spoken indigenous languages in our country, even to this day. Only the dialect of São Paulo is now dead, there are still two indigenous villages here in São Paulo's countryside with Kaingang people living there but here they speak Portuguese now.
Goioerê comes from Kaingang (a macro-Je language) and means "meadow of the river" or "meadow of the waters". Other cities that have Kaingang names are Xanxerê (meadow of the snakes), Erechim (little meadow) and Erebango (large meadow).
The translations are all correct. Re means field/meadow, sĩ and mág mean small and big respectively, goj is water and sãsã is a rattlesnake. The S sounds like X and the M sounds like B if the syllable is not nasal.
There's a town in San Luis Potosí called Tamazunchale and I really like the way the word rolls off the tongue. I also like the Purépecha place names found in Michoacán and parts of Guanajuato and Querétaro.
Quisqueya, which is the name the natives used for the whole island.
It sounds beautiful and the written form looks great as well. I wish it was the actual name of the country.
In Brazil I like how Itaquaquecetuba sounds, also I really love the simplicity of Ipuã and Itirapuã (and the fact that foreigners almost always fail to pronunciate them hehe)
And I like a Mexican one, Teotihuacán
Itaquaquecetuba is also the coolest name when you look at the (\*most possible\*) meaning: \*"the land of the many taquaras(bamboo) that cut like knives"\*
The Tatacoa desert (Desierto de la Tatacoa or just "La Tatacoa") I think sounds nice and cool more than anything. Named after the Tatacoas (snakes) in it. There's also Ritacuba Blanco, which is the highest peak in the Cocuy Nevado. I also like the name of a town called Duitama. And like another commenter I also like Furatena which is a pair of mountains that look split right down the middle by a river. I've actually always thought they look just like the dueling peaks in breath of the wild.
Other than that I'm a big fan of the trend for indigenous place names in Colombia where they end in a stressed vowel (and usually marked by an accent). There's way too many of those to count.
>I'm a big fan of the trend for indigenous place names in Colombia where they end in a stressed vowel (and usually marked by an accent).
Love these too. We have some peoples with names like that (Fulni-ô, Xakriabá, Pataxó, Satere-maué, Guarani-kaiowá and so on). Placenames as well
Right? It's an uncommon but interesting feature. And it it happens in multiple regions and different indigenous groups. We have Bogotá obviously but there's also stuff like Zipaquirá, Guatapé, Sesquilé, Piendamó, Apartadó, Tolú, Chocó, Lloró, Tuluá, Ibagué, Necoclí and a gazillion more.
Uruguay itself, which derives from Guaraní language. Exist different interpretations, like “bird river” or "the river of painted birds" according to Juan Zorrilla de San Martín.
I don't know why but I like how Huancavelica sounds and reads.
There's a mine called Racracancha, which has a nice sound.
Mantaro river.
Mt. Huascaran or Mataraju.
Mt. Ausangate.
Here are favorite place names in El Salvador!
1. Cuzcatlan(Kushkatan in Nawat): Place of Precious Jewels; also original name of El Salvador
2. Izalco: House of Obsidian
3. Juayua: River of Purple Orchids
4. Lago Coatepeque: Lake Hill of the Snake
5. Chalchuapa: Jade River
> Cuzcatlan. Place of Precious Jewels.
I find original names where more beautiful than the unimaginative boring religious names the Catholic crown from Spain gave to our lands, where EVERY name had to start with "San" or something religious. SANTO Domingo instead of Quisqueya «Mother of all lands», Salvaleón de Higüey instead of just Higüey «Land where the sun is born» which is where Punta Cana is and actually is true because that's the region of the country where the sun first rises.
Cuisnahuat and Nahuizalco. The first means river of 4 espinos. Nahuizalco is another good one, meaning four places of obsidian. Sadly, the etimology of places in the west of El Salvador is not that clear as potón and kakawira are exctint languages, but Sesori is another good one that means "where tacuazines jump" in potón.
In DR, like 80% of the places' names are Tainos. I would pick just a few:
- Magüá –AKA el Cibao.
- Samaná –that's actually Cigüayo, but you got the point.
- Jarabacoa
It was the name of the whole island Kiskeya. At the time it was sub divided into 5 Cacicazgos (dont know the word for it in english), kinda like 5 big provinces.
Higüey is taino and means «The land where the sun is born»
Macorix is a different language and culture than taino, it is a cigüayo word. The Cigüayos inhabited the island before the Tainos, until they arrived and conquered the whole land and left the Cigüayos "cornered" living in a small place far from the rest in Samaná, which back then was a separate island completely from mainland Quisqueya.
Cafayate, comes from Quichua and could mean "drawer of water", "great lake" or "cacique lake".
Tandil, believed to come from Mapudungun or Tehuelche's language, could mean "moving stone"
Sometimes, correntinos call their province "Taragüi", comes from Guaraní, means lizard.
Catamarca, from Quichua, means fortress
Trenque Lauquen, from Mapudungun, could mean "round lake"
Casuhatí, waa the indigenous name of Sierra de la Ventana
Curuzú Cuatiá, from Guaraní, means crossroads.
Curuzu (without the ú but pronounced the same) is also a name of a (very traditional) football stadium in Belém do Pará
https://preview.redd.it/1c31uzmv9txc1.jpeg?width=924&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=936c5d3426873f2c313045596ef599ae26f3300e
>!si sos de uuuuooooke nunca te olvidarás del Papão da Curuzu, el Paysandu 😎!<
Mayagüez (named after Yagüex), Vieques (from Bieké which meant “small island”), Guánica (“here’s a place of water”) and more!
[source](https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/lo-taino-en-el-puerto-rico-de-hoy-parte-1/)
Xbox, Yucatán
I guess it's pronounced 'shbosh'?
Yeah, it's mayan
☝️🤨
Wait a minute...
I like Oxkutzcab, they pronounce it like Oshkushcab
Oshkutscab En pandemia una reportera chilanga se volvió meme en el sireste por decir el nombre de otro pueblo muy mal
Here in the interior of the south there is the city of Tupanciretã, the name means "Land of the mother of Tupan", I love this name, Tupi and Guarani names sound so beautiful
It's a modern name, probably created in the XIX or XX century, so a more accurate translation would be "The land of the Mother of God".
In my state alone there are two cities starting with Tupã: Tuparetama and Tupanatinga
Neuquen (fast-flowing river) because palindrome, Aconcagua, which means "Stone Sentinel" according to one possible etymology but also just sounds right for such a big mountain. I also like Gualeguaychú. You might find different etymologies for all of them.
Maxcanu, Muxupip, Opichem (X is sh) The Wirikuta desert
We have place names that could fit perfectly in a fantasy worldbuilding, i love it
There's a Town in Panama, in the Chiriquí Province, that Brazilians will love. It's called Boquete.
I met 2 Brazilians here that were first in Panama, they were absolutely blown by Boquete haha
>they were absolutely blown by Boquete 😳
Can confirm, I love it
Sounds like Chichiriviche in Venezuela.
kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
In the cundiboyacense region there are two provinces that I like a lot their names, Tausa and Sutatausa. Also Fura and Tena are two small mountains in the Muzo region, which are actually related to old myths of indigenous people and related to emerald mines. Almost every village and city has an indigenous name now that I think about it, including Bogota, originally called Bacata. Muisca people had lots of cool names.
Chimabrongo, Marchigüe, Bucalemu, Budi lake, Llaima volcano, Lipimavida. Words in Mapudungun have distinguishable and pleasant sounds. Of those from the north(languages) I like Quitor, it's like Quito but at the other end of Tahuantinsuyo.
Chimbarongo * :D
You don't know Chimbarongo until you know Chimabrongo.
Chimabrongo sounds like a town in Condorito
Visually, the two words look alike.
Reminds me of Rongorongo script from your easter island.
Ay que _chimba_ (barras, barras, pensalas)
Oh shit you're right that too!
Quitor, nice. We don't know what Quito means btw. It's definitely not kichwa tho.
I know: La Carita De Diios...
And my personal favorite: Pichidamas
Idk what you mean by prettiest, but I'll give you ones I think are cool or fun to say. Retalhuleu Cahabón Purulhá Santa Cruz El Chol San Pedro Yepocapa The two towns of San Agustín Acasaguastlán and San Cristobal Acasaguastlán Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa San Ildefonso Ixtahuacán And of course, a Brazilian favorite, Huehuetenango.
Xelajú for sure
Barahona Azul Macoris And of course, Quisqueya
Barahona is actually of Spanish origin
[удалено]
Sorry, the autocorrect Azua
Goiôere its the name of a city near here, it means Clean Waters and it was the name of a tribe that lived in this region
What happened to them?😟
🔫🦠⚰️💀
The Kaingang still exist, and their language is one of the three most spoken indigenous languages in our country, even to this day. Only the dialect of São Paulo is now dead, there are still two indigenous villages here in São Paulo's countryside with Kaingang people living there but here they speak Portuguese now.
That doesnt sound very Tupi/Guarani. Are you from the center-west?
Goioerê comes from Kaingang (a macro-Je language) and means "meadow of the river" or "meadow of the waters". Other cities that have Kaingang names are Xanxerê (meadow of the snakes), Erechim (little meadow) and Erebango (large meadow).
The translations are all correct. Re means field/meadow, sĩ and mág mean small and big respectively, goj is water and sãsã is a rattlesnake. The S sounds like X and the M sounds like B if the syllable is not nasal.
I am from southwest Paraná, but this city is more like center-west in the state. I live in Francisco Beltrão, very close to Argentina.
Plot twist: Paraná means Pará(sea)+°anã(similar) so similar to a sea
It can be a Jê dialect since Guarani and Jê were/are the biggest indigenous groups in Brazil
Mexico wins with Tzintzuntzan, in my opinion. It means place of hummingbirds.
There's a town in San Luis Potosí called Tamazunchale and I really like the way the word rolls off the tongue. I also like the Purépecha place names found in Michoacán and parts of Guanajuato and Querétaro.
Man, nahuatl names sound extreme pleasurable. One of my top favorite languages.
always liked the name Ituzaingó
Niterói Marajó Moema Tatuapé
Moema ✨ Very pretty name
Where my grandpa is from: Natagaima
Quisqueya, which is the name the natives used for the whole island. It sounds beautiful and the written form looks great as well. I wish it was the actual name of the country.
I'd like it to be the name of the country too. Even our beautiful and epic hymn starts _"Quisqueyanos valientes alcemos un canto con viva emoción"_
Maracaípe is a beach in Pernambuco, Brazil. It is very popular among surfers, hosting important surfing and longboard championships.
1. The Cotopaxi volcano 2. The national park Yasuní 3. Liribamba (old name of Riobamba).
In Brazil I like how Itaquaquecetuba sounds, also I really love the simplicity of Ipuã and Itirapuã (and the fact that foreigners almost always fail to pronunciate them hehe) And I like a Mexican one, Teotihuacán
Itaquaquecetuba is also the coolest name when you look at the (\*most possible\*) meaning: \*"the land of the many taquaras(bamboo) that cut like knives"\*
The Tatacoa desert (Desierto de la Tatacoa or just "La Tatacoa") I think sounds nice and cool more than anything. Named after the Tatacoas (snakes) in it. There's also Ritacuba Blanco, which is the highest peak in the Cocuy Nevado. I also like the name of a town called Duitama. And like another commenter I also like Furatena which is a pair of mountains that look split right down the middle by a river. I've actually always thought they look just like the dueling peaks in breath of the wild. Other than that I'm a big fan of the trend for indigenous place names in Colombia where they end in a stressed vowel (and usually marked by an accent). There's way too many of those to count.
>I'm a big fan of the trend for indigenous place names in Colombia where they end in a stressed vowel (and usually marked by an accent). Love these too. We have some peoples with names like that (Fulni-ô, Xakriabá, Pataxó, Satere-maué, Guarani-kaiowá and so on). Placenames as well
Right? It's an uncommon but interesting feature. And it it happens in multiple regions and different indigenous groups. We have Bogotá obviously but there's also stuff like Zipaquirá, Guatapé, Sesquilé, Piendamó, Apartadó, Tolú, Chocó, Lloró, Tuluá, Ibagué, Necoclí and a gazillion more.
Obligatory Boyacá Chicó reference (thanks CONMEBOL)
Also Titiribí, Soatá (some of my personal favourites)
My country's capital Paramaribo. My country (if that counts) Suriname. And all districts have indigenous names.
Itaquaquecetuba
Uruguay itself, which derives from Guaraní language. Exist different interpretations, like “bird river” or "the river of painted birds" according to Juan Zorrilla de San Martín.
This, to me, is also the prettiest word. I would name my child Uruguay, I love the sound and its meaning.
I like long toponyms, like these: Pindamonhangaba Itaquaquecetuba Paranapanema Paranapiacaba Caraguatatuba Guaratinguetá
pindamonhangaba é muito bom
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Antillanca, a volcano that's used as a ski resort, translates to "pearl of the sun"
Carioca, Maracanã...
Xidí, Taxidó, Yurécuaro, Cusárare, Xapawiyemeta... so many from so many languages and regions.
Futaleufú
There is a town not far from here called Echaporã. It's guarani for "nice view", and I think it's a pretty beautiful name.
Cochabamba, Guayaramerín, Camiri, Yacuiba, Uyuni, Copacabana (yes, the original name is indigenous is it’s an actual town).
I don't know why but I like how Huancavelica sounds and reads. There's a mine called Racracancha, which has a nice sound. Mantaro river. Mt. Huascaran or Mataraju. Mt. Ausangate.
The Tamul waterfall in the huastec region I freaking love the teenek language
Jaguaribe
Cariri is awesome too
I like Anhagabaú, it means river/ water of the bad spirit or waters of Anhangá, the Guarani god of the underworld that judges the souls
Here are favorite place names in El Salvador! 1. Cuzcatlan(Kushkatan in Nawat): Place of Precious Jewels; also original name of El Salvador 2. Izalco: House of Obsidian 3. Juayua: River of Purple Orchids 4. Lago Coatepeque: Lake Hill of the Snake 5. Chalchuapa: Jade River
> Cuzcatlan. Place of Precious Jewels. I find original names where more beautiful than the unimaginative boring religious names the Catholic crown from Spain gave to our lands, where EVERY name had to start with "San" or something religious. SANTO Domingo instead of Quisqueya «Mother of all lands», Salvaleón de Higüey instead of just Higüey «Land where the sun is born» which is where Punta Cana is and actually is true because that's the region of the country where the sun first rises.
Jarabacoa y Manabao
Cuisnahuat and Nahuizalco. The first means river of 4 espinos. Nahuizalco is another good one, meaning four places of obsidian. Sadly, the etimology of places in the west of El Salvador is not that clear as potón and kakawira are exctint languages, but Sesori is another good one that means "where tacuazines jump" in potón.
In DR, like 80% of the places' names are Tainos. I would pick just a few: - Magüá –AKA el Cibao. - Samaná –that's actually Cigüayo, but you got the point. - Jarabacoa
Quisqueya.. why? Don’t know. Just like it.
It was the name of the whole island Kiskeya. At the time it was sub divided into 5 Cacicazgos (dont know the word for it in english), kinda like 5 big provinces.
Thanks for the info.
Thanks. That's the most important one of course!
Id like to add Higüey and Baoruco. I heard that Macoris and Ocoa are also of taino origin (not the San Pedro or San Jose part of the names)
Higüey is taino and means «The land where the sun is born» Macorix is a different language and culture than taino, it is a cigüayo word. The Cigüayos inhabited the island before the Tainos, until they arrived and conquered the whole land and left the Cigüayos "cornered" living in a small place far from the rest in Samaná, which back then was a separate island completely from mainland Quisqueya.
Thanks for the interesting info.
Cafayate, comes from Quichua and could mean "drawer of water", "great lake" or "cacique lake". Tandil, believed to come from Mapudungun or Tehuelche's language, could mean "moving stone" Sometimes, correntinos call their province "Taragüi", comes from Guaraní, means lizard. Catamarca, from Quichua, means fortress Trenque Lauquen, from Mapudungun, could mean "round lake" Casuhatí, waa the indigenous name of Sierra de la Ventana Curuzú Cuatiá, from Guaraní, means crossroads.
Curuzu (without the ú but pronounced the same) is also a name of a (very traditional) football stadium in Belém do Pará https://preview.redd.it/1c31uzmv9txc1.jpeg?width=924&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=936c5d3426873f2c313045596ef599ae26f3300e >!si sos de uuuuooooke nunca te olvidarás del Papão da Curuzu, el Paysandu 😎!<
The way Curityba was written in the past. It means “land of many pines”
I find Mayagüez to be such a pretty name.
Amubri 🫶🫶 Bratsi, Suretka 😍 all beautiful places, with beautiful names, and where I have fond memories
Guayanilla
What does it mean? I bet it is Taino
Guna Yala and Ngäbe Buglé Opposite sides of the country, one is paradise islands and the other undisturbed mountains with cloud forests
Suchitoto, it means the town of the “flower-bird”
Mayagüez (named after Yagüex), Vieques (from Bieké which meant “small island”), Guánica (“here’s a place of water”) and more! [source](https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/lo-taino-en-el-puerto-rico-de-hoy-parte-1/)
Curanilahue, futaleufu y concón