Meaning of city names

Capitals of some countries:

Ashgabat (Ashk Abad) = Built by Ashk (Arsaces)

Astana (Istana) = Land/City

Baghdad (Baga Dad) = God Given

Baku (Baga) = God

Dushanbe (Du Shanbeh) = Monday

Islamabad (Islam [Arabic] Abad) = Built by Islam

Kabul (Kuh Pul) = Mountain Bridge

Tashkent (Tasht Kand) = Stone Digging

Tehran (Tab Ran) = Warm Slop

Tbilisi (Tab Lis) = Warm Spring

Edited by Cyrus Shahmiri

Lisbon - from the Roman Olisipo, which supposedly comes from the Phoenician Allis Ubbo, which probably means good harbour

Porto - short form of Portucale, which comes from Portus Cale, which simply means Port Cale. (what Cale means is up to debate)

Alc�cer do Sal (mommy's home town) Alc�cer arabic Al-Kasr, 'castle'; Sal 'salt'; thus, the Castle of Salt.

 

Originally posted by Degredado Porto - short form of Portucale, which comes from Portus Cale, which simply means Port Cale. (what Cale means is up to debate)

 

I was reading a Greek theory of the name but I don't remember it by now

 

In any case, "Calo" in Greek means "good"...

Spokane, Washington-(Spo-can)
The name was taken from the Spokan-e Indians who were part of the Salish tribal group. The name means Children of the sun. I have always thought it very ironic because the winters can be long, cold, snowy and dreary.
www.dictionary.com
) Pronunciation Key (sp-kn)

    A city of eastern Washington near the Idaho border on the falls of the Spokane River, about 193 km (120 mi) long. Settled on the site of a trading fort established in 1810, Spokane is a trade and processing center in an agricultural, lumbering, and mining region. Population: 177,196.

 

  Something wrong with the forum programming. My post ended in the wrong thread.

Some Finnish cities and towns:

Helsinki (Swedish Helsingfors), probably meaning a foaming river.

Turku, from ancient Russian meaning a marketsquare.

Tampere (Swedish Tammerfors), meaning the river Tammer.

Kotka, meaning eagle.

Pori (Swedish Bj�rneborg), meaning Bearcastle.

Vaasa, named after the Vasa royal family in Sweden.

Jyv�skyl�, meaning seed village.

J�rvenp��, meaning the end of a lake.

Joensuu, meaning a rivermouth.

Sofia - wisdom- from legend Sofia was a mother of Hope, Belive and Love

Pazardjik - little market

Brezovo - birch

Dimitrovgrad, Simeonovgrad.Svilengrad.... City/town of Dimitar, Simeon, Svilen

Belgrade - white city

 

 

Edited by tzar

Stuttgart - Steed(mare)-garden(stable)

Doesn't 'Abad', which might come from 'Abadan', mean 'forever' in Arabic, or other Semitic languages? From where does 'Abad' originate?

Where is Abadan, do you mean ancient Persian town of Abadan in Iran? I don't think that Abadan means "forever" in Arabic, I think you mean 'ab'ad.

As you mentioned it is in fact the suffix "-Gard" which means "Built by" and there are many cities in Iran and neighboring countries which have this suffix, such as Darabgard (Built by Darius), Khosrowgerd (Built by Khosrow), Borujerd or Orogard (Built by Orodes) or Dastgerd (Built by hand) but "Abad", old Persian Apat (with water), means "Abode".

Where is Abadan, do you mean ancient Persian town of Abadan in Iran? I don't think that Abadan means "forever" in Arabic, I think you mean 'ab'ad.

Yes, that was what I meant. I'm not sure about ''Abadan'' either. I forgot a lot of my Arabic after I left Lebanon many many years ago. I never really use it either.

I checked in an Islamic site. ''Abadan'' effectively means ''forever'' http://www.jannah.org/articles/quranicwordaday.html

Why do Ottomans who have built Nevsehir (New city in Persian), change Constantinople (City of Constantine) to another Greek name? If Afghanistan means "Land of Afghans" and Kabul means "Mountain Bridge" then Istanbul means "Land Bridge".

I think it's because when Turks were going to Constantinople, they saw a sign written ''Is Tin Poli''. So they thought that it was the name of the city. That is probably why the city is called Istanbul. I think Arabs or other Muslims used to called it ''Islambol'' and also ''Konstantiniyye''.

What you said was very logical too.

Edited by Artaxiad