List of Canada city name etymologies

Origins of the names of cities in Canada lists the names and origins of names of cities across Canada:^[1]

City	Province	Language of origin	Explanation
Airdrie	Alberta	Scottish Gaelic	Named for Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, in Scotland. Possibly originally from gaelic An Àrd Ruigh meaning a level height or high pasture.
Barrie	Ontario	English	Named for Sir Robert Barrie, who was in charge of the naval forces in Canada and frequently had to portage from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay
Calgary	Alberta	Scottish Gaelic	Named for Calgary, Mull, which originated from the Scottish Gaelic "Cala ghearraidh", meaning "beach of the meadow (pasture)"
Charlottetown	Prince Edward Island	German	Named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, consort of George III of England
Chicoutimi	Quebec	Innu	The name means "The end of the deep water" in the Innu/Montagnais language
Edmonton	Alberta	English	Named for Edmonton, London
Fredericton	New Brunswick	English	Named for the second son of King George III of the United Kingdom, Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York
Grande Prairie	Alberta	French	Named for its location, literally it means "great meadow" or "big prairie".
Greater Sudbury	Ontario	English	Named for Sudbury, Suffolk in England; "Greater" added in 2001 when the city of Sudbury was amalgamated with six suburban municipalities.
Halifax	Nova Scotia	English	Named for George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, President of the Board of Trade
Hamilton	Ontario	English	Named for George Hamilton, the city's founder
Iqaluit	Nunavut	Inuktitut	Inuktitut word meaning "many fish"
Lethbridge	Alberta	English	Named for William Lethbridge.
Markham	Ontario	English	Named by William Berczy to honour Sir John Markham
Medicine Hat	Alberta	English / Blackfoot	Translation of Blackfoot Saamis, a type of headdress worn by medicine men.
Mississauga	Ontario	Anishinaabe	Named for the Mississaugas who originally inhabited the area
Moncton	New Brunswick	English	Named for Lieutenant Colonel Robert Monckton, who capture nearby Fort Beauséjour
Montreal	Quebec	Middle French	Named for "Mont Réal", or Mount Royal, a geological feature located within the city
Ottawa	Ontario	Odawa	The Ottawa Valley was the traditional home of the Algonquin people (Anishinaabe) who called the Ottawa River the Kichi Sibi or Kichissippi' meaning "Great River" or "Grand River".[2][3] [4][5][6] Despite the name of the city, the Ottawa people, another First Nation who lived far to the west along Georgian Bay and Lake Huron never lived in the area, but rather maintained a trade route along the Ottawa River for a relatively short time.[7]
Quebec City	Quebec	Algonquin	French transcription of the Algonquin word "kébec", which means "where the river narrows"
Red Deer	Alberta	English / Cree	Mistranslation into English of the Cree name for the Red Deer River, Waskasoo Seepee, which means "Wapiti River" or "Elk River", North American elk (aka Wapiti) are often confused with European Red Deer).
Regina	Saskatchewan	Latin	Named by Princess Louise, wife of the then-Governor General of Canada the Marquess of Lorne in honour of Queen Victoria; Regina is the Latin word for queen.
Richmond Hill	Ontario	English	Named by Benjamin Barnard after the folk song The Lass of Richmond Hill, referring to Richmond, North Yorkshire
Richmond	British Columbia	English	Named by Hugh McRoberts for Richmonds Farm in Australia
St. Albert	Alberta	French	Named by Bishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché after Father Albert Lacombe and his patron name saint Albert of Louvain.
St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	English, Basque or Spanish	Named for the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, which was the date of landing by John Cabot. The name by Basque fishermen for the bay of St. John's was similar to the Bay of Pasaia in the Basque region, and one of the fishing town called St. John (in Spanish, San Juan)
Sault Ste. Marie	Ontario	French	Named for the rapids in the St. Mary's River.
Thunder Bay	Ontario	English, French	Named for the bay on which the city is located, which was originally labelled Baie du Tonnerre on French maps in the 17th century. The name was chosen by referendum in 1969.
Toronto	Ontario	Iroquoian	Derived from word "tkaronto", meaning "place where trees stand in the water"
Vancouver	British Columbia	English, Dutch	Named for Captain George Vancouver, an officer of the British Royal Navy.
Vaughan	Ontario	English	Named for Benjamin Vaughan, a British commissioner who signed the peace treaty with the United States in 1783.
Victoria	British Columbia	English	Named for Queen Victoria
Whitehorse	Yukon	English	Named for the White Horse Rapids, which were said to look like the mane of a white horse
Winnipeg	Manitoba	Cree	Western Cree word meaning "muddy waters"
Yellowknife	Northwest Territories	Dene Suline	Named for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation

See also

• Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies
• List of Canadian place names of Ukrainian origin
• List of place names in Canada of Aboriginal origin
• Locations in Canada with an English name
• Name of Canada
• Scottish place names in Canada

References

1. "Name Origins of Major Centres in Canada". Geonames.nrcan.gc.ca. 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
2. McMillan & Yellowhorn 2004, pp. 103.
3. Taylor 1986, pp. 11.
4. "Settlement Along the Ottawa River" (PDF). Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee (Ontario Ministry of Culture). 2008. p. 1. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
5. Hessel 1987, pp. 10.
6. Shaw 1998, pp. 1.
7. Hessel 1987, pp. 2,10.

Further reading

• Alan Rayburn (1 March 2001). Naming Canada: stories about Canadian place names. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-8293-0.
• William B. Hamilton (2006) [1978]. The Macmillan book of Canadian place names. Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 978-0-7715-9754-1.