Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies

Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies

This page lists the etymologies of the names of the provinces and territories of Canada.[1]

Contents

Provinces

Alberta 
Named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of the Governor General of Canada in the late 19th century.
British Columbia 
Takes its name partly from Britain and partly from the Columbia whose crew first explored the area. It also references the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, which was the namesake of the pre–Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. The adjective "British" was added to the name to distinguish it from Colombia and from what became the state of Washington in the United States, whose name was originally going to be Columbia, after the river. Columbia is a poetic name for the American continent discovered by Christopher Columbus.
Manitoba 
Is most commonly believed to have come from the Cree word manitowapow or the Ojibwa word manitobau, both meaning "the strait of the spirit". It is unclear why this name was chosen for the province, though it is generally thought to be named after straits in Lake Manitoba.
New Brunswick 
Named in honour of the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the future King George IV of the United Kingdom, son of King George III of the United Kingdom.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland
(Latin: Terra Nova) Was named by its European discoverers around 1500; possibly by the Portuguese explorer João Vaz Corte-Real in 1472, making it the oldest European name in North America
Labrador
Probably named after João Fernandes Lavrador, a Portuguese navigator who visited the area in 1498, of whom the honorific "lavrador" means "landholder".[2]
Nova Scotia 
Latin For "New Scotland". In the 1620s a group of Scots was sent by Charles I to set up a colony, and the Latin name is used in Sir William Alexander's 1621 land grant. Although this settlement was abandoned because of a treaty between Britain and France, the name remains.
Ontario 
Named after Lake Ontario, which got its name from a First Nations language, most likely from onitariio, meaning "beautiful lake", or kanadario, translated as "sparkling" or "beautiful", or possibly from Wyandot (Huron) ontare ("lake").
Prince Edward Island 
Named in 1798 after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the son of King George III of the United Kingdom and lieutenant-general in British army in Canada. The next year, he would become commander-in-chief of North America, before being transferred to Gilbraltar in 1802.
Quebec 
From Míkmaq kepék, "strait, narrows"[3]
Saskatchewan 
From the Saskatchewan River (Cree: kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, "swift flowing river").

Territories

Northwest Territories 
Named for its location northwest of Lake Superior. The territory once comprised virtually all Canadian land northwest of that lake; it has since been split up into several other provinces and territories, but has retained its name.
Nunavut 
Means "our land" in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit.
Yukon 
Takes its name from the Yukon River, whose name in turn means "great river" in Gwichʼin.

Historical regions

  • Acadia (French Acadie): origin disputed:
  1. Credited to Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, who first named a region around Chesapeake Bay Archadia (Arcadia) in 1524 because of "the beauty of its trees", according to his diary. Cartographers began using the name Arcadia to refer to areas progressively farther north until it referred to the French holdings in maritime Canada (particularly Nova Scotia). The -r- also began to disappear from the name on early maps, resulting in the current Acadia.[4]
  2. Possibly derived from the Míkmaq word akatik, pronounced roughly "agadik", meaning "place", which French-speakers spelled as -cadie in place names such as Shubenacadie and Tracadie, possibly coincidentally.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Provinces and Territories - The origins of their names". Geonames.nrcan.gc.ca. 2007-09-18. http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php. Retrieved 2011-11-23. 
  2. ^ "João Fernandes Lavrador, exploration dates". http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0002769. Retrieved 2007-08-31. 
  3. ^ Afable, Patricia O. and Madison S. Beeler (1996). "Place Names". In "Languages", ed. Ives Goddard. Vol. 17 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 191
  4. ^ Acadia: Origin of the Word by Bill Casselman
  5. ^ Provinces and Territories - The origins of their names
  6. ^ Nunatsiavut Government|Nunatsiavut.com

Further reading


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of country-name etymologies — This list covers English language country names with their etymologies. Some of these include notes on indigenous names and their etymologies. Countries in italics are endonyms or no longer exist as sovereign political entities. Contents A B C D… …   Wikipedia

  • Name of Canada — A peace monument on Belle Isle between the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America (1941) The name of Canada has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada, with the name originating from a First Nations word kanata… …   Wikipedia

  • Newfoundland and Labrador — This article is about the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. For the island that makes up part of it, see Newfoundland (island). For other meanings of Newfoundland , see Newfoundland. Newfoundland and Labrador …   Wikipedia

  • Technological and industrial history of Canada — The technological and industrial history of Canada encompasses the country s development in the areas of transportation, communication, energy, materials, public works, public services (health care), domestic/consumer and defense technologies.… …   Wikipedia

  • Origins of names of cities in Canada — 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… …   Wikipedia

  • British Columbia — Colombie Britannique (French) …   Wikipedia

  • Quebec — This article is about the Canadian province. For the province s capital city, see Quebec City. For other uses, see Quebec (disambiguation). Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Manitoba — This article is about the Canadian province. For other uses, see Manitoba (disambiguation). Manitoba …   Wikipedia

  • Northwest Territories — For the former United States territory, see Northwest Territory. For other geographical names that include Northwest , see Northwest. Coordinates: 64°16′N 119°11′W / 64.267°N …   Wikipedia

  • Ontario — This article is about the Canadian province. For other uses, see Ontario (disambiguation). Ontario …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”