List of river name etymologies

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This article lists the various etymologies (origins) of the names of rivers around the world.

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Europe

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  • Aboño: from Celtic *abon- "river": OIr. ab, aub, MW afon, MBret auon, (PIE: *h2ep-h3on- "river").
  • Argeş: from Greek or maybe Thracian arges = "bright"
  • Avon: from Celtic *abon- "river": OIr. ab, aub, MW afon, MBret auon, (PIE: *h2ep-h3on- "river").
  • Avonbeg: Irish meaning "small river"
  • Avonmore: Irish meaning "big river"
  • Awbeg: Irish meaning "small river"
  • Bistriţa: from Slavic bistra = "fast, quick"
  • Bosna: likely from the Illyrian Bosona = "flowing water". Eponymous of Bosnia.
  • Boyne: from Irish river goddess Boann, "white cow"
  • Cam: from Celtic kambo "bend, cocked", Brythonic cam "crooked"
  • Caraş: from Turkish kara = "black", "dark"
  • Clanrye: Irish meaning "harbour of the king"
  • Clwyd: Welsh meaning "hurdle"
  • Danube: Latin Danuvius, Dacian: Donaris, from Iranian (Scythian or Sarmatian) dānu- "river", of Indo-European origin
  • Dnieper: from Old East Slavic {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Dŭněprŭ), with further origins disputed
  • Dvina: from Estonian väin, large and slowly flowing river
  • Dobra: from Celtic *dubro "dark": MIr. dobur "black, unclean", MW dwfr "water", MBret. dour (PIE *deubh-).
  • Drave: in Latin Dravus, of Thracian or Illyrian origin, probably from PIE *dhreu = "to flow, to fall".
  • Don (Aberdeenshire, Scotland): from Celtic Devona "goddess"
  • Emajõgi: Estonian meaning "mother river"
  • Erne: Irish after the name of the mythical princess, Éirne
  • Foyle: Irish meaning "estuary of the lip"
  • Guadalquivir: from Arabic wadi al-kabir, or "great river"
  • Hayle: from Cornish Heyl "estuary"
  • Ialomiţa: Slavic jalov "infertile"
  • Kemijoki: from Old Finnish kemi, "meadowland" <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Severn: Latin Sabrina from an Old British river goddess of that name, becoming Hafren in modern Welsh
  • Shannon: Irish Sionann, name of a river goddess, Old Irish Sinann, from sen "old, ancient"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Siret: from ancient Thracian Seretos, probably from PIE *sreu = "to flow"
  • Slaney: Irish meaning "river of health"
  • Tay: Celtic river goddess Tawa (Tava, Tatha, "the silent one")<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Tambre: From Tamaris with the same root that Tamar.
  • Thames: Latin Tamesis from Brythonic meaning "dark river"
    • The Thame and Tamar, and probably the three rivers called Tame, have a similar etymological root
  • Tyne: Brythonic meaning "river"
  • Torne: After a watchtower (tornet in Swedish, torni in Finnish) at the river mouth where the town Tornio is today.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Tagus: Old Indo-European *(s)tag- ("to drip", "to flow slowly").
  • Volga: Slavic влага vlaga, волога vologa meaning "wetness", "humidity";<ref name="autogenerated1">Volga river#Nomenclature</ref> alternatively, Proto-Uralic *valki- "white";<ref name="autogenerated1" /> alternatively, Russian velikij "great"<ref>Room, Adrian (2006). Placenames of the World. McFarland</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Wear: Brythonic meaning "water"

North America

  • Athabasca: From the Woods Cree word aðapaskāw, "[where] there are plants one after another".<ref>Bright (2004:52)</ref>
  • Bow: After the reeds growing along its banks, which were used by the local Indians to make bows.
  • Brazos: From the Spanish Los Brazos de Dios, or "the arms of God". There are several different explanations for the name, all involving it being the first water to be found by desperately thirsty parties.
  • Canadian River: The etymology is unclear. The name may have come from French-Canadian traders and hunters who traveled along the river, or early explorers may have thought that the river flowed into Canada.
  • Chattahoochee: from Creek cato hocce ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) "marked rock".<ref>Bright (2004:89)</ref>
  • Colorado: Spanish for "red-colored; reddish."
  • Columbia: Named for Captain Robert Gray's ship Columbia Rediviva, the first to travel up the river.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Potomac: From the Patowamek tribe noted by Captain John Smith.<ref>Bright (2004:396)</ref>
  • Republican: Named for the Pawnee band known as "the Republicans".
  • Rio Grande: Spanish for "big river".
  • Saint-Laurent: French for Saint Lawrence.
  • Saskatchewan: From the Cree term Cree kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, meaning "swift flowing river".
  • Schuylkill: from the Dutch schuil and kil, meaning "hidden river".
  • Snake River: Derived from an S-shaped gesture the Shoshone made with their hands to represent swimming salmon. Explorers misinterpreted it to represent a snake, giving the river its present-day name.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Stanislaus: named after Estanislao
  • Susquehanna: Named after the Susquehannock Indians, whose name derives from an Algonquian word meaning "people at the falls", "roily water people",<ref>Bright (2004:466)</ref> or "muddy current".<ref>Kelton, Dwight H. (1888). Indian Names of Places Near the Great Lakes. Detroit, MI: Detroit Free Press Printing Company</ref>
  • Tennessee: Named for the Cherokee town of Tanasi, whose etymology is unknown.<ref>Bright (2004:488)</ref>
  • Wabash: English spelling of French Ouabache, from Miami-Illinois waapaahšiiki, "it shines white".<ref>Bright (2004:537)</ref>
  • Yukon: from an Athabaskan language (e.g., Koyukon yookkene, Lower Tanana yookuna).<ref>Bright (2004:583)</ref>

Oceania

Australia

New Zealand

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  • Rakaia River: from Māori, meaning the place where people were arranged by ranks<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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South America

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See also

References

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Bibliography

  • Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press
  • Blažek, Václav, and Ondřej Šefčík. "Oronyms Derived from Water? Mons Abnobae and Haraitī". Historische Sprachforschung [Historical Linguistics] 124 (2011): 239–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41553574.
  • Hamp, Eric P. ""Water" in Italic and Keltic". In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 12, fascicule 2, 1970. pp. 547–550. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/ecelt.1970.1436 ; www.persee.fr/doc/ecelt_0373-1928_1970_num_12_2_1436

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