View source for List of Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies

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This article lists the '''[[etymologies]] of the [[name]]s of the [[provinces and territories of Canada]]'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php |title=Provinces and Territories - The origins of their names |publisher=Geonames.nrcan.gc.ca |date=2007-09-18 |access-date=2011-11-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604204017/http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php |archive-date=2008-06-04 }}</ref>

==Provinces and territories==
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{|class="wikitable sortable sticky-header" style=text-align:left" style="margin:1em auto;"
|- "
! Name !! Language of origin !! Word(s) in original language !! Meaning and notes
|- 
| {{flag|Alberta}}<br>[[File:Alberta in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Latin]] (ultimately from [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]]) || || Feminine [[Latinisation of names|Latinized]] form of [[Albert (given name)|Albert]], ultimately from the Proto-Germanic ''*Aþalaberhtaz'' (compound of "noble" + "bright/famous"), after [[Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll|Princess Louisa Caroline Alberta]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/albert|title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Albert|first=Mike|last=Campbell|website=Behind the Name}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/alberta|title=Alberta &#124; Origin and meaning of the name Alberta by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=etymonline.com}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|British Columbia}}<br>[[File:British Columbia in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Latin]] || || Referring to the British sector of the [[Columbia District]], after the [[Columbia River]], ultimately after the ''[[Columbia Rediviva]]'', a reference to [[Christopher Columbus]]<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Akrigg |first1=Helen B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWRSgAACAAJ |title=British Columbia Chronicle, 1847–1871: Gold & Colonists |last2=G.P.V. |publisher=Discovery Press |year=1977 |isbn=9780919624030 |edition=illustrated}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/british-columbia-508559 |title=Why is the Western Region of Canada Called British Columbia? |access-date=May 17, 2017}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Manitoba}}<br>[[File:Manitoba in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Cree language|Cree]], [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]]. or [[Assiniboine language|Assiniboine]] || ''manitou-wapow'', ''manidoobaa'', or ''minnetoba'' || "Straits of [[Manitou]], the Great Spirit" or "Lake of the Prairie", after [[Lake Manitoba]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php#mb|title=Manitoba|publisher=Natural Resources Canada|accessdate=28 October 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604204017/http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php#mb|archivedate=4 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Strange Empire, a Narrative of the Northwest|last=Howard|first=Joseph Kinsey|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0873512985|page=192}}</ref>
|- 
| {{flag|New Brunswick}}<br>[[File:New Brunswick in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[German language|German]] (ultimately from [[Low German]]) || {{lang|nds|[[Braunschweig|Brunswiek]]}} || Combination of [[Bruno, Duke of Saxony|Bruno]] and ''wik'', referring to a place where merchants rested and stored their goods<ref>{{cite book | first = Richard | last = Moderhack | title = Braunschweiger Stadtgeschichte | year = 1997 | language = de | publisher = Wagner| location = Braunschweig| isbn =3-87884-050-0| pages = 14–15 and 21}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Newfoundland and Labrador}}<br>[[File:Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] || {{lang|pt|Terra Nova}} and {{lang|pt|Lavrador}} || "New land", and the surname of [[João Fernandes Lavrador]], meaning "farmer" or "plower"<ref>Hamilton, William B. (1978): ''The Macmillan book of Canadian place names'', Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, p. 105.</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Northwest Territories}}<br>[[File:Northwest Territories in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[English language|English]] || || Referring to the territory's position relative to [[Rupert's Land]]
|-
| {{flag|Nova Scotia}}<br>[[File:Nova Scotia in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Latin]] || || "New Scotland", referring to the country ''Scotland'', derived from the Latin {{lang|la|[[Scoti]]}}, the term applied to [[Gaels]]<ref>[http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/discovernovascotia/history/routestoyourroots/settlementpatterns/scottishsettlement.aspx Scottish Settlement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207152640/http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/discovernovascotia/history/routestoyourroots/settlementpatterns/scottishsettlement.aspx |date=7 December 2013 }}. Novascotia.com. Retrieved 12 July 2013.</ref><ref>P. Freeman, ''Ireland and the Classical World'', Austin, 2001, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSHhfOM-5AEC&pg=PA93 93].</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Nunavut}}<br>[[File:Nunavut in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Inuktitut]] ||  || Nunavut means "Our land" in the [[Inuit language]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Origin of the names of Canada and its provinces and territories |url=http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/place-names/origins-geographical-names/9224 |publisher=[[Natural Resources Canada]] |access-date=December 24, 2017|date=September 18, 2007 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Ontario}}<br>[[File:Ontario in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquoian]], [[Wyandot language|Wyandot]] || ''Ontarí꞉io'' or ''Skanadario'' || "Great lake" or "beautiful water", after [[Lake Ontario]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Marianne Mithun|title=The Languages of Native North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALnf3s2m7PkC&q=ontario+%22great+lake%22&pg=PA312|date=June 7, 2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29875-9|page=312}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.studycanada.ca/english/about-ont.htm|pages=Last Paragraph–second–last sentence|title=About Canada // Ontario|work=Study Canada|quote=The name "Ontario" is generally thought to be derived from the Iroquois word Skanadario, meaning "beautiful water"|access-date=April 23, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706204317/http://www.studycanada.ca/english/about-ont.htm|archive-date=July 6, 2011}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Prince Edward Island}}<br>[[File:Prince Edward Island in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[English language|English]] (ultimately from [[Old English]]) || || After [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn]], ultimately from the Anglo-Saxon {{lang|ang|ead}} "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and {{lang|ang|weard}} "guardian, protector"<ref>Tidridge, Nathan. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent: Father of the Canadian Crown. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2013.</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Quebec}}<br>[[File:Quebec in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Algonquin language|Algonquin]], [[Mi'kmaq language|Mi'kmaq]], [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] || {{lang|mic|kébec}} || "Where the river narrows", referring to the narrowing of the [[Saint Lawrence River]] at [[Quebec City]]<ref>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, p. 191.</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Saskatchewan}}<br>[[File:Saskatchewan in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Cree language|Cree]] || {{lang|cr|kisiskāciwani-sīpiy}} || "Swift-flowing river", after the [[Saskatchewan River]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php#sk |title=Government of Canada |publisher=Geonames.nrcan.gc.ca |date=September 18, 2007 |access-date=February 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604204017/http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php#sk |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Yukon}}<br>[[File:Yukon in Canada 2.svg|100px]] || [[Gwichʼin language|Gwichʼin]] || {{lang|gwi|chųų gąįį han}} || "White water river", after the [[Yukon River]]<ref>"Dear Sir, I have great pleasure in informing you that I have at length after much trouble and difficulties, succeed[ed] in reaching the 'Youcon', or white water River, so named by the ([[Gwich'in]]) natives from the pale colour of its water. …, I have the honour to Remain Your ob<sup>t</sup> Serv<sup>t</sup>, [[John Bell (explorer)|John Bell]]"  [[Hudson's Bay Company]] Correspondence to [[George Simpson (Pre-Confederation Canada politician and trader)|George Simpson]] from John Bell (August 1, 1845), [https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/ HBC Archives], D.5/14, fos. 212-215d, also quoted in, {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPLYUsb3gAQC&pg=PA21 |title=Land of the Midnight Sun: A History of the Yukon |page=21 |last1=Coates |first1=Kenneth S. |first2=William R. |last2=Morrison |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Hurtig Publishers |year=1988 |isbn=0-88830-331-9 |access-date=October 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>In Gwich'in, adjectives, such as {{lang|gwi|choo}} [big] and {{lang|gwi|gąįį}} [white], follow the nouns that they modify. Thus, ''white water'' is {{lang|gwi|chųų gąįį}} [water white]. ''White water river'' is {{lang|gwi|chųų gąįį han}} [water white river]. {{cite book |url=https://library.alaska.gov/hist/hist_docs/docs/anlm/24000656.pdf |title=Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik Nagwan Tr'iłtsąįį: Gwich'in Junior Dictionary |pages=ii (ą, į, ų are nasalized a, i, u), xii (adjectives follow nouns), 19 (''nitsii'' or ''choo'' [big]), 88 (''ocean'' = ''chųų choo'' [water big]), 105 (''han'' [river]), 142 (''chųų'' [water]), 144 (''gąįį'' [white]) |first=Katherine |last=Peter |publisher=Univ. of Alaska |year=1979 |access-date=October 16, 2017 }}</ref>
|}

==Historical regions==
*'''[[Acadia]]''' ({{langx|fr|Acadie}}): origin disputed:
*# Credited to [[Republic of Florence|Florentine]] [[navigator]] [[Giovanni da Verrazzano]], who first named a region around Chesapeake Bay ''Archadia'' ([[Arcadia (ancient region)|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''.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040802234006/http://www.billcasselman.com/canadian_food_words/acadia_one.htm Acadia: Origin of the Word by Bill Casselman]}}</ref>
*# Possibly derived from the [[Míkmaq language|Míkmaq]] word ''{{lang|mic|akatik}}'', pronounced roughly "agadik", meaning "place", which French-speakers spelled as ''-cadie'' in place names such as [[Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia|Shubenacadie]] and [[Tracadie, New Brunswick|Tracadie]], possibly coincidentally.<ref>[http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php#ns Provinces and Territories - The origins of their names] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604204017/http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/education/prov_e.php |date=2008-06-04 }}</ref>
*'''[[District of Keewatin]]''': [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] roots—either {{lang|cr-Latn|kīwēhtin}} ({{lang|cr-Cans|ᑮᐍᐦᑎᐣ}}) in [[Cree language|Cree]] or {{lang|oj-Latn|giiwedin}} ({{lang|oj-Cans|ᑮᐌᑎᓐ}}) in [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]]—both of which mean 'north wind' in their respective languages.<ref>"Who Named the North-Land?". Manitoba Free Press. August 19, 1876. p. 3.</ref>
*'''[[Nunatsiavut]]''': [[Inuktitut]], meaning "our beautiful land".<ref>[http://www.nunatsiavut.com/en/nunatsiavutgov.php Nunatsiavut Government{{!}}Nunatsiavut.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211182545/http://www.nunatsiavut.com/en/nunatsiavutgov.php |date=2010-02-11 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Canada}}
*[[Locations in Canada with an English name]]
*[[List of Canadian place names of Ukrainian origin]]
*[[List of place names in Canada of Aboriginal origin]]
* [[List of etymologies of administrative divisions]]
* [[Name of Canada]]
*[[Origins of names of cities in Canada]]
*[[Scottish place names in Canada]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation |last =Moore |first =  Christopher |author2=Slavin, Bill |author3=Janet Lunn |year =2002 |title =The Big Book of Canada: Exploring the Provinces and Territories |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=0Dmi_sb_ufgC&q=Provinces%20and%20territories%20of%20Canada&pg=PA1 |publisher=Tundra Books |isbn= 0-88776-457-6}}
*{{cite book|author=Alan Rayburn|title=Naming Canada: stories about Canadian place names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiUZMOypNB4C&pg=PP1|date=1 March 2001|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-8293-0}}
*{{cite book|author=William B. Hamilton|title=The Macmillan book of Canadian place names|orig-year=1978|year=2006 |publisher=Macmillan of Canada|isbn=978-0-7715-9754-1}}
{{Provinces and territories of Canada}}
{{Lists of the provinces and territories of Canada}}
{{Place name etymologies}}

[[Category:Lists of Canada place name etymologies|province]]
[[Category:Lists of provinces and territories of Canada|etymologies]]