U.S. place names in Spanish
This is part 2 of 2
Hola,
We recently learned the meaning of many Colorado place names.
Today we’ll do Spanish place names around the U.S and beyond.
This is a great way to build general vocabulary! You’ll be surprised how many of these words show up in other situations and conversations.
Place Names in California
Baja – lower (The Alta California Times)
Palo Alto – Tall Pole/stick
Mission Viejo – Old mission (misión vieja)
Sacramento – The Sacrament
Los Angeles – The Angels
Alcatraz – pelican
Paso Roble– Oak Pass
Big Sur – The Great South
La Jolla – the Jewel (still not known if this is derived from Spanish – la joya – a native american name)
Santa Barbara – Saint Barbara
San Francisco – Saint Francis
Place Names in Arizona – Arid Zone
el Gran Cañon – The Grand Canyon
el Río Colorado – Colorado River
Nogales – Walnut grove
Place Names in Nevada – snow fall or snow covered
La Sierra Nevada – The snow covered range
Las Vegas – The plains
Reno – does mean reindeer, but I understand it is named after a person. El Sr. Reno.
Place Names in Nuevo México/Méjico – New Mexico
Santa Fe – Holy Faith (the oldest capital city in the U.S – 1610)
Ratón – mouse
Los Alamos – the cottonwood trees
Ruidoso – noisy
Las Cruces – the crosses
Truchas – trout
Sandía peak – Watermelon peak (Albuquerque)
Cimarrón – untamed, wild. referring to the horses that the Spanish conquistadores brought into the area
Place Names in Texas/Tejas – Texas
Amarillo – yellow
El Paso – the Pass
San Antionio – Saint Anthony
Eagle Pass– the eagle that the Aztec saw perched on a nopal catus with the serpiente in its beak flew over Eagle Pass, TX
El Alamo – The Cottonwood tree
Waco – from Spanish “hueco“, meaning hole (the rocks in the area have “holes“)
Florida – In bloom
San Augustine – Saint Augustín (Founded 1565)
San Marcos Island – Saint Mark
In Georgia – On Cumberland Island, there are currently over 100 mustangs left by the Spanish Conquistadores.
Honduras – the Depths
Ecuador – Equator
Buenos Aires – Fair winds (a nautical term)
Valencia, Spain – the kind of oranges
Granada, Spain – pomegranate
This is only a partial list. It is fascinating how many Spanish place names there are around the U.S. and the world. Stay curious. Travel with a map and a bilingual dictionary!
Action Steps: Take out a map of the Southwest and look up other place names not mentioned here.
