List of place names of Spanish origin in the United States: Difference between revisions

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* [[Peña Blanca, New Mexico]], - a census-designated place in [[Sandoval County, New Mexico]] (''white peña'')
* [[Peña Blanca, New Mexico]], - a census-designated place in [[Sandoval County, New Mexico]] (''white peña'')
* [[Perez, California]], an unincorporated community in [[Modoc County, California]]
* [[Perez, California]], an unincorporated community in [[Modoc County, California]]
* [[Pie, West Virginia]], an unincorporated community in [[Mingo County, West Virginia]] (''foot'')
* [[Plumas Eureka]], census-designated place in [[Plumas County, California]] (''feathers'')
* [[Plumas Eureka]], census-designated place in [[Plumas County, California]] (''feathers'')
* [[Plumas Lake, California]], master-planned exurb and census-designated place in Yuba County, California
* [[Plumas Lake, California]], master-planned exurb and census-designated place in Yuba County, California
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*[[Año Nuevo Island]], Northern California ("New Year" Island)
*[[Año Nuevo Island]], Northern California ("New Year" Island)
* [[Asuncion Island]], one of the [[Northern Mariana Islands]]
* [[Asuncion Island]], one of the [[Northern Mariana Islands]]
* [[Brazos Island]], a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Texas
*[[Boca Chica Key]], Florida ("Small Mouth" Key)
*[[Boca Chica Key]], Florida ("Small Mouth" Key)
*[[Dry Tortugas]], a group of islands in the Florida Keys in the United States (''Dry turtle'')
*[[Dry Tortugas]], a group of islands in the Florida Keys in the United States (''Dry turtle'')
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== Parks ==
== Parks ==
* [[Alta Lake State Park]], a park in the northwest interior of the state of Washington
* [[Alta Lake State Park]], a park in the northwest interior of the state of Washington
* [[Brazos Bend State Park]] , a state park along the [[Brazos River]] in [[Needville, Texas]]
* [[DeSoto Site Historic State Park]], a Florida state park located in [[Tallahassee, Florida]]
* [[DeSoto Site Historic State Park]], a Florida state park located in [[Tallahassee, Florida]]
* [[Dry Tortugas National Park]] - National park localized west of Key West, Florida
* [[Dry Tortugas National Park]] - National park localized west of Key West, Florida
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* [[Albuquerque Basin]], one of the largest and deepest of the structural basins in the [[Rio Grande rift]] and contains the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
* [[Albuquerque Basin]], one of the largest and deepest of the structural basins in the [[Rio Grande rift]] and contains the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
* [[Algodones Dunes]], a large [[Erg (landform)|erg]] (sand [[dune]] field) located in the southeastern portion of [[California]], near the border with [[Arizona]] and the [[Mexican state]] of [[Baja California]].
* [[Algodones Dunes]], a large [[Erg (landform)|erg]] (sand [[dune]] field) located in the southeastern portion of [[California]], near the border with [[Arizona]] and the [[Mexican state]] of [[Baja California]].
* [[Brazos Valley]], a region in Texas (a subsection of the larger Central Texas region)
*[[Cape Canaveral]], Florida (Anglicized from ''Cabo Cañaveral'')
*[[Cape Canaveral]], Florida (Anglicized from ''Cabo Cañaveral'')
* [[Cape Nuñez]], a headland of Nunez Peninsula
* [[Cape Nuñez]], a headland of Nunez Peninsula

Revision as of 20:23, 25 August 2014

As a consequence of former Spanish and, later, Mexican sovereignty over lands that are now part of the United States, there are many places in the country, mostly in the southwest, with names of Spanish origin. Florida and Louisiana also were at times under Spanish control. There are also several places in the United States with Spanish names as a result to other factors. Some of these names preserved ancient writing.

Authenticity and origin

Not all Spanish place names in the United States originate from the Spanish colonial period. And in fact, not all Spanish-sounding place names in the country are really Spanish. Spanish-sounding place names can be classified into three categories:

• Colonial: Spanish names that were given in the Spanish colonial period, or adaptations of names originally given in the colonial period to the same place or to nearby related places. Example: Los Angeles, California, shortened from the original Spanish name of the settlement, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula.

• Post-colonial: Spanish place names that have no history of being used during the colonial period for the place in question or for nearby related places. Example: Lake Buena Vista, Florida, named in 1969 after a street in Burbank, California.

• Non-colonial: Spanish place names in areas that were never under Spanish control adopted due to other processes. Salamanca, New York, named for a Spaniard connected with the railroad company that built the town, and Toledo, Ohio, named after the city in Spain because the Anglo settlers wanted to do so, are prominent examples.

• Fake: place names that look like they're Spanish, but are in fact grammatically incorrect modern inventions given by people who do not speak or understand Spanish, but who wanted a Spanish-sounding name. Example: Sierra Vista, Arizona, named in 1956, with the intended meaning of "mountain view." Idiomatic Spanish names with that meaning would be "Mirasierra" or "Miramonte." This is not to be confused with grammatically incorrect adaptations of colonial names, where a name that was used in the Spanish colonial period is adapted to English without regard for Spanish grammar.

• Non-Spanish in origin: A good example of this is Eldorado, Illinois, where it comes from two Anglo last names being run together.

States

  • Arizona (either from árida zona, meaning "Arid Zone", or from a Spanish word of Basque origin meaning "The Good Oak")
  • California (from the name of a fictional island country in Las sergas de Esplandián, a popular Spanish chivalric romance by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo)
  • Colorado (meaning "Red [colored]" or "Ruddy". Named after the Colorado River, whose waters were of that color.)
  • Florida Meaning "Flowery" or "Florid", because it was discovered by Ponce de León on Easter Sunday, called Pascua Florida to distinguish this holiday, which occurs in springtime when flowers are abundant, from other Christian holidays called Pascua in Spanish, such as Christmas and Epiphany.
  • Montana (from montaña, meaning "Mountain")
  • Nevada (meaning "Snowy", from Sierra Nevada, meaning "snow-capped range of mountains". Sierra means "a range of mountains,", literally "a saw," from Latin serra.
  • New Mexico (Calqued from Nuevo México)
  • Texas (based on the Caddo word teshas, meaning "friends" or "allies", which was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas). The letter x had a "sh" sound in 16th-century Spanish which gradually evolved to an "h" sound, which under later spelling reforms was assigned to the letter j (which originally also had a "zh", "j" or "y" sound). Thus the modern Spanish spelling Tejas, which sounds like "Tehas".
  • Utah (Spanish word of Nahuatl origin, first used by friar Gerónimo Salmerón as Yuta or Uta in Spanish[1])

Territories

Counties and parishes

This is not an exhaustive list.

Cities

This is not an exhaustive list.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

Y

Z

Amerindian Reservations

Bays and inlets

Census-designated places and unincorporated community

Forest

Former settlements

Historic places (still standing)

Forts

Missions

Presidios

Ranchos

Further information: List of Ranchos of California

Islands

Mountains, hills, rock and volcanos

Neighborhoods

Parks

Peninsulas

Regions

This is not an exhaustive list.

Rivers and Lakes

Springs and waterfalls

Streets and roads

This is not an exhaustive list.

Town and Township

Valleys

Villages

Institutions and buildings

Railroads and Metro station

Airport

Churches

Theatres

Schools and Academies

Others

See also

References

  1. ^ What is a Ute?
  2. ^ Walter Romig, Michigan Place Names, p. 86
  3. ^ Walter Romig, Michigan Place Names, p. 187
  4. ^ Native American placenames of the ... - William Bright - Google Libros. Books.google.es. Retrieved 2011-11-12.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_place_names_of_Spanish_origin_in_the_United_States&oldid=622790529"