Origins of Major City Names

In this video, we discuss the origin of the names of the major cities of the planet Earth. How and why they're called what they're called.
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[@Fireoflearning]

Bern is the capital of Switzerland, not Zurich. Thank you all for watching. Come join the Fire of Learning Discord server! discord.gg/YWscqva

[@biliminsrlar5752]

Your videos are great,keep going please.

[@jjnn2]

You don't know everything about a country you don't live in? smh smh unsubscribed

[@mattihp]

Interestingly enough Switzerland has no capital. Bern is the site of government and is thusly considered de facto capital

[@cycklist]

Also Lagos is not the capital of Nigeria. That's Abuja.

[@abdelrahmanwael2551]

Technically there is no capital

[@nbewarwe]

Los Angeles: The Angels Philadelphia: Brotherly Love Chicago: *Onions*

[@suchenzuehx192]

n b the City of ONION

[@lericthurston2543]

Was Chicago built on a swamp? In the swamps are the lairs of the creatures with layers. It is their swamp.

[@MaliciousChickenAgenda]

@@lericthurston2543 I like to dwell in swamps sometimes. Seen a Sasquatch taking a piss in one during summer last year. I wanted to approach it to strike up a conversation but it appeared to be very grumpy so i thought it best to leave it alone

[@jarskil8862]

*Wild Shrek appears*

[@MaliciousChickenAgenda]

@@jarskil8862 I shall peck this creature to inspect it and determine whether it's presence shall be allowed to continue in the swamp

[@jameslucas129]

Decently pronounces French "Détroit" Completely butchers Spanish "Los Angeles" Hmmm he must be Canadian

[@lukethomeret-duran5273]

He butchered the french too. He said de-tra not dé-troi(t). But yes he butchered the Spanish 😂

[@azzary8523]

And what about "Brouzel" for Bruxelles (wich in france we say "Brussel" or "bruqusel")

[@suhasbelgur5364]

@エヴォルーシ本店 Lack of effort to know how to pronounce words of other language can be offensive. But here he most probably mispronounced due to lack of familiarity to the language or maybe just wasn't able to pull off the pronounciations as a native speaker of the language would.

[@aquariusnymph]

James Lucas correct. I live in LA. It’s actually pronounced “Los Aan-hey-lais”

[@aawagga7099]

@@aquariusnymph yeah your right, just because its Spanish doesn't mean it has to be pronounced as if it is because most people living there primarily speak English now.

[@Robarm2]

A little known fact the major german city of Hamburg was named after the traditional American snack of the hamburger

[@cosuinofdeath]

Robert Armstrong snack haha bruh

[@sekai2982]

Bruh not snack...meal

[@promeneuzivotu117]

Robert Armstrong since it got eaten by bombs in ww2 it makes sence.

[@siemenvandcamp]

The city name hamburg means bend castle in old nedersaxen. The first time the city was named was in 825 (hammaburg) . The hamburger on the otherside is original mongolian the meat was round because the putted it under the saddle wenn they ride . In the 16th century it was with the trade of mongolse and russia very popular in hamburg and that name sticked wenn people moved to amerika.

[@promeneuzivotu117]

@@siemenvandcamp 👏

[@petroll.02]

"Sir would you like Chicagos on your burger?"

[@abyssstrider2547]

Yes, whole city please.

[@ommy7672]

on your Hamburg

[@frederickthegreat5456]

Only after it's been sufficiently roasted

[@LuckAndAdventures]

Yes i want a hamburg with chichagos in a warsaw

[@vercingetorixsonofavernia6598]

Last time I was this early Istanbul was still called Constantinople

[@gumbyshrimp2606]

brian' make Byzantium Roman again

[@ddwkc]

Make Lygos Thracian again.

[@jinkino]

“It’s Istanbul not Constantinople”

[@biliminsrlar5752]

Did you mean Konstantiniyye? *Ceddin Deden Nesrin Baban intensifies*

[@jjnn2]

The Turks straight up losers, Constantinople was a way cooler name

[@johnnymorawski6543]

You’re wrong about the meaning of Las Vegas... it’s Spanish for “where one catches herpes”

[@ngamashaka4894]

@@ACHistory Comments, a place where people die

[@blindtherapper2470]

@@ACHistory that's not healthy

[@ilcondottierocartografo6770]

LMFAO

[@mathewvanostin7118]

Watch the liberals rename the city "las vegan" in a couple of years

[@dejanjordan]

😜😄

[@sohopedeco]

In Portuguese, we use the name of the Syrian city of Damascus (Damasco) to refer to apricots. 🍑

[@Kim_Kardashi-un]

Same in Spanish 🍑 Iberian fam ^^

[@adrianatgaming8640]

i'd love to eat a damascus right now

[@aerohydreigon1101]

Would use like some Damascus and Chicago with your Hamburg?

[@ferriscemila8912]

In Arabic Portugal:> Al Bortuqâl means Orange

[@gilbertmcglurk2591]

Rest of World - names their cities after the local culture America - *Cleveland is named after Cleveland*

[@darthXreven]

America has no real culture though....the cowboys, rebelliousness, stubborn pride, the ability to tackle any problem head on and solve it, inginuity.....our deeds are our culture.... and for those of us who are nerds, dorks geeks, comic books, sci-fi and fantasy are out culture.... we don't descend down from a long line of kings or heroic warriors, that's sorta what the comic books are about....we don't have a robin hood but we know the story, we do have a Green Arrow though.....we don't have a King Arthur but we know the story and we have a Captain America..... 😈 like JRR Tolkein had to invent a great mythology for England we americans had to invent our own heroes.....it's just for some cops or soldiers, firefighters or paramedics are heroes, well some of us our heroes are superheroes....

[@GreatNishanka]

Mostly

[@abrahamlincoln5177]

I thought it was named after the show

[@davidcruz8667]

Not really. There are cities like Santiago De Chile, Ciudad Juarez, Ciudad Mendoza, Zaragoza, etc, in other countries that are named after people. So saying "Rest of the world" is incorrect.

[@vanpaladin3630]

Al-Qahera(Cairo) is the feminine way of saying the conqueror. Also, Arabs usually use feminine terms for cities.

[@abdelrahmanwael2551]

It actually means the expellor

[@mmyr8ado.360]

That sounds like 'the cashier' in Spanish

[@aise3722]

Van Paladin they should put a burka on their cities then

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

@@aise3722 😁🖕

[@Michael_De_Santa-Unofficial]

@@mmyr8ado.360 Hmm, smiling Justinian. I like it.

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

Albuquerque is named after the Spanish Duke of Alburquerque, Viceroy of New Spain when the city was founded. The first R was dropped because the name was confused with that of Portuguese explorer Alfonso de Albuquerque. The town which both the Duke and Explorer were named after, Alburquerque, Spain, may have either come from Arabic for Cork Tree (Abu Al Corque) or Latin for White Oak (Albus quercus)

[@aryyancarman705]

@Pierre Bezukhov would it be Albino Church in english

[@XDspacemanJD]

The flag for London in this video is actually the flag of the City of London, which is located within London itself. London itself doesn't have its own flag. Just something I thought I should mention. Anyway, great video Fire of Learning! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@alexmorgan1667]

so london is in london but london isnt london, got it

[@blindtherapper2470]

So is London also an area around the city then? And aren't we talking about cities? I'm confused.

[@the_exegete]

@@blindtherapper2470 The City of London (capitalized C) is the oldest part of the city of London (lowercase c) and has special status going back hundreds if not thousands of years. Think of it as a district of the city that operates under different rules from the other districts because of loads of historical factors, including the fact that it once was the whole city before the industrial revolution vastly increased the population which expanded outward. Ironically hardly anyone actually lives in the City anymore, but it's still the center of finance and government for the UK and people commute in for work.

[@XDspacemanJD]

@k1w1 I mean the financial district that is called the City of London is located within the city that is London. I'm merely saying that the flag used is the flag of that specific district, as said district has its own peculiar history and status.

[@XDspacemanJD]

@k1w1 I do agree that when it comes to flags associated with names, the City of London flag is the best to use. I just thought it was something worthwhile to mention, as he didn't make the distinction himself in the video. I just didn't want people to think that said flag was for London as a whole. Pure and simple. I didn't mean to come off as rude.

[@LouisHansell]

Los Angeles gets its name from "Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles", which means Our Lady Queen of the Angels. That is the name on the original mission which still stands in the heart of Los Angeles. FIFY.

[@stscallop3254]

It's actually "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula" meaning "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola".

[@georgejcking]

Both, San Gabriel Mission and San Fernando Mission are far from "the heart of Los Angeles". There was not an original ("21") mission in Los Angeles, Just a Presidio.

[@nasirjames3014]

Los Ángeles. The “ge” combination in Spanish makes a “je” sound (“h-eh” in English)

[@aawagga7099]

yes but, the people there mostly speak English there, the American pronunciation of an American town is correct even if its corrupted off of the original Spanish pronunciation.

[@lucasgildone2650]

Addicting Video Game Hub but even in *english* it should be pronounced as a “je” sound. That’s basic grammar. For example, ‘angels’. No idea why he pronounced it that way.

[@alexandradautriche2221]

@@lucasgildone2650 He first said it like normal, so I'm pretty sure the second time (when he said it weirdly) was him trying to say it on Spanish as in to say it from where it originated.

[@zonaryorange8734]

Addicting Video Game Hub The USA can’t even decide on how to pronounce caramel, the English pronunciation can never be correct. It’s just been peacefully accepted, which isn’t bad, but it’s not technically correct

[@alexandradautriche2221]

@@zonaryorange8734 Pretty much, yeah. It's actually about accents. In Spanish the thing is very similar, but it's not so much about a specific words as the sound in general. So yeah, I think it's a English thing

[@Jfk2Mr]

4:40 According to legend, Warszawa (Warsaw) took its name as corruption of names of the couple that started settlement there, namely Wars and Sawa

[@KF-bq4ik]

There's also another version of the legend in which Sawa was a mermaid

[@angeloh.7746]

Stawa wars

[@dorthusiast]

@@angeloh.7746 extremely unfunny

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

so it was not named after someone hairy 'Vorshavyy or some fleece (a 'Vortzs/Vortchsh')

[@Jfk2Mr]

@@stanislavkostarnov2157 as far as I know, only "hairy" city known to me is Szczecin with connection to word "szczecina" (very short hair, usually used in context of beards/moustaches and pigs)

[@AlphaNumeric123]

Cambridge Massachusetts, the home of the prestigious Harvard University and MIT, was named after Cambridge, England which in turn is home of the University of Cambridge one of the oldest (est. 1209 AD) and most prestigious universities (eg, 2nd most Nobel Prize recipients, behind only Harvard) in the world currently. Cambridge was named after the river Cam, which a bridge was built over. John Harvard attended Cambridge University (Emmanuel College, one of Cambridge’s constituent colleges) and later settled in America and was a benefactor of the college that now has his namesake. Funnily, John Harvard was not even the largest donor. Much of the collegiate architecture is inspired by the ancient university which lent it’s name to the colonial settlement town.

[@farhanahmed2508]

1209 BC?! I highly doubt that.

[@AlphaNumeric123]

Farhan Ahmed haha whoops! I wrote that out quickly. Edited accordingly.

[@the_exegete]

@@farhanahmed2508 Nah, it's true, Cambridge was founded by the Sea Peoples.

[@johnfraire6931]

@@the_exegete R/unexpectedseapeoples

[@frigginjerk]

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam. Why they changed it, I can't say. People just liked it better that way.

[@andreipop5805]

Now it's Istambul not Constantinople

[@lawrencepack3624]

They changed it when the Dutch and the English swapped territories, with the English receiving New Amsterdam and the Durch getting lands in South America.1625

[@belland_dog8235]

@@lawrencepack3624 I don't remember them swapping territories, I think it was more like the Dutch weren't protecting New Amsterdam so the English just showed up and took it

[@mikitz]

@@belland_dog8235 It came along the peace treaty.

[@polytechnika]

10:18 Lagos is not the Capital of Nigeria, it's Abuja.

[@ishenicole9987]

Never knew that

[@ennui9745]

Tbf Lagos was the capital until 1991.

[@andyjay729]

5:19 "According to the founding myth of the city by the Ancient Romans themselves,[17] the long-held tradition of the origin of the name Roma is believed to have come from the city's founder and first king, Romulus.[18] However, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself.[19] As early as the 4th century, there have been alternative theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. Several hypotheses have been advanced focusing on its linguistic roots which however remain uncertain:[20] from Rumon or Rumen, archaic name of the Tiber, which in turn has the same root as the Greek verb ῥέω (rhéō) and the Latin verb ruo, which both mean "flow";[b] from the Etruscan word 𐌓𐌖𐌌𐌀 (ruma), whose root is *rum- "teat", with possible reference either to the totem wolf that adopted and suckled the cognately named twins Romulus and Remus, or to the shape of the Palatine and Aventine Hills; from the Greek word ῥώμη (rhṓmē), which means strength.[c]" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome#Etymology

[@tassiek2450]

Roma in aiolian/ Dorian dialects and Rome( Ρωμη) in the Ionian dialect.

[@andreipop5805]

You've no ideea how much I wanted to see this comment

[@dr.woozie7500]

11:18 Bern is the capital of Switzerland not Zurich (most populous city)

[@mathewvanostin7118]

Yesterdoge no its Geneva the most populous city of switzerland. Its also the economic capital Zurich is the second city of switzerland and the leader of the german speaking part of switzerland

[@mathewvanostin7118]

Vladimir Kichev no google it. Geneva. 495 000 population. Zurich 400 000 population 😂😂 Geneva was always switzerland big city. Its just zurich got recently very popular because of its numerous mentions in hollywood movies giving the impression its the big city for foreigners especialy people outside europe 😂

[@mathewvanostin7118]

Vladimir Kichev and you dare tell me to go read how hilarious. Even the personn who dont read know geneva is the big city of switzerland 😂 google both cities and go see yourself 😂

[@mohamedhenni8664]

Vladimir Kichev lol he is right Geneva is bigger by 100 000 and most europeans know geneva is their big city, so no suprise

[@mohamedhenni8664]

Vladimir Kichev you need to check what they mean for population for each city. Because some neibourhoods or small city that are part of geneva/zurich. Might not be added cause on paper they are independant city. But they are totaly part of geneva/zurich..if you include them geneva is bigger. Now if you want the official neibourhood only i am not sure But in general the metropolitan area of geneva is bigger metropolitan area of zurich

[@heronimousbrapson863]

George Vancouver was of Dutch ancestry; his grandfather came from the city of Coevorden in the Netherlands (which I believe means "cow ford"). The original form of the name was "Van Coevorden".

[@MARTINREN1231]

i felt like my country's capital became just a minor thing. IDK how people think globally about my city so . eh. ill just add this here for the curious people Philippines, Manila(or as locals and Spanish people call it, Maynila) came from the word "May nilad" which means "There is a nilad plant" because the plant can be seen along the manila bay and the pasig river.

[@Perririri]

Quezon is named for #ManuelQuezon, the first President of the Philippines

[@17ThomasMakhlouf]

Make a part 2 (and maybe more). There are thousands of cities and I'm sure we can find their origins. Also, many cities have had multiple names during history; you can also cover that in a video. History of city names.

[@kildasaints4014]

Thx FOL- Just wanted to let you know "Viscount is pronounced with a silent "s" eg "Vycount"

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

Kilda Saints UKs most successful airliner was the Vickers Viscount

[@Fireoflearning]

Thank you

[@mattihp]

2:23 Moskova is a finnic name and nor proto-slsvic. When the slavs ventured there the river was already named

[@mattihp]

Last five years several online sources have seen this being edited due to russian nationalism. No printed source will claim a proto-slavic source.

[@mattihp]

@Yaroslav L I hope this is satire! Funny stuff either way. Check russian sources on the etymology from the time before the 90s and you will get the same info.

[@user-hv4et7dq2j]

@Yaroslav L so you're saying that russia is not an evil Empire.

[@user-hv4et7dq2j]

@Yaroslav L Have you heard of the holodomor? Have you heard of serfdom? Have you heard of ethnic cleansing of Cossacks by Catherine the great, of banning/suppressing the use of Ruthenian dialects, the Russianizing of cultures all across Russia? Have you heard of the oppression against the people that has been brought on by the russian government for pretty much all of its history? Have you heard of the USSR placing machine guns behind the troops advancing so they couldn't retreat? Gulags? The great purge?Have you heard that the Romanovs owned Vodka distilleries (primarily used to suppress rebellion)? You being a Russian, i am pretty certain you haven't even heard of the words "liberty" or "freedom" as your government's policy primarily deals in oppression and suppression. Look now, Tchaikovsky and Chekhov were great but it would be better if you dogs never existed. The problems of the world would certainly be to a lesser extent.

[@user-hv4et7dq2j]

@Yaroslav L you can scream and cry all you want and call me a nazi. And i know america has done some unforgivable shit, but nothing compares to the extent of the Soviet Union with Moscow at its center. Call me ignorant, a nazi, go ahead, but with god as my witness, i know i'm right. Anyway, you should read The good Soldier Svejk but not the russian translation cause it is terrible. I suggest you learn Czech but the Ukrainian translation is also good lol.

[@jacobparry177]

I am so glad London wasn't just left at, 'Romans called it Londinium, so it is Latin'. Also, Eboracum comes from Celtic Eburauc- a type of tree or plant,, if I remember correctly. Edinburg was originally known as Din Eidyn, fort of Eidyn, from Old Welsh, Cumbric was merely a dialect of said language.

[@ericmarseille2]

The yew...Plenty of French towns have a Celtic name coming from this root, Evreux, Evry, etc.

[@Alexeiyeah]

Additional ones, for the curious. Cale was the name of the city of Porto given by the celtic-iberians of the area. When it became a province under the romans, the name given by them was Portus Cale. Caele and Portus both mean "port". So, Portugal's name, which comes from the latin name for the city of Porto, "Portus Caele", means "Port Port". In Brazil, the capital of the state of Maranhão is "São Luís". The name is derived from Saint Louis, the fort built by the french in their second attempt to have a colony in what is Southern America today. The Bahia's city "Porto Seguro" (Safe Port) is where the portuguese arrived in today's Brazil. The location was pretty safe to land, hence the name. I guess the fact that the fleet also passed through a storm and lost a ship also influenced the choosing of the name ahhahahaah Cabo Frio (Cold Cape) is a city in Rio de Janeiro, named after the waters on the place and the fact that it began on the cape. Niteroi, the second largest city in the Rio de Janeiro state, is named after tupi* words for "Hidden Water". The city was founded by settling a group of portuguese allied natives as a prize for fighting the french who settled in what today is the city of Rio de Janeiro. *tupi is a general term for a group of native tribes of Brazil and also is the term given to their language. As a side note of interest, during the XVIth century period of colonization, the portuguese called the tupi language "lingua geral" (general language) because the tupi dominated most of what today is Brazil's coast! The portuguese, and their cultural heirs in Brazil, were very catholic and named a lot of places after saints and special days, from landmarks to states. One of the first trends was to name places after looking a calendar with the special christian dates. For example, in the state of Bahia, there's Monte Pascoal (Mount of the Easter) because the portuguese found it in a day of easter. Salvador ("the Saviour"), the capital of Bahia, is named after one of Jesus Christ designations.

[@manuelenrique9220]

Actually Buenos Aires's full name used to be Santa María de los Buenos Aires, which was one of the many epithets given to the Virgin Mary. "Buenos Aires", which literally translates as "good winds" is part of that epithet.

[@archeofutura_4606]

York came from the Norse name Jorvík. The Anglo Saxon name Eoforwic came from Eboracum

[@stscallop3254]

Fun Fact: The city of Évora, Portugal derives from Eboracum too.

[@hansmelbye1804]

Fire of Learning: *Mentions Stockholm and Copenhagen but not Oslo* Me: *Cries in Norwegian*

[@stscallop3254]

Oslo either comes from Old Norse "Óslo" meaning "Meadow at the Foot of a Hill", or it comes from " Áslo" meaning "Meadow Consecrated to the Gods".

[@teobtamous]

On Barcelona: It was not named after or built by Hannibal, it was built by Hannibal's father, Hamilcar, and named after their dynasty, Barca/Baracids, hence the name Barcelona; i believe it was founded as a military fortification during the Punic wars, it's purpose was to garrison and supply the Punic navy and military from there so they could attack Rome from a better position.

[@Silverfiddha]

Madrid is based on the Arabic name "Majrit" (مجريط) which is a combination of "Majra" (Arabic for water course/stream) and "ito (Latin for abundance - although I couldn't find this). The final meaning being "Abundant water courses" in Arabic. It was founded in 855 AD by the Emir Mohammed bin Abdulrahman.

[@yourboss001]

There's a lot of theories

[@Ericson-vk6bx]

Your answer is not valid since Madrid, as far as I know, comes from the Celts, and the Spanish also have more Celtic blood than Arab or Roman

[@justinnamuco9096]

Prince Muhammad the son of the Slave of the Merciful?

[@artembentsionov]

Fun fact: many cities whose names mean “new cities” are now some of the oldest still-standing cities. This includes Naples, Novgorod, Nystad, Carthage (ok, I know that one isn’t standing)

[@BurnBird1]

Nystad is old at all. Nystad was founded in 1617

[@fszocelotl]

Greetings to all form the hill surrounded by salt (Tequesquinahuac), in the municipality of the land in the middle (Tlalnepantla) at the northwest of the place at the moon's navel (Mexico City)

[@LunaBari]

That is a weird sentence.

[@davidcruz8667]

Saludos pues!

[@bastaartp7855]

Captain Vancouver owes his name to the Dutch name "Van Coevoorde" which means "from the city of Coevorden" (founded sometime in the 11th century). Coevorden would be koe vaart in more "modern" Dutch, which is a place where farmers could lead their cows through the river to get to the other side.

[@ACHistory]

Fantastic video! I love these unique topics that you cover! I have looked to see if anyone has any videos that are remotely similar to yours, but I cannot find any, which just demonstrates that this channel like the "one of a million" for historical-based channels. Your documentaries are very well-made, where I learn things when I expect that I already knew a lot. I love watching your videos, because of their detailed, expressive descriptions of LITERALLY everywhere. Keep up your impeccable work!. Thank you! -Andrew C.

[@Fireoflearning]

Thank you Mr. C., I appreciate that and am glad my viewers find I add something new to the table.

[@ACHistory]

@@Fireoflearning Of course!, I thought that it was really cool how you showed the city flags in this video. I just noticed that you said that Lagos was the capital of Nigeria, it is the largest city, but the capital is Abuja. Oh and I have some possible video ideas. Maybe you could create a video about general historical figures' grave, although you already did generals, maybe other historical figures too. You could also make a video on what flags you like, and what flags you think are "disgusting". Thank you for replying!

[@ACHistory]

​@@Fireoflearning Thanks for replying!. I noticed that you said the capital of Nigeria was Lagos, but it is just the largest city in Nigeria, let alone Africa..., but the capital of Abuja, but honestly, Lagos has more to do than Abuja. I have some video ideas: Historical and Recent Grave of Important Figures, although you already did generals, you could do a video on flags, like which ones you like, and which ones you think are "disgusting". Gracias!

[@dustin628]

Aww I was writing why my hometown, Phoenix was named cause I was sure you wouldn't talk about it... but then you did! Thank you Justin! The city of Phoenix has been inhabited on and off for thousands of years 🏜

[@Ember-Rodriguez]

Thanks for throwing in Tucson, Phoenix always gets the spotlight for its current population but Tucson is one of the oldest continuously inhabited place in the Americas and a lot of history to show for it because it wasn't wiped off the map and replaced with stucco suburbs (well not entirely oro valley and Marana do exist haha).

[@CSSUcommand]

As a resident of Tucson. I say, the city was founded on August 20th, 1775 by Hugo O'conor. Believe it or not it was established as a Spainish Fort. It was formally called Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón. Hugo O'Conor was an Irish explorer who was paid by the Spanish crown to set up a fort in Apache Country.

[@Heather-xm9ul]

Gotta say, I despise the fact that so many decided that everything should be stucco! The whole east valley is beige and brown thanks to that moronic trend. At least the old buildings aren't all tan!

[@JAGzilla-ur3lh]

Ah yes, the great cities of the world. Hallowed, storied names that loom large in the pages of history. Rome. Baghdad. Tokyo. Paris. London. Istanbul. Cleveland.

[@elizabethorman86]

Extremely illuminating and entertaining. Thank you for both the research and the presentation! I'm a big fan of your videos and always happy when I see you've posted a new one.

[@Blowingmind]

I find it interesting that you included Cincinnati and Birmingham but not Atlanta, Memphis, or other reasonably sized cities with more interesting etymology than just "it's from Britain" that are larger than those. I get you can't touch on every major city but the list of us cities seems somewhat arbitrary.

[@Bananaman-hk6qw]

Why only American cities there are much more *major* cities

[@mq5ey]

Because his patrons are the ones who paid him and suggested those cities. If you want your city there, tip him and then vote on his patreon. You are not entitled to anything.

[@MaicullMichael]

@@mq5ey then maybe video title is not accurate

[@mq5ey]

@@MaicullMichael Why not? Those are major cities aren't they? The title doesn't imply ALL major cities do they?

[@MaicullMichael]

@@mq5ey Sao Paulo (population 20million) was not mentioned but Calgary (pop. 1 million) was. So from that point of view, it could be seen as biased towards North American cities. Out of the 2 cities, which would you say is the major city?

[@mq5ey]

@@MaicullMichael If its biased towards north american cities that means most of his patreons are american, if you want sao paulo there gather people who care about sao paulo and then vote for the city.

[@HarJBeRw]

11:13 Oof, that pronunciation was so off the mark I thought he was pronouncing Bruocsella at first

[@simplyaudrorable]

My city made it on the list! And admittedly I learned something new!

[@justfrank5661]

Which one??

[@simplyaudrorable]

@@justfrank5661 Calgary 😊

[@VanBurenOfficial]

@@simplyaudrorable you sure it wasn't Cleveland

[@simplyaudrorable]

@@VanBurenOfficial 100% sure. Lol. I'm from Calgary.

[@larsanderbulfin4236]

Buenos Aires' name actually comes from "Santa María del Buen Aire" ("Our Lady of the Good Air") "Mary under this Marian title, is often portrayed carrying the Child Jesus, along with a golden sailboat and a candle in her right arm is invoked as the Patroness of Sardinia as well as Buenos Aires, Argentina, to which Pope Francis is also a known devotee."

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Excellent and very interesting video that is worthwhile for all to watch.

[@josiptito9412]

this is much more well researched than another video that came out recently explaining the names of other major cities.

[@nikolajankovic96]

Good video, but you should do part 2 where you do some central Asian cities like Astana (Nur-Sultan), Almaty, Tashkent, Dushanbe, Samarkand, Bukhara, Ashgabat, Bishkek, Karagandy... This part of the world is offten forgotten in the west, but it is very interesting, as it was very important during silk road times. Also some other cities that might be interesting are Uranian cities like Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Karachi, Other Middle Eastern cities like Barash, Erbil, Aleppo, Beirut, Amman, Tel Aviv, Muscat. Some other random cities could be Lahore, Kabul, Kolkata, Urumqi, Baku, Yerevan (one of the oldest cities on Earth), Tbilisi, Batumi, Izmir, Bursa, Thessaloniki, Tirana, Skopje, Sofia, Varna, Bucharest, Zagreb, Budapest, Vilnius, Riga, Tallin, Helsinki... Also some more cities in Russia that would be interesting like Derbent (oldest city in Russia), Makhachkala, Sochi, Elista, Astrakhan, Kazan, Ufa, Barnaul, Abakan, Irkutsk... Also more African cities like Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Marrakesh, Luxor, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Accra... I know that you went for cities that are familliar to primarily western audience, but dont get me wrong, I think that these and other cities like this are far more interesting than many North American cities that have very boring etymology.

[@Bravo_116Cinema]

Very good video man this channel is probably one of the best channels on KZbin

[@serigotskrila6712]

Favorite channel

[@dorn4931]

I’m just honored that Chicago is considered a major city still

[@TheBigJ5887]

Chicago used to be better then New York and it deserves to be again

[@tylermech66]

I mean it IS the third largest city in the US, which is a big deal for a lot of reasons, even if it's poor as shit

[@Lv-nq9qz]

It no New York, but it's got more interesting buildings than most cities.

[@nathanmackinnon7405]

“what’s a chicago” is a god tier reference

[@rayarubin3584]

from wikipedia- Tel-aviv, Israel- Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzl's Altneuland ("Old New Land"), translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. Sokolow had adopted the name of a Mesopotamian site near the city of Babylon mentioned in Ezekiel: "Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv, that lived by the river Chebar, and to where they lived; and I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days."[20] The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including "Herzliya". It was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for "spring", symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient.

[@music_by_carlos]

Stockholms coat of arms looks like a hockey team logo lol

[@marcopolo2395]

No Athens?

[@jigzo78]

most of 'em: named after some guy who found it, the habits of the people that lived there or the nearest body of water the cool ones: named after mythical creatures and heroes

[@HierophanticRose]

Ankara - Capital of Turkey, formerly known as Ancyra by the Greeks, actually is a name given by the Galatian Celts at a fort they created in the highest hill overlooking the Central Anatolian plateau., but the name is the same as the word 'anchor' in English! As the word comes from Ancient Greek "Ankura", which means anchor but also secure.

[@jamesmorseman3180]

Not to nitpick but Chongqing and Shanghai are they largest municipality or administrative zone in the world, but under 30% of the population in the area are no urbanized- they are more rural-agricultural based. Tokyo is still considered to be the true largest city in the world in 2020 as the entire population is within the city proper and the urbanization actually continue for quite a ways further as well. Tokyo is truly on another level in terms of urbanization in the world.

[@mattykaimiponodacres3048]

AWESOME VID💯😎very cool and educational. Looking forward to seeing more like this. Thank you 🔥💜🔥

[@johnkrappweis7367]

Wait a minute. I thought York England was originally named Yorvik. It was founded by the Viking colonizers during the early Middle Ages.

[@bilbobaggins5938]

The English name York derives from the Norse name Yorvik, the Norse name Yorvik derives from the Old English name Evorwik, and the Old English name Evorwik derives from the Roman name Eboracum.

[@xal3xmedia]

Jorvik

[@oolooo]

6:23 Must correct you there .The settlement was originally called Santa María del Buen Ayre , after the advocacy of the Holy Virgin that guards over sea travelers .You get why .

[@Dionaea_floridensis]

Tokyo is the most beautiful city I've ever been to. The people are so friendly and helpful

[@VanBurenOfficial]

And back in the Paleolithic age people be chilling on the MF Tokyo TV tower just maxxin and vibing, eating noodles and flexing on the cosmos itself.

[@Lv-nq9qz]

I'm surprised he didnt talk about how Kyoto was the capital city, and that when they moved the capital city to Edo they rearranged Kyoto to Tokyo.

[@boarbot7829]

Seeing as the Birmingham in England is larger than the one in Alabama you could’ve just done that one.

[@Sbjweyk]

The city of cologne has its name from the romans. They renamed the settlement Oppidum Ubiorum to Colonia Claudia ara Agrippinensium. The name Colonia stuck and evolved into cöln and later Köln or more prominent in the English name Cologne.

[@UKChrisC]

Similar to Lincoln. Was Lindum in Latin, was granted colonia status and the two converged from lindum Colonia into Lincoln

[@artembentsionov]

Kyiv (or Kiev if you’re Russian), the capital of Ukraine and one of the oldest East Slavic cities literally means “Kyi’s” and refers to the mythical founders of the city: the brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid’. Kyi was the oldest and became the city’s ruler. There’s a statue on the Dnipro waterfront showing the four siblings on a Viking-style longboat. Another Ukrainian city called Lviv means “Leo’s” and was named after Leo I of Galicia. Odessa was named after the Ancient Greek city of Odessos, which was mistakenly believed to have been located there. It was actually located at the site of the modern-day Bulgarian city of Varna (they were only off by about 400 kilometers)

[@thelusogerman3021]

Portugal- the 2nd biggest city (and the best) Porto literally means port. (As in harbour to clarify). Come visit when you're in portugal. We don't offer drug to tourists.

[@artistjoh]

The origin of the name of Sydney is far more interesting than is presented here. When Captain Phillip was sent to Australia to found a colony, the British Government gave Phillip written orders to name the new town Albion, which was the ancient poetic name for Britain. But they sent him to Botany Bay, and when he arrived, Phillip soon found a better Harbour a short distance north. Because it wasn’t the precise location in his orders Phillip felt he could change the name and named it after Viscount Sydney. But why Sydney? Firstly Viscount Sydney had trusted in him as a younger man when he proposed a daring naval action against the Spanish in South America and the Philippines. Sydney awarded him his first command of one of the 3 ships involved, and then was instrumental in choosing him to found the new colony with 11 ships under his command. But there was another, far better reason -political beliefs. Viscount Sydney was an opponent of slavery, and Phillip agreed with him. When he founded the town he named Sydney he decreed that “there will never be slaves in this land”, and this has remained true for 232 years. Thus Australia is one of the few modern nations that has never permitted slavery.

[@khaineprice9118]

For Cardiff. Fort on the taff is a largely accepted etymology, the first castle and surrounding kingdom were largely based around the river Taff

[@AndrewChicken]

I'm surprised I knew a few of these correctly, like New York, Houston, London, and Philadelphia. Still, a lot of cities I had no clue about! Very fascinating :)

[@TripNBallsGaming]

Could you make a part 2 to this?

[@petesplacestuff4781]

I like how he does little Birmingham Alabama but not near by Atlanta.

[@TSEliot1978]

I'm disappointed Budapest wasn't included.

[@Perririri]

It is two cities , Buda and Pest ( pronounced _Pesht_ )

[@yungstallion2201]

In Welsh we call London Llundain which translates roughly into lake fort

[@jonster337able]

Thanks for the great information! I've always wondered about so many of them....

[@patrikkalus5567]

There is Legend about origins of Praha (Prague) name . Daughter and heir of second leader of Czechs after their arrival to Bohemia Libuše had prophetic vision that mighty city will be founded in the area. So she sent her advisors to search the area. They found there single hut with one man living in it. When they first time saw man he was repairing threshold (Práh in Czech) of his hut. So city that was founded here was called after it.

[@alpaykasal2902]

I learned London, from Londinium, was named for a rich dude name Lund who was the financier of the ports at the time.

[@carsonianthegreat4672]

Denver was the Governor of the Kansas Territory, that’s a very important detail

[@adaw90]

It's not an important City on a world scale, but Sofia - the capital of Bulgaria- was named after the old Roman basilica just outside of the city walls, when the settlement was called Serdica and after that - Sredets. This church is still standing today and has been a metropolitan cathedral, a mosque, a fire department and a Warehouse. Now it's once again a church just next to the new patriarchs cathedral from the beginning of the 20th century.

[@King-of-Lusitania]

Loved the video! Lisbon's name is indeed ancient, you mentioned the mythological origin connected to Ulysses but historically most agree it comes from Allis Ubbo, phoenician for Safe Harbor. (Allis Ubbo would then evolve to Olisipo with the Romans, to Ulishbon with the Visigoths, al-Ushbuna with the Moors before becoming our Lisboa

[@Axolotls_out]

Stock and holm are not only old norse words, they are still used today

[@lukasiewicz.painting]

Prague come from pražiti, a term for woodland cleared by burning

[@digbyfire5446]

Yes, A lot of people who live in Chicago love onions, I know people who eat onions with everything, Yes, everything. So it would make sense my city is named after an onion.

[@TheTravelerww]

Peterborough (England) is Peter's Borough meaning Peter's town named after St. Peter and Peterborough (Australia) is named after Peterborough UK. However, Peterborough England used to be called Medhamstead meaning Medow homestead referring to the large meadows that act as flood plains for the River Nene.

[@agrippa6312]

There’s a city in the north of Italy named Monza which seems to derive from the longobard queen Theodolinda. According to legend she saw in a dream a dove that said to her “modo” (meaning “here”) which means she had to found a city there and she answered “etiam”(“yes”). From the fusion of these two words Modoetiam it was born the city of Monza

[@playwithdomination9238]

In bavaria, germany there is a city called "Augsburg". It was founded around two thousand years ago by the romans with the name "Augusta Vindelicorum (or Augusta Vindelicum)". The city got named after Augustus Ceaser and the "Vindelici", a celtic tribe living in the area on a river with the latin name "Licca", thus "Vinde-licum".

[@fsdds1488]

As for Shanghai it has various theory of the meaning of its name, it could mean the place where people aboard the ship(it was said to be a makeshift port in the past), so literally "go to the ocean", or by a place called Shanghaipu, meaning upper ocean, the character Pu was then neglected and the name simplified to Shanghai.

[@TTo-pr2vc]

Atlantic City, Nj here great content

[@lilspittin313]

I feel smarter after listening to this guy ^_^

[@SpaceExplorer]

great video!

[@martonlee]

Bangkok, Budapest, Casablanca, Dakka, Doha, Nairobi, Lagos, Caracas, Havanan, Manila, Singapore, Phnom Penh

[@Perririri]

*There is a reason it is called Bangkok, and not Bangkunt !*

[@hettyscetty9785]

It's not very often that people recognise Edinburgh or Wales as capitols of Scotland or Wales, its refreshing to see that. The UK thanks you.

[@luiscarlosaguilargallego5678]

History of the capital of El Salvador 🇸🇻 San Salvador (Saint Savior) *In English* The first foundation of San Salvador took place in 1525 (probably in Antiguo Cuscatlán), it was re-founded in 1528 (south of Suchitoto), but its population would be settled in its current location until 1545.

[@markb1170]

I come from Frankfurt, Germany and I just realized how it must sound strange for Americans to hear me say that I‘m a Frankfurter

[@xaafuzckers9196]

How about Hamburgers tho

[@hellas6014]

Noch ein Frankfurter

[@jimorr820]

The "Catholic" names of California were the names of the mission churches founded by the Franciscan missionaries. The missions were refered to by the names of its church. The settlement that grew up around them took on the names of the missions. They didn't just name the city after the saint

[@Ericson-vk6bx]

Viva España 🇪🇦

[@nicobambino191]

We need like 10 of these videos

[@Exoneos]

France needed a second city to be explained like Lyon.

[@stscallop3254]

It means lion.

[@dmeads5663]

So Shrek is from Chicago?

[@Hanomarkhan...]

Many city names in France have their origin in the names of the local Gallic tribes. It remains to be seen, whether these were their original names or the one given after the Roman conquest, it is not known ;)

[@sdluedtke3368]

Thank you ... This was really interesting.

[@davidmende3409]

Funny how the origin of Copenhagen almost sounds german = Kaupmanna / Kaufmann = Merchant