List of Canadian provincial and territorial name etymologies
This article lists the etymologies of the names of the provinces and territories of Canada.
Provinces and territories
Name | Language of origin | Word(s) in original language | Meaning and notes |
---|---|---|---|
Alberta |
Latin (ultimately from Proto-Germanic) | Feminine Latinized form of Albert, ultimately from the Proto-Germanic *Aþalaberhtaz (compound of "noble" + "bright/famous"), after Princess Louisa Caroline Alberta | |
British Columbia |
Latin | Referring to the British sector of the Columbia District, after the Columbia River, ultimately after the Columbia Rediviva, a reference to Christopher Columbus | |
Manitoba |
Cree, Ojibwe. or Assiniboine | manitou-wapow, manidoobaa, or minnetoba | "Straits of Manitou, the Great Spirit" or "Lake of the Prairie", after Lake Manitoba |
New Brunswick |
German (ultimately from Low German) | Brunswiek | Combination of Bruno and wik, referring to a place where merchants rested and stored their goods |
Newfoundland and Labrador |
Portuguese | Terra Nova and Lavrador | "New land", and the surname of João Fernandes Lavrador, meaning "farmer" or "plower" |
Northwest Territories |
English | Referring to the territory's position relative to Rupert's Land | |
Nova Scotia |
Latin | "New Scotland", referring to the country Scotland, derived from the Latin Scoti, the term applied to Gaels | |
Nunavut |
Inuktitut | Nunavut means "Our land" in the Inuit language | |
Ontario |
Iroquoian, Wyandot | Ontarí꞉io or Skanadario | "Great lake" or "beautiful water", after Lake Ontario |
Prince Edward Island |
English (ultimately from Old English) | After Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, ultimately from the Anglo-Saxon ead "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and weard "guardian, protector" | |
Quebec |
Algonquin, Mi'kmaq, Ojibwe | kébec | "Where the river narrows", referring to the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River at Quebec City |
Saskatchewan |
Cree | kisiskāciwani-sīpiy | "Swift-flowing river", after the Saskatchewan River |
Yukon |
Gwichʼin | chųų gąįį han | "White water river", after the Yukon River |
Historical regions
- Credited to Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, who first named a region around Chesapeake Bay Archadia (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.
- Possibly derived from the Míkmaq word akatik, pronounced roughly "agadik", meaning "place", which French-speakers spelled as -cadie in place names such as Shubenacadie and Tracadie, possibly coincidentally.
- Nunatsiavut: Inuktitut, meaning "our beautiful land".