Guyana Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest of Guyana's settlements.

Georgetown was named such on April 29th 1812, in honour of King George III of Great Britain. It had previously been known as Longchamps by its French founders, later as Stabroek after the Dutchman Nicolaas Geelvinck, Lord of Stabroek.

Mainstay Lake is clearly a modern name, indeed it had previously been known as Quacabuka, an Arawak name meaning 'in between'.

Bartica is a town on the left bank of the Essequibo River, its name comes from an Amerindian word meaning 'red earth'.

Essequibo River is named for its European discoverer, Juan de Eaquivel. He was the deputy of Don Diego Columbus, son of Christopher Columbus.

New Amsterdam named by the Dutch after their most famous city, itself named for the dam on the River Amstel and originating from aeme-stelle 'water-area'.

Hyde Park is named after the famous London location, itself coming from the former manor of Hyde and a name referring to a hide of land, defined as the amount of land required to support one family for one year.

Lochaber is named after the place in Scotland, itself from the confluence of the rivers.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.