Malta 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 Maltese settlements.

Valletta was named after the Grand Master Jean de Valette of the Order of St John, following the Great Seige of 1565 when they defeated the Ottomans.He laid the foundation stone himself, on 28th March 1566.

Mdina had previously been known as Maleth by Phoenician settlers of the 8th century BC, this name changed to Melite by the Romans. The Roman settlement was larger than the present daty Mdina, reduced during the Arab occupation and confined behind the city walls. The Roman name of Melite refers to the 'suburbs' and the Arabic name of medina simply means 'city' or 'town'.

Senglea is named after the Grand Master who built it, Claude de la Sengle, 48th Grand Master of the Order of Malta (1553 to 1557).

Cospicua is known locally as Bormla, from Bir Mula or 'the well of the Lord'.

Zebbug is named for its many groves of olive tress and just means 'olives'.

Zabbar is likely from the Maltese word tizbor, a reference to 'pruning trees', although it is also possible the place took a family name, they earning it because they pruned trees.

Zetjun, as with Zebbug above, simply means 'olives' although here the origin is the Arabic zaytun.

Attard shares the confusion of Zabbar, although here the preferred idea is a family name, this from the Arabic atr meaning 'perfume' and possibly referring to oils obtained from the many blossoms which grew here.

Balzan is certainly from a family name as it is from balsan 'tax collector'.

Birkirkara is understood as either 'cold water' or 'running water', either way the understanding is 'drinking water'.

Birzebbuga has a lot in common with Zebbug above, simply here the name refers to a 'well of olives'.

Dingli is named after Sir Thomas Dingley, an English knight of the Order of St John who owned the lands here.

Fgura is not simply coincidentally similar to the English 'figure', it has the same meaning. Here the reference is to the niche where devotees to Our Lady of Mount Carmel would stop to admire and perhaps give thanks to the statue.

Floriana is named after Pietro Paolo Floriana, an Italian engineer who designed the fortifications.

Gudja refers to the place's location 'on higher ground', not a hill as such but higher than the surrounding area.

Gzira is the Maltese word for 'island', although that island is Manoel Island which today lies adjacent to the main focus of the settlement but likely the original location of the settlement.

Gharghur is probably the Maltese word for 'flooding', although some credence is also given to the idea this refers to Malta's national tree the sigra tal-gharghar.

Ghaxaq probably refers to a noble family recorded as Axiaq. Less likely is the idea this represents the Maltese for 'delight'.

Iklin is derived from a herb which once gre here, Rosmarinus Officinalis and known as i-iklin in Malta. The herb grew in a valley which has now been developed extensively.

Kalkara takes its name from the Latin word for 'lime', Calce, for there had been a lime kiln here since Roman times.

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

Libya 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 Libya cities.

Tripoli is a Greek name meaning 'three cities'. It was founded by the Phoenicians some 2,700 years ago, they named it Oea.

Benghazi was founded around 525BC and named Euesperides, a name referring to the great fertility of this area and to the garden of Hesperides. Two hundred years later the place had become Berenice and not until the Genoese merchants began trading with the tribes of the hinterland do we first see the present name, then recorded as Marsa ibn Ghazi.

Misurata gets its name from the Mirata tribe, a Berber people who inhabited this area for many years.

Zliten takes its name from the Isliten tribe, another Berber people in residence here.

Bayda is the Arabic word for 'white', although originally this was az-Zawiyat al_Bayda 'the white monastery', this the white painted zawiyah on the hill top.

Al Khums translates as 'the quintile', the name not readily understood but possibly refers to some counting quirk used when dealing in olives and olive oil.

Kufra is from the Arabic kafir, an Arabic term for non-Muslims.

Tajura is named after a princess who lost her crown with taj 'crown' and Oura the name of the princess.

Tarhuna takes its name from the Berber tribe who inhabited this region prior to the Roman occupation.

Msallata may come from the Arabic word masalla because there is a core of tall buildings.

Tawergha is from the Berber language and means 'the green island'.

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

Western Sahara 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 to cast my net a little wider. This time should have been East Timor, as I'm running through the list in alphabetical order, but admit being unable to find sufficient information to fill much more than the back of a stamp - albeit a large stamp. Hence we jump towards the end of the alphabet and look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names of Western Sahara.

Laayoune is from the Maghrebi Arabic name of Layoun, literally meaning 'the water springs'. The modern form is due to French influence, although under the Spanish this became El Aaiun with the same meaning.

Cape Bojador is sometimes found by its Portuguese name of Cabo Bojador and occasionally given as Cape Bojador. While this is said to mean 'the bulging cape', this can be discounted as it is simply wrong and such is only ever written when suggesting origins of the name. Correctly this is a Portuguese corruption of the Arabic Abu Khatar meaning 'the father of danger'.

Guelta Zemmur is from the Tamazight language and means 'the olive tree pool'.

Bir Lehlou comes from Hassaniya Arabic, where bir lahlu speaks of 'the sweet water well'.

La Guera, clearly of European influence, comes from the Spanish Aguera and describes a ditch used to bring rainwater to the crops - basic irrigation. Today the town is abandoned, save for a military post, and is slowly being engulfed by drifting sands.

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