An English exonym is a name in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

for a place (a

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

), or occasionally other terms, which does not follow the local usage (the

endonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...

). Exonyms and endonyms are features of all languages, and other languages may have their own exonym for English endonyms, for example is the Welsh exonym for the English endonym "London".

Romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

, or transcription of a non-Latin alphabet endonym into a Latin alphabet, is not generally regarded as creating exonyms: "The application of any scientifically sound romanization system to a non-Roman endonym merely re-creates that original endonym in another legitimate form" (Päll, 2002). However old romanization systems may leave a legacy of "familiar" spellings, as in the case of, for example,

romanization of Burmese Romanization of the Burmese alphabet is representation of the Burmese language or Burmese names in the Latin alphabet. Official transcription systems The MLC romanization system (1980) is promoted inside Myanmar. Inside and outside Myanmar several ...

. This affects

romanization of Arabic The romanization of Arabic is the systematic rendering of Modern Standard Arabic, written and varieties of Arabic, spoken Arabic language, Arabic in the Latin script. Romanized Arabic is used for various purposes, among them transcription of na ...

romanization of Chinese Romanization of Chinese is the use of the Latin alphabet to transliterate Varieties of Chinese, Chinese. Chinese uses a logographic script and its Chinese characters, characters do not represent phonemes directly. There have been many systems us ...

, and many other non-Latin alphabet place names. Translations of non-proper nouns such as "river" and "lake" also do not qualify as exonyms. A less common form of exonym is usage for names and titles. Personal exonyms are typically limited to

regnal name A regnal name, regnant name, or reign name is the name used by monarchs and popes during their reigns and subsequently, historically. Since ancient times, some monarchs have chosen to use a different name from their original name when they accede ...

s such as popes (

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

) and monarchs (

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

); less commonly, well-known historical authors (

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

, for French ''Jean Calvin'') are referred to by exonyms. The list does not include the list of English translated personal names.

General

This section lists English-language exonyms that are for places located in multiple countries, English names of countries, and typical patterns.

Countries and territories

The following is a list of countries and territories whose names in local languages differ from their (non-local) English ones. The list includes countries with limited recognition, autonomous territories of sovereign countries, and fully sovereign countries. Country names are listed in their short form, and do not include names spelled identically in English. Near-identical names in pronunciation or spelling are included, but countries named with non-proper nouns (like

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

) are not. It is debatable whether the mere omission of a diacritical mark (as in several instances in the table below) creates an exonym. The languages listed are official languages and/or prominent local languages, except if the name for the associated country is spelled the same as in English. Languages in ''italics'' are no longer spoken in the given country, but the name listed retains some use. Likewise, exonyms in ''italics'' are obsolete or are disputed.

Other territories

The following is a list of other territories/regions which are not deemed as countries or sovereign states.

Specific countries

Albania

Algeria

Name of the country and its capital city in Arabic, ''Al-Jazā'ir'' (الجزائر), is Arabic for "the islands".

Armenia

Australia

Most places in Australia have additional names in various

indigenous Australian languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

Austria

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Belgium

Historically, English borrowed French names for many places in Dutch-speaking areas of Belgium. With a few exceptions this practice is no longer followed by most sources.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Canada

Numerous places in the predominantly French speaking province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

have historically had English exonyms; in most cases, the exonym was a straight translation of the place's French name, with only one major city which ever had an English exonym that was entirely different from its original French name. With a few exceptions, such as

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, these are no longer widely used. Exonyms are also commonly seen with regard to

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

and

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

peoples and communities; although government and media sources have evolved in recent years toward using these places' native endonyms, common usage may still favour the older exonyms.

Cambodia

During the Khmer Rogue period (1975–1979), the country was known in English as

Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea was the official name of the Cambodian state from 1976 to 1979, under the government of Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), commonly known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge's capture of the capital Phno ...

, closer to the endonym than its modern English exonym. The English exonym of Cambodia is based on the French exonym, ''Cambodge''. The endonym is sometimes used in English, but the exonym is far more common.

Central African Republic

Chile

China

Some of the apparent "exonyms" for China are the result of change in

to modern

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

, for example "Tientsin" to "Tianjin". Other apparent exonyms are the result of the English name being based on one of the other

varieties of Chinese There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the m ...

besides Mandarin. Additionally, certain names which may now be considered exonyms actually preserve older Mandarin pronunciations which have changed in the intervening centuries. For all areas in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, names written in Chinese are written in

simplified characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language, with the other being traditional characters. Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by t ...

. For all areas in the special administrative regions (SARs), the names will be written in

traditional characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the ''Standard Form of ...

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Historically, English-language sources used German names for many places in what is now the Czech Republic. With some exceptions (such as the Elbe and Oder rivers, both of which flow into Germany) this is no longer done by most sources.

Denmark

Faroe Islands

Greenland

Several places were known under Danish names, or a variant of them. Now only the local Greenlandic is used.

Egypt

The English name of Egypt derives from the French name, ''Egypte'', which is derived from the Greek name, ''Aigyptos'' (Αίγυπτος).

Estonia

Finland

France

Georgia

Germany

This list does not include German place names with ß written with "ss" or umlauts being removed in some writing.

Greece

The exonym for Greece in English comes from

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

, which was a historical region in Italy colonized by the Greeks. The endonym ''Ellás'' comes from

Helen of Troy Helen (), also known as Helen of Troy, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda (mythology), ...

, the legendary Greek figure whose abduction caused the Greek

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...

s to unite and fight against

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

during the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

Haiti

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

The vast majority of placenames in Ireland are

anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

s, or

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...

renderings, of

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

names. The exceptions to this are listed here:

Israel

The below listing is only a summary. Modern Israeli transcription systems (

romanization of Hebrew The Hebrew language uses the Hebrew alphabet with optional vowel diacritics. The romanization of Hebrew is the use of the Latin alphabet to transliterate Hebrew words. For example, the Hebrew name () can be romanized as or . Romanization in ...

) vary from the spellings of many hundreds of place names of Ancient Israel adopted by Bible translations - both Christian, such as the King James Version (1611) and also Jewish versions such as the JPS (1917).

Italy

Many English exonyms were derived from the French variations, such as Rome and Venice.

Japan

The English name for Japan derives from the Portuguese name for the country, Japão, which was based on a Chinese transcription of Japan's endonym, ''Nippon'' or ''Nihon'' (日本).

Laos

An older variant of the country's name in English uses the definite article, the Laos, which is now obsolete.

Latvia

Lebanon

Libya

Lithuania

Malaysia

Mexico

Moldova

Mongolia

Morocco

The English name for the country derives from the city name

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

. The Arabic name for the country, al-Magrib (المغرب), is Arabic for "the west".

Myanmar

Nepal

Netherlands

Norway

North Korea

The inhabitants of North Korea prefer the official name of the country, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Chosŏn, or simply Korea.

Palestine

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Somalia

South Africa

Many South African towns have multiple names due to the number of languages. Additionally, some places have been renamed from English and Afrikaans.

South Korea

Spain

English uses Spanish-language exonyms for some places in non-Spanish speaking regions of Spain.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was known as

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

in English until 1972.

Sudan

Sweden

Switzerland

Historically, English-language sources borrowed French-language names for some places in German-speaking Switzerland. This is no longer done, and many sources now use German names for most Swiss German-speaking places.

Syria

Thailand

Thailand was known as

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in English until the

Siamese revolution of 1932 The Siamese revolution of 1932 or Siamese coup d'état of 1932 ( or ) was a coup d'état by the People's Party which occurred in Siam on 24 June 1932. It ended Siam's centuries-long absolute monarchy rule under the Chakri dynasty and resulte ...

Taiwan

The main island of Taiwan is also known in English as

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait f ...

. All Chinese names below are written in

. As mentioned above in the China section, many place names in Taiwan use either

or Wade-Giles.

Tunisia

Turkey

In June 2022, the United Nations agreed to change the country's official name in English as Türkiye at the request of the Turkish government. However, the majority of English speakers still refer to the country as Turkey in daily use.

Ukraine

United Kingdom

The places listed are where non-English local languages are mainly used or where the non-English names do not regularly correspond to the English one.

United States

Several places in the United States have additional names in various Native languages.

Vietnam

All cities and towns are often spelled without

diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...

s; names without them are not listed here.

Yemen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English Exonyms English language English