Well apparently plenty! In a discussion this morning with some friends, a couple of them were describing how they have many cities in the states named after entire countries as well as many holy cities in other lands. I commented that there must have been quite a few homesick settlers, to which one of them asked, "You don't have towns named after French or English towns?" You know, I'm sure we do, but as far as I know we don't have any named after entire countries, and that we tend to have a lot of Native based names. So being the curious type, I started to look into some of our more famous Canadian names:
Canada: comes from a Wendat (Huron-Iroquoian) word, kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".
Newfoundland: was the "new founde isle" of John Cabot who sailed westward from Bristol in 1497; although Norsemen, Basques, and Bretons (among others) had undoubtedly preceded him. By 1502 "New found launde" was being used in official English documents with the French version "Terre Neuve" appearing as early as 1510 - a clear indication of the acceptance of the designation. Giovanni da Verrazano used the term "Terra Nova" on his map of 1529. Newfoundland entered Confederation as the tenth province of Canada on March 31, 1949.
Prince Edward Island: The island appears under the name Île de Saint Jean in Champlain's narrative (1604) and on his map (1632); however, according to Ganong, the name is of earlier origin. After its acquisition by the British in 1759 the island was known as St. John's Island until the name was changed in 1798 to honour Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820), father of Queen Victoria, then in command of the British forces at Halifax. Separated from Nova Scotia in 1769, Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on July 1, 1873.
Nova Scotia: means New Scotland. Prior to this, the name Acadia was generally used by the French to denote the Maritime provinces along with adjacent portions of New England and Quebec. The origin of the word Acadia is in dispute. It is generally accepted to be from Archadia (Acadia), assigned by Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 and suggested by the classical name for a land of rustic peace. The claim that it is of Micmac origin is probably coincidental. The Micmac word Quoddy or Cady was rendered by the French as cadie and meant a piece of land or territory. Hence the Acadians, of which are my maternal heritage.
New Brunswick: Originally the territory included in modern New Brunswick was part of Nova Scotia. The name was chosen as a compliment to King George III (1760-1820) who was descended from the House of Brunswick.
Québec: comes from the Algonquin word kepék meaning "(it) narrows", originally referred to the area around Quebec City where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap.
Ontario: This Huron name, first applied to the lake, may be a corruption of onitariio, meaning "beautiful lake," or kanadario, which translates as "sparkling" or "beautiful" water.
Manitoba: The likeliest source is the Cree maniot-wapow, "the strait of the spirit or manitobau." This name refers to the roaring sound produced by pebbles on a beach on Manitoba Island in Lake Manitoba. The Cree believed the noise sounded like a manito, a spirit, beating a drum. It has also been suggested that the name comes from the Assiniboine words mini and tobow, meaning "Lake of the Prairie."
Saskatchewan: The province got its name from the Saskatchewan River, which the Cree called Kisiskatchewani Sipi, meaning "swift-flowing river."
Alberta: The name was suggested by the Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883, in honour of his wife, H.R.H. Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, daughter of Queen Victoria.
British Columbia: Much of the mainland region was originally known as New Caledonia; however, this name (duplicated in South Pacific) was discarded in favour of British Columbia. The designation appears to have originated with Queen Victoria and was officially proclaimed in 1858. Columbia (after the Columbia River which was named by the American Captain Robert Gray for his ship Columbia ) had previously been loosely applied to the southern portion of the colony.
Northwest Territories: Historically, the term was loosely applied to the vast lands north and west of Lake Superior; later it signified the administrative district which pre-dated Saskatchewan and Alberta; and from January 1, 1920, it has meant "that part of Northern Canada between the Yukon Territory and Hudson Bay, including Baffin Island, the islands in James Bay, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and the Arctic Archipelago".
Yukon: this name belonged originally to the river, and is from a Loucheux word, LoYu-kun-ah, meaning "great river."
Nunavut: the name of Canada's newest territory, which came into being on April 1, 1999, means "our land" in Inuktitut.
No comments:
Post a Comment