According to our research, the majority of country names fall into just four categories:
- a directional description of the country
- a feature of the land
- a tribe name
- an important person, most likely a man [...]
A few things to keep in mind: Name origins are often murky, so this is an inexact exercise. Sometimes the most fun or attractive origin stories are bunk. “Beware folk etymology (an effort to explain a name by its resemblance, in sound or spelling, or to some other name or word, or its possible association with a person or event),” writes John Everett-Heath by email. “Myths and legends may be entertaining, but rarely of value.” [...]
By far the greatest plurality—a third—of the world’s countries get their current names from some older group of people. There’s a big cluster in Europe: France is named for the Franks; Italy for the Vitali tribe; Switzerland for the Schwyz people. 대한민국, romanized as Daehan Minguk, is the Korean name for South Korea. “Daehan” means “Great Han” or “Big Han,” after three Han tribes from the 2nd century BC. (“Han” can also mean “big.”) Vietnam means Viet people of the south. [...]
By our count, there are roughly another 25 countries named for some person of importance—in all cases but one, a man. According to language blogger Paul Anthony Jones, St. Lucia, a third-century woman from Syracuse, is the exception. [...]
And then there are a few countries whose names don’t fit into any major category—and these are arguably the most poetic. There’s tiny Comoros off the east African coast, whose name means “moon,” after the Arabic “al qamar.” Mexico is also said to have lunar roots, the Spanish simplification of the Aztec city, Metztlixihtlico, meaning “in the navel of the moon.”
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