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Country Name Etymologies #2

Difficulty level: hard. We describe the origin of the country name. You guess the country.
Answer must correspond to yellow box
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 28, 2026
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First submittedJune 16, 2019
Times taken86,034
Average score65.0%
Rating4.96
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Hint
Country
"Equator" in Spanish
Ecuador
"Village" in the Iroquois language
Canada
Derived from Latin. Julius Caesar used it to refer to all tribes east of the Rhine.
Germany
Describes its importance to the trade in elephant tusks
Ivory Coast
"Indian Islands" in Greek
Indonesia
Named after the second highest mountain in Africa
Kenya
Named for a river that drains into the Dead Sea
Jordan
Spanish for "silvery"
Argentina
Spanish for "old" and "bearded"
Antigua and Barbuda
Describes its position in the middle of the continent
Central African Republic
An adaptation of its former name: "The Gilbert Islands"
Kiribati
German for "bright stone"
Liechtenstein
Named after Maurice of Nassau, leader of the Netherlands
Mauritius
A derivation of Marrakesh, the former capital
Morocco
A portmanteau of Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan
Pakistan
Named for a Viking tribe that settled along the Black Sea
Russia
Combination of the country's peninsula and its ruling royal family
Saudi Arabia
"Lion Mountains"
Sierra Leone
Named after a rich Biblical king
Solomon Islands
Sanskrit for "holy island"
Sri Lanka
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57 Comments
KoljiVriVoda
+15
Level 81
Jun 16, 2019
Theory about the name Rus is not so strong, but it is maybe true. Similar names can be found all over the Slavic world. For example, one of the Serbian medieval countries had name Raška (Rashka) with city Ras in it.
Sifhraven
+10
Level 76
Dec 15, 2019
Doesnt seem weak to me etymology of "russia" . If you can find a better argumented alternative etymology I would love to see it (no sarcasm, we need all the info to come to the best possible conclusion, right.)

If you want a long(er) read look here

Carry
+7
Level 63
Jun 17, 2019
Liechtenstein is named after the ruling dynasty. See house of Liechtenstein. Their name is German for "light stone".
5erpool
+6
Level 44
Oct 10, 2019
Note sure that's correct. The spelling 'Liecht' does not occur in modern or medieval German. It could mean 'bright', or 'shining', but also 'of little weight'.
samiamco
+5
Level 68
Jun 17, 2019
I love this quiz, but it’s tough and could use a bit more time.
BenSP
+2
Level 77
Jun 17, 2019
Great quiz, quite tough, I managed to work out a few I didn't already know and learned some new ones
mf3
+2
Level 90
Jun 17, 2019
I can usually guess which question will get the fewest right answers, but I was wrong this time. Just sounded it out.. baja mar.
HyddenRizz
+1
Level 67
May 4, 2023
Not many people learn Spanish to know a phrase as uncommon as this. I knew "mar" but thought low would be "bassa" similar to in French.
Ryan6
+7
Level 48
Jun 17, 2019
Pakistan is actually an acronym representing the punjab, afghan, and kashmir people
TheChosen
+12
Level 75
Jun 18, 2019
also S for Sind and TAN from Baluchistan. Although STAN can mean country on its own.

It's an acronym and it has the meaning this quiz says it has.

keirapelican
+1
Level 87
Jun 19, 2019
Fun!
Ghostbuster
+6
Level 93
Jun 22, 2019
Shouldn't the Argentinian clue say Latin instead of Spanish? Plata is the Spanish word for silver, while argentum is Latin.
Ghostbuster
+3
Level 93
Jun 22, 2019
In fact, according to wikipedia it may come from Italian.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jun 25, 2019
"Silvery" not "silver".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/argentina#Spanish

markthoma
+1
Level 72
Jun 28, 2019
Very hard quiz! Nice challenge.
ruudsje
+1
Level 68
Sep 25, 2019
nice, loads tougher than #1.
determinedtobeatthis
+2
Level 68
Oct 10, 2019
For the clue about elephant tusks, I swear all I could think of was Tuscany (yes, I know that Tuscany is not a country), and it was so funny to me that I couldn't think of the (obvious) correct answer.
SpartanLlama
+2
Level 79
Oct 10, 2019
Canada kinda surprised me. Interesting quiz.
Zaroo77
+4
Level 58
Oct 10, 2019
Canada is from Alogonquin and not Iroquois, although I understand the confusion
Elip
+10
Level 77
Oct 15, 2019
While Pakistan may coincidently mean Land of the Pure in a mixture of languages, this is an etymology quiz. The real origin of the name (Pakstan with the i added later to help pronunciation) was as an acronym for Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and BaluchisTAN. This is the true etymology of the name.
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Oct 15, 2019
Didn't know that, thanks. The clue has been amended.
fortoj
+3
Level 68
Feb 1, 2020
Antigua means 'ancient' rather than 'old'
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Feb 1, 2020
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antigua
dthunder518
+7
Level 57
Sep 30, 2021
more commonly it is "ancient"

https://translate.google.com/?sl=es&tl=en&text=antigua&op=translate

"viejo" is usually used for old, like old man, etc

Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Mar 22, 2025
Just call it antique(ated) ;)
iiignatius
+1
Level 43
May 5, 2020
Make more pls! good time!
hennist
+1
Level 59
Jun 28, 2020
How did I miss my own country? Stupid Germania..
SpartanLlama
+1
Level 79
Aug 24, 2020
Woah I'm Pakistani and never really knew that
EcceHomo
+15
Level 85
Mar 8, 2021
You never knew you were Pakistani?
Dontforget
+4
Level 76
Jul 1, 2021
This is the epitome of jetpunk humour nowadays, and I absolutely live for it
SpartanLlama
+2
Level 79
Aug 10, 2021
Yes.
smoceany
+7
Level 51
May 20, 2021
if i had a nickel for every time there was a country named after lions that doesnt have any lions in it, id only have 2 but its weird that it happened twice
Sifhraven
+1
Level 76
Mar 22, 2025
If you had one for every place (country city, province etc) and family that had a lion in their coat of arms, while no lions where to be found in that region you'd be rich!

(hmm can't think of the 2nd country named after a lion..hope I can sleep tonight ;) )

Edit; Ah found it, Singapore. Thought I'd save you all some sleep too ;)

gordito7
+3
Level 52
Jul 13, 2021
i was so confused

low sea = mar bajo

what country sounds like mar bajo?

but then i realised it was flipped lol

Newtgotbetter
+2
Level 52
Aug 27, 2021
As a Sri Lankan, Sri Lanka definitely does not mean holy island in sanskrit. The Sri part is a sanskrit honorific but the Lanka part is derived from E'lu, the precursor to the local language sinhala in which 'Lankawa' which means island.

You could say the Sri part is sanskrit, but the Lanka part is not so it creates confusion.

It would be better to give a clue like "Which country's name in Persian was used as the base for the word serendipity?"

erikj
+1
Level 67
Dec 29, 2021
Nice quiz! Two little things:

Maurice --> Maurits

A caveat about English names could be helpful for countries like Germany, where the English name is very different from the German name.

alexandertorres1978
+1
Level 70
Dec 29, 2021
Veeery cool. Clever quiz
Neodymium
+1
Level 63
May 4, 2023
Normally only Solomon works
Sifhraven
+4
Level 76
Mar 22, 2025
It never has! Atleast not any of the times I have had to use it over the (many) years I have been on this site. (Sometimes I was away for a few months though, so if at one point as a test it had been accepted for say a month before being reverted, admittedly I would not know about it.) I know this because literally every time I have to type Solomon Islands or Marshall islands in full I think why o why do we need to type these out while there are so many abbreviations on this site.

Maybe you did a quiz where king solomon was the answer? then of course just solomon would work, but as a country, to my knowledge it never has

Neodymium
+2
Level 63
May 4, 2023
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1744710/country-name-etymologies-3

I made a sequel if you'd like to add it to this series!

SpartanLlama
+1
Level 79
Aug 8, 2023
2:15, these are so interesting
pike01
+2
Level 66
Feb 24, 2024
Shouldn't it be 'Latin for silvery'? The word for silver in Spanish is plata.
cathlete
+1
Level 78
Jan 28, 2026
I think it's most accurate to say it comes from Italian for silvery, rather than Spanish or Latin.
onurubu
+1
Level 25
Apr 26, 2024
would love some more of these if it was possible!
Algernon
+1
Level 74
Jan 28, 2026
Good quiz!

Some of those had me utterly stumped and then I saw the answers.

Dontforget
+1
Level 76
Jan 28, 2026
For "German for "bright stone" " I kept thinking Luxembourg in the sense of "Lux" + "Berg" even though that couldn't be right because Lux isn't German and Berg is closer to mountain than stone
Deuteronomius
+1
Level 69
Jan 28, 2026
Burg also means castle rather than mountain which is Berg, same origin word though
Etanna
+1
Level 73
Jan 28, 2026
Interesting. I didn't know about the etymology of Russia. I always kind of assumed it was named after some tribe, but I never imagined that the tribe had been the Vikings lol
IsleAuHaulte
+1
Level 92
Jan 28, 2026
Am I the only one who isn't getting predictive text and personal dictionary to work in JetPunk? It works in everything else and across multiple devices, just not on this site anymore. It makes a lot more effort to take quizzes.
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
Jan 28, 2026
I found a hack to turn it off. I assume it was making the site a lot worse because it didn't work correctly.

At first it would work, but then after you guess one answer it wouldn't clear the predictive text so it would look like this:

albaniaarkansasastana

Aoto327
+1
Level 87
Jan 28, 2026
100%
Deuteronomius
+2
Level 69
Jan 28, 2026
Why do quizzes like these get updated so often? Not like any of the etymologies have changed
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Jan 28, 2026
It hadn't been updated in several years.

We updated it because many comments pointed out that our etymology of Bahamas was wrong.

Danem20
+1
Level 88
Jan 29, 2026
I never knew that about Pakistan. Very neat
Scorp
+1
Level 64
Feb 2, 2026
because it is not the etymology. Kashmir was never part of pakistan when pakistan was carved out. They occupied it later
Eigengrau
+1
Level 63
Feb 17, 2026
The word/acronym of "Pakistan" was first coined by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali in a pamphlet "Now or Never" in 1933, and at that time the demand of the Muslim League was a separate State comprised of the Muslim majority provinces at that time. Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan were all Muslim majority. Bengal was missed here and that should have been included too, since it was also Muslim majority, but at that time, he just presented a demand for a separate State comprising of the above-mentioned Northwestern Muslim majority provinces.
bestanford
+2
Level 73
Jan 30, 2026
Could we change the clue for "Biblical king" to "wise" instead of "rich"? Just matches much better with Solomon in the public imagination.
Country Name Etymology
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