home
Menu
Create
Random
0
0
0
thumbnail

Capital City Etymologies

We describe the origin of the name. You guess the capital city.
Answer must correspond to the yellow box
With credit to users rwwt and joez
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: June 26, 2019
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
More quiz info >>
First submittedJune 25, 2019
Times taken47,682
Average score55.6%
Rating4.60
Quiz and answer stats >>
Friends stats >>
4:00
Enter country here:
0
 / 18 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Hint
Capital
Named after the first President of the U.S.
Washington D.C.
"Saint Joseph" in Spanish
San José
"Fair Winds" in Spanish
Buenos Aires
Named after a victorious general at the Battle of Waterloo
Wellington
Perhaps named after the goddess of wisdom (but more likely she is named for the city)
Athens
Named after a local tribe, not a character from "The Iliad"
Paris
According to legend, it was named after its first king after he killed his brother Remus
Rome
"Saint James" in Spanish
Santiago
"The Peace" in Spanish
La Paz
Its current name, meaning "Red Hero", was given in 1924 after the
country became communist
Ulaanbaatar
Named after the fifth President of the U.S.
Monrovia
From ancient Greek Σόφια, meaning "wisdom"
Sofia
In its own language its name means simply "capital", spelled 서울
Seoul
"Three Cities" in Greek
Tripoli
"Saint Thomas" in Portuguese
São Tomé
Named because of its position on the Cape of Good Hope
Cape Town
Originally known as Edo, its name was changed to mean "Eastern Capital" in 1868
Tokyo
"City of Islam"
Islamabad
Suggested Quizzes See all >>
U.S. State Capitals Quiz
Planets of the Solar System Quiz
Countries by Borders in 90 Seconds
U.S. State Capitals by Clue #1
More from Quizmaster See all >>
Superman Facts
Famous Name Changes Quiz
Sherlock Holmes Quiz
State Quiz - Alabama
56 Comments
TheLastFish
+16
Level 70
Jun 25, 2019
Looking forward to see this extended for all capital names with known etymology. ;-)
diguedondon
+1
Level 68
Jun 25, 2019
good quiz !
mrnafe
+19
Level 83
Jun 25, 2019
Tripoli is so obvious I retrospect
Sifhraven
+4
Level 72
Jun 26, 2019
yea I expected that one to be one of the higher ones, not lowest... weird.
plattitude
+3
Level 93
Jun 26, 2019
I had no idea, but typed in 'Triopolis' and thankfully it jumped out at me.
KoljiVriVoda
+16
Level 78
Jun 25, 2019
Belgrade (Beograd) = White City.
TomatosRaafatos
+1
Level 74
Oct 11, 2021
Or Casablanca = White House
TomatosRaafatos
+1
Level 74
Oct 11, 2021
Now we just need a city name that means White Flag, and we've found the white trinity.
TheCubeIsBack
+3
Level 50
Feb 24, 2024
Rabat?
Jerry928
+5
Level 76
Jun 25, 2019
If my capital is named after a victorious general at Waterloo (which I hadn't known until now), that is ridiculously obscure. Kiwis had better get that name changed!
Quizmaster
+19
Level ∞
Jun 26, 2019
Are you pulling my leg?
KoljiVriVoda
+5
Level 78
Jun 26, 2019
What?
Carry
+13
Level 63
Jun 28, 2019
What seems to be the problem? Maybe you like the Maori name better: Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Willuna
+6
Level 56
Apr 20, 2022
i do
JackintheBox
+1
Level 80
Aug 31, 2019
Haha
martay
+5
Level 70
Aug 31, 2019
It's hard to know what to address first. You may need to repeat primary school, but at least you've got juice boxes and nap times to look forward to.
tshalla
+6
Level 76
Sep 1, 2019
All levels of school have much better things to do than teaching the minutiae of the Napoleonic Wars. Jerry's an intelligent guy. And humble enough not to feel threatened by not knowing some aspect of trivia.
Sifhraven
+7
Level 72
Dec 15, 2019
Not knowing about napoleonic wars (in any detail) is one thing. But not knowing who your capital is named after.. That is like people not knowing washington dc is named after george washington. You dont have to know stuff about the person, just "some general, or some president" would be enough.

If your capital is named after a person you'd think you would know it. If it is named after something else, it is a bit more understandable, cause you dont stop and think "hmm, who was that". Though imo I would make sense to atleast wonder about it. (All regardless of what you are taught at your school)

Sifhraven
+1
Level 72
Dec 15, 2019
Even I wondered (when I first heard of the capital) and it is not my capital even. I thought ow, is that the same guy from the rubber boots?
mrnafe
+2
Level 83
Sep 1, 2019
Should have called it Blucher instead
FolgoreCZ
+2
Level 59
Aug 16, 2021
No, it shouldn't.
PitifulExcuse
+2
Level 64
Mar 19, 2024
No? don't you mean neiiiiiigh!
Ferbin
+2
Level 77
Oct 15, 2021
Well, if your argument is that Blucher deserves the recognition as much as Wellington (if not more so), I agree. But why would the british name a city after a german general?

Edit: I just realized I'm answering to a two year old post. :P

Fianchetto
+1
Level 75
Sep 29, 2023
The Duke of Wellington?
JoshPen
+1
Level 79
Jun 26, 2019
The column header for the answers says "Country" instead of "City" or "Capital"
xarnac
+1
Level 72
Jun 26, 2019
Fun and interesting quiz! However, the answer box asks for a "country" rather than a "city".
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jun 26, 2019
Okay, fixed
Tramp
+1
Level 76
Jun 27, 2019
Audibly "huh!" 'd after reading Tripoli. I never thought about it before and just would have assumed it had an Arabic etymology if I actually did think about it for a second.
YogBarOg
+4
Level 74
Aug 31, 2019
Ottawa : To trade. Adawe in Algonquian language. Comes from the name of natives who were trading along the river Outaouais near the actual capital of Canada.
martay
+3
Level 70
Aug 31, 2019
Actually, it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land."
kalbahamut
+3
Level 81
Aug 31, 2019
Do these guys know how to party or what?
TheCrusher
+9
Level 71
Sep 5, 2019
Ottawa is pronounced Milwaukee? Huh.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Oct 11, 2021
It's a quote from Wayne's World
YantheMan
+1
Level 66
Apr 21, 2022
The Odawa people are still around, too
Karamchand
+1
Level 49
Aug 31, 2019
How come Paris is so low? Even lower than Ulaanbaatar...
wielblad
+6
Level 66
Apr 19, 2021
Paris isn't that prominent in the Iliad, despite having helped kick off the war. I was going "Hector, Achilles, Agamemnon, these people don't have cities!"
qcumber
+1
Level 45
Sep 7, 2019
um....typed in cape town twice, didnt work
qcumber
+1
Level 45
Sep 7, 2019
nevermind, mustve spelled it wrong somehow
LGK
+1
Level 59
Dec 15, 2020
Athens was definitely named after the goddess Athena, I don't know why you wrote 'perhaps' there. There is a fable associated with this.
RobNobody
+8
Level 78
Apr 17, 2021
Sure, there's a myth associated with it, but that myth came about afterwards. Scholars generally agree it's more likely that she was named for the city, as -ene was a common ending for place names, but very rare for given names. She was referred to as Pallas Athenaie, or "the Pallas of Athens," and she's referred to elsewhere in early texts as "the Mistress of Athens." [Source]
JonOfKent
+2
Level 57
Jan 8, 2021
Strange... I was sure Washington was named after the section of nondescript urban sprawl on Tyneside. Silly me
FolgoreCZ
+1
Level 59
Aug 16, 2021
Paris threw me off way harder than it should. It is quite obvious in retrospect, but there is a legend, that Lisbon was named after/by Ulysses, and it is also probably named after a tribe in reality, so that was all I could think of.
Joefishisace
+1
Level 23
Oct 11, 2021
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1308830/commanders-of-the-napoleonic-wars
rwwt
+1
Level 83
Oct 11, 2021
Capital city etymology fans might enjoy this quiz that I made:

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/75765/capital-city-etymologies-map-quiz

Gonxi
+1
Level 77
Oct 11, 2021
Chile's capital is just "Santiago", not "San Santiago", so the correct hint should be "James in spanish", not "Saint James"
UnironicThatcher
+6
Level 43
Oct 11, 2021
San is saint, Tiago is James. So San+Tiago=Santiago is St. James
stankyC
+3
Level 64
Oct 11, 2021
what are the first 3 letters of santiago?
AlexThirkell
+3
Level 75
Oct 11, 2021
I don't know if this is anything to do with the confusion, but in Spanish versions of the Bible the Apostle James is called Santiago. Compare these New Testament books in Spanish and in English:

... Hebreos - Santiago - 1 Pedro - 2 Pedro - 1 Juan ...

... Hebrews - James - 1 Peter - 2 Peter - 1 John ...

I don't know why James gets pre-emptive sainthood in Spanish but in the Bible James = Santiago.

AlexThirkell
+7
Level 75
Oct 11, 2021
Actually I just looked it up and it's really interesting...

The 'T' in Tiago and the 'D' in Diego are remnants from the 'Saint' epithet: in Old Castilian it was "Sant Iaco".

The name originally comes from Jacob. Some interesting extra details:

http://etimologias.dechile.net/?Santiago

https://www.elperiodicomediterraneo.com/opinion/2012/07/19/santiago-jaime-42111047.html

MG17
+1
Level 43
Oct 11, 2021
I thought was a quiz with the American capitals, and then I kept writing Lincoln at the first question... 😐
Freestatebear
+1
Level 86
Feb 24, 2024
But, Lincoln wasn't the first President (admittedly, the question may have been changed since the comment was made). Without the "first" provision, there are four US state capitals named for presidents - although in one case the namesake was a war hero at the time the city was named, becoming president later (Jackson, MS).
bohiko
+1
Level 46
Jan 6, 2023
Berlin meaning "city on a swamp" from Proto-Slavic *brl
toowise
+2
Level 79
Oct 8, 2023
Why not have a read of my blogs on this very subject. Every capital city etymology revealed....

CLICK HERE

AlexThirkell
+3
Level 75
Feb 24, 2024
Again, why is La Paz considered a capital city but The Hague isn't? The Bolivian constitution doesn't mention La Paz at all, simply stating, "Sucre es la Capital de Bolivia" (article 6, paragraph 1 - and that's all that is said about the capital city in the whole document).

Either Both are capitals or neither is, there's no difference in status with both simply being seats of government rather than capitals.

Seen and mentioned this inconsistency over a very long time...

RJG
+2
Level 62
Feb 24, 2024
Shame about the time limit, as with most quizzes no time to think.
alassea
+1
Level 23
Mar 4, 2024
I just turn off the timer if I want more time to think, I don't care that much about the points. But I agree, many quizzes here should give some more time. Speed typing quizzes aren't interesting, imo.
Save Your Progress

Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2024

Contact Us | Go To Top | View Mobile Site