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U.S. Cities With Spanish Names

Try to name the 15 most populous American cities that have Spanish names.
Not including "partial" Spanish names such as Colorado Springs or Anaheim
Only includes cities within the 50 states
By city proper population
Quiz by yappypants
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: June 6, 2024
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First submittedFebruary 17, 2014
Times taken62,128
Average score53.3%
Rating4.39
Quiz and answer stats >>
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Population
Meaning
City
3,820,914
"The angels"
Los Angeles
1,495,295
Named for a saint
San Antonio
1,388,320
Named for a saint
San Diego
969,655
Named for a saint
San Jose
808,988
Named for a saint
San Francisco
678,958
"The pass"
El Paso
660,929
"The meadows"
Las Vegas
560,274
Named after a Spanish duke
Albuquerque
545,716
"Ash tree"
Fresno
526,384
Spanish name for the Eucharist or
Holy Communion
Sacramento
511,648
"Table"
Mesa
310,539
Named for a saint
Santa Ana
290,190
"Flat"
Plano
274,333
"Beautiful view"
Chula Vista
265,304
Named for a city in Spain
Toledo
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73 Comments
freon22tec
+2
Level 58
May 5, 2014
Tucson, AZ population 520k
Quizmaster
+28
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2019
Comes from the language O'odham. Originally "Cuk Ṣon" meaning "at the base of the black hill".
Nullum
+2
Level 60
Aug 13, 2024
What the...
PorcNBeanz
+7
Level 57
May 6, 2014
I live in the Plano, TX area and missed it.
Geographystar
+7
Level 68
Jul 21, 2019
It means flat btw.
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 86
Jun 7, 2024
Nearly made me spit my drink out.
martay
+21
Level 70
Jul 22, 2019
Nobody misses Plano.
MavsFanForLife25
+2
Level 77
Sep 9, 2019
What's that supposed to mean??????????????
Jaybird77
+6
Level 44
Jan 25, 2023
That no one misses it. Sounded pretty clear to me.
whatevera2002
+5
Level 34
Jul 3, 2014
I enjoyed the Albuquerque as I was dreading spelling it!
parsons8
+1
Level 26
Mar 25, 2019
I had the exact same reaction!
dogla305
+6
Level 62
Sep 9, 2019
it's spelled H E I S E N B E R G
3nchiladas
+3
Level 70
Nov 6, 2022
Spell my name
MattB2884
+8
Level 33
Jul 16, 2014
Kept typing Santa Fe for NM... turns out the capital of NM only has 69,000 people, compared to 555,000 in Albuquerque. Weird.
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Aug 15, 2018
Same here. Kept wondering why Santa Ana wasn't accepted.
parsons8
+1
Level 26
Mar 25, 2019
I also tried Santa Fe for NM, and wondered if I was mistaken, but you nailed it with the population. But it's very typical for Capital cities to be much smaller than other urban centers in the U.S.
Jaybird77
+2
Level 44
Jan 25, 2023
Why is that weird? A lot of places are similar. New York City/Albany. Detroit/Lansing. Jacksonville/Tallahassee. Etc.
tigertentroman71
+1
Level 45
Aug 13, 2024
Weird, thought Santa Fe was bigger than that
Horsertopia16
+1
Level 21
Feb 9, 2015
amarillo should be one
ketchupkawawa
+2
Level 51
Jan 22, 2017
Has a population under 200,000
Freestatebear
+2
Level 87
Jun 7, 2024
It's now slightly over 200,000 - but still not enough...
mommadeb
+1
Level 23
Feb 16, 2015
why is las cruces new mexico not here?
Ponderosa
+5
Level 88
Oct 5, 2015
Not big enough.
Stanke
+1
Level 29
Jul 16, 2016
How I forgot San Jose?
Findlay
+3
Level 81
Aug 14, 2016
Kinda surprised only 21% got Fresno. Did people not realise it was Spanish? There does seem to be a pattern of people doing better with cities starting with 'los', 'las' 'san' and 'el'.
cornflakesfu
+7
Level 88
May 26, 2018
Didn't know it was Spanish, but wasn't super shocked to see it come up when I tried it, either. Definitely not as obvious as your El/Los/Las/San cities.
Hollywood
+6
Level 61
Feb 25, 2020
Fresno is very forgettable.
interopia
+3
Level 88
Oct 8, 2016
Nice, grew up in Plano, so I'm glad I got that one.
geographyisthebestsubject
+1
Level 65
Mar 18, 2017
Toledo and Fresno are Spanish? Didn't see that coming.
sciencyguy
+4
Level 46
May 9, 2017
Toledo steel has nothing to do with Ohio...and El Greco predated the U.S. by a century or two...

...both of which I thought of after I didn't get Toledo.

Bdubz
+5
Level 42
Jul 21, 2019
Toledo is a city in Spain. Idk about Fresno
Geo1296
+1
Level 46
Oct 20, 2020
Toledo is also in Ohio
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Apr 25, 2018
Santa Clara, San Jacinto, Santa Barbara, San Sebastian.....
parsons8
+10
Level 26
Mar 25, 2019
All below the population threshold of this quiz.
cornflakesfu
+2
Level 88
May 26, 2018
I love the one Ohio misfit in there among all the places that have Spanish names because they were formerly part of Mexico.
Naaate
+1
Level 72
Feb 13, 2019
I got halfway through this thinking US Cities with Spanish Names meant US Cities with Spanish People Names.
Tahoeskier
+1
Level 74
Mar 25, 2019
What about Corpus Christi, TX?
Quizmaster
+16
Level ∞
Jun 10, 2019
Latin
loganite
+10
Level 91
Sep 9, 2019
In Spanish it would be Cuerpo de Cristo.
parsons8
+2
Level 26
Mar 25, 2019
Only 8 out of 14, but my only "bad" miss was San Jose. Having said that, I'm kicking myself for missing Mesa, AZ. I had no idea there was a Santa Ana in CA--I guess I only associate it with TX. Not sure I realized Fresno was a Spanish name and not sure I would *ever* have come up with Plano, TX. I knew the original Toledo was in Spain, but could I come up with it? No! Great Quiz!
taliarus
+3
Level 21
Mar 25, 2019
Wow I live in Plano and couldn't think of it
blizzrd33
+9
Level 80
Sep 9, 2019
Can't think of a good reason why San Juan isn't in this quiz. Is it in another country? Didn't think so.
RKS
+3
Level 66
Sep 9, 2019
Orlando, FL?
OfficerDibble
+4
Level 84
Jan 29, 2020
Italian
nerdalert
+2
Level 87
Jun 6, 2024
It's the Italian version of the name "Rolando".
SpartanLlama
+3
Level 74
Sep 9, 2019
I was thinking of guessing Albuquerque, but I didn't think it was actually Spanish just cuz of how I always hear it pronounced, and I didn't feel like trying to spell it.
MavsFanForLife25
+3
Level 77
Sep 9, 2019
Yay Plano!
Hollywood
+1
Level 61
Feb 25, 2020
I thought Denver would make the list.
Krisik06
+1
Level 36
Mar 27, 2020
I've forgot San Antonio and Mesa. got Plano.. LOL
LuciusMarcius
+1
Level 80
Nov 9, 2023
The Spanish village after which Albuquerque was named is actually spelled AlbuRquerque. I guess Americans found it too hard to pronounce and just got rid of that "r".
cathlete
+2
Level 76
Jun 6, 2024
If I remember correctly from when I visited the city, I believe the name had already lost the R by the time it became territory of the US.
MindWax
+1
Level 86
Feb 27, 2025
Americans are famous for just refusing to pronounce Rs in things.

Wait...

Grabajay
+1
Level 66
Jun 6, 2024
Santa fe?
cathlete
+1
Level 76
Jun 6, 2024
If I'm not mistaken, their population isn't even at 100k. So Santa Fe wouldn't be in the top 15
cathlete
+7
Level 76
Jun 6, 2024
Really, sacramento is not the Spanish name for the Eucharist of Holy Communion. It's a word referring to all sacraments. It is true that the name was named after one specific sacrament (the Eucharist), which is sometimes referred to as the Blessed Sacrament, or Sagrado Sacramento.

So the city's name does come from the Spanish name for the Eucharist, but the word sacramento doesn't actually mean Eucharist/Holy Communion. That would be Eucharistía or Hostia (or perhaps even oblea or barquillo). A more accurate description would be "Named for the Eucharist or Holy Communion" like you did for many of the other descriptions.

rigrug
+3
Level 73
Jun 6, 2024
Same thing on Sacramento; I kept typing Corpus Christi, which has a population of over 300K.
cathlete
+7
Level 76
Jun 6, 2024
Yes, Corpus Christi does in fact mean Eucharist/Holy Communion in English (literally translates to Body of Christ, but literal translations aren't always the best translations).

However, this is Latin, not Spanish

sumguy
+6
Level 86
Jun 6, 2024
I thought for sure that "beautiful view" would be Buena Vista. I've never heard of Chula Vista!
mrdoughnut1
+1
Level 67
Jun 6, 2024
There's a Buena Vista in Georgia (google the pronunciation, it's hilarious), and I really thought it was that. I didn't think it was that big, but that's the best I could do
partdavid
+3
Level 74
Aug 13, 2024
There's a smattering of Buena Vistas o'er the land.
dasubergeek
+1
Level 75
Aug 15, 2024
Half of which, it seems, are pronounced "bew nuh viss tuh."
caesaria
+2
Level 79
Jun 7, 2024
Same here. I researched it and it seems that Chula Vista would be better translated as "Cute View".
RobertoCF
+2
Level 79
Jun 11, 2024
Yes, I tried Bellavista, Buenavista and Lindavista before remembering the existence of Chula Vista.
Jeanolt
+2
Level 29
Aug 14, 2024
It's a weird slang, it definitely doesn't mean "beautiful" lol
Ferbin
+2
Level 78
Aug 16, 2024
"Buena" means good, not beautiful. "Chula" I think is very mexican. Being a spanish speaker, I would never have guessed it.
cocachiantos
+6
Level 72
Jun 10, 2024
Quizmaster, I don't see a real point in exculding Puerto Rico cities from the answers to this quiz.
Jeanolt
+1
Level 29
Aug 14, 2024
Well, most people have no idea about cities from Puerto Rico. That's already a point.
jroldan
+1
Level 56
Jun 13, 2024
what was the latest update?
DelaBriQue
+1
Level 65
Aug 13, 2024
Somehow Orlando sounds spanish to me but it seems it's more of a germanic origin.
Sapotrema
+2
Level 39
Aug 13, 2024
I typed "Bella vista" or "Buena vista" for "Beautiful View". I speak fluent Spanish and I've never heard the word "chula" being used with this particular meaning. Sounds like Mexican slang to me. is it? If it is, I guess the city was founded recently.
JohnnyYeet
+1
Level 61
Aug 17, 2024
Apparently "chula" roughly means "cool" so it would be "cool view". Idk though I'm not a native Spanish speaker
dasubergeek
+1
Level 75
Aug 15, 2024
/looks at the meaning of Las Vegas

/looks at Las Vegas

"Were you high?"

JohnnyYeet
+1
Level 61
Aug 17, 2024
I kept typing Corpus Christi for the Eucharist
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