# What does the -abad suffix in southwest Asian city names mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766 "2011-05-04T22:55:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/1 "2011-05-04T22:55:06Z")
Off the top of my head I can think of Islamabad, Abbottabad, Jalalabad and Hyderabad. A quick perusal of the lists of large cities in Pakistan and India shows that there are at least a few others. So what language is it from, and what does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/2 "2011-05-04T23:11:06Z")
Wiki says Islamabad is Urdu for “Abode of Islam”. Abbottabad and Hyderabad also give Urdu as its origins. Jalalabad is listed as Pashto. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/3 "2011-05-04T23:14:26Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s just the equivalent of “-town.” [Wikipedia says it’s Persian and means “place.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_geographic_names_of_Iranian_origin#Cities_and_regions_3) ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/4 "2011-05-04T23:15:41Z")
I’m just answering from a Google search, but it seems to come from Persian, and basically means “place.” Supposedly, it comes from the Persian word meaning “to cultivate, grow, or thrive.” So, “Islamabad” would be a place where Islam thrives. “Jalal” means “glory,” so “Jalalabad” would mean a place where glory thrives. Basically, a glorious place. Abbottabad, according to Wikipedia, was named after James Abbott, a British military officer who founded the town in the 1850s, when it was part of British India. So, it basically means “Abbott’s place” I should note that I don’t speak any of these languages, and my answer is the result of some very quick Google-fu. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/5 "2011-05-04T23:21:29Z")
Does anyone else prick up their ears at Abbottabad? The other names listed: Islamabad, Hyderabad and Jalalabad all sound sufficiently foreign, but Abbottabad sounds like Abbott’s place. This just sounded really odd to me. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/6 "2011-05-04T23:48:17Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > Does anyone else prick up their ears at Abbottabad? The other names listed: Islamabad, Hyderabad and Jalalabad all sound sufficiently foreign, but Abbottabad sounds like Abbott’s place. The town is named for British army major James Abbott. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/7 "2011-05-05T00:36:04Z")
So -bad is the equivalent of English-speaking North American -ville? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/8 "2011-05-05T01:45:30Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > So -bad is the equivalent of English-speaking North American -ville? 🙂 No, “-abad” is. And “-stan” is the equivalent of “-land.” ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/9 "2011-05-05T01:55:56Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > The town is named for British army major James **Abbott**. Ah. In that case, I’ll stop searching the map for a _Costellobad_. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-abad-suffix-in-southwest-asian-city-names-mean/580766/10 "2011-05-05T02:14:20Z")
For a while, I was confused but for those who don’t know, there’s a Hyderabad city, district and airport in both [India](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India) and [Pakistan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_Sindh).