# What's the most populous geographic entity named after a person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116 "2013-08-25T08:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/41 "2013-08-26T23:32:39Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > I think Colombia with 47 million may be the winner. > > I had a look at [Chinese provincial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_etymologies_of_country_subdivision_names#China)and [Indian state](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_states_and_union_territories_by_the_etymology_of_their_name) name etymologies, in the off chance one of those qualified. None of the chinese provinces were named after people, and [Jammu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammu)in India only has 13 million. No, as mentioned before the Phillipines has a population of over 90 million. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/42 "2013-08-26T23:35:40Z")
If mythical people count, I’ve got dibs on **Earth** , named after a German pagan goddess. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/43 "2013-08-26T23:45:53Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If mythical people count, I’ve got dibs on **Earth** , named after a German pagan goddess. No way. The Sol System, named after the Roman god Sol, has all the people on Earth plus the [six](http://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/) currently in space. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/44 "2013-08-27T00:48:11Z")
I still don’t get why America isn’t the winner. The two continents are named after a real person. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/45 "2013-08-27T02:35:40Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > No, as mentioned before the Phillipines has a population of over 90 million. Doh, how’d I miss the second post? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/46 "2013-08-27T02:47:20Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I still don’t get why America isn’t the winner. The two continents are named after a real person. Well, if Bharat/Bharat Ganrajya (one of the official names of India) is allowed, it would beat all of the Americas in terms of population, with 1.2 billion people vs the Americas combined 935 million (if **AWB** ’s figure is correct.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/47 "2013-08-27T04:31:30Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > No way. The Sol System, named after the Roman god Sol, has all the people on Earth plus the [six](http://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/) currently in space. I thought of the Solar System, but I kept thinking of my uncle Sol, who is a population of only 1. Anyway, as far as we know, the population of the Solar System is exactly equal to the population of the Earth (unless you count astronauts in the ISS separately). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/48 "2013-08-27T05:01:07Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I believe he also used the Latinized name “Americus” which wad a common affectation of the educated in those days. The continent being a land, was the feminized version ending in -a. “A common affectation”? It was customary to translate names because it made communication easier (the same reason I translate mine: some people who have no problem pronouncing Mary think that Mari is MAH RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEE). I know many people who live in bilingual regions and respond to both versions of their name. For cities, and leaving aside Saints and Madonnas (otherwise we get half the Latin American capitals as well as Los Angeles), the official name of the 5M-inhabitant Mexican city of Puebla is Puebla de Zaragoza. It’s not the name under it was founded: the Zaragoza bit is the lastname of a general who defended the city against French troops in 1862. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/49 "2013-08-27T05:24:47Z")
For all we know [Seyfert’s Sextet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyfert%27s_Sextet) has a population of quadrillions of intelligent beings. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/50 "2013-08-27T05:35:08Z")
If aliens are included, I nominate the Hubble Volume > **[Hubble volume](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_volume)** > > In cosmology, a Hubble volume (named for the astronomer Edwin Hubble) or Hubble sphere, subluminal sphere, causal sphere and sphere of causality is a spherical region of the observable universe surrounding an observer beyond which objects recede from that observer at a rate greater than the speed of light due to the expansion of the universe. The Hubble volume is approximately equal to 1031 cubic light years (or about 1079 cubic meters). > The proper radius of a Hubble sphere (known as the Hubble ... ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/51 "2013-08-27T19:37:26Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > If mythical people count, I’ve got dibs on **Earth** , named after a German pagan goddess. I thought it was named after Eartha Kitt. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116/52 "2013-08-28T15:06:29Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > For cities, and leaving aside Saints and Madonnas (otherwise we get half the Latin American capitals as well as Los Angeles), the official name of the 5M-inhabitant Mexican city of Puebla is Puebla de Zaragoza. It’s not the name under it was founded: the Zaragoza bit is the lastname of a general who defended the city against French troops in 1862. Interesting. It’s a city named for a person whose name (presumably) came from another city (Zaragoza, Spain), which in turn was named for yet another person (Caesar Augustus). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-populous-geographic-entity-named-after-a-person/667116.md?page=2)