# Which Nations are Named for Specific People?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 23, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576 "2006-10-23T15:17:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/1 "2006-10-23T15:17:21Z")
So far I’ve come up with:
**United States of America** : Named for [Amerigo Vespucci](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_vespucci)
**Israel** : Named for [Jacob/Israel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob), a character in the Bible
**Columbia** : Named for [Christopher Columbus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_columbus)
**Bolivia** : Named for [Simon Bolivar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Bolivar)
**Greece (Hellenic Republic))**: I assume this is related to [Helen of Troy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_troy). But this is just an assumption and I freely admit that I could be quite wrong on this point.
What others am I missing?
And by the way, I’m looking for nations named for _specific_ people, so nations named for tribes or ethnic groups (Scotland, Afghanistan, for example) don’t really count, unless the name in question can be traced, either via legend or via fact, to a specific person bearing the name (Israel, for example).
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/2 "2006-10-23T15:19:16Z")
Perhaps **Georgia** – not the one named after King George, but the one named after Saint George.
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### Author:  [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/3 "2006-10-23T15:24:29Z")
[
> [@](#):
>
> Rhodesia was the name of the British colony of Southern Rhodesia after 1965. Landlocked and located in southern Africa, it was governed by white minority rule until 1979. The colony was named after Cecil Rhodes, whose British South Africa Company acquired the land in the nineteenth century. The colony gained internationally-recognised independence from Britain in 1980 and became the Republic of Zimbabwe. At an earlier period, the name “Rhodesia” was used to refer to a larger region that corresponds to both Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) and Zambia (Northern Rhodesia).
]([Rhodesia - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia))
CMC fnord!
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### Author:  [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/4 "2006-10-23T15:27:35Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie]
**Bolivia** : Named for [Simon Bolivar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Bolivar)
[/QUOTE]
Venezuela is also named after him. Full name: **Bolivarian** Republic of Venezuela . Here is a [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_entities_named_after_people#Venezuela) of some others.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/5 "2006-10-23T15:30:48Z")
Zimbabwe used to be called Rhodesia:
‘The colony was named after Cecil Rhodes’
> **[Rhodesia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia)**
>
> Rhodesia (/roʊˈdiːʒə/ ⓘ roh-DEE-zhə, /roʊˈdiːʃə/ roh-DEE-shə; Shona: Rodizha), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, which had been self-governing since achieving responsible government in 1923. A landlocked nation, Rhodesia was bordered by South Africa to the south, Bechuanaland (later Bots In...
And Tasmania (formerly Van Diemen’s Land) counts twice:
‘Van Diemen’s Land was the original name used by Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to explore Tasmania. He named the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt in honor of Anthony van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies who had sent Tasman on his voyage of discovery in 1642’
> **[Van Diemen's Land](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Dieman%27s_Land)**
>
> Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a separate colony in 1825. Its penal colonies became notorious destinations for the transportation of convicts due to the harsh environment, isolation and reputation for being inescapable. Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur are among the most well-known penal set...
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/6 "2006-10-23T15:35:48Z")
[QUOTE=glee]
And Tasmania (formerly Van Diemen’s Land) counts twice:
[/QUOTE]
However, Tasmania is not a country, and never has been: the closest it has been to being a country was during 1856-1900, when it was a self-governing British colony.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/7 "2006-10-23T15:39:37Z")
A number of British territories and former colonies have such names, based either on explorers or named after notable people:
Bermuda (Juan de Bermudez)
The Falklands (one of the Viscounts of Falkland)
Pitcairn (after the sailor who spotted the island)
South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (George III & 4th Earl of Sandwich)
Kiribati (local pronunciation of ‘Gilberts’, Gilbert Islands, named after a British sailor)
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/8 "2006-10-23T15:47:23Z")
(Oh, and plenty named after saints and whatnot: St Helena, the Solomon Islands, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, etc.)
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### Author:  [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/9 "2006-10-23T15:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=brickbacon]
…Here is a [list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_entities_named_after_people#Venezuela) of some others.
[/QUOTE]
Cleaner link [List of places named after people](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_named_after_people).
[nitpick]Does the USoA really belong on the list?
Is the USoA named for Amerigo Vespucci, or is the USoA named for the continent of N. America, which is named for Amerigo Vespucci?[/nitpick]
CMC fnord!
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/10 "2006-10-23T16:08:03Z")
**China** is believed to be derived from the name of the [Qin Dynasty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty), founded by Qin Shi Huang.
**The Phillipines** , named for King Philip II of Spain.
**Dominican Republic** , named after St. Dominic. (\*\*Dominica’s \*\* name, however, is derived from Sunday).
**Belize** , believed to be derived from a corruption of the name of the pirate Peter Wallace
**Saudi Arabia** , Muhammad bin Saud
**El Salavador** , named after “The Savior,” Jesus Christ.
**Saint Kitts and Nevis** , Saint Christopher
**Saint Lucia** , Saint Lucy
**Saint Vincent and the Grenadines** , Saint Vincent Pallotti.
**San Marino** , Saint Marinus
\*\*São Tomé and Príncipe \*\*,Saint Thomas
\*\*Mauritius \*\*, Maurice of Nassau
**Solomon Islands** , King Solomon
**Marshall Islands** , British captain John Marshall
\*\*Seychelles \*\*, Jean Moreau de Sechelles
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/11 "2006-10-23T16:16:24Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie]
**Greece (Hellenic Republic))**: I assume this is related to [Helen of Troy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_of_troy). But this is just an assumption and I freely admit that I could be quite wrong on this point.
[/QUOTE]
No, not Helen of Troy (_Ἑλένη_), but there is no firmly accepted etymology for the word “Hellas” (_Ελλάδα_). There have been people who referred to themselves by that name for millenia, but we don’t really know where the word originated from.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/12 "2006-10-23T16:23:50Z")
**El Salvador** – Jesus, of course
**Uzbekistan** – One of the few cases where a nation was named after its founder, Oz Beg (the variant in the name is a trick of Altaic-language vowel-change rules), who united a group of Turkestani peoples under his rule.
Greece was not named after Helen of Troy but after the eponymous Hellen, male, almost certainly fictitious and a relative (in the myths) of the two brothers and their two nephews who gave rise to the four main Greek clans: Achaians, Dorians, Ionians).
Georgia is a Western coinage for the country called in its own tongue Sakartvelo or in Russian Gruziya.
Assyria, the long-lived north Iraqi empire of pre-Classical times, was supposedly named after Asshur (mythical hero, identified as a Cushite in the Bible). However, it appears to have been named after the city Asshur, its first capital, and the folk hero a case of toponymic myth).
Lorraine, an autonomous duchy for an extended period in early medieval times, was named after one of Charlemagne’s sons in a rather strained sequence: He was Lothair, and was Emperor in succession to Charlemagne, but with his two brothers having the heartlands of France and Germany and his personal domain a strip running from the Netherlands through Lorraine to northern Italy. This area was named Lothairingia, and after the separation of Italy under his son, the northern portion was divided into Upper and Lower Lotharingia. The lower region segmented off under the Counts of Holland, Louvain, etc., and the upper region eventually became the area now termed Lorraine, the name losing consonants with aplomb.
**San Marino** was named after its founder, St. Marinus.
Half the West Indies are autonomous, “free association,” or independent nations named aftr someone, usually the saint on whose name day that particular island was discovered.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/13 "2006-10-23T16:28:34Z")
Regarding Greece, there was an eponymous _Hellen_ after whom some claimecd Hellas was named (Nothing to do with Helen of Troy – no one claims the name came from her). A lot of people are suspicious of this – it seems more likely that “Hellen” was created to be the eopnymous ancestor of a nation named Hellas.
There are a lot of ancient countries said to be named after a person, most or all of which are suspect today:
**Rome** – after Romulus
**Persia** – according to Herodotus, named after Perseus (the guy who killed the Gorgon). According others, after someonme names Perses. I don’t think the Persians themselves bought any of this.
I believe a lot of the tribes in the Old Testament were said to be named after a founder (and by extension, the countries were named after the founder, too) – the Moabites and Amalekites and so forth.
Rghodesia was the first that came to my mind, but it’s been done already.
If you go by states, we have quite a few:
**Virginia** – named after Elizabeth I, the “Virgin Queen”
**Delaware** – named after Lord De La Warr, and after the Lenape Indians that the British renamed “Delawares”
**Maryland** – after Queen Mary
**Georgia** – after King George (And Russian Georgia, also named after a George)
**Pennsylvania** – after William Penn
**Louisiana** – After King Louis
**Washington** , after George
We almost had the state of **Franklin** , name after Ben.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/14 "2006-10-23T16:55:12Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
**Rome** – after Romulus
[/QUOTE]
If we accept this, then **Romania** , once a Roman colony, qualifies as well.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/15 "2006-10-23T17:07:54Z")
Not an independent nation, but the Virgin Islands are named after 11,001 people: St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/16 "2006-10-23T18:48:26Z")
The former British colony of Vancouver Island was named for Captain George Vancouver.
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### Author:  [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/17 "2006-10-23T19:08:24Z")
While I could be mistaken in the etymology I believe that the **Ottoman Empire** , named after Uthman I, would fall under this category.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/18 "2006-10-23T19:18:19Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp]
**Uzbekistan** – One of the few cases where a nation was named after its founder, Oz Beg (the variant in the name is a trick of Altaic-language vowel-change rules), who united a group of Turkestani peoples under his rule.
[/quote]
Almost certainly, though which Ozbeg is slightly equivocal. The common hypothesis is that it was named after Ozbeg ( r.1314-1341 ), the most important khan of the Golden Horde after the founder Batu, who definitively converted the GH to Islam. This also lines up with when the name starts appearing, from the mid-14th century. But the actual origin is completely obscure.
> [@](#):
>
> Lorraine, an autonomous duchy for an extended period in early medieval times, was named after one of Charlemagne’s sons in a rather strained sequence: He was Lothair, and was Emperor in succession to Charlemagne, but with his two brothers having the heartlands of France and Germany and his personal domain a strip running from the Netherlands through Lorraine to northern Italy. This area was named Lothairingia, and after the separation of Italy under his son, the northern portion was divided into Upper and Lower Lotharingia. The lower region segmented off under the Counts of Holland, Louvain, etc., and the upper region eventually became the area now termed Lorraine, the name losing consonants with aplomb.
Close, but a little off. Charlemagne’s _grandson_ Lothair, eldest son of the emperor Louis I the Pious ( Charlemagne’s only son to survive his father ), eventually became emperor and king of “Middle Francia”. Meanwhile his younger brothers Louis the German and Charles the Bald became kings of “East Francia” ( roughly Germany ) and “West Francia” ( roughly France ) respectively. When emperor Lothair I died, he partitioned _his_ realm into thirds - his eldest son Louis became king of Italy and emperor as Louis II, _his second son Lothair became king of Lotharingia_, his third, Charles, king of Provence.
It was this second Lothair, a great grandson of Charlemagne, after whom Lotharingia was named. After his childless death it was largely partitioned between Louis the German and Charles the Bald. Louis the German’s son, Louis the Younger, substantially reunited Lotharingia as a territorial unit before his death in 882. After various vissitudes it was definitively annexed to Germany as a duchy by the new Liudolfing king Henry the Fowler in 925. It wasn’t partitioned into Upper and Lower Lorraine until 959, after the death of Henry’s son Bruno, duke and Archbishop of Cologne.
- Tamerlane
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/19 "2006-10-23T19:25:26Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri]
**China** is believed to be derived from the name of the [Qin Dynasty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty), founded by Qin Shi Huang.
[/QUOTE]
Except that China never called itself China. Depending on how you Romanize the pronunciation, it’s something like Chung-kuo, meaning “Middle Kingdom” as most of us learned in history classes.
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### Author:  [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-nations-are-named-for-specific-people/377576/20 "2006-10-23T19:38:39Z")
Father Christmas has two islands named after him.
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