River Name Etymologies

From ListOf

Asia

• Chang Jiang (Yangtze): Chinese "long river"
• Dongjiang: Chinese "east river"
• Huang He: Chinese "yellow river"
• Sefid-rud: Persian: "White river"
• Aravand-rud: Persian: "Fast river".
• Brahmaputra: Hindi: "Son of Brahma".

Europe

See also Old European hydronymy.

• Avon: Brythonic meaning "river"
• Cam: Brythonic meaning "crooked"
• Clwyd: Welsh meaning "hurdle"
• Danube: Latin Danuvius, from Iranian (Scythian or Sarmatian) dānu- 'river', of Indo-European origin
  • Argeş: from Greek or maybe Thracian "arges" = "bright"
  • Bistriţa: Slavic "bistrica" = "fast flowing"
  • Caraş: Turkish "kara" = "black", "dark"
  • Drave: in Latin "Dravus", of Thracian or Illyrian origin, probably from PIE *dhreu = "to flow, to fall"
  • Ialomiţa: Slavic "jalov" = "barren"
  • Mureş;: Dacian "mur" = "murky"
  • Prahova: Slavic "prah"="waterfall" or "prah"="dust"
  • Siret: ancient Thracian "Seretos", probably from PIE *sreu = "to flow"
• Don: Celtic goddess Devona
• Guadalquivir: from the Arabic wadi al-kabir, or "great river"
• Mersey: Anglo Saxon meaning "boundary river"
• Ness: Old Norse meaning "isthmus"
• Thames: Latin "Tamesis" from Brythonic meaning "dark river"
  • The River Thame has a similar etymological root
• River Severn: Latin "Sabrina" from an Old British river goddess of that name, becoming "Hafren" in modern Welsh
• Tyne: Brythonic meaning "river"
• Wear: Brythonic meaning "water"

North America

• Athabasca: From the Woods Cree word ãthapãskãw, or "clumps of plants".
• Bow: After the reeds growing along its banks, which were used by the local Indians to make bows.
• Brazos: From the Spanish Los Brazos de Dios, or "the arms of God". There are several different explanations for the name, all involving it being the first water to be found by desperately thirsty parties.
• Canadian River: The etymology is unclear. The name may have come from French-Canadian traders and hunters who travelled along the river, or early explorers may have thought that the river flowed into Canada.
• Colorado: Spanish for "coloured".
• Columbia: Named for Captain Robert Gray’s ship Columbia Rediviva, allegedly the first to travel up the river.
• Cumberland: Named for Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.
• Fraser: Named for Simon Fraser, who confirmed it was a separate river from the Columbia.
• Hiwassee: from the Cherokee word "Ayuhwasi", meaning "savanna or meadow".
• Hudson: named for Henry Hudson, an Englishman sailing for the Netherlands, who explored it in 1609.
• Loup: French for "wolf", after the Pawnee "wolf people" (Skidi band).
• Mackenzie: After Alexander MacKenzie, the Scots-Canadian explorer.
• Mississippi: Ojibwe misi-ziibi, "big river".
• Missouri: Named for the Missouri Indians, who lived along the banks.
• Nelson: Named for Robert Nelson, a ship's master who died at the mouth of the river in 1612.
• Ottawa: Named for the Ottawa people, a community of the Algonquin nation, who lived along the river until 1685.
• Peace: After Peace Point, the location of the ratification of the Treaty of the Peace.
• Platte: French Rivière Plate ("Flat River"), from the Native American Oto name Ni-bthaska ("river of spreading flatness").
• Potomac: A. variation on Greek word Potomus, lit. meaning "river"; or B. from the Patowamek tribe noted by Captain John Smith.
• Republican: Named for the Pawnee band known as "the Republicans".
• Río Grande: Spanish for "big river".
• Saint-Laurent: French for Saint Lawrence.
• Saskatchewan: From the Cree term Cree kisiskāciwani-sīpiy, meaning "swift flowing river".
• Schuylkill: from the Dutch Schulen-kill, meaning "hidden river".
• Susquehanna: Named after the Susquehannock Indians. Algonquian for "people of the muddy water". Although local legend claims it means "mile wide, foot deep". Real meaning is dark, muddy, crooked river. Indians used to strand criminals on the small islands that used to exist in the middle of the river, around Wilkes-Barre,PA.
• Tennessee: Named for the Cherokee town of Tanasi (meaning unknown).
• Wabash: English spelling of French Ouaboukigou, shortened to Ouabache, after the Miami name Wabashike ("pure white").
• Yukon: Gwichʼin for "great river"

South America

• Amazon River: Greek (after the Amazons)
• Paraná River: Guarani "related to the sea" (?)
• Río de la Plata: Spanish "Silver River"
• Rio Roosevelt: after Theodore Roosevelt
• Río Valdivia: after the spanish conquistador of Chile Pedro de Valdivia