Countries Named After People 2024

What's in a name? The naming of a country is usually an act of honor. Countries' names often follow a regional description, a land feature, a tribal or cultural name, or an important figure, cleric, or conquerer.

There are roughly two dozen countries named after individuals.

Azerbaijan was named after the Persian nobleman Atropates, who served Alexander the Great. The name evolved into its current form. Slightly north, Georgia, a land-locked, Euro-Asian country in the Caucuses, honored Saint George. And Uzbekistan derives from, Öz Beg Khan, a Golden Horde ruler of the later 13th century.

Bolivia, formally the Bolivarian Republic, took the name of the region's famed military leader, Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad. His family name is Bolívar. Simon achieved independence from Spain for much of the region, including Venezuela, later named after the Italian city of Venice. Surrounded by Italy, the independent state of San Marino identifies with Saint Marinus.

Columbia, a South American country, was named after the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. The 16th-century Mayan ruler, Birú, gave his name to Peru. In Central America, El Salvador honored Jesus, The Christian Savior. And, the eastern coastal country Nicaragua was named after Nicarao, a 16th-century indigenous chief.

The African King Mswati II was the source of the relatively new country of Estwatini's name. And Shaykh Mussa Bin Bique provided inspiration for the small Island of Mozambique. The Central African islands of São Tomé and Príncipe recognized Saint Thomas as their namesake.

In the Middle East, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a compound name after the Jordan River and Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. A House of Saud descendant, Saud Bin Muhammad, is the source of the name of Saudi Arabia.

There are many Pacific islands that take their names from dynamic figures. Mauritius derived its name from the royal Prince of Orange, Maurice of Nassau. While the Philippines honored King Philip II of Spain by taking his name. The South Pacific islands of Kiribati are a Gilbertese version of Thomas Gilbert's last name.

Another politician, John Marshall, gave his name to the Marshall Islands. The beautiful island country of the Seychelles took the sir name of Jean Moreau de Séchelles, a French politician in the mid-18th century.

In the Caribbean Sea, a handful of islands known to sailors as "the Saints" are all named after Christian Saints. These include Saint Kitts and Nevis for Saint Christopher, the Dominican Republic for Saint Dominic, and Saint Lucia honored Saint Lucy.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, part of the lower Leeward Islands, identified with Saint Vincent of Saragossa.

The name for the United States of America mirrors Amerigo Vespucci, an early 16th-century Italian explorer and the states of the 13 colonies.