List of tautological place names
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A place name is tautological if two parts of it are synonymous. This often occurs when a name from one language is imported into another and a standard descriptor is added on from the second language. Thus, for example, New Zealand's Mount Maunganui is tautological since maunga is Māori for mountain. The following is a list of place names often used tautologically, plus the languages from which the non-English name elements have come.
Tautological place names are systematically generated in languages such as English and Russian, where the type of the feature is systematically added to a name regardless if that contains it already. For example, in Russian, the format "Ozero X-ozero" (i.e. "Lake X-lake") is used. In English, it is usual to do the same for foreign names, even if they already describe the feature, for example Lake Kemijärvi (Lake Kemi-lake), or Saaremaa island (Island land island, actually island land island land, since island comes from an old English word for island land).
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Rivers
- Connecticut River, United States (Long Tidal River River - Algonquian)
- Cuyahoga River, Ohio ("Cuyahoga" means "crooked river" in a Native American language. Template:Specify)
- Fishkill Creek, New York, USA (small waterway small waterway - "kil" meaning "small waterway" in Dutch)
- Hatchie River, United States (River River - "hatchie" meaning "river" in Muskogean languages)
- Kymijoki, Finland (River River)
- Latsa erreka (tributary of the Nive), France (Brook Brook - Euskara)
- Mississippi River, United States, and Mississippi River, Ontario, Canada (Big River River - Algonquian)
- Molopo River, South Africa (River River) - Setswana
- Paraguay River, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina (From the Great River River - Guaraní Language)
- Rillito River, southern Arizona, United States (Little River River - Spanish)
- Río Guadix, Spain (River River River - Río is "river" in Spanish, guad comes from Arabic wādi 'valley' or 'river', and ix is "river" in Phoenician)
- Río Guadalquivir, Spain (Great River River - from Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr 'The Great Valley (or River)'.
- Reka, Slovenia - the name means literally "River" in Slovene
- River Avon, various in England and Scotland (River River - Brythonic (spelled Afon in modern Welsh), or Goidelic abhainn)
- River Avonmore, County Wicklow, Ireland (Big River River - Irish: Abhainn Mór)
- River Avonbeg, County Wicklow, Ireland (Small River River - Irish: Abhainn Beag)
- River Awbeg, County Cork, Ireland (Small River River - Irish: Abhainn Beag)
- River Humber, England, and Humber River, Ontario, Canada (River River - Brythonic)
- River Tyne, England (River River - Brythonic)
- Schuylkill River, eastern Pennsylvania (Hidden River River - the suffix kill in Dutch meaning "river")
- Šešupė River, Lithuania (Sixth River River - Lithuanian)
- Skookumchuck River and Pilchuck River, Washington, United States - the suffix chuck in Chinook Jargon meaning "river"
- Uruguay River, Uruguay and Argentina (River of the painted birds River - Guaraní Language)
- Vaslui River, Romania - uj meant "body of water" in Cuman
- Walla Walla River, Washington, United States (Little River River; Walla means "river" in Sahaptin, repeated to express the diminutive ("little river"))
- Most river names in Java, Indonesia starts with the prefix "ci-", which is Javanese for "river". Many people refers the names redundantly using both the Indonesian word "sungai" and prefix "ci-", for example, "Sungai Cihampelas" ("Cihampelas River") translates to "Sungai Sungai Hampelas"/"Hampelas River River".
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Lakes and other bodies of water
- Dal Lake, Kashmir (Lake Lake - Balti)
- Deschutes Falls, Tumwater, Washington (Falls Falls, Falls, Washington - Chinuk Wawa)
- Gaube Lake, Hautes-Pyrénées (Lake Lake - French and Gascon)
- Gulf of Bothnia (Gulf of gulf - English and Latinised Swedish)
- Hayle Estuary, Cornwall (Estuary Estuary - Cornish Heyl "estuary")
- Järvijärvi, Sodankylä, Finland (Lake Lake – Finnish)
- Jaurajärvi and Jaurakkajärvi, Finland (Lake Lake - Sami javri "lake", Finnish järvi "lake")
- Laacher See, Germany - A caldera lake and potentially active volcano (Lake of the Lake)
- Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria - 'lagos' is Portuguese for 'lakes', and 'lagoon' derives from Latin 'lacus' "lake, pond"
- Laguna de Bay, Philippines - also referred to as Laguna Lake (Lake Lake - Spanish)
- Laguna Lake, California (Lake Lake - Spanish)
- Lake Chad, Chad (Lake lake - Bornu word tsade: "lake")
- Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand (Ella's lake lake - Old Norse. Several English lakes, such as Windermere, are often incorrectly referred to using the incorrect "Lake -mere" form, but New Zealand's has this form as its official name)
- Issyk-Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan (Hot Lake Lake - Kyrgyz)
- Lake Lagunita, Stanford, California (Lake Little Lake - Spanish)
- Lake Nyassa (now called Lake Malawi), Malawi/Mozambique (Lake Lake - Yao)
- Lake Rotorua, New Zealand (Lake Lake Second - Māori. Many other New Zealand lakes have the tautological "Lake Roto-" form)
- Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California (Lake the lake - Washo Native American Tribal language)
- Lakeville Lake, Michigan, USA - The village is Lakeville, the adjacent lake is Lakeville Lake.
- Loch Loch, Scotland. Not to be confused with Loch Lochy.
- Loch Lomond Lake, near Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.
- Loch Watten, Scotland, from Gaelic loch, plus Norse vatn
- Loughrigg Tarn, from Gaelic loch, plus Norse "ridge", and "tarn" meaning a body of water
- Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota, USA (Thousand Lakes Lake - French)
- Østensjøvann is a Norwegian lake name that concatenates sjø ("lake that is not as narrow as a fjord") and vann ("lake"). Similarly Møsvann in Telemark, Norway combines mjøsa meaning lake with vann meaning lake.
- Tal-y-llyn Lake, Wales (End-of the-lake lake - llyn is Welsh for lake)
- Vatnshlíðarvatn, Iceland (Lake-slope-lake - The farm Vatnshlíð (Lake-slope) named after the lake, which in turn is named after the farm.)
- Vatnvatnet, Norway (Lakelake - Norwegian), a lake near Bodø
- Wast Water, England - 'water's valley water' from Old Norse "vatns dalr" (= Wasdale) and Old English "wæter"
- Lake Hayq, Ethiopia - hayk Amh. means lake.
- Sandefjordsfjorden, Norway, Sande fjord's fjord
- Lake Michigan, United States - 'Lake Large Lake' (Michigan is French alteration on the Ojibwe word mishigamaa)
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Mountains and hills
- Bergeberget, Norway (The Hill Hill - Norwegian)
- Brda Hills, Slovenia - "brda" means small hills in Slovene (thus, the area is sometimes referred to as "Goriška Brda" or "Gorizia Hills" to distinguish it from others)
- Bredon Hill, England (Hill Hill Hill - Brythonic/Old English/Modern English); compare Bredon and Breedon on the Hill (Hill Hill on the Hill - Brythonic/Saxon/Modern English)
- Brill, England (Hill Hill - Brythonic/Saxon) - also once known in documents as Brill-super-montem (Hill Hill on the Hill - Brythonic/Saxon/Latin)
- Brincliffe Edge, Sheffield, UK (Burning Hill Hill Welsh/English)
- Bryn Glas Hill, Wales (Blue Hill Hill - Welsh/English)
- Brynhill, Wales (Hill Hill - Welsh/English)
- Djebel Amour, Algeria: (Arabic & Tamazight)
- Eizmendi: Haitz Mendi 'mount mount' (Euskara)
- Filefjell, Norway (The mountain mountain - Norwegian)
- Fjällfjällen, Sweden (The mountain mountains - Swedish)
- Garmendia: Garr- Mendi(a) (fossil & modern Basque)
- Gibraltar, commonly "The Rock of Gibraltar" From Arabic Jebel-Al-Tariq, which means "The Rock of Tariq"
- Hill Mountain, Pembrokeshire, Wales
- Hueco Tanks, an area of low mountains in El Paso County, Texas.
- Knockhill, a common placename in the Scottish Lowlands, deriving from either Scottish Gaelic, cnoc meaning a "hill" or a similar word originating in either Danish or one of the West Germanic languages that predated Old English.
- Kukkulamäki, in 24 distinct locations (Rautjärvi, Jyväskylä, Salo, ...) in Finland, is kukkula "hill" and mäki "hill"
- Mongibellu, Sicilian name of the volcano Etna, in Sicily, Italy (Mountain Mountain, from Romance monte and Arabic žabal).
- Montcuq, Lot, France: Mont Kukk 'mount mount'
- Mount Katahdin, Maine (Mount The Greatest Mountain - English/Penobscot)
- Mount Kenya, Kenya (Mount White Mountain - "Kenya" is from Kikuyu "Kirinyaga", 'white mountain')
- Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Mount Mount Njaro - Swahili)
- Mount Maunganui, New Zealand (Mount Mount Big - Māori)
- Ochil Hills, Scotland (Hill hills)
- Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England. (Hill Hill Hill) - "Pen" -(Cumbric language) "Pendle" by epenthesis and elision from "Pen Hyll", the latter word being Old English for "hill".
- Pendleton, near Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England. (Hill Hill Town) or, possibly (Hill Hill Hill), taking the -ton as deriving from Old English dun as opposed to Old English tun.
- Pendleton Hill, North Stonington, Connecticut. (Hill Hill Town Hill) or, possibly, (Hill Hill Hill Hill).
- Pic de la Munia in Piau-Engaly, France: Pic Muño (Romance & Euskara)
- Picacho Peak (Arizona, U.S.) (Peak Peak - Spanish)
- Pinnacle Peak (Maricopa County, Arizona, U.S.) and Mount Pinnacle (southwestern Virginia, U.S.). Both English. Other locations have the same names.
- Slieve Mish Mountains and Slieve Bloom Mountains, Ireland - (Mish Mountain Mountains, Bloom Mountain Mountains - from sliabh, the Gaelic word for mountain)
- Summit Peak, New Zealand (Peak Peak - both English) - also the U.S. has five hills called Summit Peak.
- Table Mesa, Colorado (Table Table - Spanish) - also Table Mesa, Arizona
- Torpenhow Hill, England (Hill Hill Hill Hill - SW-British (Tor) / Brythonic (pen = "head") / Anglo-Saxon hōh = "spur of high ground" / English (hill)) (disputed)
- Tuc de la Pale, Ariège, France: Tuk Pal 'mount mount'
- Urlichsberg in central Carinthia, Austria - the name derives from the Slovene name "Vrh", which means peak (more exactly, from the Carinthian Slovene version uerh); the name in German thus means "Mount Peak"
- Vignemale, Pyrenees: Went Mal 'mount mount'
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Islands
- Canvey Island, UK (Cana's island island - Anglo-Saxon)
- Jejudo Island, South Korea (Jeju Island Island), the suffix -do means island.
- Dodecanese Islands, Aegean Sea (Twelve Islands Islands - Greek; usually called just Dodecanese)
- Faroe Islands, sometimes Faeroe Islands, also Faroes or Faeroes (Template:Lang-fo, Template:Lang-da, Template:Lang-is, Template:Lang-nb, Template:Lang-nn), North Atlantic (Sheep Islands Islands - Faroese) — It is the -oe part of Faeroe that means 'islands' (Template:Lang-fo, Template:Lang-da, Template:Lang-is, Template:Lang-nb, Template:Lang-nn); the first part of the name (Før- or Fær-) is thought to mean 'sheep'; see History of the Faroe Islands.
- Gili Islands, North-west of Lombok, Indonesia (Small Island Islands - Sasak)
- Isle of Sheppey, UK (Island of sheep island - Saxon)
- Lundy Island, UK (puffin island island - Norse)
- Motutapu Island, New Zealand (Island Sacred Island - Māori)
- Orkney Islands, UK, (Boar Island Islands), suffix ey means island
- Walney Island, UK (British island island)- Old Norse
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Other
- Aran Valley, Catalonia, Spain - "Aran" comes from the proto-Basque word "haran" meaning "valley"; in the local Gascon dialect, "aran" also means valley
- Ardtornish Point, Scotland (High/Heights or Point Point) - "Aird" from Gaelic, "Nish" from the Norse Ness and Point from English - all referring to some form of cape, point or headland).
- Barna Gap, Ireland - (Gap Gap - Barna is the Irish word for a mountain gap)
- Beechhurst Holt Wood, England (beech wood wood wood - Anglo-Saxon)
- Boulder Rock, Ross Dependency, Antarctica
- Carmarthen, Wales (Welsh : Caerfyddin) - (Fort fort by the sea - "Caer"/"Car" = Welsh for fort (from Latin castra), "marthen"/"m(f)yrddin" is Welsh name derived from Latin Moridunum, which itself derived from Brythonic "môr" (sea) and "din"/"dun" (fort))
- Cartagena, Spain - (New New City - from Latin Carthago Nova, 'New Carthage'; but Carthago itself is from Phoenician Template:Lang, 'New City')
- Châteaudun, France (Castle Stronghold - French and Gaulish)
- Cividale, a town in Friuli, Italy - the name comes from Latin "civitas", meaning "city" or "town"
- Col de Port, Ariège, France (Pass Pass - French and Occitan)
- Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France (Coast of Coast - French and Breton)
- Eas Fors Waterfall on the Isle of Mull in Scotland (waterfall waterfall waterfall)
- El Camino Way in Palo Alto, California (The way way - Spanish)
- El Pont de Suert, Catalonia, Spain - literally 'the bridge of bridge'; "Pont" is the Catalan word for 'bridge' derived from Latin pons, pontis 'bridge' and "Suert" is the Basque word for 'bridge'
- El Puente de Alcántara, Toledo, Spain, (The Bridge of the Bridge - Puente from Spanish, Alcántara from Arabic al-qanṭaraht 'the bridge')
- Forumtorget in Uppsala, Sweden. Forum being the Latin word for square and torget also meaning square. Thus, Square-square.
- Glendale - Anglicisation of the Gaelic Gleann Dail. Gleann simply means "valley", and dail is a borrowing from the Norse for "valley", which in Gaelic specifically means a valley containing fertile arable land, or any low-lying farmland. The anglicised form appears more tautological as the word dale in English is used to describe any valley.
- Gobi Desert, central Asia (Very large and dry desert, Gobi means 'very large and dry' in Mongolian)
- Jiayuguan Pass - (Jiayu Pass Pass - Mandarin Chinese)
- Kaieteur Falls in Kaieteur National Park, Potaro-Siparuni Region, Guyana - (Kai falls Falls - Patamona language)
- La Brea Tar Pits, California (The Tar Tar Pits - Spanish)
- Lee Mead - (Meadow Meadow)
- Milky Way Galaxy (Milky Way Milky Way — Greek; for this reason some scientists, such as the late Isaac Asimov, have argued that the Milky Way should be renamed the "Home Galaxy" or some such.)
- Minnehaha Falls, Minnesota (Waterfall Falls - Lakota)
- Moorestown Township, New Jersey
- Napton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire - Napton means "settlement on the hill"
- Nathu La Pass, Sino-Indian border, (Listening Ears Pass Pass- Tibetan)
- Nesoddtangen, Norway - (The Cape cape cape, Norwegian, from nes (promontory or cape), odde (promontory or cape) and tange (promontory or cape))
- Nyanza Lac, Burundi - ("Nyanza" and "Lac" are the Bantu and French words for "lake" respectively. Interestingly, Nyanza Lac is not a lake - it's a city)
- Sahara desert, Africa (Deserts desert - Arabic)
- Playalinda Beach, Florida (Pretty beach beach - Spanish)
- Rökstenen, a runestone in Sweden
- Selo, a village near Ajdovščina, Slovenia - the word "selo" means "village" in old Slovene
- Selo, a village near Sežana, Slovenia - "selo" means "village" in old Slovene
- Sela na Krasu, a village on the Kras Plateau in western Slovenia - literally meaning "villages on the Kras"
- Sharm Old Harbour (a common English name for the old harbour at Sharm el Sheikh) (harbour old harbour - Arabic)
- Skarðsskarð, Iceland (Pass's Pass: A mountain pass named after a farm which in turn is named after tha pass to begin with.)
- Staðarstaður, Iceland (Staður means "a pastor's farm" and is a common suffix to the names of such farms—this means "Pastor's farm which is a pastor's farm")
- Street Road is a highway that passes through several towns slightly north of Philadelphia, PA - Two nearly synonymous English words
- Te Rere Hau Wind Farm, New Zealand (The flowing wind wind farm - Māori/English)
- Timor-Leste, East Timor, (East East - Indonesian/Malay, Portuguese) - Note: this is the eastern half of an island that is the easternmost major island in its chain.
- Trendle Ring earthwork in Somerset, England (Circle Circle)
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See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "List of tautological place names" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
