English exonyms
An English exonym is a name in the English language for a place, or occasionally other terms, which does not follow the local usage. Exonyms and endonyms are features of all languages and other languages may have their own exonym for the English endonym, for example Llundain is the Welsh exonym for the English endonym "London".
Romanization, or transcription of a non-Latin alphabet endonym into a Latin alphabet, is not generally regarded as creating exonyms; "The application of any scientifically sound romanization system to a non-Roman endonym merely re-creates that original endonym in another legitimate form". However old romanization systems may leave a legacy of "familiar" spellings, as in the case of, for example, romanization of Burmese. This affects romanization of Arabic, romanization of Chinese, and many other non-Latin alphabet place names.
Translations of non-proper nouns such as "river" and "lake" also do not qualify as exonyms.
A less common form of exonym is usage for names and titles. Personal exonyms are typically limited to regnal names such as popes and monarchs ; less commonly very well known non-modern authors are referred to by exonyms. The list does not include the list of English translated personal names.
General
This section lists English-language exonyms that are for places located in multiple countries, English names of countries, and typical patterns.Countries and territories
The following is a list of countries and territories whose names in local languages differ from their English ones. The list includes countries with limited recognition, autonomous territories of sovereign countries, and fully sovereign countries.Country names are listed in their short form, and do not include names spelled identically in English. Near-identical names in pronunciation or spelling are included, but countries named with non-proper nouns are not.
The languages listed are official languages and/ or prominent local languages, except if the name for the associated country is spelled the same as in English. Languages in italics are no longer spoken in the given country, but the name listed retains some use.
Likewise, exonyms in italics are obselete or are disputed.
| English name | Endonym | Language | Notes |
| Abkhaziya | Russian | ||
| Aṗsny | Abkhaz | ||
| Afġānestān | Dari | ||
| Afġānistān | Pashto | ||
| Shqipëri | Standard Albanian | ||
| Shqipyni | Gheg Albanian | ||
| Al-Dzāyīr | Maghrebi Arabic | ||
| Al-Jazā'ir | Standard Arabic | ||
| Hayastan | Armenian | ||
| Österreich | Standard German | ||
| Azərbaycan | Azeri | ||
| Al-Baḥrayn | Standard Arabic | ||
| België | Dutch | ||
| Belgien | Standard German | ||
| Belgique | French | ||
| Druk Yul | Dzongkha | ||
| Mborivia | Guarani | ||
| Puliwya | Quechua | ||
| Wuliwya | Aymara | ||
| Bosna & Hercegovina | Bosnian | ||
| Brasil | Portuguese | ||
| Balgariya | Bulgarian | ||
| Burkĩna Faso | Mossi | ||
| Uburundi | Kirundi | ||
| Kampuciə | Khmer | ||
| Cameroun | French | ||
| Kamerun | Fula | ||
| Cabo Verde | Portuguese | ||
| Kabu Verdi | Cabo Verdean Creole | ||
| Chili | Aymara | ||
| Chli | Mapudungun | ||
| Chili | Quechua | ||
| Tire | Rapa Nui | ||
| Zhōngguó | Mandarin | ||
| Comores | French | ||
| Juzur Al-Qamar | Standard Arabic | ||
| Komori | Comorian | ||
| Kongó | Lingala | ||
| Kôngo-Balazvile | Kongo | ||
| Kongo | Luba-Katanga | ||
| Kongó-Kinsásá | Lingala | ||
| Kôngo | Kongo | ||
| Kongu | Swahili | ||
| Kūki 'Āirani | Cook Islands Maori | ||
| Côte d'Ivoire | French | ||
| Hrvatska | Croatian | ||
| Kıbrıs | Turkish | ||
| Kýpros | Greek | ||
| Česko | Czech | ||
| Danmark | Danish | ||
| Jabuuti | Somali | ||
| Jībūtī | Standard Arabic | ||
| Yibuuti | Afar | ||
| Dominique | French | ||
| Wai'tu kubuli | Island Carib | ||
| Ekuatur | Shuar | ||
| Ikwayur | Quechua | ||
| Maṣr | Egyptian Arabic | ||
| Miṣr | Standard Arabic | ||
| Eesti | Estonian | ||
| Itiyoophiyaa | Afar | ||
| Itoobiya | Somali | ||
| Itoophiyaa | Oromo | ||
| ʾĪtyōṗṗyā | Amharic | ||
| ʾĪtyōṗṗyā | Tigrinya | ||
| Suomi | Finnish | ||
| Fijī | Fiji Hindi | ||
| Viti | Fijian | ||
| Gámbi | Wolof | ||
| Kambiya | Mandinka | ||
| Sakartvelo | Georgian | ||
| Deutschland | Standard German | ||
| Elládha | Greek | ||
| La Gwenad | Grenadian Creole | ||
| Guiné-Bissau | Portuguese | ||
| -Conakry | Ginea-Conakry | Fula | |
| -Conakry | Guinée-Conakry | French | |
| Ayiti | Haitian Creole | ||
| Haïti | French | ||
| Magyarország | Hungarian | ||
| Ísland | Icelandic | ||
| Bhaaratham | Malayalam | ||
| Bhārat | Dogri | ||
| Bhārat | Hindi | ||
| Bhārat | Maithili | ||
| Bhārat | Nepali | ||
| Bhārat | Gujarati | ||
| Bhārat | Kashmiri | ||
| Bhārat | Punjabi | ||
| Bhārat | Sindhi | ||
| Bhārat | Urdu | ||
| Bhārata | Kannada | ||
| Bhāratam | Sanskrit | ||
| Bhārathadeśaṁ | Telugu | ||
| Bhāratham | Tamil | ||
| Bharot | Konkani | ||
| Bhārot | Bengali | ||
| Bhārôt | Assamese | ||
| Bhārôt | Meitei | ||
| Bhārôt | Bodo | ||
| Bhārôtô | Odia | ||
| Siñôt | Santali | ||
| Irān | Persian | ||
| Al-'Irāq | Standard Arabic | ||
| Êraq | Kurdish | ||
| Éire | Irish | ||
| Isrā'īl | Standard Arabic | ||
| Yisraél | Hebrew | ||
| Italia | Standard Italian | ||
| Nihon/ Nippon | Japanese | ||
| Al-'Urdunn | Standard Arabic | ||
| Qazaqstan | Kazakh | ||
| Kosovë | Albanian | ||
| Al-Kuwait | Standard Arabic | ||
| il-Ikwēt | Gulf Arabic | ||
| Kırǧızstan | Kyrgyz | ||
| Lāo | Lao | ||
| Latvija | Latvian | ||
| Lețmō | Livonian | ||
| Libnēn | Levantine Arabic | ||
| Lubnān | Standard Arabic | ||
| Lībiyā | Standard Arabic | ||
| Lietuva | Lithuanian | ||
| Lëtzebuerg | Luxembourgish | ||
| Luxemburg | Standard German | ||
| Madagasikara | Malagasy | ||
| Malaŵi | Chewa | ||
| Malaŵi | Tumbuka | ||
| Dhivehi Raajje | Dhivehi | ||
| Aorōkin M̧ajeļ | Marshallese | ||
| Agawej | Berber | ||
| Cengiṭ | Berber | ||
| Gànnaar | Wolof | ||
| Mauritanie | French | ||
| Moritani | Pulaar | ||
| Mūrītānyā | Standard Arabic | ||
| Murutaane | Soninke | ||
| Maurice | French | ||
| Moris | Mauritian Creole | ||
| México | Spanish | ||
| Mēxihco | Nawatl | ||
| Mónegue | Occitan | ||
| Mùnegu | Ligurian | ||
| Mongol Uls | Mongolian | ||
| Crna Gora | Montenegrin | ||
| Al-Maġrib | Standard Arabic | ||
| lmeɣrib | Standard Moroccan Tamazight | ||
| Maroc | French | ||
| Moçambique | Portuguese | ||
| Msumbiji | Swahili | ||
| Mozambiki | Chewa | ||
| Muzambhiki | Tsonga | ||
| Myǎma | Burmese | ||
| Namibië | Afrikaans | ||
| Naoero | Nauruan | ||
| Nepāl | Nepali | ||
| der Nederlanden | Dutch | ||
| Aotearoa | Maori | ||
| Naìjíríyà | Igbo | ||
| Naìjíríyà | Yoruba | ||
| Najeriya | Hausa | ||
| Niuē | Niuean | ||
| Chosǒn | Korean | ||
| Maqedonia e Veriut | Albanian | ||
| Severna Makedonija | Macedonian | ||
| Nöörja | Southern Sami | ||
| Noreg/ Norge | Norwegian | Spelled differently according to different written standards | |
| Norga | Northern Sami | ||
| Vuodna | Lule Sami | ||
| 'Umān | Standard Arabic | ||
| Pākistān | Urdu | ||
| Belau | Palauan | ||
| Parao | Japanese | ||
| Filasṭīn | Standard Arabic | ||
| Panamá | Spanish | ||
| Papua Niu Gini | Hiri Motu | ||
| Papua Niugini | Tok Pisin | ||
| Paraguái | Guarani | ||
| Paraguay | Spanish | ||
| Perú | Spanish | ||
| Piruw | Aymara | ||
| Piruw | Quechua | ||
| Pilipinas | Tagalog | ||
| Polska | Polish | ||
| Giṭar | Gulf Arabic | ||
| Qaṭar | Standard Arabic | ||
| România | Romanian | ||
| Rossíya | Russian | ||
| Saint Christopher and Nevis | English | ||
| Sāmoa | Samoan | ||
| as-Sa'ūdīyah | Standard Arabic | ||
| Senegaal | Wolof | ||
| Sénégal | French | ||
| Srbija | Serbian | ||
| Sesel | Seychellois Creole | ||
| Ciṅkappūr | Tamil | ||
| Singapura | Malay | ||
| Xīnjiāpō | Mandarin | ||
| Slovensko | Slovak | ||
| Slovenija | Slovene | ||
| aṣ-Ṣūmāl | Standard Arabic | ||
| Soomaaliya | Somali | ||
| Ṣūmālīlānd | Standard Arabic | ||
| Hanguk | Korean | ||
| Paguot Thudän | Dinka | ||
| Alaniya | Russian | ||
| Allonston | Ossetian | ||
| Espainia | Basque | ||
| España | Galician | ||
| España | Spanish | ||
| Espanha | Occitan | ||
| Espanya | Catalan | ||
| Ilaṅkai | Tamil | ||
| Śrī Laṁkā | Sinhala | ||
| as-Sūdān | Standard Arabic | ||
| Sverige | Swedish | ||
| Helvetia | Latin | ||
| Schweiz | Standard German | ||
| Suisse | French | ||
| Svizra | Romansh | ||
| Svizzera | Standard Italian | ||
| Sūriyā | Standard Arabic | ||
| Tâiuân | Hokkien | ||
| Tāiwán | Mandarin | ||
| Taywan | Amis | ||
| Tǒivǎn | Hakka | ||
| Tojikiston | Tajik | ||
| Timór Lorosa'e | Tetum | ||
| Nistrenia | Romanian | ||
| Pridnestrovye | Russian | ||
| Prydnistrovya | Ukrainian | ||
| Tunest | Berber | ||
| Tunisie | French | ||
| Tūnis | Standard Arabic | ||
| Türkiye | Turkish | ||
| Türkmenistan | Turkmen | ||
| Yuganda | Luganda | ||
| Ukrajina | Ukrainian | ||
| Oʻzbekiston | Uzbek | ||
| Stato della Città del Vaticano | Standard Italian | ||
| Status Civitatis Vaticanae | Latin | ||
| Việt Nam | Vietnamese | ||
| Al-Yaman | Standard Arabic |
Specific countries
Albania
Algeria
Armenia
Australia
Several places in Australia have additional names in various Aboriginal languages.Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Historically, English borrowed French names for many places in Dutch-speaking areas of Belgium. With few exceptions this practice is no longer followed by most sources.Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Canada
Numerous places in the predominantly French speaking province of Quebec have historically had English exonyms; in most cases, the exonym was a straight translation of the place's French name, with only one major city which ever had an English exonym that was entirely different from its original French name. With a few exceptions, such as Quebec City, these are no longer widely used. Exonyms are also commonly seen in regards to First Nations and Inuit peoples and communities; although government and media sources have evolved in recent years toward using these places' native endonyms, common usage may still favour the older exonyms.Cambodia
During the Khmer Rogue period, the country was known in English as Democratic Kampuchea, closer to the endonym than its modern English exonym. The English exonym of Cambodia is based on the French exonym, Cambodge. The endonym is sometimes used in English, but the exonym is far more common.Chile
China
Some of the apparent "exonyms" for China are the result of change in romanization of Chinese to modern pinyin, for example "Tientsin" to "Tianjin". Other apparent exonyms are the result of the English name being based on one of the other varieties of Chinese besides Mandarin. Additionally, certain names which may now be considered exonyms actually preserve older Mandarin pronunciations which have changed in the intervening centuries. For all areas in mainland China, names written in Chinese are written in simplified characters. For all areas in the special administrative regions, the names will be written in traditional characters.Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechia
Historically, English-language sources used German names for many places in what is now the Czech Republic. With some exceptions, this is no longer done by most sources.Czechs prefer for their country to be referred to as Czechia in English, as the country adopted it as its official short name in 2016. However, many English speakers still call the country Czech Republic.