List of Dominican Republic Provinces by etymology

This article provides a collection of the etymologies of the names of the provinces of the Dominican Republic.

Province NameLanguage of originSource wordMeaning and notes[1]
AzuaTaínoTaíno name which can mean either mountainous or hard to tame
BaorucoTaínoThe name for the Yaque del Sur River
BarahonaSpanish Bara HonaThe theory affirms that the name comes him for that of current, Bahía Honda now called Bahía de Neiba.[2]
DajabónFrench, TaínoOne of them attributes it to a fish that existed in the river Massacre, called Dajao, which meant river in local Taíno, which, united to the French word "bonne" that signifies good, would have produced the name.[3]
Distrito NacionalSpanishliterally means National District. This district is where the capital is located.
DuarteSpanishnamed for Juan Pablo Duarte, 19th-century revolutionary and one of the country's founding fathers.
Elías PiñaSpanishhero of the wars of independence
El SeiboSpanish, TaínoThe name of Seibo, itself due to a tribal leader of race Taíno, that was called Seebo.
This Seebo was a species of Sub-Cacique, subject to the dispositions of the Overlord of Higuey: Cayacocha.[4]
EspaillatFrenchnamed for Ulises Francisco Espaillat (1823–1878), 19th-century author and president
Hato MayorSpanishmeans greater cattle-raising district
Hermanas MirabalSpanishnamed for the Mirabal Sisters (Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa), martyred for their opposition to Rafael Trujillo.
IndependenciaSpanishLiterally means Independence, named after multiple wars for independence from Haiti in 1844.
La AltagraciaSpanishAlta Graciathe brothers Alonso and Antonio de Trejo arrived from Spain in the early 16th century with a painting of
Our Lady of La Altagracia. Miracles are attributed to it. Means upper grace
La RomanaSpanishthe name came after a steelyard balance, used in the sugarcane industry.
La VegaSpanishnamed after the star of Vega which was seen in the founding night of the location.[5]
María Trinidad SánchezSpanishnamed after Francisco del Rosario Sánchez’s aunt and a female soldier in the wars of independence
Monseñor NouelFrench, Spanishnamed for a president of the republic, Monsignor Dr. Adolfo Alejandro Nouel y Bobadilla
Monte CristiLatinMonte ChristiThe name of Monte Cristi associates to the days in which Christopher Columbus explored those lands.
Friday, 4 January 1493 when the discoverer sailed next to the coasts,
I remain deeply touched with the visual impression that abandonment in him the slender colony of Nose.
He seemed so much to Golgotha where he died crucified the divine one Galilee that exclaimed ¡Mount of Christ![6]
Monte PlataSpanishNamed after the people who migrated to the location that came
from Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata. Literally means silver mountain.
PedernalesSpanishLiterally means in Spanish "flints", which is located in the Pedernales River.
PeraviaSpanishName derives from a corruption of the Spanish surname Pravia,
who carried the lady Ana de Pravia, daughter of Francisco Ruiz de Pravia and Beatriz de la Rocha, who lived on a ranch that existed at the beginning of colonial period in the location.
Puerto PlataSpanishPuerto PlataLiterally means silver port. Named after all the silver that was found in the location by the settlers.
SamanáTaínoNamed after what the Taíno tribe called the location, Xamaná.[7]
Sánchez RamírezSpanishnamed for Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez, hero of the battle of Palo Incado (1808).
San CristóbalSpanishnamed after Christopher Columbus. Immortalized as saint in the region in the colonial period. Literally Saint Christopher.
San José de OcoaSpanish, TaínoThis province takes its name of the Ocoa River that crosses the
province of north to south, passing for the capital city.
San JuanSpanish, Taínonamed after San Juan Bautista. It is the first San Juan of the Americas.
Nicolas de Ovando named it San Juan de la Maguana. Maguana after the caciquedom wherein the province is located.
San Pedro de MacorísTaínoMacorís is a native word in the colonial period for "speaker of a foreign language".
The land reminded Christopher Columbus of San Pedro de Alcántara.
SantiagoSpanishIts name comes from the name of the city that has always been its capital: Santiago de los Caballeros.
Besides, is the first one Santiago of America, that is to say, first city with that name. Named after the same
geographic of Santiago de Compostela.
Santiago RodríguezSpanishnamed for one of the founders of the city (founded in 1844)
Santo DomingoSpanishSanto Domingonamed after the national capital which the province separated from. Literally means Holy Sunday.
ValverdeSpanishnamed for General José Desiderio Valverde, 19th-century president

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.