Though it’s often known by Egyptians as Maṣr, the Arabic name for Egypt itself, Cairo’s actual name of al-Qāhirah translates to “the Victorious,” “the Vanquisher,” or “the Conqueror.” That’s because the planet Mars, known in Arabic as an-Najm al-Qāhir (“the Conquering Star”), is said to have been rising in the sky at the time Cairo was founded in 969 CE.

Before it was romanized as Hong Kong, the city was known in English as He-Ong-Kong. That moniker dates back to 1780 and is thought to be a phonetic reading of “hēung góng,” a Cantonese name that translates to both “fragrant harbor” and “incense harbor.” The waters of the Pearl River are responsible for the “fragrant” designation; as for the other, a number of incense factories used to be found in the city’s Kowloon district.

Originally founded as Ánslo in 1040 and known as Christiania after it was rebuilt following a 1624 fire, Norway's capital and most populous city didn't take on its current title until 1925. Its name, like many in Scandinavia, comes from Old Norse: Oslo translates to “meadow of the gods” (or alternatively, “meadow at the foot of the hill”).

The capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur has a name that means “muddy estuary” or “muddy confluence” in Malay. The name refers to the meeting point of the Gombak River and Klang River, the place where the city was established in 1857. The South China Sea splits Malaysia into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is located on the west side of Peninsular Malaysia.

Addis Ababa was first founded in 1887 by Emperor Menilek II, whose wife Taitu persuaded him to replace the old capital of Entoto due to the region’s extreme cold. The newly-created Addis Ababa was built closer to the hot springs at the foot of a high tableland, and was given the name meaning “New Flower” by the satisfied empress.

Though there are differing opinions among scholars, many trace Bucharest’s origins back to the Thracian word “bucurie,” meaning “joy.” Some others believe the city is named after Abu Karis, who belonged to the Bane Kureis tribe, and an alternate theory says the name is derived from “bukovie,” meaning “beech forest.” Romania’s translation, however, is quite simple: “land of the Romans.”

Though the region was formerly known as Mzizima (“healthy town”) in the Kiswahili language, Dar es Salaam has been known as such since its foundation in 1865. In Arabic, “dar” means “house” or “abode,” and “es salaam” means “peace.” The city’s name is similar to the common Arabic phrase “as-salamu alaykum,” which translates to “peace be upon you.”

The capital of the United Arab Emirates has a name thought to be rooted in folklore. “Abu” is Arabic for “father,” while “Dhabi” means gazelle. The folktale concerns Shakhbut bin Dhiyab Al Nahyan, who ruled Abu Dhabi from 1795 to 1816. Shakhbut’s father, Dhiyab bin Isa, sent a hunting party from the Liwa Oasis to track a gazelle to a spring on the island now known as Abu Dhabi, and ordered a settlement to be built there.

Singapore derives its name from the Malay phrase “singa pura,” which translates to “lion city.” According to legend, Prince Sang Nila Utama chose this name after coming ashore and believing he saw a lion. The lion head is also the national symbol of the city-state of Singapore, which gained independence from Malaysia in 1965.

Berlin’s etymological origin is traced back to the Slavic people — in their language, the word “berl” meant “swamp,” and the suffix “-in” was used for places. The word Berlin first appeared in writing in 1244. In German folklore, the city of Berlin is associated with the German word for bear (“bär”), an image of which appears on the city’s flag.

Long before Europeans arrived in what we now call Toronto, the Iroquois called the area home. It's generally agreed that the city's current name comes from “tkaronto,” an Iroquois word that translates to “place where trees stand in the water” — the water in this case is that of Lake Simcoe.

Chicago is believed to have taken its name from a French rendering of the Algonquin word “shikaakwa,” which refers to the Allium tricoccum plant — commonly known as a ramp or wild garlic. During French explorer Robert de LaSalle’s travels in 1687, he wrote in his memoir that they had visited a place called “Chicagou,” which took its name “because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region.”

Reykjavik is a combination of the Icelandic words “reykur” (smoke) and “vik” (bay). It’s not actually smoke that fills the city, but rather steam due to the city’s placement atop geothermically active ground. Legend has it that the city was settled by Norseman Ingolfur Arnason, for whom a statue was erected in downtown Reykjavik.

Canada’s capital city is named after the Algonquin word “adawe,” which means “to trade.” Originally incorporated as Bytown in 1850, the city changed its name to Ottawa in 1855. Elsewhere in Ontario, the name Toronto comes from an Iroquois term meaning “where there are trees in water.” The Algonquin language also inspired the name of Quebec, meaning “narrow passage.”

Originally settled more than 2,000 years ago, Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, is the state capital of Hawaii. The city's name means “sheltered harbor” or “protected bay” in the Hawaiian language. The first European to arrive on Oahu was Englishman Captain William Brown in the late 18th century, and he dubbed the harbor Fair Haven. The Hawaiian name was introduced sometime after that.

Now the world's most populated metropolis, Tokyo was formerly known as Edo (meaning “bay entrance” or “estuary”). However, Edo did not become a bustling city and Japanese capital until the end of the Tokugawa period in 1868. The city was then renamed Tokyo, meaning “eastern capital,” reflecting its location east of the former imperial capital, Kyoto.

Argentina's capital city is Buenos Aires, which translates to "fair winds" or "good airs" in Spanish. As the story goes, the Spanish sailor who established the first port of Buenos Aires in the 16th century gave it its name because it was far enough south to avoid a strain of marshland mosquitoes. The mosquitoes carried malaria, whose name is derived from "mal aire" or "bad air," so without them, the city had "good airs."

While seemingly difficult to imagine now, Las Vegas was originally built atop a spring-fed grassy landscape. A group of explorers led by Antonio Armijo stumbled upon the Las Vegas valley in 1829, and it was a scout named Rafael Rivera who gave it its name meaning “the meadows” in Spanish. The name stuck, as explorer and politician John C. Fremont denoted the area on maps as Las Vegas Springs in 1844.

Rio’s name translates to “River of January,” despite the fact there’s no such river in the city. The name came from a mistake made by Portuguese explorer Gaspar de Lemos, who arrived in January 1501 and erroneously assumed Guanabara Bay was the mouth of a river. The city was officially founded as São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro in 1565.

The name Los Angeles translates to “the angels'' in Spanish. When Spanish colonizers established the settlement in 1781, they first called it El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula — or, the Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula. The name was later shortened to Los Angeles.