List of Brazil state name etymologies

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The names of most Brazilian states are based on Portuguese placenames, while others are based on indigenous (often Tupi–Guarani) and a few European languages.

State name Language of origin Source word Meaning and Notes
 Acre
Acre in Brazil.svg
Tupi a'quiri or a'kiru, from a misspelling of , a local river, which meaning is "green river"; not from acre (a measurement of area) or Acre (as in the Siege of Acre).
 Alagoas
Alagoas in Brazil.svg
Portuguese plural of alagoa, a flooded field or swamp
 Amapá
Amapa in Brazil.svg
Arawak amapá "the land in the end" (documented in Sir Walter Raleigh's account of Guyana as Land of Amapaia)
 Amazonas
Amazonas in Brazil.svg
Spanish after the Amazon river, which was named by Spanish explorers who heard rumors that Amazons ("female mounted warriors", possibly from the Iranian ethnonym *ha-mazan-, "warriors"; former supposed etymology—Greek α-μαστός a- mastos, "with no breasts"— is considered false etymology) guarded the legendary city of El Dorado in the middle of the forest
 Bahia
Bahia in Brazil.svg
Old Portuguese bahia bay or harbor; the colonial province was called Bahia de Todos os Santos (All Saints Bay), because it was discovered on November 1, All Saints Day
 Ceará
Ceara in Brazil.svg
Tupi sy ara "mother of the day" or "source of light", because it is a sunny land with sparse vegetation (therefore, few shadows)
 Espírito Santo
Espirito Santo in Brazil.svg
Portuguese "Holy Ghost/Spirit"
 Goiás
Goias in Brazil.svg
Tupi goyaz Apparently, the name originated from the name of Tupi goiaiase nation that occupied the region in the late 16th century the term gwa ya mean "equal individual ", and therefore able to be friends .
 Maranhão
Maranhao in Brazil.svg
Spanish Portuguese spelling of Marañón, another name for the Amazon River; from 1621 to 1709, the north of Brazil was styled the State of Maranhão, with its capital at São Luís
 Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso in Brazil.svg
Portuguese Matto Grosso "thick grass" or "dense woods"
 Mato Grosso do Sul
Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil.svg
Portuguese a new state created in 1975 from the southern part of Mato Grosso state
 Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais in Brazil.svg
early modern Portuguese Minas Geraes "General Mines"; separated from São Paulo in 1709 and placed under the direct control of the Portuguese Crown as the Captaincy of São Paulo and the Mines, after the discovery of gold, diamonds, and gems in the territory
 Pará
Para in Brazil.svg
Tupi-Guaraní pará river; probably because of the estuary of the Amazon River. The Pará River, near the state capital Belém, would be "River River".
 Paraíba
Paraiba in Brazil.svg
Old Tupi parahiba pará (river) + aíba (rough, bad), probably meaning "rough river"
 Paraná
Parana in Brazil.svg
Guarani paraná "wide river"; the words for "river", "large river", "lagoon", "sea" and "lake" have different meanings in Tupi, leading to confusion that Paraná meant sea
 Pernambuco
Pernambuco in Brazil.svg
Tupi paranambuka paranã (sea) + mbuka (hollow), referring to the coastal reefs; the state capital, Recife, is derived from the Portuguese for reef
 Piauí
Piaui in Brazil.svg
Tupi piauhi piau (a type of river fish) and y (river), so Piau Fish River
 Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.svg
Portuguese "River of January"; the city harbor was discovered on January 1, 1502, and was believed to be the mouth of a river (such as the Tagus estuary which forms a bay by Lisbon). The state was named after the city, now its capital and formerly capital of Brazil.
 Rio Grande do Norte
Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil.svg
Portuguese "Great River of the North"
 Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.svg
Portuguese "Great River of the South"; the long and narrow Patos Lagoon (lagoon of the ducks) was probably mistaken for a river; thus the name of the first important settlement, the town of Rio Grande
 Rondônia
Rondonia in Brazil.svg
after Marshal Cândido Rondon, explorer of the region; the old name for the state was Guaporé, Tupi for "pathway to the lake"
 Roraima
Roraima in Brazil.svg
Yanomaman roro imã "thundering mountain" according to some sources; the old name for the state was Rio Branco, Portuguese for "white river"
 Santa Catarina
Santa Catarina in Brazil.svg
Portuguese Santa Catharina after Saint Catherine of Alexandria
 São Paulo
Sao Paulo in Brazil.svg
Portuguese after the Jesuit monastery of São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (Saint Paul of the Fields of Piratininga), built to Christianize native peoples; the state was named after its capital
 Sergipe
Sergipe in Brazil.svg
Tupi siri jibe after the name of a native chief, Serijipe; another possible origin is from the Tupi siri jibe, a "brook with crabs"
 Tocantins
Tocantins in Brazil.svg
Tupi tukantin tukan (toucan, a South American bird) + tin (nose), or nose of toucan; the confluence of the Araguaia and Tocantins rivers is shaped like a bird's beak; the region is also named "Bico do Papagaio" (Parrot Beak), however, the river had this name long before maps revealed the shape of the confluence
 Distrito Federal
Distrito Federal in Brazil.svg
Portuguese lit. "Federal District"; formerly the municipal territory of the national capital was called either Município Neutro (Neutral Municipality, from 1834 to 1889), Corte Imperial (Imperial Court, from 1822 to 1834) or Capital Federal (Federal Capital, from 1889 to 1934)

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