List of Dominican Republic Provinces by etymology information
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This article provides a collection of the etymologies of the names of the provinces of the Dominican Republic.
Province Name
Language of origin
Source word
Meaning and notes[1]
Azua
Taíno
Taíno name which can mean either mountainous or hard to tame
Baoruco
Taíno
The name for the Yaque del Sur River
Barahona
Spanish
Bara Hona
The theory affirms that the name comes him for that of current, Bahía Honda now called Bahía de Neiba.[2]
Dajabón
French, Taíno
One 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 Nacional
Spanish
literally means National District. This district is where the capital is located.
Duarte
Spanish
named for Juan Pablo Duarte, 19th-century revolutionary and one of the country's founding fathers.
Elías Piña
Spanish
hero of the wars of independence
El Seibo
Spanish, Taíno
The 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]
Espaillat
French
named for Ulises Francisco Espaillat (1823–1878), 19th-century author and president
Hato Mayor
Spanish
means greater cattle-raising district
Hermanas Mirabal
Spanish
named for the Mirabal Sisters (Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa), martyred for their opposition to Rafael Trujillo.
Independencia
Spanish
Literally means Independence, named after multiple wars for independence from Haiti in 1844.
La Altagracia
Spanish
Alta Gracia
the 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 Romana
Spanish
the name came after a steelyard balance, used in the sugarcane industry.
La Vega
Spanish
named after the star of Vega which was seen in the founding night of the location.[5]
María Trinidad Sánchez
Spanish
named after Francisco del Rosario Sánchez’s aunt and a female soldier in the wars of independence
Monseñor Nouel
French, Spanish
named for a president of the republic, Monsignor Dr. Adolfo Alejandro Nouel y Bobadilla
Monte Cristi
Latin
Monte Christi
The 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 Plata
Spanish
Named after the people who migrated to the location that came from Monte Cristi and Puerto Plata. Literally means silver mountain.
Pedernales
Spanish
Literally means in Spanish "flints", which is located in the Pedernales River.
Peravia
Spanish
Name 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 Plata
Spanish
Puerto Plata
Literally means silver port. Named after all the silver that was found in the location by the settlers.
Samaná
Taíno
Named after what the Taíno tribe called the location, Xamaná.[7]
Sánchez Ramírez
Spanish
named for Brigadier Juan Sánchez Ramírez, hero of the battle of Palo Incado (1808).
San Cristóbal
Spanish
named after Christopher Columbus. Immortalized as saint in the region in the colonial period. Literally Saint Christopher.
San José de Ocoa
Spanish, Taíno
This province takes its name of the Ocoa River that crosses the province of north to south, passing for the capital city.
San Juan
Spanish, Taíno
named 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 Macorís
Taíno
Macorís is a native word in the colonial period for "speaker of a foreign language". The land reminded Christopher Columbus of San Pedro de Alcántara.
Santiago
Spanish
Its 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 Rodríguez
Spanish
named for one of the founders of the city (founded in 1844)
Santo Domingo
Spanish
Santo Domingo
named after the national capital which the province separated from. Literally means Holy Sunday.
Valverde
Spanish
named for General José Desiderio Valverde, 19th-century president
^"Dominican Republic Provinces".
^"Servicio desactivado".
^"Province Dajabon". www.studentservicesdr.org. Archived from the original on 2007-11-13.
^"Historia de El Seibo". anegska.es.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-20.
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