List of tautological place names
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A place name is tautological if two parts of it are synonymous. This often occurs when a name from one language is imported into another and a standard descriptor is added on from the second language. Thus, for example, New Zealand's Mount Maunganui, where maunga is Māori for mountain. The following list is of place names usually or often used tautologically, plus the languages from which the non-English name elements have originally come.
Since there are sometimes many similar names in one area in many cases where two languages are in common use, this should be noted with one exemplar case.
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Rivers
- River Avon, various in England and Scotland (River River - Brythonic (spelled Afon in modern Welsh), or Goidelic abhainn)
- River Avonmore, County Wicklow, Ireland (Big River River - Irish: Abhainn Mór)
- River Avonbeg, County Wicklow, Ireland (Small River River - Irish: Abhainn Beag)
- River Awbeg, County Cork, Ireland (Small River River - Irish: Abhainn Beag)
- Connecticut River, United States (Long Tidal River River - Algonquin)
- Cuyahoga River, Ohio ("Cuyahoga" means "crooked river" in a Native American language.)
- Danube River, Europe (River River - its etymology is ultimately from the Iranian *dānu meaning 'river' [citation needed])
- Río Guadix, Spain (River River River - Río is "river" in Spanish, Guad < wādĩ is "river" in Arabic and Ix is "river" in Phoenician)
- Hatchie River, United States (River River - "hatchie" meaning "river" in Muskogean languages)
- Heilongjiang River, China (Black Dragon River River - Mandarin Chinese)
- River Humber, England, and Humber River, Ontario, Canada (River River - Brythonic)
- Mississippi River, United States, and Mississippi River, Ontario, Canada (Big River River - Algonquin)
- Paraguay River, Guarani (From the Great River River)
- Rillito River, southern Arizona, United States (Little River River - Spanish)
- Schuylkill River, eastern Pennsylvania (Hidden River River - the suffix kill in Dutch meaning "river")
- Skookumchuck River, Washington, United States - the suffix chuck in Chinook Jargon meaning "river"
- River Tyne, England (River River - Brythonic)
- Vaslui River, Romania - uj meant "body of water" in Cuman
- Walla Walla River, Washington, United States (Little River River; Walla means "river" in Sahaptin, repeated to express the diminutive ("little river"))
- Latsa erreka (tributary of the Nive), France (Brook Brook - Euskara)
Lakes and other bodies of water
- Dal Lake, Kashmir - (Lake Lake- Balti)
- Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria — 'lagos' is Portuguese for 'lakes'
- Lake Lagunita, Stanford, California (Lake Little Lake - Spanish)
- Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan (Lake Hot Lake - Kyrgyz)
- Lake Rotorua, New Zealand (Lake Lake Second - Māori. Many other New Zealand lakes have the tautological "Lake Roto-" form)
- Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California (Lake the lake - Washo Native American Tribal language)
- Lake Windermere, England (Vinund's lake lake - Old Norse. Several other English lakes have the tautological "Lake -mere" form)
- Lake Nyassa (now called Lake Malawi), Malawi/Mozambique (Lake Lake - Yao)
- Lakeville Lake, Michigan, USA — The village is Lakeville, the adjacent lake is Lakeville Lake.
- Loch Watten, Scotland, from Gaelic loch, plus Norse vatn
- Loughrigg Tarn, from Gaelic loch, plus Norse "ridge", and "tarn" meaning a body of water
- Tal-y-Llyn lake, Wales (End-of the-lake lake - llyn is Welsh for lake)
- Østensjøvann is a Norwegian lake name that concatenates sjø lake that is not as narrow as a fjord and vann meaning lake. Similarly Møsvann in Telemark, Norway combines mjøsa meaning lake with vann meaning lake.
- Vatnvatnet, Norway (Lakelake - Norwegian), a lake near Bodø
- Wast Water, England - 'water water' from Old Norse "vatn" and Old English "wæter".
- Gaube Lake, Hautes-Pyrénées (Lake Lake - French and Gascon)
Mountains and hills
- Bergeberget, Norway (The Hill Hill - Norwegian)
- Bredon, England (Hill Hill - Celtic/Saxon)
- Bredon Hill, England (Hill Hill Hill - Brythonic/Old English/Modern English)
- Breedon on the Hill, England (Hill Hill on the Hill - Celtic/Saxon)
- Brill, England (Hill Hill - Celtic/Saxon) - also once known in documents as Brill-super-montem (Hill Hill on the Hill - Celtic/Saxon/Latin)
- Brynhill, Wales (Hill Hill - Welsh/English)
- Glendale - the Gaelic word for "valley", plus the Norse word for "valley"
- Hill Mountain, Pembrokeshire, Wales
- Knockhill, a common placename in the Scottish Lowlands, deriving from Scottish Gaelic, cnoc meaning a "hill".
- Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England. (Hill Hill Hill) - "Pen" -(Cumbric language) and the suffix "dle" from the Old English language.
- Summit Peak, New Zealand (Peak Peak - both English) - also the U.S. has five hills called Summit Peak.
- Table Mesa, Colorado (Table Table - Spanish)
- Torpenhow Hill, England (Hill Hill Hill Hill - SW-English (Tor) / Celtic (pen = "head") / Anglo-Saxon hōh = "spur of high ground" / English (hill)
- Mount Maunganui, New Zealand (Mount Mount Big - Māori)
- Djebel Amour, Algeria: (Arabic & Tamazight)
- Mongibeɖɖu, sicilian name of the volcano Etna, in Sicily, Italy (Mountain Mountain, from Romance monte and Arabic žabal).
- Montcuq, Lot, France: Mont Kukk 'mount mount'
- Pic de la Munia in Piau-Engaly, France: Pic Muño (Romance & Euskara)
- Tuc de la Pale, Ariège, France: Tuk Pal 'mount mount'
- Vignemale, Pyrenees: Went- Mal 'mount mount'
- Eizmendi: Haitz Mendi 'mount mount' (Euskara)
- Garmendia: Garr- Mendi(a) (fossil & modern Basque)
Islands
- Faroe Islands, North Atlantic (Sheep Islands Islands - Faroese)
- Motutapu Island, New Zealand (Island Sacred Island - Māori)
- Gili Islands, North-west of Lombok, Indonesia (Island Islands - Sasak)
- Dodecanese Islands, Aegean Sea (Twelve Islands Islands - Greek; usually called just Dodecanese)
- Indonesian Islands, usually just called Indonesia
- Polynesian Islands, Pacific Ocean (Many Islands Islands - Greek; usually called just Polynesia)
- Melanesian Islands, Pacific Ocean (Black Islands Islands - Greek; usually called just Melanesia)
- Canvey Island, UK (Cana's island island - Anglo-Saxon)
- Isle of Sheppey, UK (sheep island island - Saxon)
- Lundy Island, UK (puffin island island - Norse)
Other
- The La Brea Tar Pits, California (The The Tar Tar Pits - Spanish)
- Sahara desert, Africa (Deserts desert - Arabic)
- Gobi Desert, central Asia (Desert desert, Gobi means 'very large and dry' in Mongolian)
- Eas Fors Waterfall on the Isle of Mull in Scotland (waterfall waterfall waterfall)
- Beechhurst Holt Wood, England (beech wood wood wood - Anglo-Saxon)
- Vista View Elementary School, Minnesota (View View Elementary School - Spanish)
- Val d'Aran, Spain (Valley Valley - Gascon and Euskara (Basque))
- Châteaudun, France (Castle Stronghold - French and Gaulish)
- Côtes-d'Armor, Brittany, France (Coast of Coast - French and Breton)
- Col de Port, Ariège, France (Pass Pass - French and Occitan)
- Beqaa Valley - biqāʻa, plural of buqʻaht, is Arabic for 'plain' (another "Valley Valley")
- The Rock of Gibraltar - (The Rock of The Rock of Ṭariq žabal ṭariq - Arabic)
- Timor-Leste, East Timor, (East East - Indonesian/Malay, Portuguese) - Note: this is the eastern half of an island that is the easternmost major island in its chain.
- Sharm Old Harbour (a common English name for the old harbor at Sharm el Sheikh) (harbor old harbor - Arabic)
- Nathu La Pass, Indo-China border, (Listening Ears Pass Pass- Tibetan)
- Trendle Ring earthwork in Somerset, England (Circle Circle)
- Ardtornish Point, Scotland, (Point Tor Point Point - "Aird" from Gaelic, "Nish" from the Norse Ness and Point from English - all referring to some form of cape, point or headland).
- El Puente de Alcántara, Toledo, Spain, (The Bridge of the Bridge - Puente from Spanish, Alcántara from Arabic al-qanṭaraht 'the bridge')
- Glendale, California - (Valley Valley - Scots Gaelic and northern English dialect)
- Jiayuguan Pass - (Jiayu Pass Pass - Mandarin Chinese)
- Milky Way Galaxy (Milky Way milky way — Greek; for this reason some scientists, such as the late Isaac Asimov, have argued that the Milky Way should be renamed the "Home Galaxy" or some such.[who?])
- Cartagena, Spain - (New New City - from Latin Carthago Nova, 'New Carthage'; but Carthago itself is from Phoenician Qart-ḥadašt, 'New City')
- South Australia - (South of the South - Australia is derived from Australis, Latin for southern)
- Lee Mead - (Meadow Meadow)
- Nesoddtangen, Norway - (The Cape cape cape, Norwegian, from nes (promontory or cape), odde (promontory or cape) and tange (promontory or cape))