Spanish City Names: Spanish place names in the US and worldwide

Discovering new countries and immersing oneself in different cultures is a significant motivation for many people when learning Spanish. We’ve already covered Spanish country names and nationalities, so in this post we’ll go a bit deeper and see all the Spanish city names you should know.

Whether you are embarking on a global adventure or simply organizing a visit to a couple of preferred destinations, having knowledge of city names in Spanish will undoubtedly prove useful throughout the journey.

You may be wondering why you should learn city names in Spanish. Well, many of the most famous cities in the world have unique names in different languages. Take Stockholm, for example, which in Spanish is Estocolmo.

One clear example of this is the famous Spanish Netflix series La Casa de Papel, called Money Heist in English. Have you noticed how some Money Heist characters’ names change between the Spanish and English versions? Since this is a good way to learn Spanish city names, here’s a list of all the Money Heist names in both languages. We’ve highlighted the ones with different spellings between Spanish and English.

Interesting, isn’t it? Now let’s move beyond the Money Heist characters and see a bunch of other Spanish city names worldwide!

American City Names in Spanish

In the United States, you can find a fascinating blend of influences in the city names, ranging from British to French to Amerindian. There are even many US cities with Spanish names, though you don’t always pronounce them the same way in English. Let’s explore many American cities whose names differ between the two languages, such as New York which becomes Nueva York in Spanish.

American State Names

Now that we’ve explored some significant Spanish place names in the USA, let’s broaden our perspective and take a look at state names as well. Here we list the different US States in Spanish whose names differ between the two languages.

The Americas: City names in Spanish

In the Spanish-speaking world, when we use the word América, we are referring to the entire western hemisphere of the Americas, in contrast to most English speakers thinking of America as only referring to the United States of America.

In this list, we’ve included many capital cities and famous cities in América, from across North America, Central America, and South America.

We’ve only included Spanish city names that differ from the English version. In other words, you won’t find cities like Buenos Aires or Quito, because their names are the same in both languages.

You’ve surely noticed that certain Spanish city names are nearly identical, with the only variation being the presence of a written accent or tilde. We explain how vital these are for proper spelling and pronunciation in our post on Spanish accent marks.

Europe: City names in Spanish

Now we’ll cross the ocean to Europe! Let’s see the differences between these English and Spanish city names.

Asia: City names in Spanish

We continue our journey eastwards, where we include the regions of the Middle East, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Check out all of these unique Asian city names in Spanish!

Africa: City names in Spanish

Moving towards the Equator we find the African continent, with famous cities like Cape Town and Kinshasa. Let’s see the Spanish city names for these African capitals.

Australia: City names in Spanish

Australia is a continent of its own in the South Pacific, with a few Spanish town names that differ from how they’re known in English.

Conclusion

Today we looked at the names of places in Spanish, showing that Spanish city names often differ from how you know them in English.

We started off by referencing a popular Netflix series, by listing all the Money Heist characters with Spanish city names. We saw that several of their names are different in the Spanish version of La Casa de Papel, like Tokio, Moscú, and Estocolmo.

With that introduction, we started our tour of world city names in Spanish. Once we’d seen the US cities with Spanish names, we even included the various US states with Spanish names. Then we moved on to lists of city names in Spanish by continent: América, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

By exploring world cities in Spanish, not only can you enhance your vocabulary but also your travel experiences, developing a greater appreciation for languages and cultures. Whether you’re seeking to understand the Spanish names of global destinations, or you’re just interested in the translations of city names in Spanish, each place’s essence is beautifully portrayed in Spanish.

Now that you know so many cities in Spanish, why not plan your next trip using these Spanish town names?