List of Spanish place names in Canada

This is a list of geopolitical entities, geographical features, localities, and other places in Canada with names that originate from the Spanish language.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Table
Place Province/territory English translation Notes
Alameda Saskatchewan "street lined with trees"
Alhambra Alberta Named for the Alhambra,[1] the palace/fortress in Granada
Aristazabal Island British Columbia Named for the Spanish capitain, Gabriel de Aristazábal
Casa Loma Ontario "hill house" A mansion in Toronto that was originally the residence of financier Henry Pellatt and is now a museum.
Cordero Channel British Columbia Named after José Cardero
Corunna Ontario Named after the Battle of Corunna
Del Bonita Alberta "of the pretty"[2]
Deloro Ontario "from gold" Location of a gold mine.[3]
Eldorado Ontario "the giolden" Became the site of Ontario's first gold rush in August 1866.
Eldorado Saskatchewan "the golden" Now a ghost town.
Espanola Ontario feminine form of "Spanish" The story behind the town’s name is that in the mid-18th century, a local Ojibwe man married a white, Spanish-speaking woman and they taught their children to speak Spanish. When French explorers came to the area and heard the locals speaking Spanish, they remarked, "espagnole" (the French word for "Spanish"). This was later anglicized to "Espanola" and the nearby river was named the Spanish River.
Flores Island British Columbia "Flores" means "flowers". Named in honour of Manuel Antonio Flórez, the 51st viceroy of New Spain.[4]
Galiano Island British Columbia N/A Named for Spanish explorer Dionisio Alcalá Galiano.[5]
Granada Alberta [1]
Juan de Fuca Strait British Columbia "Juan" is the Spanish form of the masculine given name John. Named for Ioánnis Fokás, a Greek explorer who sailed in the service of Spain, and whose name was translated into Spanish as "Juan de Fuca". Forms part of the boundary between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American state of Washington.[6][7][8]
Lobo Ontario "wolf" Township now amalgamated into Middlesex Centre. Named in 1821, one of several Spanish names given by General Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lt. Governor of Upper Canada (1818-28) and Lt. Governor of Nova Scotia (1828-34). He developed a fondness for Spanish during the Peninsula Campaign and gave Spanish names to several Canadian places. See also Mariposa, Orillia, Oro, Sombra, and Zorra.[3]
Mariposa Ontario "butterfly" A former township, now part of the City of Kawartha Lakes, and a community within that former township. Named by Peregrine Maitland in 1820.[3]
Mariposa Beach Ontario A community within the Township of Ramara.
Mariposa No. 350 Saskatchewan A rural municipality in Saskatchewan.
Murillo Ontario Named for Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, a Spanish artist.[3]
Orillia Ontario "bank" or "shore" Township named in 1822 by Peregrine Maitland; the city borrowed the name in 1835.[3]
Oro Ontario "gold" Oro Township merged into Oro-Medonte in 1994. Named by Peregrine Maitland in 1820 after Río de Oro in the Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara).[3]
Oso Ontario "bear" Oso Township amalgamated into Central Frontenac in 1998. Named by Peregrine Maitland in 1823.[3]
Placentia Newfoundland and Labrador Named for either Soraluze-Placencia de las Armas, Spain or Plentzia, Spain
Port Alberni Vancouver Island, British Columbia Captain Don Pedro de Alberni Port Alberni was named for Captain Don Pedro de Alberni, a Spanish officer, who commanded Fort San Miguel at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island's west coast from 1790 to 1792.Port Alberni
Ramara Ontario "Rama" means "branch" and "mara" means "sea". A township formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of Rama Township and Mara Township. The origins of the names of these townships are unclear, and another possible explanation for the origins of their names is that they are named for places in the Bible: Ramah and Marah, respectively.
St-Alphonse-Rodriguez Québec "Rodriguez" is a Spanish surname meaning "son of Rodrigo". Named for Alphonsus Rodriguez, a Spanish Catholic saint.[9]
Sombra Ontario "shade" Named by Pregrine Maitland in 1822 because he found the place heavily wooded.[3]
Tofino British Columbia N/A Named for nearby Tofino Inlet,[10] which was named in 1792 by Spanish explorers Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores for Admiral Vicente Tofiño,[11] under whom Galiano had learned cartography.[12]
Zayas Island British Columbia N/A Named after the second pilot of Jacinto Caamaño, Juan Zayas, during the 1792 expedition.
Zeballos British Columbia N/A Named after Ciriaco Ceballos, a Spanish sailor, explorer and cartographer.
Zorra Ontario "female fox" Named by Peregrine Maitland.[3]

See also

References
  1. Marden, Ernest G.; Marden, Austin (2010). Community Place Names of Alberta. Lulu.com. ISBN 189747217X. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  2. , p. viii : Heritage of the high country : a history of Del Bonita and surrounding districts
  3. Rayburn, Alan (1997). Place names of Ontario. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7207-0. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  4. Walbran, John T. (1909). British Columbia coast names, 1592-1906 : to which are added a few names in adjacent United States territory, their origin and history. Ottawa Government Printing Bureau. p. 182. OCLC 317633225. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  5. "Galiano Island". BC Geographical Names.
  6. While U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Strait of Juan de Fuca says John Meares named the strait in 1788, most sources say it was Barkley in 1787, for example: "Juan de Fuca Strait". BC Geographical Names.; Existence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca confirmed by Captain Charles Barkley, Washington Secretary of State; Hayes, Derek (1999). Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of exploration and Discovery. Sasquatch Books. p. 16. ISBN 1-57061-215-3. online at Google Books; and Pethick, Derek (1980). The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790-1795. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. pp. 24. ISBN 0-88894-279-6. It is well established that Meares tried to take credit for much of Barkley's work.
  7. Dunbabin, Thomas (1979) [1966]. "Fuca, Juan de". In Brown, George Williams (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. I (1000–1700) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  8. Greek Consulate of Vancouver, "Greek Pioneers: Juan de Fuca". Archived October 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. , History | Municipality of Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez | Matawinie, Lanaudière
  10. "Tofino". BC Geographical Names.
  11. "Tofino Inlet". BC Geographical Names.
  12. Dionisio Alcalá Galiano: The Canadian Adventure of a Spanish Naval Hero Archived 2008-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, Malaspina University-College
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