I’ve previously covered cities in the lands known as South and Central America, from Buenos Aires to Havana; now we travel further north, into Mexico, the United States of America, and finally to Canada, the final stop on our journey through America.

To start, let’s go to a famous beachside resort city, sitting on the far east of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Cancún. A major tourist hotspot, owing to the serene beaches full of soft golden sand, overlooking the Caribbean Sea, and home to some 620 thousand residents, in addition to numerous yearly visitors. The name derives from Mayan, in which there are two possible translations, the first and most recognized is “nest of snakes,” the second is “place of the gold snake.”

Across to the other side of Mexico, we have another popular beach city, although this one has seen a slight decline from its height in the 1950s; Acapulco contains a little over 680 thousand Acapulqueños, that number rises over March and April when students from the Untied States hit spring break, using the beaches, the hot sun, and the lowered drinking restrictions to forget all about school, family and inhibitions. The name Acapulco is of Nahuatl origin, and means “Where were destroyed or washed away the reeds,” this is reflected in the cities crest, which shows broken reeds and cane. The name changed to Acapulco de Juárez in 1885, to honor the famous Mexican president Benito Juárez.

To the States, the U.S. of A, the other side of the boarder, for a look at Sin City; Las Vegas is home to just under 2 million people, and almost 200 thousand slot machines, where a marriage license will set you back $60, and $450 for a divorce. The name is Spanish for “The Meadows,” as in the 19th century small parts of ‘Vegas’ contained artisan wells, or small natural water wells.

Further west is California, and in California there is Palo Alto, and it’s in Palo Alto that many large companies decide to set up shop, such as Apple, Google, and Facebook. Palo Alto is named after a redwood tree, translated to “The tall tree.”

The further north you go, the less common it is for Spanish names to pop up, so in Canada there is not quite as much to bring forward, but here are a few: Ramara, a small township formed in 1994 in Ontario, translates to “sea branch.” Mariposa, also in Ontario, means “butterfly.” Del Bonita in Alberta, means “of the pretty.”

I could of course mention many other cities here…So I will:

Guadalajara comes from the Iberian ‘Arriaca,’ which means “River/Valley of stones.”

Los Angeles is of course “The Angels.”

El Dorado, of which there are several in the States, means “The golden one.”

The state of Colorado means “red colored,” due to the red Colorado River.

Montana is “Mountain,” Florida “Flowery,” Nevada “Snowy,” and Texas comes from “friends” or “allies.”

Did you enjoy the trip through the Americas? Have you been to any of these cities? Would you like to go?