This picture depicts Gunner's Cove, Newfoundland.

Newfoundland Place Names

There are very few people who visit Newfoundland who are not struck by the unique names found here. These names have a historical and linguistic significance that is sometimes not considered. This page will look at a few places and show how some names came about. To look at the community Web Pages just click on the underlined place name.

Fogo Island may have been derived from a couple of origins. The first has Portuguese roots since fogo means fire or flame in Portuguese. The Island of Fire, seems appropriate since fog does resemble smoke. Another origin of Fogo comes from Bay of fogs.

Ferryland comes from the French word forillon which means cape or point. This word was anglicized to Ferriland in 1626.

Twillingate is named after the French Toulinguet.

Port de Grave comes from French grève meaning shoal or shingle. The form grave comes from the beaches on which cod was dried.

Placentia comes from the French word plaisance meaning pleasant.

The place names found in The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx are characteristic of Newfoundland. References to Killick-Claw, Omaloor Bay and Flour Sack Cove give the reader an idea of Newfoundland's unique culture. To read more about our interesting place names, just click on the images below.

This image will take you to a Web page created by Wordplay about Newfoundland place names.

This image will take you to a Web page created by Newfoundland and Labrador GenWeb. By clicking on the communities, you can see the community's Web page or some information about it.

If you would like to hear the "ODE TO NEWFOUNDLAND" just hit the CD!

If you have any questions or comments you can email me by clicking on the dancing baby!!
By: Tasha Reid