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> named after the royal family (who does that anyway?) Depends on the scope of "that", but... Kingdom of Hanover (defunct), Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Liech

> named after the royal family (who does that anyway?) Depends on the scope of "that", but... Kingdom of Hanover (defunct), Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Liechtenstein, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Carolina (both), Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Victoria. And of course Pennsylvania was named for founder William Penn. Should we start in on cities?

saljam 13y ago
I love this game. Ottoman Empire, Bolivia [1], China [2], Philippines, Mozambique. 1: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvarl http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvarl 2: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Chin http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Chin
- cldr 13y ago
  May be worth noting that the Chinese didn't name their country China, they named it Zhong guo.
  - benmathes 13y ago
    Which is almost more arrogant, since it translates to "The country in the center". It's a little easier to understand why there's a strain of "we are the center of the world, outside our borders are barbarians" when you look at pre-modern borders: China is bordered by oceans, the russian steppes, the xinjian desert, and the tibetan plateau.
    - cldr 13y ago
      Well according to Wikipedia (yeah I know, but I don't feel like searching elsewhere) it may or may not be taken with the meaning "center of the world." And even if it is, it's more of an observation than a boast, since from their perspective they were in the middle of a bunch of other countries like you said. And hey, they call America "beautiful country" so they're not being stingy.
showerst 13y ago
Venezuela is officially the 'Bolivarian republic of Venezuela', so Simon Bolivar actually has _two_ countries named after him (the other being Bolivia).
tanzam75 13y ago
The Kingdom of Hanover was not named after the family. Rather, both the Kingdom and the House of Hanover were named after the capital city of Hanover. This is quite common for Western European royalty. Because they didn't have actual surnames, they used the location of the family seat. For example, the House of Windsor was named after Windsor Castle. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine was named after Habsburg Castle and the region of Lorraine. The House of Hohenzollern was named after Hohenzollern Castle.
turar 13y ago
Washington, D.C. was named after George Washington while he was still an acting president.
nostromo 13y ago
I think it's a matter of recency. If FDR (the US president when Saudi Arabia was named) renamed the US, "The United States of Roosevelt" it would have raised some eyebrows. The only contemporary item on your list is Jordan.

saljam 13y ago

I love this game. Ottoman Empire, Bolivia [1], China [2], Philippines, Mozambique. 1: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvarl http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sim%C3%B3n_Bol%C3%ADvarl 2: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Chin http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Chin

cldr 13y ago
May be worth noting that the Chinese didn't name their country China, they named it Zhong guo.
- benmathes 13y ago
  Which is almost more arrogant, since it translates to "The country in the center". It's a little easier to understand why there's a strain of "we are the center of the world, outside our borders are barbarians" when you look at pre-modern borders: China is bordered by oceans, the russian steppes, the xinjian desert, and the tibetan plateau.
  - cldr 13y ago
    Well according to Wikipedia (yeah I know, but I don't feel like searching elsewhere) it may or may not be taken with the meaning "center of the world." And even if it is, it's more of an observation than a boast, since from their perspective they were in the middle of a bunch of other countries like you said. And hey, they call America "beautiful country" so they're not being stingy.

showerst 13y ago

Venezuela is officially the 'Bolivarian republic of Venezuela', so Simon Bolivar actually has _two_ countries named after him (the other being Bolivia).

tanzam75 13y ago

The Kingdom of Hanover was not named after the family. Rather, both the Kingdom and the House of Hanover were named after the capital city of Hanover. This is quite common for Western European royalty. Because they didn't have actual surnames, they used the location of the family seat. For example, the House of Windsor was named after Windsor Castle. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine was named after Habsburg Castle and the region of Lorraine. The House of Hohenzollern was named after Hohenzollern Castle.

turar 13y ago

Washington, D.C. was named after George Washington while he was still an acting president.

nostromo 13y ago

I think it's a matter of recency. If FDR (the US president when Saudi Arabia was named) renamed the US, "The United States of Roosevelt" it would have raised some eyebrows. The only contemporary item on your list is Jordan.