List of Hong Kong placename etymologies
The following is a non-exhaustive list of the etymologies of place names in Hong Kong.
| City | Language origin | Feature | Named for | Alternative name / spelling | Derived place names | Named by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | English | person | Victoria of the United Kingdom | Victoria Harbour Victoria Peak |
||
| Kowloon | Chinese | geographic | nine dragons or nine hills | Kowloon City Kowloon Bay Kowloon Tong Kowloon Tsai Kowloon Peak Kowloon Point |
Emperor Bing of Song | |
| Lantau | Cantonese | geographic | ragged head | Lantao | Lantau Peak Lantau Island |
|
| Aberdeen | English | person | George Hamilton-Gordon, The 4th Earl of Aberdeen | Aberdeen Harbour Aberdeen Island |
||
| Aldrich Bay | English | person | Major Edward Aldrich | |||
| Admiralty | English | historic | Wellington Barracks | |||
| Anderson | English | person | Charles Alexander Anderson | Tai Sheung Tok | ||
| Bowrington | English | person | John Bowring | |||
| Butterfly Valley | English | fauna | a historical butterfly habitat | |||
| Cape Collinson | English | person | Major-General Thomas Bernard Collinson | Hak Kok Tau | ||
| Castle Peak | English | geographic | ||||
| Crocodile Hill | English | geographic | Lok Yee Shan | |||
| Causeway Bay | English | geographic | East Point | |||
| D'Aguilar Peak | English | person | Major-General Sir George Charles d'Aguilar | Cape D'Aguilar D'Aguilar Peninsula |
||
| Deep Water Bay | English | geographic | ||||
| Discovery Bay | English | |||||
| Eagle's Nest | English | geographic | Tsim Shan | |||
| Fortress Hill | English | historic | North Point Battery | |||
| Gin Drinkers Bay | English | historic | Kwai Chung O | |||
| Hammer Hill | English | geographic | ||||
| Happy Valley | English | activity | Happy Valley Racecourse | Wong Nai Chung Valley | ||
| Jordan Valley | English | person | Gregory Paul Jordan | |||
| Kellett Island | English | person | Henry Kellett | Tang Lung Chau | ||
| Kennedy Town | English | person | Sir Arthur Edward Kennedy | |||
| King's Park | English | person | ||||
| Lamma Island | Portuguese | cartographic | Lamma Channel | |||
| Leighton Hill | English | person | A H. Leighton | |||
| Mount Davis | English | person | Sir John Francis Davis | |||
| Mount Kellett | English | person | Henry Kellett | Kellett Bay | ||
| North Point | Literal English | geographic | ||||
| Penny's Bay | English | person | ||||
| Plover Cove | English | geographic | Shuen Wan | |||
| Possession Point | English | historic | The landing point of first British troops | Shui Hang Hau | ||
| Rennie's Mill | English | historic | Rennie's Flour Mill (closed) | Tiu Keng Leng | ||
| Repulse Bay | English | historic | HMS Repulse | |||
| Sandy Bay | English | geographic | Tai Hau Wan | |||
| Silvermine Bay | English | historic | Silver mining | |||
| Silverstrand | English | geographic | ||||
| Stanley | English | person | Lord Edward Smith-Stanley | |||
| Stonecutters Island | English | activity | Stonecutting | Ngong Shuen Chau | ||
| Sugarloaf Peak | English | geographic | Shui Chuen O | |||
| Sunny Bay | English | activity | Renamed as per request from The Walt Disney Company upon the opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland | Yam O Ta Shui Wan |
||
| Sunset Peak | English | geographic | Tai Tung Shan | |||
| Tamar | English | historic | HMS Tamar | |||
| Tate's Cairn | English | person | George Passman Tate | Tai Lo Shan | ||
| Telegraph Bay | English | historic | Cable and Wireless' Hong Kong cable port | |||
| Waterfall Bay | English | geographic | ||||
| West Point | Literal English | geographic | Sai Ying Pun | |||
| Whitehead | English | person | Thomas Henderson Whitehead | Pak Shek | ||
| Beacon Hill | Literal Chinese | historic | beacon constructed during Ming dynasty | |||
| Big Wave Bay | Literal Chinese | geographic | Tai Long Wan | |||
| Bride's Pool | Literal Chinese | historic | legend of a bride falling into the pool and drowned | |||
| Cheung Chau | Cantonese | geographic | long island | |||
| Clearwater Bay | Literal Chinese | geographic | Clear Water Bay | |||
| Diamond Hill | Literal Chinese (mistranslation) | activity | Stone-mining (lit. 鑽石) as a verb, which means diamond when used as a noun | |||
| Fanling | Cantonese | geographic | powdery peak | |||
| Homantin | Cantonese | person | land of Ho's and Man's | Ho Man Tin | ||
| Joss House Bay | Literal Chinese | building | joss house | Tai Miu Wan | ||
| Kai Tak | Cantonese | person | land of Ho Kai and Au Tak | |||
| Kwun Tong | Cantonese | historic | Koon Fu (government-owned) salt yards | |||
| Lei Yue Mun | Cantonese | fauna | carp's channel[1] | Lyemun Lymoon Ly-e-Mun |
||
| Ma Wan | Cantonese | horse bay | ||||
| Mongkok | Cantonese | geographic | bustling corner | Mong Kok | ||
| Mui Wo | Cantonese | geographic | plum nest | |||
| Peng Chau | Cantonese | flat island | ||||
| Pokfulam | Cantonese | Pok Fu Lam | ||||
| Sai Kung Town | Cantonese | activity | ||||
| Sha Tau Kok | Cantonese | sandy head point | ||||
| Sha Tin | Cantonese | geographic | sandy field | Shatin | ||
| Shek O | Cantonese | geographic | rocky bay | |||
| Shek Tong Tsui | Cantonese | geographic | stone quarry point [2] | |||
| Sok Kwu Wan | Cantonese | |||||
| Tai O | Cantonese | geographic | ||||
| Tai Po | Hakka Chinese | historic | big step | |||
| Tolo Harbour | Cantonese | activity | Pearl (lo) harvesting | Tolo Channel | ||
| Tin Shui Wai | Cantonese | geographic | ||||
| Tseung Kwan O | Cantonese | historic | General's Bay[3] | Junk Bay | ||
| Tsuen Wan | Cantonese | geographic | shallow bay | |||
| Tuen Mun | Literal Chinese | historic | military camp | |||
| Yuen Long | Cantonese | geographic | round plains | Un Long | ||
| Yung Shue Wan | Cantonese | Banyan Tree Bay |
References
- ^ Chan, S.-H.; Ip, I.-C.; Leung, L. Y. M. (2006). "Negotiating culture, economics and community politics : the practice of Lei Yue Mun tourism in postcolonial Hong Kong practice of Lei Yue Mun tourism in postcolonial Hong Kong". Cultural Studies Review. 12 (2): 109. doi:10.5130/csr.v12i2.2339.
- ^ Farmer, Hugh (9 May 2024). "Quarrying and transportation of stone in Hong Kong, 1841 – The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group". The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "The Forgotten Geography of Hong Kong Place Names | Nature in the City". City Unseen. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2025.