List of Etymologies of Country Subdivision Names - Switzerland

Switzerland

• Aargau: German name labelling the district (Gau) of the River Aar.
• Appenzell: from Latin abbatis cella, meaning "land of the abbot", referring to the fact that Appenzell originally belonged to the Abbey of St. Gall.
• Basel: traditionally associated with the Greek basileus ("king") or basileos ("of the king"): the city saw itself as preserving the Imperial Roman heritage of its parent settlement, the Roman town of Augusta Raurica. Note the use of the basilisk as a Basler icon.
• Bern: German Bärn (bears): reflected in the capital city's bear-pits, foundation-legend and coat-of-arms
• Graubünden: (the German name literally means "grey leagues") — from the Grey League, a grey-clad organisation started in 1395.
• Jura: after the Jura Mountains.
• Neuchâtel: French for "new castle"; Neuenburg (with the same semantic meaning) in German
• Schwyz: named after the town of Schwyz; the origin of the town name is unknown.
• St Gallen: from Saint Gall (c. 550 - c. 646), traditionally the Irish founder/namesake of the Abbey of St. Gall which came to dominate the area.
• Solothurn: the city of Solothurn, capital of the Canton of the same name, first appears under the Celtic name Salodurum.
• Thurgau: an early medieval Gau county named after the River Thur.
• Ticino: from the principal river of the canton, the Ticino, a tributary of the Po River.
• Uri: (speculatively) from the older German Aurochs, a wild ox (see aurochs); or from the Celtic word ure, a bull. (Note the head of the bull on the cantonal coat of arms.)
• Valais (French), Wallis (German): from the Latin word vallis, meaning "valley"; the canton consists mainly of the Rhone valley.
• Zurich: after the city of Zurich, called Turicum in 2nd century Latin; the origin of the Latin name is unknown.