Spanish You Didn't Know You Knew

It all started one day in Spanish class. We had previously learned the word for ‘noise,’ which is ‘ruido,’ and we were now learning that adding ‘oso’ to the end of a word can be like adding a ‘y’ to the end of an English word, turning a noun into an adjective. Bart - not realizing it at the time - asked our teacher whether the word ‘ruidoso’ would mean ‘noisy,’ which she confirmed. Then, suddenly, it clicked! My brother & his wife’s family make a trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico every year...and at that moment we realized they actually make a trip to ‘Noisy’ every year!

Since that day there have been many similar moments, when we realize that words we’ve said most of our lives are actually Spanish words. Along with a few words that, although pronounced differently, appear and mean the same thing in both languages (like doctor, actor, and patio), we’ve noticed there are several well-known sites in the US whose names have Spanish meanings. Here are a few that you may not have known you knew:

Ruidoso, New Mexico  ruidoso = noisy

Sacramento, California     el sacramento = the sacrament

El Reno, Oklahoma

Reno, Nevada el reno = the reindeer

Trinidad, Colorado la Trinidad = the Trinity

Amarillo, Texas                amarillo = yellow

Santa Cruz, California  santa cruz = holy cross

Las Vegas, Nevada  la vega = fertile lowland (what?!)

Palo Alto, California palo alto = tall stick

Santa Fe, New Mexico  santa fe = holy faith

Buena Vista, Colorado  buena vista = good view

Kinda crazy, huh?  

md