This book provides nicknames for places of the world excluding the United States. This book is organized alphabetically by the proper geographic name and nicknames for a location. Proper names are entered in caps letters while nicknames have only the first letter capped. This book will provide alternative names for a location but adds little information about the name origin.
Located on the first floor of the library in the Reference Collection, call # REF G 105 .S5

This glossary provides place names of the world in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch. A place name is entered in in the principal language of the location. The location of the entry is indicated in abbreviated form (i.e. "Gr."= Classical Greek, "hung."= Hungarian). Below the entry is the correct spelling in the five other languages. If there is no variant spelling for a particular place, "Sacramento" for instance, none is given. This provides no information about the location of the place or the origin of place name.
Located on the first floor of the library in the Reference Collection, call # REF G 104.5 .L3

This book contains brief etymological explanations for a selection of American place names. The selection of names is based on the following criteria: Well known places are listed; Place names that are often repeated; and no place names that are named after people are listed. A substantial bibliography complements this work. This book is a good quick reference guide.
Located on the second floor of the library in the General Collection, call # E 155 .S79 1970

In this volume place name of the world are described in great detail. Sixteen chapters provide essays on the origin of names in various places such as North America, London, and Germany among others. Other chapters focus the general significance of local names and names of places given by various peoples such as the Celts, Native Americans and Arabs. The reader is also provided with a thorough bibliography at the beginning of this volume and a list of corrections to the original edition. This book was originally published in 1864 by Isaac Taylor. The edition owned by the Jim Dan Hill library is a 1968 facsimile reprint of a 1909 edition edited by A. Smythe Palmer. This book is a good source for anyone who wants to research place names. It provides an excellent historical context for the study of place names.
Located on the second floor of the library in the General Collection, call # G 106 .T26 1968

This book was aimed at junior high level and above readers. It provides a good and sometimes entertaining introduction to the study of place names. The chapters in this book cover such topics as naming waterways, highways, names based on people and many other topics. However, only general guidance to the subject is provided and no bibliographical references are present.
Located on the second floor of the library in the General Collection, call # G 106 .L33

This bibliography provides references to books and journal articles that cover the etymology of place names for specific places in the United States and Canada. This book is organized by U.S. state and Canadian province. In addition there is a place name index as well as an author an personal name index. This extremely valuable resource for anyone researching place names in the U.S. or Canada is hindered only by the fact that it has not been updated since 1982.
Located on the second floor of the library in the General Collection, call # E 155 .S42 1982

This dictionary provides entries for all "provinces, states, provincial and state capitals, counties and county seats in the United States and Canada. Although the entries are only 1 to 3 lines this comprehensive volume is an excellent quick or "ready" reference for place name information.
Located on the second floor of the library in the General Collection, call # E 155 .H37 1976

This site outlines the principles and policies behind the United States Geological Service's determinants for naming geographic locations. Originally established in 1890 the United States Board on geographic names was founded in response to the need to standardize place names. The geographic board is the arbiter in deciding what the "official" name of a place will be. The board does not name places as much as it decides which name or spelling will be recognized by the federal government. This site has a link to the USGS Geographic Names Information System which is a database of official place names in the United States.

This site is hosted by the Arizona State University Libraries, and provides a comprehensive list of Internet sites focusing on place names and etymology.

This site, hosted by the Minnesota Historical Society, allows one to search Warren Upham's classic reference work titled Place names of Minnesota. Besides being very easy to use this site also provides lists of lakes and streams, townships and villages, people and all names from other languages.

This Internet site gives the literal meaning and the origin of parts of place names commonly found in England. For example, the word "barrow" is defined as being "from beorh, a hill. Other forms : borough, berg berry". An Anglo Saxon origin is assigned to this word. This is a British site run by P. Benyon. unfortunately not much information is given about who is responsible for the site's content. Information found here should be verified elsewhere.