Ever wonder how North American position got their names ? The state of Canada differ in personality just as much as New York does from California , and so do their titles .

Newfoundland , a responsibility on Canada ’s east glide , has English rootage in its terminology . King Henry VII of England mention to the district John Cabot get along upon in 1947 as " New Found Launde . " further in the south on Canada ’s east coast , New Brunswick also boast a strictly English name , albeit with German origins . When the province was found in 1784 , it was named New Brunswick in honor of King George III , who also happen to bear the form of address of Duke of Brunswick in Germany . And head even far south to what ’s the United States , and New England is a whole region unto itself .

Neighboring Nova Scotia ’s name , however , has a unlike story to tell . While most of North America ’s places have names give forth from English , Spanish , Gallic and other colonizing languages — and a fair amount pay court to native people pushed aside in the process —   Nova Scotia is the one North American realm with a Latin name .

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Nova Scotia is Latin . The wordnovais the feminine chassis ofnovus , entail " fresh " , andScotiameans Scotland . Thus , Nova Scotia in Latin is literally " New Scotland . " Interestingly enough , Scotia is a terminal figure ancient Romans used to touch on to the citizenry hold up in Hibernia , which is now Ireland . It was n’t until the Middle Ages that Scotia / Scotland evolved to mention to the region north of England .

Fast - forward to the 1600s , when Scottish poet and courtierSir William Alexandermet James Charles Stuart , who ruled as King James VI of Scotland and James I of England and Ireland . Alexander was recruited to avail King James VI and I , as the monarch is known , transform ancient scriptural psalms ; James is the same king who patronise the scriptural transformation that bears his name and persists in New times .

In 1621 , King James VI and I concede large swaths of territory across the Atlantic to Sir William , who was also an explorer , and appointed him mayor — though much of the region was contested by European big businessman . Previously , the arena had been call Mi’kma’ki by members of the First Nations . The French called it Acadia , and the British and Scottish had been consult to it asNew Scotlandfor some time .

sir william alexander

The first European small town in Nova Scotia had been established in 1605 , when the French determine down root by establishing the town of Port Royal . After six battles over the ensue decades , the English conquer the Gallic forces . For three year go in 1629 , Nova Scotia became a Scottish settlement establish by Sir William . He officially name Nova Scotia to honor his monarch ’s role as king of Scotland , and the literary - minded Sir William opted for the Romance name .

After centuries of vary external rule , Nova Scotia formally connect the Canadian confederation in 1867 , suffer Sir William ’s Latin derivative , which had become the official and enduring label for the Atlantic responsibility .

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