History of Provinces

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NEWFOUNDLAND (Latin: Terra Nova) Was named by its European discoverers around 1500; possibly by the Portuguese explorer João Vaz Corte-Real in 1472, making it the oldest European name in North America.

LABRADOR Probably named after João Fernandes Lavrador, a Portuguese navigator who visited the area in 1498, of whom the honorific "lavrador" means "landholder".

St. John's
Incorporated as a city - 1921
Entered Confederation - March 31 1949
Capital City - 1949
Named after the supposed discovery date which was on the the Feast of St. John the Baptist.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Named in 1798 after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the son of King George III of the United Kingdom and lieutenant-general in British army in Canada. The next year, he would become commander-in-chief of North America, before being transferred to Gilbraltar in 1802.

CHARLOTTETOWN
Charlotte Town – 1764
Capital City – 1765
Incorporated as a City – 1855
Reorganized as a City – April 1 1995
Listed as Charlotte Town on the Holland Survey map of 1765 and named after Queen Charlotte. Prince Edward Island was called St. John Island at this time. On November 29, 1798, St. John's Island was renamed to Prince Edward Island.

NOVA SCOTIA:(Latin for "New Scotland"). In the 1620s a group of Scots was sent by Charles I to set up a colony, and the Latin name is used in Sir William Alexander's 1621 land grant. Although this settlement was abandoned because of a treaty between Britain and France, the name remains.

HALIFAX
Halifax – June 21, 1749
Capital City – July 14 1749
Incorporated as a City – 1841
Regional Municipality – 1996
Named after George Montagu Dunk, Earl of Halifax.

NEW BRUNSWICK: Named in honour of the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the future King George IV of the United Kingdom, son of King George III of the United Kingdom.

FREDERICTON
Fredericton – February 22 1785 (April 25 1785?)
Incorporated as a City – 1848
Named after His Royal Highness Prince Frederick, Bishop of Osnaburg.

QUEBEC: From the Míkmaq kepék, "strait, narrows".

QUEBEC City
Quebec - 1608
Capital French Canada/New France – 1763 to 1791
Capital Province of Quebec – 1791 to 1841
Capital Lower Canada – 1852 to 1856 and 1859 – 1866
Quebec City – 1867
Derived from the Algonquin word kebek meaning “a strait or channel that narrows. Early spellings: Quebecq (Levasseur, 1601); Kébec (Lescarbot, 1609); Quebec (Champlain, 1613).

ONTARIO: Named after Lake Ontario, which got its name from a First Nations language, most likely from onitariio, meaning "beautiful lake", or kanadario, translated as "sparkling" or "beautiful", or possibly from Wyandot (Huron) ontare ("lake").

TORONTO
York – 1793
Toronto – 1834
Incorporated as a City - 1834
Capital City - 1867
Reorganized - 1997
Toronton: Huron Indian - “place of meetings”.
Tkaronto: Mohawk – a phrase to indicate "where there are trees standing in the water."
The Mohawk descriptive phrase tkaronto was used to indicate the fishing weirs located at The Narrows near present day Orillia. Over time it was to move 125 kilometres southward to the site of the city of Toronto. Simcoe, who disliked Aboriginal names suggested moving the capital to the forks of the Thames, present-day London. Lord Dorchester vetoed that location, but accepted Simcoe's selection of Toronto, in 1793.
In 1793 Governor John Graves Simcoe moved the capital from Newark (Niagara) to Toronto Bay and renamed it York on learning of a victory by the Duke of York in Flanders.
Simcoe changed Toronto's name to York on August 26, 1793. As early as 1804, after Simcoe's return to his beloved England, a petition was submitted to the legislature to reinstate Toronto.
The name Toronto was restored on March 6, 1834.

MANITOBA: Is most commonly believed to have come from the Cree word manitowapow or the Ojibwa word manitobau, both meaning "the strait of the spirit". It is unclear why this name was chosen for the province, though it is generally thought to be named after straits in Lake Manitoba.

WINNIPEG
Owned by the Hudson's Bay Company – 1670
Dominion of Canada – 1869
Capital City – 1870
Incorporated as the City of Winnipeg – 1873
Metropolitan Winnipeg - November 1 1960
Reorganized as the city of Winnipeg – January 1 1972
Cree Winnipi and may be freely translated as "dirty water" or "murky water".

SASKATCHEWAN: From the Saskatchewan River (Cree: kisiskaciwani-sipiy, "swift flowing river").

REGINA
Originally called Pile O'Bones
Regina - Assigned August 23 1882
Capital North-west Territories – 1883
Declared a Town – 1883
Incorporated - June 19 1903
Capital City – May 23 1906
Named by the Governor General, the Marquess of Lorne (1845 – 1914), in honour of his wife's mother, Queen Victoria.

ALBERTA: Named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and wife of the Governor General of Canada in the late 19th century.

EDMONTON
Town of Edmonton – 1894
Incorporated as a City – 1904
Capital City – 1905
Name taken from Fort Edmonton, built in 1795 farther down the North Saskatchewan River than the present city. The fort was destroyed in 1807, but was relocated within the site of the present city limits by the Hudson's Bay Company some time before 1819. The fort is reputed to have been named by William Tomison for Edmonton, now part of metropolitan London, England, in honour of the birthplace of John Peter Pruden, a clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company.

BRITISH COLUMBIA: Takes its name partly from Britain and partly from the Columbia whose crew first explored the area. It also references the Columbia District, the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River, which was the namesake of the pre–Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company. The adjective "British" was added to the name to distinguish it from Colombia and from what became the state of Washington in the United States, whose name was originally going to be Columbia, after the river. Columbia is a poetic name for the American continent discovered by Christopher Columbus.

VICTORIA
Fort Albert – 1843
Fort Victoria – 1846
Incorporated as a City – 1862
Capital of the New Colony – 1866
Capital City – 1871
Known as Fort Victoria, named after Queen Victoria. The name was chosen by the Council of the Northern Department (Hudson's Bay Company) at Fort Garry, June 10 1843.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: Named for its location northwest of Lake Superior. The territory once comprised virtually all Canadian land northwest of that lake; it has since been split up into several other provinces and territories, but has retained its name.

YELLOWKNIFE
Established – 1934
Community Established - 1936
Capital City - On May 1 1967
Incorporated as a City – January 1 1970
Yellowknife’s name originates from a Chipewyan tribe who used weapons and tools made of copper that appeared yellow in colour. This tribe battled the Dogrib of the area for many years but the Dogrib Dene re-claimed the area in the 1820s. The Yellowknives Dene of today are the descendents of the Chipewyan tribe. In 1825 Chief Akaitcho became a peacemaker when, at Mesa Lake, he participated in a famous peace treaty with Dogrib Chief Edzo, ending the long period of hostility and warfare between the Chipewyan and Dogrib. The city is also known as Sombe K’e, which means “place of money” in the Tlicho language.

YUKON TERRITORIES: Takes its name from the Yukon River, whose name in turn means "great river" in Gwich'in.

WHITEHORSE
Established – June 8 1900 (Closeleigh moved to present town site. Changed to White Horse.)
Incorporated as a City – 1950
Capital City – April 1 1953 (originally Dawson City)
Name changed from White Horse to Whitehorse – March 21 1957
Whitehorse is named after the historic rapids on the Yukon River which resembled the flowing manes of charging white horses.

NUNAVUT: Means "our land" in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit.

IQALUIT
Frobisher Bay – 1942
Recognized as a Settlement – 1970
Municipal Hamlet – 1971
Village – 1974
Designated as a Town – 1980
Iqaluit – 1987
Capital of Northwest Territory – 1995
Designated as a City – April 19 2001
Means “place of fish" in Inuktitut

Source: Wikipedia and Chronicle of Canada