The Celtic quality of the name New York

By: Brendan Patrick Keane | Published Thursday, June 17, 2010, 6:57 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:37 PM

New York gets its name from York, a place the Welsh-speaking Britons called Eborakon, which means "place of the yew trees." This has the same Celtic quality as the place-name, Doire or Derry city, for example, which means, "place of the oak trees," or Dublin or Dubh Linn, which means "place of the black pool." Although Manhattan looks like Mannanán, the Celtic Poseidon, it more likely gets its name from Lenapé Manahata meaning "place of the many hills." It's helpful to remember the nature poetry that gave our cities their names, as it's important to have parks.