Cities That Changed Their Names

Bombay, Peking, Saigon, Leningrad, Constantinople — and what they are called now.

Cities outlive the states that name them. Constantinople became Istanbul, Edo became Tokyo, Leningrad went back to Saint Petersburg, and India restored local names to Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru. Listed here with every former name and the years it was used, most recent change first.

#	Place today	Former names
1	Kyiv Ukraine's capital, the ancient mother of Rus cities	Kiev (until 2019)
2	Mexico City Mexico's vast high-altitude capital, built on a drained Aztec lake	Tenochtitlan (1325–1521) Distrito Federal (1824–2016)
3	Bengaluru India's Silicon Valley on the Deccan Plateau	Bangalore (until 2014)
4	Kolkata India's cultural capital on the Hooghly River	Calcutta (until 2001)
5	Bogota Colombia's high-altitude Andean capital	Santa Fe de Bogotá (1538–1819) Santafé de Bogotá (1991–2000) Bacatá
6	Chennai South India's coastal hub on the Bay of Bengal	Madras (until 1996)
7	Mumbai India's financial capital and Bollywood's home	Bombay (until 1995)
8	Saint Petersburg Russia's imperial city on the Baltic, built on water	Petrograd (1914–1924) Leningrad (1924–1991)
9	Dhaka Bangladesh's capital, a dense delta megacity	Dacca (until 1982) Jahangirnagar (from 1610)
10	Shenzhen China's instant city and high-tech powerhouse	Bao'an County (until 1979)
11	Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam's commercial hub, formerly Saigon	Saigon (until 1976) Prey Nokor
12	Jakarta Indonesia's capital and a sinking megacity	Sunda Kelapa (until 1527) Jayakarta (1527–1619) Batavia (1619–1942) Djakarta (1942–1972)
13	Kinshasa Capital of the DR Congo and the world's largest French-speaking city	Léopoldville (1881–1966)
14	Santo Domingo The oldest European city in the Americas, capital of the Dominican Republic	Ciudad Trujillo (1936–1961)
15	Beijing China's capital and imperial seat for eight centuries	Dadu (1271–1368) Peiping (1928–1949) Peking
16	Seoul South Korea's capital and the Han River megacity	Hanseong (1395–1910) Keijō (1910–1945)
17	Istanbul The city straddling Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus	Byzantium (until 330) Constantinople (330–1930)
18	Vancouver Canada's Pacific gateway, between the sea and the Coast Mountains	Granville (1870–1886)
19	Tokyo Japan's capital and the world's largest metropolis	Edo (until 1868)
20	San Francisco California's hilly bay city, capital of the tech economy	Yerba Buena (1835–1847)
21	Wellington New Zealand's windy harbour-side capital	Britannia (1840)
22	Melbourne Australia's cultural capital on Port Phillip Bay	Bearbrass (1835–1837)
23	Toronto Canada's largest city, a multicultural metropolis on Lake Ontario	York (1793–1834)
24	Hanoi Vietnam's capital, the city of the ascending dragon	Đông Kinh (1428–1789) Thăng Long (1010–1831)
25	New York City America's largest city, a global capital of finance and culture	New Amsterdam (1625–1664) New Orange (1673–1674)
26	Casablanca Morocco's largest city and economic engine on the Atlantic	Anfa (until 1468) Casa Branca
27	Algiers Algeria's capital, the white city on the Mediterranean	Icosium
28	Baghdad Iraq's capital on the Tigris, a former center of learning	Madinat al-Salam (from 762)
29	Barcelona Catalonia's Mediterranean capital, city of Gaudi	Barcino
30	Buenos Aires Argentina's capital, a European-flavoured metropolis on the Rio de la Plata	Santa María del Buen Ayre (from 1536)
31	Dar es Salaam Tanzania's largest city and Indian Ocean port	Mzizima
32	Guangzhou South China's ancient trade port on the Pearl River	Canton
33	Jerusalem An ancient holy city sacred to three faiths	Aelia Capitolina
34	Karachi Pakistan's largest city and seaport on the Arabian Sea	Kolachi
35	Lima Peru's capital, the City of Kings on the Pacific desert coast	Ciudad de los Reyes (from 1535)
36	Lisbon Portugal's capital, a city of seven hills above the Tagus	Olisipo
37	London The United Kingdom's capital, a global financial and cultural hub	Londinium
38	Los Angeles The sprawling capital of American entertainment, beneath the San Gabriels	El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (from 1781)
39	Luanda Angola's capital and oil-rich Atlantic port	São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda (from 1576)
40	Madrid Spain's capital, a high plateau city of grand boulevards	Mayrit
41	Medellin Colombia's reinvented city of eternal spring	Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Medellín (from 1675)
42	Milan Italy's financial and fashion capital	Mediolanum
43	Monterrey Mexico's industrial powerhouse, beneath the Sierra Madre	Ciudad Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de Monterrey (from 1596)
44	Montreal Canada's great French-speaking city, on an island in the St. Lawrence	Ville-Marie (from 1642)
45	Osaka Japan's merchant city and kitchen of the nation	Naniwa
46	Paris France's capital, the City of Light on the Seine	Lutetia
47	Santiago Chile's capital, ringed by the snow-capped Andes	Santiago del Nuevo Extremo (from 1541)
48	Sao Paulo Brazil's industrial colossus and the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere	São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (from 1554)
49	Vienna Austria's capital, imperial city of music	Vindobona

Ordered by the most recent change. Each entry lists its full name history, native names, and Spanish names. Browse all guides or open the explore map.