ToponymicaUS City Name Origins
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Spanish

Los Angeles

California (CA)est. 1781pop. 3,820,914/laws AN-juh-luhs/

The meaning

“The Angels”

How it got the name

Spanish settlers established El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles in 1781, naming it for a Marian title connected to the Porziuncola chapel in Assisi. The mouthful was clipped over generations to Los Angeles, then to L.A. Early Anglo residents pronounced the g hard, and the softened modern pronunciation was only settled by civic decree in the 20th century.

Disputed / alternate theory

Scholars still argue whether the original full name honored the river (El Rio de Nuestra Senora) or the pueblo directly; the wording in surviving 1781 documents is inconsistent.

Former names

  1. El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles
  2. Yaanga (Tongva village)
  3. Los Angeles