True Meanings of 19 Colorado Town Names Translated to English

All across the United States, you'll find towns, cities, rivers, mountains, etc. that have names borrowed from a language other than English. Many of these places have names that originate in Spanish, various Native American languages, and even Latin.

Naturally, the state of Colorado is no different and there are a pretty big handful of towns and cities that we see every day but fail to think about the language of origin or the meaning of the name.

Keep scrolling to check out 19 of these Colorado towns and the translations of each of their town names.

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Colorado Towns with Spanish Names

As mentioned above, many of the towns you'll see below have names that are of Spanish origin. Some of these include Monte Vista, Buena Vista, and La Junta, which mean "mountain view," "good view," and the act of joining together, respectively. All of these are pretty obvious and with even a little knowledge of the language, are easily translated.

However, other Colorado towns with Spanish names aren't as easy to translate. Some of these include Aguilar, which means "haunt of eagles," Alamosa, which means "cottonwood," and Granada which translates to "pomegranate" in Spanish.

Colorado Towns with Native American Names

While even our state's name Colorado is a Spanish word meaning "colored," the actual origin is a Native American word for "color red." Similarly, Pagosa is a Ute word meaning healing/boiling water, which makes a lot of sense as to why the Colorado town is named Pagosa Springs.

These are just a few examples, keep scrolling to see all 19 Colorado towns and their true meanings: