ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Origins of names of cities in Canada

When people started living in Canada a long, long time ago, they didn't have names for their cities like they do now. They usually named their cities after things they saw around them. For example, if they lived near a big body of water, they might call the city "Water City". Or if they lived near a forest, they might call it "Tree City".

Later on, when more people came to live in Canada from other countries, they brought their own names for things and places with them. They might have named their cities after people they admired, places they grew up in, or things that were important to them.

Sometimes, the names of cities changed over time. This could happen because of different languages or cultures mixing together, or because people wanted to honor someone new. For example, the city that is now called Montreal was originally named Hochelaga by the people who lived there before Europeans arrived. Later on, it was called Ville-Marie by the French settlers who built a city there. Finally, it got its current name, Montreal, which is a mix of French and English words.

So basically, the names of Canadian cities come from a combination of what the first people who lived there saw and experienced, and what later generations brought with them from their own cultures and languages.