I like nicknames. They define us better than our names, they are clever and funny, and they tell so much about our personality. The same goes for cities. Whether inspired by their history, architecture, local culture, or physical attributes, these descriptive appellations manage to capture the essence of the place they describe.
From La Serenissima to the City of Brotherly Love, here’s a list of famous (and sometimes controversial) city nicknames from around the world.
1. Paris – The City of Love, The City of Light, La Ville-Lumiere
2. Prague – The City of Hundred Spires, The Golden City, The Mother of Cities
3. New York – The Big Apple
4. Las Vegas – Sin City
5. Chicago – The Windy City
6. Vancouver – Raincity, The Big Smoke
7. Montreal – La Belle Ville, Frenchtown, The City-Mountain
8. Los Angeles – The City of Angels
9. New Orleans – The Big Easy
10. Philadelphia – City of Brotherly Love, Philly
11. Amsterdam – Venice of the North, Mokum
12. Venice – La Serenissima, Bride of the Sea
13. Vienna – The Imperial City, The City of Dreams, The City of Music
14. London – The Square Mile, The Old Smoke, The Smoke, The Big Smoke
15. Detroit – Motor City
16. Miami – The Magic City, Little Cuba
17. Memphis – Bluff City
18. Petra – The Rose Red City
19. Pittsburgh – Steel City, Iron City
20. Rome – The Eternal City, City of the Seven Hills
21. Seattle – The Emerald City
22. Bucharest – Little Paris
23. Florence – The City of Lilies
24. Barcelona – The City of Counts, The City of Gaudi
25. Budapest – Pearl of the Danube
26. Toronto – Queen City, The Big Muddy York, Hogtown
27. Dublin – The Fair City
28. Jerusalem – The Holy City
29. Boston – The Hub, Beantown
30. San Francisco – Frisco, The City by the Bay, The Golden City, San Fran
31. Moscow – The Whitestone, The Forty Forties, Third Rome
32. Edinburgh – Auld Reekie
33. Geneva – The Peace Capital
34. Rio de Janeiro – Marvelous City
35. Salzburg – White City
36. Mumbai – The City of Dreams
37. Singapore – The Lion City
38. Naples – City of the Sun
39. Bologna – Red City; La Dotta, La Rossa, La Grassa (the educated, the red, the fat)
40. Turin – City of Four Rivers
41. Genoa – La Superba (The Superb, The Proud One)
42. Palermo – The Happy
43. Milan – Fashion Capital of the World, The Drinkable City
44. Cairo – Paris of the Nile
45. Buenos Aires – Paris of the Americas, Queen of the Plata
46. Ushuaia – The End of the World
47. Melbourne – City by the Bay, Bleak City, Europe of Australia
48. Sydney – The Harbour City
49. Johannesburg – Egoli or City of Gold, Jozi, Joburg
50. Sao Paulo – Brazil’s Locomotive, Land of Drizzle, Sampa
51. Dubrovnik – The Pearl of the Adriatic
52. Helsinki – The White City of the North
53. Bordeaux – City of Wine
54. Nice – Angels City
55. Berlin – The Grey City
56. Jaipur – The Pink City
57. Oslo – Tiger Town
58. Warsaw – Default City, Big Village in the Middle of Nowhere
59. St Petersburg – The Mind of Russia
60. Madrid – El Foro, The Forum
61. Athens – The City of Violet Crown
62. Dallas – Big D
63. Hong Kong – Pearl of the Orient
64. Munich – Toytown, Millionendorf (village of a million people), World City with Heart
65. Birmingham – The City of a Thousand Trades, Brum
66. Lisbon – City with a Future, City of Seven Hills, The White City
67. The Hague – City of Peace and Justice
68. Kolkata – City of Palaces, City of Love, City of Joy
69. Beijing – The Forbidden City
70. Adelaide – City of Churches
71. Zagreb – Little Vienna
72. Bruges – Venice of the North
73. Marseille – Phocean City
74. Tel Aviv – The City that Never Stops, The Big Orange, The Bubble
75. Bolzano – The Door to the Dolomites, The German One
76. Sanremo – The City of Dreams
77. Tivoli – City of Delights
78. Vicenza – City of Gold
79. Kuala Lumpur – Golden Triangle
80. Cuernavaca – The City of Eternal Spring
81. Tijuana – Television Capital of the World
82. Rotterdam – Manhattan upon Meuse
83. Lima – City of the Kings
84. Manila – City by the Bay
85. Porto – The Invincible City
86. Cadiz – The Little Silver Cup
87. Bilbao – El Bocho
88. Zurich – Little Big City
89. Kyiv – The Mother of Rus’ Cities
90. Honolulu – Sheltered Bay
91. Macau – Oyster City
92. Wroclaw – City of Hundred Bridges
93. Beirut – Paris of the Middle East
94. Udine – Capital of the Great War
95. Ancona – Doric City
96. Tehran – The City of 72 Nations
97. Bengaluru – The City of Gardens
98. Leipzig – Bimbo Town
99. Split – The Diocletian’s City
100. Grenoble – Capital of the Alps
