100 Cities and Their Nicknames

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.

Cities Nicknames

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

Any other city nicknames you would like to share with us?

  1. What a neat list! Victoria, BC, Canada is known as the “garden city” 🙂

  2. Cheryl-Anne Sturken Cheryl-Anne Sturken says:

    Great list! Philadelphia, the city of “Brotherly Love;” Las Vegas, “Sin City,” New York, “The Big Apple.”

  3. Pittsburgh…Steel City not Iron City

      1. Rome – caput mundi, capital of the world

    1. Gloria Estrella Gloria Estrella says:

      Jimmy is correct.
      -Life in Pittsburgh: Secrets from Steel City – BBC News
      -Steel City Blues Festival 2017 March 17-19, 2017 Pittsburgh, PA celebrating it’s 10th year.
      and of course…
      -The Pittsburgh STEELERS NFL Football team (can you imagine The Pittsburgh Ironers??!!)

  4. Great list, Meeroona! Don’t forget that New York City is also known as “The City That Never Sleeps.”

  5. What’s in a (nick)name? Interesting topic and nice list, Meeroona. Of course, you could add hundreds of other cities with beautiful nicknames. Some of my favorites are: Bologna (‘the fat one’), Toulouse (‘the pink city’), Cadiz (‘little silver cup’), Cuzco (‘the navel of the world’) and San Gimignano (‘Manhattan of the Middle Ages’). There are also several lesser known Belgian towns with funny nicknames, like Schaerbeek (‘donkey town’).

    And one day I’d like to travel to all the European villages and cities with a nickname related to Venice (there must be at least 25) .

  6. Nice list!! I’m from nº85 Porto the invincible city 🙂

  7. princesssillypants princesssillypants says:

    HongKong is not the Pearl of the orient seas – it’s the Philippines
    My students came across this site & got a mistake in their assignment…

    1. Hello “princesssillypants”,
      First of all this is not a manual of geography, second, Hong Kong is often called “The Pearl of the Orient” (I haven’t called it “Pearl of the Orient Seas”, as you said). It got this nickname from its Colonial Coat of Arms (between 1959 and 1997), depicting a lion with a pearl in its hands.

      1. Pearl of the Orient is actually Penang in Malaysia

      2. Philippines is the Pearl of the Orient, actually. It’s in the National anthem of the country too

        1. The Philippines is not a City… let it go already… jeez… >__>

    2. Colleen Keyes Colleen Keyes says:

      The Philippines is not a city; it’s a country 🙂

  8. Vandan Patel Vandan Patel says:

    Auckland – The City of Sails
    Christchurch – The Garden City

  9. Gothenburg – “Little London”
    Stockholm – “Capital of Scandinavia”

  10. anil karavadi anil karavadi says:

    LIMA : CITY OF THE KINGS. GREAT NAME.

  11. A much more common and better known one for Athens is “the glorious city” (το κλεινόν άστυ)

  12. If you called San Francisco “Frisco” back in 1872, you would have been fined $25, which was lots of money back then. Most people still disapprove of it’s usage.

      1. PeDro Juan PeDro Juan says:

        I agree as well, wouldn’t ‘the city by the bay’ be more appropriate

    1. Gloria Estrella Gloria Estrella says:

      Totally agree. No one who knows San Francisco would ever refer to it as Frisco. It’s a sure sign the person who uses that nickname is clueless.

    2. Madolin Wells Madolin Wells says:

      San Franciscans still cringe hearing “Frisco” – and per PeDro Juan’s comment wouldn’t ‘City by the Bay’ be more appropriate, yes! Herb Caen called it “Baghdad by the Bay,” which always sounded exotic and bohemian and hinted at its many languages and flamboyant, colorful inhabitants and neighborhoods. All that changed during the war in Iraq, when Baghdad’s culture and people and antiquities were destroyed.

  13. Alexandria, Egypt: The Pearl of the Mediterranean
    And thank you for taking the time to put all these together 🙂

  14. Abdisamad Abdisamad says:

    Mogadishu: The White Pearl of the Indian Ocean

    1. Thank you! I did notice that there were no African countries other than South Africa listed. Come on, folks!

      Addis Ababa: City of Humans, New Flower
      Lagos: Center of Excellence
      Nairobi: Safari Capital of the World, The Green City in the Sun
      Kinshasa: Kin the beautiful
      Marrakesh: Red City, Ochre City and Daughter of the Desert
      Algiers: The White One
      Chefchaouen: Blue Pearl of Morocco
      Dar-es-Salaam: Bongo (brains), City of Peace

    1. Thanks for the tip! However, as far as I now both of them are called “Big Smoke”, and Wikipedia confirms.

      1. physicsgirl physicsgirl says:

        Gotta agree with the poster. I’ve lived in Vancouver and all over BC for 30 years and have never heard it called the Big Smoke. We call it Raincouver and the Wet Coast though.

      2. Christiana Coberg Christiana Coberg says:

        Native BCer and never once has that been used. The Rainy City, No Funcouver (in the news re: strict liquor laws), Raincouver, but VanCity ia the most popular.

        Also Slurrey for Surrey.

    2. And Wkipedia is wrong! (Not a valid source for facts!) Vancouver doesn’t have the heavy industry to warrant the nickname that is Toronto’s!!

  15. City of Mexico, The City of Palaces, (Von Humboldt assessment) the Venice of Indies
    Monterrey, MX, the Sultan of the North (of Mexico)
    Guadalajara, MX, The Pearl of Occident (of Mexico)
    Puebla, MX, City of Angels
    Pachuca, MX, La bella airosa (similar to the windy city, from its winds and altitude)
    Veracruz, MX, The Key of Mexico

    1. Yes!! Plus:
      La Paz, Mexico, is The Pier of Ilussions.
      And Tijuana is better knows as Tequila, sex and Marijuana.

  16. vancouver vancouver's cutest little wolf pup says:

    Vancouver is also called Raincity!

  17. vancouver vancouver's cutest little wolf pup says:

    and Denver is The Mile High City

  18. Hi
    London in not called the square mile. The city of London is the square mile! And also it’s the big smoke not old smoke.
    Reference : I’m a Londoner!

  19. kondolpatola kondolpatola says:

    Davao City, Philippines is known as “The New Jerusalem”

  20. Benny Boom Benny Boom says:

    As a native of San Francisco, people still to this day frown on SF being called “Frisco”. More suitable nicknames for SF: The City, The City By the Bay

  21. What about Shanghai, China? I’ve been here for work 3 times and unable to find the nickname.

    1. Hi, as local Shanghai people, we call it “Modu” – with Mo魔 meaning magic, and Du都 meaning city.

  22. Johannesburg is known as Egoli which translates to the City of Gold.

    1. Most people just call it Joburg.

      1. Splitting hairs.
        Best town is Cape Town – *the Mother city*

  23. physicsgirl physicsgirl says:

    My understanding is that the Forbidden City is a palace IN Beijing – not the nickname of Beijing itself

  24. Dave McClain Dave McClain says:

    Cleveland – “The North Coast”, “The Best Location in the Nation”

  25. I am a Miami native and I’ve never heard it referred to as “Little Cuba”. Interesting… San Diego (California) is “America’s Finest City”

  26. Paul Bender Paul Bender says:

    Indianapolis………………… Naptown l

  27. Edmonton, although smaller than most of those cities, is called The City of Champions

    1. Alex Melberg Alex Melberg says:

      Boston is sometimes called the city of champions!

  28. San Francisco is just known as “the city”

  29. Istanbul is known as ‘The Second Rome’ (when it was still called Byzantium) because it was made the capital of the East Roman empire after the West Roman Empire collapsed. It is also know as ‘The city of the seven hills’ becuase it was built on, unsurprisingly, seven hills.
    Cape Town is referred to as ‘The Mother City’ because it was the first European settlement in South Africa whilst Johannesburg is known as ‘The city of Gold’ due to the gold mines in the hills by which it is surrounded.

  30. Sara Quinteros Sara Quinteros says:

    Guatemala, the land of the eternal spring

  31. Aberdeen is know as the
    Granite City

  32. Where is Louisville, KY with “The Ville”

    1. Dont forget the graveyard to the west or Louisville

  33. I was looking for something else and accidentally checked my home city….
    Warsaw – Default City, Big Village in the Middle of Nowhere???
    While I have never heard of ‘Default City’ but I heard the 2nd (offensive term) pronounced by some superiority complex idiots from other Polish cities. I’d suggest checking how many hits you get from Google on your ‘nickname’ vs. very common nickname Warsaw Phoenix City

    1. I agree, Warsaw is my home city as well, and I agree that the nickname you used here is stupid, offensive, and it’s being used only by some people from other Polish cities competing for tourists dollars. Publishing it here is very unprofessional.

  34. Auckland – New Zealand, City of Sails

  35. NO NATIVE of San Francisco EVER calls it ‘Frisco’. To do so automatically outs you as a tourist.

    People here just call it ‘The City’. ‘City By The Bay’ is much less used, but also acceptable.

  36. Josh Lamsdale-Lloyd Josh Lamsdale-Lloyd says:

    Wales has two monikers to its name: “The Land of Song”, cause of our annual tradition, the Eisteddfod. (Basically, a showcase of songs, dance, acting and poems), and the “Land of Castles” for some of our remaining castles that still stands from the medieval times. 🙂

  37. Odessa-the pearl of the black sea.

  38. Toronto is also known as Hogtown and I call it the Little Apple.

  39. Kansas City, MO is known as the City of Fountains. Rumored to have more Fountains in KCMO than any other city in the world besides Rome.

  40. Seoul: soul of Asia. Hiroshima: city of peace.

  41. Chicago is also called “The Second City”

  42. and New York – The City That Never Sleeps

    1. Alex Melberg Alex Melberg says:

      Doesn’t Las Vegas have that same nickname?

  43. Iloilo City (PH) – City of Love
    Bacolod City (PH) – City of Smiles

  44. Washington DC = “The District”

  45. San Salvador, The Valley of the Hammocks (Lots of earthquakes).

  46. Alex Melberg Alex Melberg says:

    Boston’s nicknames: Beantown (most notable and common), The Cradle of Liberty, The Cradle of Modern America, The Athens of America, and The Walking City. I want Boston to have a “Big…” nickname (for example, New Orleans=The Big Easy; NYC=The Big Apple)!

  47. pinkchampagne pinkchampagne says:

    Portland, OR = City of Roses, City of Bridges, Stumptown.
    New York is also The City That Never Sleeps, or just The City.
    Hollywood = Tinsle town.
    Cincinnati = Cinci.
    St. Louis = Gateway to the West.
    Nashville = Music City.

  48. Anniepalooza Anniepalooza says:

    Brussels – the capital of Europe

  49. Lisbon is also ” The Queen of the Sea”
    Aveiro in Portugal is ” The Portuguese Venice ”
    Also here, Bragança is called ” The Portugal’s Crib”
    I never heard calling Lisbon ” The City With a Future”
    Nice work! 🙂

  50. How about: Minneapolis-St. Paul “the Twin Cities” …..Reno “The biggest Little City In The World”…….Denver “Mile High City”…..M.O.

  51. Milwaukee was called the Cream City (because of the cream colored bricks once manufactured there)

  52. Venice is also called “the Queen of the seas” because of her history. Another nickname I like is the one my hometown has, if I may add it to the list: Treviso, “the painted city” (urbs picta), due to the considerable number of frescos and paintings that you could find on houses and buildings during the Middle Age.

    1. That’s good to know, Stefano. I would love to visit Treviso one day!

  53. Please correct the spelling of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh located in Pennsylvania has an “h” on the end after the “g”

  54. Johannesburg: The City of Gold and Jozi

  55. TAMMI BACHECKI TAMMI BACHECKI says:

    San Francisco is known as the city by the bay. NOT frisco, that’s actually very insulting to San Franciscans.
    Boston is also called bean town.

  56. Sacramento is River City

  57. Fun list. One correction and a possible addition: Vancouver is not “The Big Smoke” — that title belongs to Toronto. Also, my hometown of Winnipeg is known as “Peg City” “River City” “The Peg” and unfortunately “Winterpeg”

  58. Cairo is also known as ‘the Mother of All cities’

  59. Another name for Amsterdam is Mokum. It’s a Hebrew word for Paradise I believe and sounds very cute and nostalgic.

  60. Dermot Mc caughey Dermot Mc caughey says:

    What a wonderful source, Thank you Meeroona…here are a few Irish ones for starters! Galway = City of the tribes, Kilkenny = The Marble City, Derry = The Maiden City, Armagh = The Cathedral City (Ecclesiastical capital of Ireland), Limerick = The Treaty City. We also have nicknames for counties (there are 32 in Ireland). Louth = The wee county, Meath = The Royal county, Laois = Queen’s County, Offaly = King’s County and Faithful County, Wexford = The Model County (and the Slayneysiders and Yellow Bellies), Wicklow = The Garden of Ireland, Westmeath and Fermanagh both known as The Lakeland County, Kerry = The Kingdom, Tipperary = The Premier County, Clare = The Banner, Waterford = The Déise, Limerick = Shannonsiders or Treatymen, Cork = The Rebel County, Galway = Joyce Country and The Tribesman, Sligo = Yeats Country, Roscommon = The Primroses, Monaghan = The Basket of Eggs (because of drumlin landscape), Armagh = The Orchard County, Derry = The Oak Leaf County,

  61. Dermot Mc caughey Dermot Mc caughey says:

    More….. Cavan known as the Breffni County, Monaghan aka the Farney County, Tyrone as the O’Neill County, Kildare as the Short Grass County and the Lilywhites, Kilkenny as the Cats…the list goes on. Most of these county nicks have GAA (national games of hurling, camogie, handball, rounders and football) links

  62. raj subit raj subit says:

    Kathmandu, capital of Nepal – City of Temples

  63. Vancouver – Lotusland or Vansterdam referring to the city’s laid back attitude toward drug use. There are almost as many pot shops as Starbucks. Other nicknames include Raincity, Vancity or NoFunCity. The Big Smoke is used outside the Lower Mainland, in other parts of British Columbia, but never by Vancouverites.

  64. Nice article! However I’m from Pittsburgh, and it is Steel city -not Iron city. Our history is built on steel production -hence the Steelers is our football team. It’s also known as The City of Bridges and The Burgh. Thanks! PS Iron City beer is/was produced in Pittsburgh, but I have never heard that as a reference for Pittsburgh. Thanks.

  65. Great List!
    Proud resident of Fort Worth,Texas a.k.a. “Where the west begins”, “Cowtown”, “the Fort”, and my favorite- “Funkytown”.

    And don’t forget St Louis Missouri- “Gateway to the west”.

    1. Fort Worth is also known as Panther City-

  66. Austin – The Violet Crown, The Live Music Capital of the World, Bat City, Waterloo

  67. Atlanta – Hotlanta, the ATL, The City Too Busy to Hate

  68. Kiev – The City
    Some cities in Florida:
    Hallandale Beach – the City of Choice
    Ft Lauderdale – Venice of America
    Opa Locka – The Great City
    Hollywood Beach – the City of Excellence

  69. Jakarta – The Big Durian

  70. Bandung – City of Flowers, Paris of Java

  71. Berlin is also known as “Arm aber sexy.” = poor but sexy
    Source – I’m a Berliner;)

  72. Anil Kumar Anil Kumar says:

    Lhasa(Tibbet) is known as forbidden city not Beijing

  73. Singapore – the Lion City, the Garden City, the Red Dot

  74. Port Elizabeth in South Africa is known as the friendly city 🙂

  75. Gary Del Carlo Gary Del Carlo says:

    Who the hell said the nickname for San Francisco is, “Frisco”? To San Franciscans, that is a derogatory word. It is the WORST name you can call San Francisco. The nickname is, “The City”!

  76. Milwaukee known as “Beer City” or “A great City On A Great Lake”carrie (Lake Michigan)

  77. manasvi patil manasvi patil says:

    TIBET : ROOF OF THE WORLD

  78. Ulysses Elias Ulysses Elias says:

    Great list. But I have to correct one false listing. Melbourne does not have any of the nicknames you claim.

    And by the way, Sydney’s nickname is also Emerald City

  79. The square mile only refers to the “city of London” not London as a whole. This is because the city of London boundaries are only 1 square mile and consist mainly of financial institutions.

  80. Lisbon is the city of the 7 hills.
    Never heard that nickname for my city before.

  81. Edmonton, Alberta .. The city of Champions
    Calgary Alberta .. Cowtown

  82. Great article!
    Lisbon is also known as “the city of seven hills” it is actually the most known nickname, and “Queen of the sea”.

  83. Charles Schlef Charles Schlef says:

    I’m from St. Louis: “The Gateway to the West” …thus the Gateway Arch is there.

  84. Granite City – Aberdeen, Scotland

    1. Tbilisi the capital of Georgia – Warm Place

  85. Adelaide isn’t just the City of Churches. It’s also Radelaide.

  86. Beijing is not known as the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is the imperial palace complex in Beijing.

  87. Can’t believe I did not see this one on the list Detroit: the Motor City, or Motown!

  88. Cute little list yo. The list needs to grow bigger though. Cheers

  89. Laura Leon Laura Leon says:

    Quito, in Ecuador, is know as “La Carita de Dios”, which translates to “God’s face”

  90. Liverpool, UK was called ‘The Pool of Life’ by Carl Jung
    Also known as –
    The World in one City
    The World Capital City of Pop
    The Second City of the British Empire

  91. James L Tuppen James L Tuppen says:

    Queen cities:. Buffalo, NY – Queen City of the Great Lakes;. Cincinnati, OH – Queen City of the West; & there are more Queen Cities out there

  92. Cairo: City of the Thousand Minarets

  93. Kuala Lumpur is not known as the Golden Triangle. It is ‘Garden City of Light.’ Golden Triangle is Kuala Lumpur’s main shopping and nightlife district.

    Another famous city in Malaysia, Malacca is called “the Historic State.”

  94. Muhammad javed Muhammad javed says:

    Lahore: city of colleges

  95. Dibyayan Bhattacharjee Dibyayan Bhattacharjee says:

    Macau’s nickname is actually ‘Las Vegas on Steroids’ :v

    And how could you forget Bangkok : Sin City of Asia

  96. Good heavens! God bless you for this post! :dd
    I have to do project to school and my topie is “Nicknames of European cities/states and how they get them”. At first, I was amazed by this topie because I knew some like Ireland – the emerald isle, Ucraine – the bread basket of Europe, Iceland – land of ice and fire etcetera (yeah, I know they’re states). But I didn’t find anything in Slovak when I started to search for some information (I am from Slovakia). And after two hours full of endless searching, trying new and new options, after two hours filled with suffering and sorrow and desperation, I found this and… I have so much beautiful project (presentation)!!! THANKS! As I said, god bless you! Sorry for eventually mistakes, I don’t speak english as well as you bc I must speak slovak at first. :dd And you also forget Reykjavik, which is called “fuming bay” because Reykjavik in Icelandic actually mean fuming bay. Also Verona is “city of Romeo and Juliet” I think everybody know why, city Braga is called “Portugalian Rome”, Edinburgh “Athens of the North”, Prague “heart of Europe” (Budapest also), Lima “city of kings”, Lisbon “Queen of the sea”, Treviso “Painted city”, Moscow “the first throne” and capital of my country, Bratislava, is called “Partyslava” or “beauty on the Danube”. 🙂
    Again, thanks!!! 🙂

  97. Absolutely amazing discovery

  98. Ashgabat City in Turkmenistan is known as “The City of Love” and “The City of White Marble”

  99. Great List!

    To add some nicknames of places I’ve been to that haven’t been mentioned, according to locals:

    Mexico City is “El Defectuoso” – where everything doesn’t work
    Sarajevo is “Jerusalem of Europe” – many religions living together
    Cairo is Umm al-Dunya or “Mother of the World” – this is the most common translation
    Bangui is “La Coquette” – the beautiful, maybe onceuponatime
    Nairobi is “Green City in the Sun” – national park and green spaces within city boundaries
    Pretoria is “Jacaranda City” – many in bloom in October/November
    Tbilisi is also “The City That Loves You” – may just be a tourism slogan
    Dubai is “City of Gold” – big trading centre for the metal
    Karachi is “Bride of the Cities” or “City of Lights” – because of the liveliness
    Bangalore is “City of Lakes” – although these are drying up
    Kolkata is “City of Joy” – after a book
    Hong Kong is “Asia’s World City” – financial capital or “Fragrant Harbour” – literal meaning
    Bangkok is “The Big Mango” – after the fruit
    Brisbane is “BrisVegas” – ironic because of the shoddy nightlife

  100. From india From india says:

    Though it has mistakes
    It’s a pretty good list
    i just wanted to ask
    why is AMSTERDAM & BRUGES the same ??????????

    1. Hi,

      It’s not unusual for two cities to have the same nickname. Amsterdam and Bruges are both called “Venice of the North” due to their layout crisscrossed by canals, and there are more towns in Northern Europe bearing the same nickname.

  101. John Antweiler John Antweiler says:

    Great list, Meeroona. A few additions:

    Bangkok — The Big Mango
    Calgary — Stampede City
    Denver — The Mile High City
    Hollywood– Tinsle Town
    Hong Kong — Fragrant Harbor, Honkers
    Jakarta — The Big Durian
    Milwaukee — Beer City
    Osaka — The Nation’s Kitchen
    Steamboat Springs (Colorado) — Ski City USA
    Tokyo — The Big Mikan

  102. Its not frisco damit!! You will never hear a native say must be the noobs. They even have it in that 80s music video we built this city on rock and roll as the city by the bay.

  103. Nurbaiti Hafmaya Nurbaiti Hafmaya says:

    Jakarta: THE BIG DURIAN

  104. Sam Rogers Sam Rogers says:

    Toronto: Big Smoke, Hogtown, T.O.

    I live here and never heard of the ones you’ve listed… but appreciate the work put into your list 🙂

  105. Sarajevo-Jerusalem of Europe
    Sarajevo-Golden Valley
    Sarajevo-Olympic City

  106. Tim Spuboney Tim Spuboney says:

    A few U.S. additions and suggestions. A much more common nickname for Boston is Beantown. And Frisco isn’t really a nickname for San Francisco, just a shortened version of it; it’s real nickname is Golden Gate City or City By the Bay. A couple of common U.S. nicknames you forgot are The Mile-High City (Denver) and The Big “O” (Omaha).

  107. Saint Petersburg – mind of Russia?? What that suppose to mean? Never heard of that. Usually we locals call it Piter, some rappers gave it a nickname ‘Saint P’. A lot of elders call it Leningrad, some reffers to Petrograd (as those are former names). Also in literature Saint Petersburg is called the ‘Northern Palmire’ or ‘Northern Pearl’, ‘Museum-city’, ‘The Culture-Capital of Russia’.
    And by the way I’m originally from Moscow. Never heard of forty forties before (though I googled that and it may be correct). Usually in literature it’s called White-stonу (made of stone), ‘Not-of-rubber’ (because a lot of people come to live here and there are over-population issues) and The City on seven hills.

  108. Geoff Hughes Geoff Hughes says:

    Great list. Yes, correct very good and Hamilton is the “river city”. Alternative name for Auckland but not used so much now is “Queen city”.

  109. York in England is known as ‘the city of a thousand ghosts’

  110. Fort Worth, Texas = Funky Town

    Houston = Space City, H-Town, Clutch City

  111. Mike Moreno Mike Moreno says:

    Houston, aka – Bayou City , Space city , Clutch city & H- Town!

  112. Robert Alper Robert Alper says:

    Paterson, NJ-Silk City

  113. Jiri Hajek Jiri Hajek says:

    Prague – City of Hundred Spires

    Brno – Moravian Manchester (textile industry in 19th century)

    Ostrava – Steel Heart of the Republic

    Pilsen – City of Beer (predictably)

    Zlin – Bata’s City (shoe manufacturer)

    Bratislava – Blava, Gratislava, Partyslava

    Some nicknames of Czech and Slovak cities

  114. Medellin – The City of Eternal Spring / La cuidad de eterna primavera

  115. Sorry, but Frisco IS a legitimate nickname. I’m sure the Frisco Melt sandwich is not named after any other city. City nicknames don’t have to originate from the people who live there. Bostonians don’t go calling their city Beantown (nor are they particularly fond of it), yet they still concede that it is still a valid nickname.

  116. Jessica Kachadorian Jessica Kachadorian says:

    Charleston SC: The holy city, CHS
    Washington DC: The Nations Capital
    New York City: The city that never sleeps

  117. Super fabulous fun list!!! I would love to travel to them all!!! Thanks for sharing! I will share this with others!! :0)

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