A drive around Grenada reads like a multilingual history lesson. The capital and the parishes carry English saints' names, but the villages, bays and hills are full of French: Gouyave, Sauteurs, Grand Etang, Morne Jaloux, La Sagesse, Lance aux Epines. Scattered among them are older Amerindian echoes and later British additions.
The pattern makes sense once you know the sequence. The French controlled Grenada from the mid-seventeenth century until 1763, held it again briefly from 1779 to 1783, and left a French-based Creole (Patois) that was widely spoken well into the twentieth century. The British then renamed towns and parishes, but the everyday names of landscape features largely survived. This guide explains the main patterns, the meanings of common names and how locals actually say them.
Knowing these patterns is not just trivia. Bus routes, addresses and directions all use local names, and recognising that a morne is a hill or an anse a bay helps you picture a place before you arrive. It also helps when online maps and local usage disagree, which happens often.
Layers of names: Kalinago, French, British
The oldest layer is Amerindian. Grenada was known to its Kalinago inhabitants by a name usually recorded as Camerhogne, and Carriacou's name is believed to come from an Amerindian original sometimes written Kayryouacou. Few other Amerindian place names survive, though some plant and fruit names in local speech have similar roots.
The country's name itself comes from Spain. Columbus sighted the island in 1498 and called it Concepción, but Spanish sailors later applied the name of Granada in Andalusia, and it was adapted by the French as La Grenade and by the British as Grenada. Locals pronounce it gren-AY-da, never gren-AH-da.
The French layer is the richest. Settlers named bays, hills, rivers and estates in French, and the Creole that developed kept these names alive even after British rule began. When the British took over, they renamed the main towns and parishes, turning Fort Royal into St George's and naming parishes after saints, but they could not erase thousands of local names used daily by people speaking Patois.
Common French elements and what they mean
Morne. A hill or mountain, from the Creole of the French Antilles. Morne Rouge (red hill), Morne Jaloux, Morne Longue and Morne Delice are all neighbourhoods built on hills.
Anse and Lance. Anse means a cove or small bay. Grand Anse is the big bay; Lance aux Epines comes from l'anse aux épines, the cove of thorns. Anse La Roche on Carriacou is the rocky cove.
Etang. A pond or lake. Grand Etang, the crater lake in the central mountains, simply means big pond.
Grand and Petit. Big and small, attached to bays, rivers and villages: Grand Bras, Grand Mal, Petit Etang, Petite Martinique, Petite Carenage.
Pointe and Bay names. Point Salines takes its name from the salt ponds (salines) near the island's south-western tip, where the international airport now stands.
Descriptive names. La Sagesse means wisdom; Beausejour, a pleasant stay; Belair, good air; Requin, a shark; Fontenoy and Grand Roy recall French families and places.
Town names and their stories
Several towns have two names, one official and one used daily, which reflects the switch between French and British rule.
- St George's. Founded by the French as Fort Royal; renamed by the British after their patron saint, giving the capital and its parish their current names.
- Gouyave. Officially Charlotte Town, after Queen Charlotte, but known by its French name, usually explained as referring to guava trees that once grew there.
- Sauteurs. French for leapers, recalling the Kalinago people who leapt from the cliffs there in the 1650s rather than be captured.
- Grenville. Named after the British prime minister George Grenville, but still widely called La Baye, the old French name meaning the bay.
- Victoria. A British name for the St Mark parish seat, honouring Queen Victoria.
- Hillsborough. Carriacou's main town, named under British rule, probably after the Earl of Hillsborough, a colonial secretary of the eighteenth century.
How to pronounce the tricky ones
Grenadian pronunciation of French names is anglicised and Creole-influenced rather than Parisian, and using the local version immediately marks you as someone paying attention. Gouyave is said roughly GWAH-yahv. Sauteurs sounds like SOH-ters. Grand Anse is GRAND anse, with a short a rather than the French nasal. Lance aux Epines usually comes out as lance-oh-PEEN.
Carriacou is CARRY-a-coo, with stress on the first syllable. Calivigny, the island and the area on the south coast, is often said cal-ee-VEE-nee. La Sagesse is la sa-JESS. Morne is said like the English word mourn. Petite Martinique is often shortened in conversation to PM.
There is variation between speakers and areas, and some older residents still use a more French pronunciation. If in doubt, listen to how bus conductors and taxi drivers say a name and copy them. Asking politely is also fine; people generally appreciate the effort.
English names can trip people up too. Grenadians say the capital as Saint Georges, run quickly together, and Lance aux Epines and Morne Rouge are often shortened in casual conversation to the area name alone. True Blue, Woburn and Westerhall are said as written, which makes them easy anchors when you are giving directions.
Mistakes that cause confusion
Mispronouncing or mis-spelling names is rarely a serious problem, but it can lead to wrong buses, wrong addresses and wasted trips.
- Saying Gre-NAH-da. It is Gre-NAY-da. The mistake is common enough that locals will understand, but it grates.
- Mixing up similar names. Grand Anse in St George and Grand Bras in St Andrew are far apart. Morne Rouge, Morne Jaloux and Morne Longue are different neighbourhoods.
- Trusting spelling online. Variants such as Tyrrel and Tyrell Bay, or Lance aux Epines and L'Anse aux Epines, appear side by side. Confirm with a local which place is meant.
- Assuming the official name is used. Asking for Charlotte Town may draw blank looks; ask for Gouyave instead. Likewise, Grenville is often La Baye in conversation, especially among older people in St Andrew.
- Forgetting the parish. Some village names repeat across the island, so always pair a village with its parish when giving or receiving directions.
Names on Carriacou and Petite Martinique
The sister islands have their own mix of names. Hillsborough, the main town, is British, but much of Carriacou carries French names such as L'Esterre, Belair and Anse La Roche, alongside British ones such as Harvey Vale and Bogles. Windward, in the north-east, is where many people descended from Scottish shipwrights and settlers live, and Scottish surnames remain common there.
Offshore, Mabouya Island takes its name from a Creole word for a kind of gecko, a word that also carried associations with evil spirits in older Caribbean belief. Sandy Island, the classic sandbar off Hillsborough, has a plain English name that describes it exactly. Tyrrel Bay, the island's main yacht anchorage and ferry port, appears in several spellings.
Petite Martinique is usually explained as having been named for a supposed resemblance to Martinique, or by early settlers who came from there. Its main village, Madame Pierre, is said to recall the wife of an early French settler. As on the mainland, older names and their stories are passed down orally, so local versions sometimes differ from what is written down.
Frequently asked questions
Why do so many places in Grenada have French names?
France controlled Grenada for over a century, from the mid-1600s to 1763 and again from 1779 to 1783. French-based Creole remained widely spoken long after British rule began, so the names of bays, hills, rivers and villages survived.
How do you pronounce Grenada?
Grenadians say gren-AY-da, with the stress on the second syllable and a long ay sound. Pronouncing it like the Spanish city of Granada is a common mistake made by visitors and international media alike.
What does morne mean in Grenadian place names?
Morne means hill or mountain and comes from the French Creole of the Antilles. Neighbourhoods such as Morne Rouge, Morne Jaloux and Morne Longue are all on hills, which helps when you are trying to picture where they are.
What is the official name of Gouyave?
Gouyave's official name is Charlotte Town, given under British rule in honour of Queen Charlotte. In daily use everyone says Gouyave, which is usually explained as referring to guava trees, and that name appears on buses and in conversation.
Is Patois still spoken in Grenada?
Grenadian French Creole, often called Patois, was widely spoken until the twentieth century and is now heard mostly among older people in rural areas. Many words and expressions survive in Grenadian English, and there are efforts to record and teach it.
How do you say Carriacou?
Carriacou is pronounced CARRY-a-coo, with stress on the first syllable. In everyday conversation Petite Martinique is often shortened to PM, and both islands are sometimes grouped together simply as the sister islands.
