30 June 2021
Nova Scotia is a post-classical Latin name, nova (new) + Scotia (Scotland). Prior to British control of the Canadian colony, the French called it Acadia. The British colony, and the French one before it, was larger than present-day Nova Scotia, encompassing what is now New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island as well. Prince Edward Island separated from Nova Scotia in 1769 and New Brunswick in 1784.
Of course, the Europeans were not the first to settle in what is now Nova Scotia. As the province is a settler-colonist construct, there is no Indigenous name that refers to the region, but there are numerous Indigenous names for locations within the province. One prominent example is Citadel Hill in Halifax, which has the Mi’kmaq name Kuowaqe’jk (big pine hill).
The name Nova Scotia dates to 10 September 1621 when King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) granted a charter to found a colony there to a William Alexander:
Quæ quidem terræ praædictæ omni tempore affuturo nomine NOUÆ SCOTIÆ in America gaudebant.
Indeed, the aforesaid lands shall enjoy, for all time to come, the name NOVA SCOTIA in America.
Sources:
Everett-Heath, John. Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names, sixth ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2020. Oxfordreference.com.
Fraser, Alexander. “Appendix I: Carta Domini Willemi Alexandri Equitis Dominii et Baroniæ Novæ Scotiæ in America” (10 September 1621). Nova Scotia: The Royal Charter of 1621. Toronto: U of Toronto Press, 1621, 26. Project Gutenberg.
Mi’kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas.
Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, September 2019, s.v. Nova Scotia, n.
Rayburn, Alan. Oxford Dictionary of Canadian Place Names. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford UP Canada, 1999.
Image credit: Thomas Kitchin, 1749. Library of Congress. Public domain image.