Where does “São Paulo” come from?

São Paulo (French) comes from Portuguese São Paulo, from Portuguese São, from Old Portuguese são, from Latin sānus, from Proto-Indo-European swā-n- — healthy; whole; active; vigorous.

Ancestry of “São Paulo”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1PortugueseSão PauloPaul the Apostle, Paul of Tarsus, Saint Paul
2PortugueseSãoforms the titles of male saints whose names begin...
3Old Portuguesesão—
4Latinsānussound in body, healthy, whole, well
5Proto-Indo-Europeanswā-n-healthy; whole; active; vigorous
Every word from Proto-Indo-European swā-n- →