Old and new city names in Morocco

Have you ever been stopped by the name of a Moroccan town from the time of the Protectorate, wondering where it might be?

Most of these name changes are linked to colonial history, in the broadest sense (i.e. including Spanish and Portuguese cities). Some are much more recent. In all, around twenty-five towns in Morocco have changed name. Many of them are in the greater Casablanca and Chaouïa region, the first stage of French colonisation. And that obviously includes Casablanca.

Toponymy is generally quite complicated. In Morocco, it has the particularity of being linked to several languages, Arabic, Amazigh in its various versions, French and Spanish.

If you’re not interested in the details, you can go to the table summarising the name changes!

From Anfa to Dar El Baïda, via Casablanca

Of course, Dar El Baïda  الدار البيضاء  is the Arabic version of Casablanca. The economic capital thus finds itself, I believe, the only city in Morocco to have a phonetically very different name in Arabic and French.

But originally, Casablanca was called Anfa, and it was a very prosperous city. Destroyed by the Portuguese in 1468, it was rebuilt in 1760 on the orders of Sultan Mohammed III. This is when it changed its name to “Dar El Baïda“, the white house, was the name given to the various palaces of the sultan. When the Spaniards returned to trade, they translated this name into “Casa blanca“, which was easier for them.

It is also said that Casa Blanca referred to a large white rectangular house located in this new city…

And other Arabic translations

Many city names are simply translations. You need to know this to make the connection, even if the names may sound similar.

Alcazarquivir translates as Ksar El Kebir

“The great fortress”, in both Spanish and Arabic. Of course, the fact that so many Spanish words come from Arabic helps a little!

Cap de l’Eau and Ras El Ma

A real word-for-word locality near Nador. However, this is not the original name of the town, which is called “Kebdana” in Rifain. It was the Spanish occupiers who named it “Cabo de Agua”, later translated into French and then Arabic. The Rifans continue to call it “Kebdana”.

Mount Arouit or Al Aroui

Someone thought it would be a good idea to add a mountain to the name of this town.

Minor differences in pronunciation

These are not really name changes, but rather transcriptions, with the letters varying. When spoken, the names are very similar, even identical, but for a text search, the computer won’t make the connection:

• Xauen is Chaouen, or Chefchaouen
• Arcila or Assilah
• Safi or Asfi

(There are also transcription differences in ancient texts, roughly until the arrival of the military standardised the names: Meknès can be written Mékinez, Boujdour is transcribed Bougdour, etc.)

Louis Gentil becomes Youssoufia

Louis Gentil was the name of a French geologist born in Algeria, who took part in the exploration of Morocco from 1902. The town of Louis Gentil was founded in 1931 by the French on a site where there was not already a town, to exploit one of the kingdom’s largest phosphate deposits. It changed its name to Youssoufia after independence.

Petit-Jean or Petitjean is Sidi Kacem

Before colonisation, there was no town, just the zaouïa of Sidi Kacem, and a Thursday souk. A small group of settlers moved in to clear the land and farm. Oil was found nearby, a railway station was built and the town grew. It was named after a French army captain who was killed on 19 May 1911, two kilometres from Kénitra. At independence, it was named after the patron saint of the zaouia.

Port-Lyautey becomes Kénitra

Kénitra, in fact, was a kasbah built at the end of the 19th century, “part barracks part guest house”. It was Lyautey who decided to build a town next to this kasbah, starting in 1912. It was only in 1932, for the 20th anniversary of the protectorate, that the town that was described as “the most French town in Morocco” took the name of Port-Lyautey, at the request of the town’s inhabitants, who wanted to pay tribute to their former Resident General.

The French “camps” and army men

After the bombardment of Casablanca, the French left the restricted area around Casablanca to subdue the tribes. The beginning of the “Third Moroccan War” was concentrated in this area of the Chaouïa, as were the military camps they set up. For obvious security reasons, they were set up some distance from the existing villages. The logistics involved in setting up a permanent camp, including roads, mean that most of them will be transformed into towns once the region has been pacified.

Of course, they did not keep their French names after independence:

Camp Boulhaut became Benslimane

Founded as early as 1907, on the site of a local market, the future Benslimane developed rapidly, with a “hard” housing area for soldiers. It was named after Sidi Mohammed Benslimane, a marabout one kilometre from the town.

Camp Marchand becomes Rommani

Located in the Khemisset region, the town of Camp Marchand was given the name Rommani, which means “Grenadier”. Founded in 1911, Camp Marchand quickly became a large town, with a status similar to that of a prefecture. It had a post office and served the surrounding villages, including Camp Christian and Le Jacqueline.

Camp Monod becomes Sidi Allal El Bahraoui

It is also known as Kemouni, which would be the Arabic version of Camp Monod, as the name Sidi Allal el Bahraoui would be too complicated for some. Urban legend has it that Kemouni stands for “Camp Moinier”, named after General Moinier. But there has never been a camp named after him in Morocco, and it was customary to name the camps after soldiers who had died in battle, as a tribute (like Pol Boulhaut, who died in 1908 in a battle in the Chaouïa). Monod was less well known than Moinier, and Moinier often had to go to Camp Monod, so the confusion is understandable!

Camp Boucheron was renamed El Gara

Another example of a “tribute” name, Pierre Boucheron was a French soldier who died in 1908 during the early Chaouïa War.

Camp Christian becomes Ezzhiliga

Initially, there were two very close “camps”, Camp Christian in Brachoua and Le Jacqueline. They were merged under the single name of Camp Christian, which later became Ezzhiliga at independence.

Martimprey du Kiss becomes Ahfir

Founded by Lyautey and named after a French general who fought in the region during the colonisation of Algeria and in reference to a local wadi, this village in the Berkane region reverted to its local name after independence.

Villa Cisneros becomes Dakhla

Dakhla is an old and forgotten colony, dating back to the 15th century. In 1884, the Spaniards resettled there. They were the first to build a permanent settlement, a simple fort, and christened the place “Villa Cisneros”. They added an airport, which was used by the airmail service. After the Green March, the town was renamed according to its local name.

Villa Sanjurjo or Al Hoceima

Al Hoceima is a special name. It is an Arabicisation of the Spanish name Alhucemas, thought to come from the nearby medieval town of al Mazamma, or from the Arabic name for the lavender plant “Al Khozama”. When the Spaniards founded the modern town in 1926, they initially named it Villa Sanjurjo, in honour of General José Sanjurjo, who led the landings there during the Rif war. It later took the name of Alhucemas. In Berber, it is known as Tijdit.

El Rincón becomes M’diq

El Rincón, in Spanish, is the nook and cranny and M’diq  المضيق  in Arabic means “wedged, narrow” hence “strait”. This may refer to its position, close to the Strait of Gibraltar, or to its position “wedged” between the mountains and the sea. In any case, its official name in Spanish is ‘Rincón del Medik’, the nook of the narrow corner!

Castillojos becomes Fnideq

Castilljos is plural, referring to the many ruins of fortified buildings around the area, witnesses to the region’s turbulent past. Castilljo is the diminutive of castillo, “fortified castle”; in Morocco, we would say kasbah or ksar (like Ksar El Kebir). During the first Rif war (1860), the Spanish referred to the region as the “Heights of the Little Castles” and the “Valley of the Little Castles”. The town was founded in 1934, and naturally took this name.

Mazagan or El Jadida

The history of the name El Jadida is more complicated. The place was called Mazighen in Amazigh or al-Brija in Arabic. When the Portuguese settled there, they called their fortress Mazagão, which seems to be a derivation of the Amazigh name. When they had to abandon it in 1769, they blew up their bastions and walls.

The city was then called El-Mehdoûma (the ruined one) until the sultan decided to build a “new” city (Jedid in Arabic), El Jadida, at the beginning of the 19th century, but the Europeans continued to call it Mazagan. This name only disappeared with independence.

From Amogdoul to Souira, from Souira to Mogador to Essaouira

The story is much the same for Essaouira. The Portuguese built a fort, which was quickly abandoned on a site with an uncertain name. It is thought that the Moroccans called it Amogdul, and in any case this name appears in chronicles from the 11th century (and is thought to mean “fortified”). Above all, there was a saint, Sidi Mogdul, and when the Portuguese built their “Castelo Real”, they referred to the site as “Mogodouro”.

In 1760, the sultan decided to found a fortified town on the site abandoned by the Portuguese and called in a Frenchman to draw up the plans. The city became known as the “bien dessinée”, from Tasaouira or Souira, which means painting.

Another etymology is that of the Amazigh “Tassourt” for walls, transformed into Souira, which is also used for ruins (or fallen walls).

In any case, Essaouira, a town authorised to trade with foreigners, was called Mogador by the Europeans until independence.

Fedala and Ksar Es Souk, name changes after independence

In fact, the before-and-after went from one Arab name to another!

The large town of Fedala was renamed Mohammedia in honour of Mohammed V and, in the south, Ksar es Souk became Er Rachidia in honour of Prince Moulay Rachid!

Summary table of changes to Moroccan town names

(I have added two cities to this table, known under different Roman names, at the time of Mauritania Tingitana).

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