#22: Bytown → Ottawa (Canada)
Before it was Canada’s capital, it was a lumber town named Bytown, after Colonel John By, the engineer who built the Rideau Canal. In 1855, as the settlement grew into a center of politics and trade, it adopted the Indigenous word “Ottawa,” meaning “to trade.” The change marked a step from frontier outpost to national symbol.
Ottawa’s Parliament buildings overlook the same canal, linking its rugged beginnings to its polished present.