California Gazetteers

Several helpful guides to California place names have been published. Two of the most useful are:

Gudde, Erwin Gustav. California Place Names. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1969. (.)

Sanchez, Nellie Van de Grift. Spanish and Indian Place Names of California. San Francisco, California: A.M. Robertson, 1930. (.)

Web Sites
Index to California Places in the Schellens Collection - San Mateo County Genealogical Society

Humboldt State University - California Gazetteer

Digital Atlas of California Professor William Bowen: California State University Northridge

California Geological Survey Digital Database

California Hometown Locator

USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

US Census Bureau Gazetteer Files

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names