Melbourne was famously known as Batmania in 1835, named after founder John Batman. Other early names for the settlement included Bearbrass, Bareport, and the Settlement before it was officially named Melbourne in 1837. Additionally, the area was known to the local Wurundjeri people as Birrarung.
Both Batman and Fawkner settled in the new town, which had several interim names, including Batmania, Bearbrass, Bearport, Dutergalla, Glenelg, Neramnew, and The Settlement, before being officially named Melbourne on 10 April 1837 by Governor Richard Bourke in honour of the British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.
'Narrm' comes from Woiwurrung – the language spoken by the traditional owners of Melbourne and its surrounds, the Wurundjeri People. As the name 'Narrm' is being translated from oral language, there are several variations of the spelling. Narrm, Naarm and Nairm are all commonly used and accepted.
After arriving in 1835, John Batman decided that the land by the Yarra River would be the perfect “place for a village”. Hence, the settlement was briefly named Batmania after its founder. Queen Victoria later changed the name by dedicating the city to her friend Lord Melbourne.
How Melbourne got its name & What the word 'Melbourne' Means?
What is the slang name for Melbourne?
Other types of abbreviated forms include: Curry (Cloncurry), Melbs (Melbourne), MoPo (Moonee Ponds), Ninsh (Mornington Peninsula), SoHo (South Hobart), Trak (Toorak). The most common pattern is an abbreviated form of the name with the addition of the -y (-ie) or -o suffix.
"Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy, Oi Oi Oi" (often "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi") is a popular Australian sports chant expressing national pride, a patriotic call-and-response meaning "Australian! Australian! Australian! Yes! Yes! Yes!". It's a modification of an older British chant, "Oggy Oggy Oggy, Oi Oi Oi," originally from Cornish miners, but the "Aussie" version became famous worldwide after the Sydney Olympics, symbolizing national unity and excitement at sporting events.
By the more commonly used Greater Capital City measure (a wider area), Sydney remains the larger city with 5.56m to Melbourne's 5.35m. This is primarily because Greater Sydney includes the Central Coast, while the Sydney SUA does not.
There are 31 councils in Greater Melbourne. 11 of these have names with Indigenous language origins. City of Yarra. A mishearing of "Yarro Yarro", meaning 'it flows', (referring to the Yarra river). Yarra River Melbourne - History.
Although many will not have heard of this man, the city of Sydney is named after him. Thomas Townshend was elevated to the peerage with the title of 'Baron Sydney' in 1783. As Home Secretary in the British Parliament, he was responsible for devising a plan to settle convicts at Botany Bay in Australia.
Sydney is the oldest city in Australia and the site of the first British penal colony established in 1788. Our ship docked at Circular Quay, which is the main ferry port in the city. The Rocks, adjacent to our ship, is the location of the historic penal colony.
The terms pommy, pommie, and pom used in Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand usually denote a British person. Newspapers in Australia were using the term by 1912, with it appearing first in Western Australia, and was said to be short for pomegranate, with the terms "jimmy" and "jimmigrant" also in use.
There's no single "most beautiful" city, but Bath, Edinburgh, York, and Chester consistently rank high, known for Georgian architecture, historic charm, Roman ruins, medieval walls, and stunning natural settings, respectively. Other contenders include Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham, praised for their universities, canals, and grand cathedrals.
In 2016, the Australian Taxation Office listed Mungallala as having the lowest mean taxable income by postcode, making it the poorest town in Australia, which led the ABC to do a documentary on the town for their online "storyhunters" program.
More billionaires from the list live in the elite Melbourne suburb of Toorak, five kilometres southeast of the CBD, than any other Australian suburbs. Toorak boasts gated cul-de-sacs, privacy hedges, tree-lined streets and 22 of Australia's richest people.
New York City solidifies its position as the world's richest city, according to Henley & Partners' 2025 report, with one in every 22 residents being a millionaire. The city is home to 384,500 millionaires and 66 billionaires, with a total private wealth exceeding $3 trillion.
