Why is Los Angeles called the city of angels?

Angeles=Angels

Maybe people mistake the hazy figures in the smog as angels….lol?

Cuz all the gangsta thugs get capped there foo! Pour one out for the dead homiez.

Uhh…duh.

Los Angeles = The Angels in Spanish.

@FutureMemory That one works too!

Because you need an angel to survive in that dump.

Alternatively, you may be interested in a real explanation

It’s called that because ‘Hell’ just wasn’t as appealing to tourists.. I kid, I kid

@JessicaRTBH no, you don’t kid! LOL

On a serious note, I picture Hell being cleaner than LA anyway.

Los Angeles = “The Angels” in Spanish.

Los Angeles is a city. And it’s name translates into “The Angels”. Therefore, it is nicknamed, “The City of Angels”.

Not everyone’s an angel though. There is a lot of crime in LA…

Here you go.
http://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi03a.htm

Ditto @Preethiop. The Spanish named it. Translates to The City of Angels

It’s a diminutive version of the name given by the first European settlers: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Porciúncula River).

Aren’t you glad it was shortened?

I see now that @Rarebear was already there. And @6rant6 at the same place afore him.

Oops. Sorry, my bad. I didn’t read through the whole thread.

So what does “Las Vegas” mean? The go-go girls?

Vegas is español for “stars”. Before electricity – and before “the stars” started to visit – you could certainly see stars from Las Vegas in the night skies.

@CWOTUS Oh, I was thinking “viajar.” Isn’t the Spanish word for stars “estrella?”

Ah, well I finally learned something today. (And it took all this time, too.)

“Vega” is Spanish for “fertile plain”. So maybe they saw the place during the rainy season…

Part of my confusion stems from the fact that Vega is a name for the fifth-brightest star that we can see from Earth.

@CWOTUS After an extensive google search, I see that you are right. Weird, though, if you go to any translation sites, “vegas” or “vega” does not translate to anything. If you type in “meadow” or “prairie” or “plain”, you don’t get vega or vegas.