The story
- German · derived fromhoffen“hope”
- English todayHopedale
The name of the settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador was calqued from Hoffental, a compound derived in turn from German hoffen (“hope”) and Tal (“dale, valley”). The name was given by Moravian missionaries in 1782 and replaced native Eastern Canadian Inuktitut Agvituk. Compare Hebron, Nain, Ramah and Zoar.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.