Capitals with renamed city histories

What you’ll learn from renamed-capital questions

Some capitals carry layers of history in their names, reflecting empires, independence movements, or political shifts. This quiz focuses on recognizing those renamed city histories while keeping the spotlight on today’s capital status.

You’ll practice linking former city names to their modern capital identities, plus spotting the region and timeframe that made the rename memorable.

How the quiz works (and how to set it up)

Each question has 4 options and there’s no timer, so you can think through similar-looking names without pressure. Before you start, pick your question count and choose a difficulty level—Mixed blends straightforward recalls with tougher, lesser-known renames.

Common pitfalls and how difficulty is balanced

Many wrong answers are designed to be “near-misses,” such as a famous old name that belongs to a different city, or a renamed city that isn’t a capital today. Mixed difficulty balances well-known examples with deeper cuts, so you’ll get momentum early and still face a fair challenge later.

• Confusing former names shared across different countries or languages
• Mixing up a renamed capital with a renamed non-capital major city
• Overlooking spelling variants and transliterations (especially older sources)
• Assuming every historical name change implies a capital move
• Forgetting that some capitals changed names multiple times