What does the gal stand for in Portugal?

by CaptainApollyon
Searocksandtrees

Hi OP. Your posts here have been approved, but they're more etymology questions than history per se, particularly this one. If you don't get answers here, consider cross-posting to /r/etymology. A few other resources you might try are: Wikipedia, which often includes a short statement or section on the etymology of place names; any good dictionary (most of which include at least some etymological information, a great example being a large Oxford); or a specialist dictionary of etymology, a convenient example being www.etymonline.com.

Also, a reminder to potential respondents: note that this subreddit's rules are in effect in this thread like any other (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/rules#wiki_answers), so please answer in depth rather than simply drop quotes or links. Thank you!