Newport, Wales name "Novus Burgus", meaning new borough or new town. The city can sometimes be found labelled as "Newport-on-Usk" on old maps. The original Welsh language name for the city, "Casnewydd-ar-Wysg" (pronounced ) means 'New castle-on-Usk' (this is a shortened version of "Castell Newydd ar Wysg") and this refers to the twelfth-century castle ruins near Newport city centre. The original Newport Castle was a small motte-and-bailey castle in the park opposite Newport Cathedral. It was buried in rubble excavated from the Hillfield railway tunnels that were dug under Stow Hill in the 1840s and no part of it is currently visible.
Newport, Washington two towns, and it is strictly a political division, separated by the straight-line state boundary. About one-half mile north of Newport, the Pend Oreille River enters Washington State and flows north to Canada. The watershed of the Pend Oreille in the Newport-Oldtown area west of the river is extremely limited. This is due to a small depression of no more than , which begins about one-half mile from the river. Unable to flow uphill, the waters (from natural springs, rainfall runoff, etc.) eventually form the Little Spokane River, and flow southwest towards Spokane. Diamond Lake, WA (elevation 2,345 ft.) is