# Are any settlements in Europe named after settlements in North America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2021, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621 "2021-02-24T11:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/1 "2021-02-24T11:30:06Z")
North America has plenty of towns and cities named after towns and cities in Europe (New York, NY after the English York; Paris, TX after the French Paris; and so on). Conversely, are there any towns or cities in Europe that are named after towns or cities in North America? Naturally these would be comparatively rare simply because most towns and cites in Europe predate Western colonization of the Americas, though I suspect there must be at least a few. Could we find the largest one (in terms of population)? (Note that I’m not interested in hearing about individual buildings, streets, squares, neighbourhoods, etc., as I’m sure there are tens or even hundreds of thousands of those.) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/2 "2021-02-24T11:50:33Z")
This is going to be a challenge, as you’re asking for ‘new towns’ - towns that were founded after the US, of which there are vanishingly few (most towns have at least some roots as a village pre-USA). The other challenge is that if you’re creating a town from scratch, is it likely it will be named after a foreign place, unless there’s loads of immigrants from that place? Most people call towns after something that is meaningful or sentimental to the local populace - hence so many European town names in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/3 "2021-02-24T11:51:15Z")
I’ve been through Pennsylvania, Gloucestershire, but Wikipedia is unsure whether it is named after the US state. I suspect that even if it isn’t, folk etymology had a hand in shaping its name to conform to the state, like the traffic circle in Esher that was originally nicknamed Silly Islands eventually morphed into Scilly Isles. Ironically with regards to your size requirement, the Wikipedia disambiguation page for Pennsylvania lists a neighborhood of Exeter that definitely was named after the state, and is probably much larger in population than the tiny village of Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/4 "2021-02-24T12:23:47Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > This is going to be a challenge, as you’re asking for ‘new towns’ - towns that were founded after the US, of which there are vanishingly few (most towns have at least some roots as a village pre-USA). The other challenge is that if you’re creating a town from scratch, is it likely it will be named after a foreign place, unless there’s loads of immigrants from that place? Most people call towns after something that is meaningful or sentimental to the local populace - hence so many European town names in the US. Well, you could have an existing European town renamed in honour of some American place. Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, was, after World War One, briefly named (or proposed to be named) Wilsonov, in honour of US President Woodrow Wilson (whose propagation of self-determination for the peoples of Austria-Hungary had led to the independence of Slovakia). But that’s an American person, not an American settlement. Similarly, in the late 18th and early 19th century, an American named [Benjamin Thompson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Thompson) rose to prominence as an advisor to the Prince-Elector, later King, of Bavaria, and was ennobled as a count in recognition of that. The title he got was Count of Rumford, after a place in New Hampshire where he had lived for a while. There’s a number of things such as streets in Bavaria named after Rumford, so you could say these things are indirectly named after the NH place, but to my knowledge there’s no town or neighbourhood in a larger city among the things named after him. My best guess would be that some US military base somewhere in Europe was named after a place in America and then, when the American military withdrew, converted into a civilian residential area but retaining the previous name. I couldn’t find an example, but I wouldn’t rule out that it exists. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/5 "2021-02-24T12:38:25Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > My best guess would be that some US military base somewhere in Europe was named after a place in America and then, when the American military withdrew, converted into a civilian residential area but retaining the previous name. I couldn’t find an example, but I wouldn’t rule out that it exists. Things like this have definitely happened at the sub-municipal level. The German state of Hesse once hosted an American military base, which set up a barracks complex for soldiers and their families. It was named Lincoln Village and was located at the edge of the city of Darmstadt. Some decades after the base was decommissioned, the city took over the barracks and incorporated them as a new suburb, retaining the name (or maybe slightly Germanizing it to _Lincoln-Siedlung_; I can’t remember). Now, the barracks were named after an American person, not an American city, though it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the same thing has happened somewhere to a barracks that _was_ named after a place in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/6 "2021-02-24T12:41:24Z")
There’s always Disneyland Paris. [ducks] ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/7 "2021-02-24T13:01:53Z")
Oh, I’ve just discovered a pair of British ones with some judicious Googling: - There is a [New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_Tyne_and_Wear) in the North East of England which was named after New York City, in commemoration of its capture by the British in 1776. - The nearby [Philadelphia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia,_Tyne_and_Wear) was also named after the American city, also in commemoration of its capture by the British in 1777. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/8 "2021-02-24T13:07:35Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Things like this have definitely happened at the sub-municipal level. The German state of Hesse once hosted an American military base, which set up a barracks complex for soldiers and their families. It was named Lincoln Village and was located at the edge of the city of Darmstadt. Same thing in Heidelberg: “Patrick Henry Village” has basically become “[Patrick-Henry-Siedlung](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Patrick-Henry-Siedlung,+69124+Heidelberg,+Germany/@49.3723412,8.6245883,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4797c75f0e6fe37f:0x61ddadec54bd63ec!8m2!3d49.370896!4d8.626659)”. They’ve even kept the street names (“San Juan Hill Street”, “Alamo Circle”, etc). It’s owned by the (German) government and is now being used to process refugees. I suspect that if it eventually returns to the private sector it will be renamed. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/9 "2021-02-24T13:09:39Z")
Oh, and look—here’s another pair, this time from County Durham in England: - [Toronto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto,_County_Durham), named after Toronto, Ontario. - [Quebec](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec,_County_Durham), named after Quebec City. Anyone want to have a go at finding some places like this that aren’t in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/10 "2021-02-24T13:35:56Z")
I googled “European towns named after American towns”, and I came up with nothing except a long list of American towns named after European towns. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/11 "2021-02-24T14:16:51Z")
How about Amerika, Saxony? > **[Amerika, Saxony](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerika,_Saxony)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Amerika (German pronunciation: \[aˈmeːʁika\]) is a former company settlement in the German state of Saxony and a district of the town of Penig. > As a small village of 79 residents (2010), it is known merely for its name, the German word for America, which was given to it in the 19th century. In 1836, a spinning factory was built on the left bank of the river Zwickauer Mulde, but houses for workers and clerks were not built until 1870. Initially, bec... There’s also a forest near a little village I used to live nearby in Westphalia, which the locals call Amerika, but that’s not an official name, unlike Amerika, Saxony. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/12 "2021-02-24T14:27:46Z")
That is what I came here to write, but without ducking. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/13 "2021-02-24T14:32:42Z")
There’s a [Washington West Sussex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_West_Sussex), but not idea how it was named. Our Washington is named after a former Englishman with an established family in England, so that place easily could have been named first. [Washington, Tyne and Wear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_Tyne_and_Wear) is clearly named prior to the American Washingtons. [This article mentions Washingtons elsewhere in the world](https://www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/washingtons-around-the-world/?cmpredirect). Particularly [New Washington, Aklan, Philippines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Washington,_Aklan), which is named after our George Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/14 "2021-02-24T15:22:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s a [Washington West Sussex…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_West_Sussex) [Nope](http://www.wasahall.co.uk/about-us/village/#:~:text=History,%E2%80%9D%20(probably%20today's%20Gatwick).): > # Our Village > > ## History > > Washington is believed to have been a saxon settlement of the Wasa (or Wassa) tribe. The modern name “Washington” comes from “Wasa inga tun” or “town of the sons of Wasa”. > In 947 Washington was “granted to Eadric” by King Eadred and it included the areas of Horsham and “Gotwick” (probably today’s Gatwick). In 1066 the manor belonged to Gyrth, the brother of King Harold. In that year, at the battle of Hastings… j ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/15 "2021-02-24T15:27:52Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > [Nope](http://www.wasahall.co.uk/about-us/village/#:~:text=History,%E2%80%9D%20(probably%20today's%20Gatwick).): Nope what? Your own cite says it’s a place called Washington. It wasn’t named after George, as I speculated. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/16 "2021-02-24T15:29:56Z")
Oops - sorry. Should have been clearer. Nope, it isn’t named after an American settlement. j ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/17 "2021-02-24T15:37:28Z")
NP. It’s what I expected, but now raises the question of where the Washington Family name comes from. According to [this article](https://www.etymonline.com/word/washington#:~:text=U.S.%20capital%2C%20founded%201791%2C%20named,admitted%20to%20the%20union%201889) you found it: > [@](#): > > the family name is from a town in northeastern England, from Old English, literally “estate of a man named Wassa.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/18 "2021-02-24T16:25:05Z")
There used to be villages called Philadelphia and Neu Boston in Brandenburg, Germany, but they were absorbed into the town of Storkow. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/19 "2021-02-24T16:38:05Z")
There’s probably plenty of suburbs, districts etc. named after things from American pop-culture, but they’re folk etymologies rather than official names. Here’s one, named after [Peyton Place.](https://mapio.net/pic/p-45280420/) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621/20 "2021-02-24T16:59:02Z")
If they still have those names in 100 years they should count. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-settlements-in-europe-named-after-settlements-in-north-america/933621.md?page=2)