# Boringly ordinary town names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091 "2021-04-30T07:38:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/1 "2021-04-30T07:38:11Z")
I know we’ve done weird and wonderful town names to death here, but I’ve come across a few in my (original) home state that are just downright boringly ordinary. I’m not talking about the Newtowns Brightons and such ilk, I’m talking: Research Sale Speed and similar. Like the US-named Intercourse in Pennsylvania, just weird as shit, but ordinary names. Got any more for me? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/2 "2021-04-30T07:43:55Z")
[Industry, CA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Industry,_California). It usually goes by the marginally more poetic “City of Industry,” but the name is really just Industry. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/3 "2021-04-30T09:36:55Z")
Milltown ---
**Author:** ![PointyOintment](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pointyointment/32/7777_2.png) [@PointyOintment](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PointyOintment)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/4 "2021-04-30T10:12:56Z")
[Coronation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation,_Alberta) and [Legal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal,_Alberta), AB. If villages are okay too (all in Alberta): - [Alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance,_Alberta) - [Carbon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon,_Alberta) - [Commerce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce,_Alberta) (former) - [Consort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consort,_Alberta) - [Czar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czar,_Alberta) - [Duchess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess,_Alberta) - [Standard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard,_Alberta) - [Veteran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veteran,_Alberta) Hamlets: - [Cereal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal,_Alberta) - [Condor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor,_Alberta) - [Guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy,_Alberta) - [Mirror](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror,_Alberta) - [Monarch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch,_Alberta) - [Monitor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monitor,_Alberta) - [Parkland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkland,_Alberta) - [Seven Persons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Persons,_Alberta) (also weird) - [Tangent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent,_Alberta) - [Tees](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tees,_Alberta) Unincorporated communities: - [Academy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy,_Alberta) - [Entrance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrance,_Alberta) (a noun, not a verb) - [Naptha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naptha,_Alberta) - [One-Seventeen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Seventeen,_Alberta) - [Rife](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rife,_Alberta) - [Royalties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalties,_Alberta) The full lists for Alberta are [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_communities_in_Alberta); in addition to non-boring names, I skipped ones that just seemed to describe the local landscape, as well as ones named after gemstones and other impressive- or encouraging-sounding words, because those, when used as place names, seem more like boasting/puffery than boring, ordinary words to me. (I hope this doesn’t get spam-filtered for having so many links when I’m new. They’re all to Wikipedia.) ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/5 "2021-04-30T10:44:54Z")
The ultimate reflection of the thread title > **[Boring, Oregon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring%2C_Oregon)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Boring is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is located along Oregon Route 212 in the foothills of the Cascade mountain range, approximately twelve miles (19 km) southeast of downtown Portland, and fourteen miles (23 km) northeast of Oregon City. A bedroom community,\[a\] Boring is named after William Harrison Boring, a Union soldier and pioneer whose family built a farm in the area in 1856, before Oregon h... ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/6 "2021-04-30T11:03:18Z")
> [@cytop](#): > > The ultimate reflection of the thread title - > > [Boring, Oregon - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring%2C_Oregon) I see your Boring and I raise Nothing. > **[Nothing, Arizona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing,_Arizona)** > > Nothing is an uninhabited ghost town in eastern Mohave County, Arizona, United States. > The locals told travelers it "got named by a bunch of drunks." Nothing has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. > The settlement was established in 1977 by Richard "Buddy" Kenworthy, located 118 miles (190 km) northwest of Phoenix, and 23 miles (37 km) south of Wikieup, the "rattlesnake capital of Arizona." It is west of Bagdad at milepost 148½ on U.S. Route 93 (the Joshua Forest Scenic Park... ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/7 "2021-04-30T11:15:41Z")
Any tourist in the UK will soon notice the stranger town and village names. Nether Wallop, Wyre Piddle, Giggleswick. They will also be confused by places whose names are pronounced in a totally non-phonetic way, like Leominster (Lemster), Beaulieu (Bewly), Towcester (Toaster). Few places here were planned with names. There are some in more modern times like Milton Keynes but most seem to have just happened. Before maps, many villages didn’t see any need to have a name so when some cartographer came around and asked “What’s this place called,” what was written down may not have born any strong relationship to how the locals referred to ‘home’. Since many places that did have names were ‘christened’ by one of the colonising European tribes and subsequently mispronounced by locals, we don’t really get many ‘boring’ names. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/8 "2021-04-30T11:19:20Z")
The bane of UK database managers: [Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street,_Somerset). Just down the road from Glastonbury. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/9 "2021-04-30T11:34:37Z")
The province of Quebec had “Asbestos”, which recently changed its name (via a referendum) to “Val-des-Sources”. There is still the nearby “Thetford Mines” (there’s been no mining there for years). Further north, there is a railway flag stop called “Microwave Tower”. ---
**Author:** ![cytop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f17d59/32.png) [@cytop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cytop)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/10 "2021-04-30T11:45:33Z")
[Okay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okay%2C_Oklahoma), [whynot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whynot%2C_North_Carolina)? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/11 "2021-04-30T11:51:16Z")
Normal Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/12 "2021-04-30T12:08:14Z")
Middletown, Ohio. Motto: “Together, We Rise.” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/13 "2021-04-30T12:12:31Z")
In case anyone didn’t follow the link above, Boring is twinned with Dull in Scotland and Bland in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/14 "2021-04-30T12:42:28Z")
Frostproof, Florida. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/15 "2021-04-30T12:45:25Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > The bane of UK database managers: [Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street,_Somerset). Just down the road from Glastonbury. My village used to be called Road. Because of the confusion (and because there’s another village nearby called Roade), they changed it in 1922. To Rode. It’s 29 miles from Street. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/16 "2021-04-30T12:48:26Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Research > Sale > Speed I used to know someone who lived in Research. I’ve always thought **Doreen** is a weirdly dull name. And also **Ovens**. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/17 "2021-04-30T13:26:38Z")
Accident, MD. I’ve been there. On purpose! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/18 "2021-04-30T13:34:10Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Normal Illinois. This was to have been my addition to the thread. It got its name from the fact that it hosted a “[normal school](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school)” (a higher-education institution dedicated to training teachers.) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/19 "2021-04-30T15:14:35Z")
Huh. Thanks kenobi. Used to live in the area, never knew that. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2021, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091/20 "2021-04-30T15:23:07Z")
Not far from Intercourse PA is [Gap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap,_Pennsylvania). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/boringly-ordinary-town-names/941091.md?page=2)